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Selenium mitigates cadmium-induced oxidative stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants by modulating chlorophyll fluorescence, osmolyte accumulation, and antioxidant system

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Abstract

Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the role of selenium in alleviating cadmium stress in Solanum lycopersicum seedlings. Cadmium (150 mg L−1) treatment caused a significant reduction in growth in terms of height and biomass accumulation and affected chlorophyll pigments, gas exchange parameters, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Selenium (10 μM) application mitigated the adverse effects of cadmium on growth, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, leaf relative water content, and other physiological attributes. Lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage increased because of cadmium treatment and selenium-treated plants exhibited considerable reduction because of the decreased production of hydrogen peroxide in them. Cadmium-treated plants exhibited enhanced activity of antioxidant enzymes that protected cellular structures by neutralizing reactive free radicals. Supplementation of selenium to cadmium-treated plants (Cd + Se) further enhanced the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) by 19.69, 31.68, 33.14, and 54.47%, respectively. Osmolytes, including proline and glycine betaine, increased with selenium application, illustrating their role in improving the osmotic stability of S. lycopersicum under cadmium stress. More importantly, selenium application significantly reduced cadmium uptake. From these results, it is clear that application of selenium alleviates the negative effects of cadmium stress in S. lycopersicum through the modifications of osmolytes and antioxidant enzymes.

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Change history

  • 05 March 2018

    The original paper was published online bearing incorrect headings for Table 1. Headers “change 0 by C” which appear in columns 2 and 3, should be C only. Corrected table is provided below.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for its funding this Research group NO (RG1438-039).

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  1. Parvaiz Ahmad

    Present address: Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box. 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box. 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni & Leonard Wijaya

  2. School of Studies in Botany Jiwaji University, Gwalior, MP, 474011, India

    Mohammad Abass Ahanger

  3. Biology Department, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU), Alkharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Pravej Alam

  4. Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India

    Renu Bhardwaj

  5. Department of Botany, S.P. College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190001, India

    Parvaiz Ahmad

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  1. Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni
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Handling Editor: Néstor Carrillo

A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-018-1231-3.

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Alyemeni, M.N., Ahanger, M.A., Wijaya, L. et al. Selenium mitigates cadmium-induced oxidative stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants by modulating chlorophyll fluorescence, osmolyte accumulation, and antioxidant system. Protoplasma 255, 459–469 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-017-1162-4

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