Dong Young Shin

Ameliorative effects of squash (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne ex Poiret) leaf extracts on oxidative stress

This study screened paraquat-tolerant plants among 10 plant species, including monocots and dicots angiosperms. Squash (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne ex Poiret) and kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants exhibited the highest photooxidation-tolerant phenotypes upon a foliar treatment with paraquat. A foliar treatment with paraquat pre-mixed with leaf water extracts from the squash plant significantly alleviated paraquat-induced oxidative damage in maize, but this was not the case after a treatment with the hydrophobic phase of the leaf extracts. In particular, the water extract from young leaves (4th true leaf) of squash plants conferred tenfold higher tolerance to oxidative damage in paraquat-treated leave tissues compared to paraquat-only treatment. This tolerance was tightly linked not only to the increased amounts of ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbate antioxidants in the damaged leaves, but also to the reduced chlorophyll loss, lipid peroxidation, and cellular electrolyte leakage. Moreover, the protective effects of the water extract were apparent when using another bipyridyl herbicide, diquat, but not with a diphenyl-ether herbicide, oxyfluorfen. On the other hand, pre-treatment with the extract prior to the onset of drought or cold stress had no significant antioxidative effect on the treated tissues.

Difference in Physiological Responses to Environmental Stress in Protox Inhibitor Herbicide-Resistant Transgenic Rice and Non-transgenic Rice

The objective of this research was to confirm the difference in physiological responses to environmental stresses such as chilling, high temperature, NaCl, and chemical stress (paraquat) in Protox inhibitor resistant-transgenic rice (MX, PX, and AP37) and its non-transgenic counterpart (WT). Transgenic and non-transgenic rice plants were exposed to a chilling temperature of for 1 day or a high temperature of for 4 days and allowed to recover at for 6 days after the chilling treatment or 8 days after the high temperature treatment. Leaf injury, shoot fresh weight, porphyrin biosynthesis substances, and chlorophyll content were investigated in transgenic and non-transgenic rice at 6 days after 0.5% and 1% NaCl treatments or at 5 days after 0~300 paraquat treatments. No significant difference in leaf injury and shoot fresh weight were observed between transgenic and non-transgenic rice during chilling and recovery. Plant height and shoot fresh weight were also similar between transgenic and non-transgenic rice during the high temperature and recovery period (0~5 days). However, plant height and shoot fresh weight in transgenic rice line MX and PX were lower than in non-transgenic rice at 6 days for recovery. Leaf injury, chlorophyll, and Mg-Proto IX ME contents had no significant difference between transgenic rice and non-transgenic rice after NaCl treatment, but Proto IX content for AP37 and shoot fresh weight for PX and AP37 in 0.5% NaCl treatment were significantly reduced compared with non-transgenic rice. There was no difference in leaf injury and shoot fresh weight when comparing transgenic rice and non-transgenic rice after paraquat treatment. Although transgenic rice and non-transgenic rice showed a little difference at a particular measurement period in certain environmental stresses, there was generally no difference in physiological responses between transgenic rice and non-transgenic rice.

Isolation, Identification and Characterization of Paraquat Activity-Inhibiting Substances in Squash (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne ex Poiret) Leaves

The fourth leaves (younger leaves) amongst extended 4-upper leaves in 18 squash cultivar were the highest tolerance to the paraquat application, followed by third, the second, and the first leaves (older leaves). The forth leaves in Joongangaehobak showed more than three times higher tolerance to the paraquat application than did the first leaves. When the combining of water extract from the fourth leaves with paraquat were applied to the leaves and stems of maize, the paraquat phytotoxicity in maize was reduced compared to the paraquat application alone. Therefore, this study continued to investigate if the phytotoxicity inhibitor exist in the fourth leaves. The water extract in the fourth leaves were isolated by silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, TLC, and HPLC, and the substance in the extract was speculated as a malic acid by identifying through NMR. The mixture malic acid and paraquat were applied to the maize to verify the application effect of malic acid on paraquat toxicity. The 100 µM of paraquat application alone showed 62% of paraquat toxicity to the corn leaves, while the combined application of 100 µM paraquat with malic acid at 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0% did not show the symptom.