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Selenium ameliorates arsenic induced oxidative stress through modulation of antioxidant enzymes and thiols in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) contamination of rice is a major problem for South-East Asia. In the present study, the effect of selenium (Se) on rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants exposed to As was studied in hydroponic culture. Arsenic accumulation, plant growth, thiolic ligands and antioxidative enzyme activities were assayed after single (As and Se) and simultaneous supplementations (As + Se). The results indicated that the presence of Se (25 µM) decreased As accumulation by threefold in roots and twofold in shoots as compared to single As (25 µM) exposed plants. Arsenic induced oxidative stress in roots and shoots was significantly ameliorated by Se supplementation. The observed positive response was found associated with the increased activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX; EC 1.11.1.11), catalase (CAT; EC 1.11.1.6) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx; EC 1.11.1.9) and induced levels of non-protein thiols (NPTs), glutathione (GSH) and phytochelatins (PCs) in As + Se exposed plants as compared to single As treatment. Selenium supplementation modulated the thiol metabolism enzymes viz., γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-ECS; EC 6.3.2.2), glutathione-S-transferase (GST; EC 2.5.1.18) and phytochelatin synthase (PCS; EC 2.3.2.15). Gene expression analysis of several metalloid responsive genes (LOX, SOD and MATE) showed upregulation during As stress, however, significant downregulation during As + Se exposure as compared to single As treatment. Gene expressions of enzymes of antioxidant and GSH and PC biosynthetic systems, such as APX, CAT, GPx, γ-ECS and PCS were found to be significantly positively correlated with their enzyme activities. The findings suggested that Se supplementation could be an effective strategy to reduce As accumulation and toxicity in rice plants.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Director, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow for the providing the institutional facilities. Authors are also thankful to Council of Scientist and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for financial support in the from of network projects (BSC-0111) and award of Senior Research Fellowship to Amit Kumar.

Conflict of interest

Corresponding author and all the co-authors of the MS (No. ECTX-D-14-00062R1) entitled “Selenium ameliorates arsenic induced oxidative stress through modulation of antioxidant enzymes and thiols in rice (Oryza sativa L.)” have no conflict of interest pertaining to this work being submitted in the journal “Ecotoxicology”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecology and Environmental Science Division, C.S.I.R.-National Botanical, Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, 226 001, India

    Amit Kumar, Pradyumna Kumar Singh, Surabhi Awasthi, Debasis Chakrabarty, Prabodh Kumar Trivedi & Rudra Deo Tripathi

  2. Department of Environmental Science, B.B.A. University, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, 226 025, India

    Amit Kumar & Rana Pratap Singh

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  1. Amit Kumar
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  2. Rana Pratap Singh
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  3. Pradyumna Kumar Singh
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  7. Rudra Deo Tripathi
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Correspondence to Rudra Deo Tripathi.

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Kumar, A., Singh, R.P., Singh, P.K. et al. Selenium ameliorates arsenic induced oxidative stress through modulation of antioxidant enzymes and thiols in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Ecotoxicology 23, 1153–1163 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1257-z

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