Exogenous Allantoin Confers Rapeseed (Brassica campestris) Tolerance to Simulated Drought by Improving Antioxidant Metabolism and Physiology

• Published in: Antioxidants Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 1508
• Main Authors: Raihan, Md. Rakib Hossain, Rahman, Mira, Rastogi, Anshu, Fujita, Masayuki, Hasanuzzaman, Mirza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 27.07.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Allantoin; antioxidant defense system; Antioxidants; ascorbate–glutathione pathway; Ascorbic acid; Biomass; Brassica campestris; Defense; Drought; Droughts; Electrolyte leakage; Glutathione peroxidase; Glutathione reductase; Hydrogen peroxide; L-Ascorbate peroxidase; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; Metabolism; Metabolites; Nitrogen; Oxidative stress; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Plant growth; Proline; Proteins; Reactive oxygen species; Salinity; Seeds; Soil moisture; stress elicitor; ureides; Water balance; water stress; Bangladesh
• ISSN: 2076-3921; 2076-3921
• DOI: 10.3390/antiox12081508

Allantoin is an emerging plant metabolite, but its role in conferring drought-induced oxidative stress is still elusive. Therefore, an experiment was devised to explore the role of allantoin (0.5 and 1.0 mM; foliar spray) in rapeseed (Brassica campestris cv. BARI Sarisha-17) under drought. Seedlings at fifteen days of age were subjected to drought, maintaining soil moisture levels at 50% and 25% field capacities, while well-irrigated plants served as the control group. Drought-stressed plants exhibited increased levels of lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, and impaired glyoxalase systems. Thus, the growth, biomass, and yield attributes of rapeseed were significantly impaired under drought. However, the allantoin-supplemented plants showed a notable increase in their contents of ascorbate and glutathione and decreased dehydroascorbate and glutathione disulfide contents under drought. Moreover, the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase, dehydroascorbate reductase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase were accelerated with the allantoin spray and the glyoxalase system was also enhanced under drought. Moreover, the improvement in water balance with reduction in proline and potassium ion contents was also observed when allantoin was applied to the plants. Overall, the beneficial effects of allantoin supplementation resulted in the improved plant growth, biomass, and yield of rapeseed under drought conditions. These findings suggest that allantoin acts as an efficient metabolite in mitigating the oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species by enhancing antioxidant defense mechanisms and the glyoxalase system.