Metabolic Processes and Chlorophyll Biosynthesis Affected by Cu and PEG 6000 in Maize

Mamta Hirve and Meeta Jain*

School of Biochemistry, Devi Ahilya University, Takshashila Campus, Indore, India

*Corresponding Author: Meeta Jain, School of Biochemistry, Devi Ahilya University, Takshashila Campus, Indore, India.

Received: May 18, 2022; Published: September 23, 2022

Abstract

Simultaneous exposure of plants with more than one stresses is a frequent phenomenon in the natural environment. A combination of heavy metals and water deficit stress is one of them. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of essential metal copper (Cu), polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 induced water deficit and their combination on biochemical attributes and chlorophyll biosynthesis in maize (Zea mays L. cv. Ganga safed-2) seedlings. Results of the study indicate a slight increase in the DNA content of roots with 10% PEG and CuSO₄ together. A similar pattern was obtained for total RNA in roots and the effect was substantial and significant with 10% PEG along with 100 µM CuSO_4. An increase in protein content and band intensities in protein profile by SDS PAGE was observed, especially, with 100 µM CuSO₄, 10% PEG treatment, and its combination with 10 and 100 µM CuSO₄. Both the stresses were found to decrease the contents of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and δ-amino levulinic acid (ALA), as well as, ALA synthesizing activity, δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), and porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) activities. More Cu was accumulated in roots than in shoots. Increased protein content in maize root and shoot tissues by CuSO₄, PEG, and their combined treatments may involve the synthesis of new proteins under stress conditions. Unaltered chlorophyll content and enzyme activities involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis by the supply of CuSO₄ may be because of balance maintained between formation and utilization of chlorophyll biosynthetic precursors in the presence of essential metal Cu. Inhibition of ALA synthesizing and PBGD activities as well as a decrease in ALA content by PEG, indicates the inhibition of early steps of chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway to be responsible for decreasing the chlorophyll content.

Keywords: Maize; Chlorophyll Biosynthesis; Heavy Metals; Water Deficit

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Citation

Citation: Mamta Hirve and Meeta Jain. “Metabolic Processes and Chlorophyll Biosynthesis Affected by Cu and PEG 6000 in Maize". Acta Scientific Agriculture 6.10 (2022): 29-40.

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Copyright: © 2022 Mamta Hirve and Meeta Jain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.