The impact of engineered nickel oxide nanoparticles on ascorbate glutathione cycle in Allium cepa L

• Published in: Physiology and molecular biology of plants Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 663 - 678
• Main Authors: Manna, Indrani, Bandyopadhyay, Maumita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.05.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Allium cepa; Ascorbic acid; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biophysics; Cell Biology; Electrolytic cells; Exposure; Glutathione; Glutathione peroxidase; Glutathione reductase; Hydrogen peroxide; Intracellular; L-Ascorbate peroxidase; Life Sciences; Nanoparticles; Nickel; Nickel oxides; Peroxidase; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Pyruvaldehyde; Reactive oxygen species; Reductases; Research Article; Toxicity; Antioxidants; Reduced glutathione; Methylglyoxal; GSH:GSSG ratio; ROS; Environmental pollutant; Engineered nanoparticle hazard
• ISSN: 0971-5894; 0974-0430
• DOI: 10.1007/s12298-023-01314-8

Engineered nickel oxide nanoparticle (NiO-NP) can inflict significant damages on exposed plants, even though very little is known about the modus operandi . The present study investigated effects of NiO-NP on the crucial stress alleviation mechanism Ascorbate-Glutathione Cycle (Asa-GSH cycle) in the model plant Allium cepa . Cellular contents of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidised glutathione (GSSG), was disturbed upon NiO-NP exposure. The ratio of GSH to GSSG changed from 20:1 in NC to 4:1 in roots exposed to 125 mg L −1 NiO-NP. Even the lowest treatments of NiO-NP (10 mg L −1 ) increased ascorbic acid (2.9-folds) and cysteine contents (1.6-folds). Enzymes like glutathione reductase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione–S-transferase also showed altered activities in the affected tissues. Further, intracellular methylglyoxal, a harbinger of ROS (Reactive oxygen species), increased significantly (~ 26 to 65-fold) across different concentrations NiO-NP. Intracellular H 2 O 2 (hydrogen peroxide) and ROS levels increased with NiO-NP doses, as did electrolytic leakage from damaged cells. The present work indicated that multiple pathways were compromised in NiO-NP affected plants and this information can bolster our general understanding of the actual mechanism of its toxicity on living cells, and help formulate strategies to thwart ecological pollution.