Lipids and proteins—major targets of oxidative modifications in abiotic stressed plants

Abstract

Stress factors provoke enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. ROS that escape antioxidant-mediated scavenging/detoxification react with biomolecules such as cellular lipids and proteins and cause irreversible damage to the structure of these molecules, initiate their oxidation, and subsequently inactivate key cellular functions. The lipid- and protein-oxidation products are considered as the significant oxidative stress biomarkers in stressed plants. Also, there exists an abundance of information on the abiotic stress-mediated elevations in the generation of ROS, and the modulation of lipid and protein oxidation in abiotic stressed plants. However, the available literature reflects a wide information gap on the mechanisms underlying lipid- and protein-oxidation processes, major techniques for the determination of lipid- and protein-oxidation products, and on critical cross-talks among these aspects. Based on recent reports, this article (a) introduces ROS and highlights their relationship with abiotic stress-caused consequences in crop plants, (b) examines critically the various physiological/biochemical aspects of oxidative damage to lipids (membrane lipids) and proteins in stressed crop plants, (c) summarizes the principles of current technologies used to evaluate the extent of lipid and protein oxidation, (d) synthesizes major outcomes of studies on lipid and protein oxidation in plants under abiotic stress, and finally, (e) considers a brief cross-talk on the ROS-accrued lipid and protein oxidation, pointing to the aspects unexplored so far.

Control of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) tolerance to chilling stress—evaluating the role of ascorbic acid and glutathione

“…Low temperature-mediated differential enhancements in the generation of O − 2 have been evidenced earlier in the leaves of a number of plants including cucumber, maize and millet (Lukatkin, 2002a). If not metabolized, ROS can initiate damaging cellular membrane by oxidizing membrane biomolecules such as lipids and proteins (Anjum et al, 2010(Anjum et al, , 2012(Anjum et al, , 2014aGill and Tuteja, 2010;Popov et al, 2010;Lukatkin et al, 2012). To this end, electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation are among the major consequences of O 2 • − -accrued impact on cell membrane (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2000;Anjum et al, 2014a).…”

“…If not metabolized, ROS can initiate damaging cellular membrane by oxidizing membrane biomolecules such as lipids and proteins (Anjum et al, 2010(Anjum et al, , 2012(Anjum et al, , 2014aGill and Tuteja, 2010;Popov et al, 2010;Lukatkin et al, 2012). To this end, electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation are among the major consequences of O 2 • − -accrued impact on cell membrane (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 2000;Anjum et al, 2014a). This is also true in the present study, where leaf discs incubated at 3 • C exhibited significantly increased electrolyte leakage as well as the content of MDA (a well-known indicator of membrane lipid peroxidation).…”

“…Non-metabolized ROS may cause considerable damages to membrane lipids (lipid peroxidation, LPO) and other cellular components, and also increase electrolyte leakage (Lukatkin, 2003;Suzuki and Mittler, 2006;Anjum et al, 2010Anjum et al, , 2012Anjum et al, , 2014aGill and Tuteja, 2010;Popov et al, 2010). To efficiently counteract ROS-mediated potential consequences, plants employ enzymatic (SOD, superoxide dismutase; CAT, catalase; GPX, guaiacol peroxidase; GST, glutathione sulfo-transferase; APX, ascorbate peroxidase; MDHAR, monodehydroascorbate reductase; DHAR, dehydroascorbate reductase; GR, glutathione reductase) and non-enzymatic (ascorbic acid, AsA; glutathione, GSH; carotenoids; tocopherols; phenolics) antioxidants-based defense system (Anjum et al, 2010(Anjum et al, , 2012(Anjum et al, , 2014bGill and Tuteja, 2010).…”

Zinc application mitigates the adverse effects of NaCl stress on mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss] through modulating compatible organic solutes, antioxidant enzymes, and flavonoid content

“…However, poor irrigation practices are further aggravating the problem (Gupta and Huang 2014). Salinity stress hampers plant growth via diminishing cell division and expansion, reducing photosynthetic efficiency, modifying metabolic processes, as well as causing ion toxicity, osmotic stress, oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and other physiological disorders (Ibrahim et al 2012;Wani et al 2013;Yan et al 2013;Ahmad et al 2016b;Anjum et al 2015;Hussein et al 2017). Cumulatively, these adverse effects perturb growth and alter normal metabolism in plants (Wani et al 2013;Rasool et al 2013;Ahmad et al 2014;Iqbal et al 2015;Tang et al 2015;Hussein et al 2017).…”

“…Salinity stress induces the excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause cell death through causing damages to proteins, lipids, and DNA (Ahmad et al 2010;Gill and Tuteja 2010;Anjum et al 2015). Plants possess endogenous oxidative defense mechanisms (enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant) to counteract salinity-induced ROS.…”