Life-cycle chronic gamma exposure of Arabidopsis Thaliana induces growth effects but no discernable effects on oxidative stress pathways

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    Arabidopsis thaliana was exposed to low-dose chronic gamma irradiation during a full life cycle and several biological responses were investigated. Following 24 days (inflorescence emergence), 34 days (w50% of flowers open) and 54 days (silice ripening) exposure, plants were harvested and monitored for biometric parameters, capacities of enzymes involved in the antioxidative defence mechanisms (SOD, APOD, GLUR, GPOD, SPOD, CAT, ME), glutathione and ascorbate pool, lipid peroxidation products, altered gene expression of selected genes encoding for antioxidative enzymes or reactive oxygen species production, and DNA integrity. Root fresh weight was significantly reduced after gamma exposure compared to the control at all stages monitored but no significant differences in root weight for the different dose rates applied was observed. Leaf and stem fresh weight were significantly reduced at the highest irradiation level after 54 days exposure only. Also total plant fresh was significantly lower at silice riping and this for the highest and medium dose rate applied. Germination of seeds from the gamma irradiated plants was not hampered. For several of the antioxidative defence enzymes studied, the enzyme capacity was generally stimulated towards flowering but generally no significant effect of dose rate on enzyme capacity was observed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)778-786
    JournalPlant Physiology and Biochemistry
    Volume48
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Sep 2010

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