Description of a Zostera marina catalase gene involved in responses to temperature stress

Abstract

Catalase (CAT) is an antioxidant enzyme that plays a significant role in cellular protection against oxidative damage by degradation of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water. In the present study, the complete CAT cDNA sequence of Zostera marina was identified through expressed sequence tags (EST) analysis and the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. The nucleotide sequence of ZmCAT cDNA consisted of 1,816 bp with a 1,434 bp open reading frame (ORF), encoding a polypeptide of 477 amino acid residues, which possessed significant homology to other known plant CATs. The molecular mass of the predicted protein was 55.3 kDa with an estimated isoelectric point of 6.40. Phylogenetic analysis showed that ZmCAT was closely related to CAT from gramineous species. In response to temperature stress, H2O2 and MDA contents in Z. marina increased significantly with cold stress (<10 °C) and heat stress (>25 °C). ZmCAT expression was significantly upregulated at temperatures from 5 to 10 °C and then gradually downregulated, reaching its lowest expression at 30 °C. Recombinant ZmCAT protein exhibited strong antioxidant activity over a wide temperature range, with the highest rZmCAT activity observed at 25 °C and a higher relative activity retained even with heat stress. All these results indicated that ZmCAT was a member of the plant CAT family and involved in minimizing oxidative damage effects in Z. marina under temperature stress.

Genome-wide analysis of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene family in Zostera marina and expression profile analysis under temperature stress

“…Temperature stress affects the ability of plant defense systems to counterbalance ROS accumulation and reduce oxidative stress (Gill & Tuteja, 2010;Vighi et al, 2016). In our previous study, we showed that both cold stress (<10 C) and heat stress (>25 C) can significantly induce H 2 O 2 level, leading to increasing lipid peroxidation of Z. marina cells (Zang et al, 2018). The optimal temperature for Z. marina growth has been reported to be 15.3 ± 1.6 C, and temperature above 30 C may be fatal (Lee, Park & Kim, 2007).…”

In Silico Methodologies to Improve Antioxidants’ Characterization from Marine Organisms

“…In addition to ROS quantities, their compartmentalization in mitochondria or cytosol is also known to dictate signaling/oxidative stress responses [ 22 ]. Antioxidants enzymes, such as SOD and CAT, have been found activated upon stress exposure in several marine organisms, from marine vertebrates and invertebrates to plants [ 5 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms

“…Stress exposure is known to induce an increase in free radicals, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), which may induce damage to DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. Various enzymes are involved in ROS detoxification, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), which have been found activated upon stress exposure in various marine organisms [ 1 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Glutathione, synthetized by glutathione synthetase, is an important cell scavenger compound involved in radical compound deactivation, and can be found in reduced and oxidized states [ 15 ].…”