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Response of antioxidant enzymes in Nicotiana tabacum clones during phytoextraction of heavy metals

  • AREA 5.3 • PHYTOREMEDIATION • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Background, aim, and scope

Tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum, is a widely used model plant for growth on heavy-metal-contaminated sites. Its high biomass and deep rooting system make it interesting for phytoextraction. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidative activities and glutathione-dependent enzymes of different tobacco clones optimized for better Cd and Zn accumulation in order to characterize their performance in the field.

Main features

The improved heavy metal resistance also makes the investigated tobacco clones interesting for understanding the plant defense enzyme system in general. Freshly harvested plant material (N. tabacum leaves) was used to investigate the antioxidative cascade in plants grown on heavy metal contaminated sites with and without amendments of different ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate fertilizers.

Materials and methods

Plants were grown on heavily polluted soils in north-east Switzerland. Leaves were harvested at the field site and directly deep frozen in liquid N2. Studies were concentrated on the antioxidative enzymes of the Halliwell–Asada cycle, and spectrophotometric measurements of catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11), superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), glutathione peroxidase (GPX, EC 1.11.1.9), glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2), glutathione S-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) were performed.

Results and discussion

We tried to explain the relationship between fertilizer amendments and the activity of the enzymatic defense systems. When tobacco (N. tabacum) plants originating from different mutants were grown under field conditions with varying fertilizer application, the uptake of cadmium and zinc from soil increased with increasing biomass. Depending on Cd and Zn uptake, several antioxidant enzymes showed significantly different activities. Whereas SOD and CAT were usually elevated, several other enzymes, and isoforms of GST were strongly inhibited.

Conclusions

Heavy metal uptake represents severe stress to plants, and specific antioxidative enzymes are induced at the cost of more general reactions of the Halliwell–Asada cycle. In well-supplied plants, the glutathione level remains more or less unchanged. The lack of certain glutathione S-transferases upon exposure to heavy metals might be problematic in cases when organic pollutants coincide with heavy metal pollution. When planning phytoremediation of sites, mixed pollution scenarios have to be foreseen and plants should be selected according to both, their stress resistance and hyperaccumulative capacity.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Michaela Saur, Christin Hänsel, and Sara Bergenter for the transport and harvesting assistance. Funding for Lyudmila Lyubenova by a grant from the Bavarian State Ministry for Education and Arts in the frame of the BAYHOST program is gratefully accepted. This cooperative work was stimulated by COST Action 859.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Microbe Plant Interactions, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuerberg, Germany

    Lyudmila Lyubenova & Peter Schröder

  2. Phytotech-Foundation & AGB, Quartiergasse 12, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

    Erika Nehnevajova & Rolf Herzig

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  1. Lyudmila Lyubenova
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  2. Erika Nehnevajova
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  3. Rolf Herzig
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  4. Peter Schröder
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Correspondence to Peter Schröder.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Lyubenova, L., Nehnevajova, E., Herzig, R. et al. Response of antioxidant enzymes in Nicotiana tabacum clones during phytoextraction of heavy metals. Environ Sci Pollut Res 16, 573–581 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-009-0175-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-009-0175-8

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