Abstract
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated in plants during normal metabolic activities. Plants maintain a delicate balance between generation and quenching of oxygen species. However, this balance is disturbed toward oxygen species excess under stress. Plants have nonetheless evolved strategies to counter such undesirable oxidative stress. The two strategies for that are: the use of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidases, catalase and enzymes related to ascorbate-glutathione cycle; and the use of non-enzymatic antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and proline. Osmolytes are accumulated by plants in response to abiotic stress, they include amino acids (alanine, arginine, proline), quartenary ammonium compounds (glycine betaine), sugars (fructans, sucrose, trehalose) and sugar alcohol or polyols (inositol, mannitol). Osmolytes mitigate adverse effects of oxidative stress by scavenging oxygen species, either directly or indirectly, by increasing the accumulation of antioxidant bioactive compounds or by inducing antioxidant enzymatic activities. Research on osmolytes to mitigate oxidative stress involves (1) the use of osmolyte-deficient or overexpressing transgenic plants, (2) the study of osmolytes in normal plants and (3) the exogenously application of osmolytes on plants.
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Ejaz, S. et al. (2020). Role of Osmolytes in the Mechanisms of Antioxidant Defense of Plants. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 39. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 39. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38881-2_4
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