Maintaining redox balance is one of the crucial requirements for a cell to endure stress from the outside. Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR; EC 1.8.5.1) plays an important role in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle; one of the major ROS scavenging systems in most known biological systems. A cDNA clone of the DHAR gene from Oryza sativa (OsDHAR) was isolated and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL...

The possibility that ascorbateand reduced glutathioneinduced swelling and lysis of mitochondria (1,2) were dependent on some metal, such as iron, which was contaminating reagents, or even the nonheme iron in mitochondria led us to investigate the action of added iron. The ferrous ion was of special interest as a result of its role in several reactions catalyzed by ascorbate (3, 4). The promotio...

Machine transplantation results in serious transplant shock in seedlings and results in a longer recover stage, which negatively impacts the growth of low-position tillers and the yield of machine-transplanted rice. A barrel experiment was conducted to examine the effect of the foliar application of triacontanol (TRIA) on machine-transplanted rice during the recovery stage. TRIA (0, 1, 5, and 1...

Chloroplast-targeted overexpression of an Fe superoxide dismutase (SOD) from Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in substantially increased foliar SOD activities. Ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and monodehydroascorbate reductase activities were similar in the leaves from all of the lines, but dehydroascorbate reductase activity was increased in the leaves of the FeSOD transformants rela...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies have provided strong evidence that fine particulate matter (PM2.5; aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) can exacerbate asthmatic symptoms in children. Pro-oxidant components of PM2.5 are capable of directly generating reactive oxygen species. Oxidative burden is used to describe the capacity of PM2.5 to generate reactive oxygen species in the lung. OBJECTIVE In th...

Exposure of Arabidopsis plants that were maintained under low light (200 mumol of photons m-2 sec-1) to excess light (2000 mumol of photons m-2 sec-1) for 1 hr caused reversible photoinhibition of photosynthesis. Measurements of photosynthetic parameters and the use of electron transport inhibitors indicated that a novel signal transduction pathway was initiated at plastoquinone and regulated, ...

Plant cells produce active oxygen during interactions with potential pathogens. Active oxygen species, including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and the hydroxyl radical, could potentially affect many cellular processes involved in plant/pathogen interactions. Active oxygen can be difficult to monitor in plant cells because many of the species are short-lived and are subject to cellular antioxid...

Sinorhizobium meliloti cells were engineered to overexpress Anabaena variabilis flavodoxin, a protein that is involved in the response to oxidative stress. Nodule natural senescence was characterized in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) plants nodulated by the flavodoxin-overexpressing rhizobia or the corresponding control bacteria. The decline of nitrogenase activity and the nodule structural and ultr...

Plants can frequently experience low oxygen concentrations due to environmental factors such as flooding or waterlogging. It has been reported that both anoxia and the transition from anoxia to re-oxygenation determine a strong imbalance in the cellular redox state involving the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO). Plant cell cultures can be a suitable system to st...