Book Review: Oxidative Damage to Plants-Antioxidant Networks and Signaling

  • Anjum N
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Abstract

Plants, having sessile nature have to interact with immediate environment for sustaining their lives. Since biotic and abiotic stresses are dominating the favorable growth conditions, plants have to deal with their impact (such as oxidative stress: an imbalance between production and metabolisms of reactive oxygen species, ROS), and maintain their genetic potential to maximally grow and produce (Anjum et al., 2010, 2012, 2014). Notably, considering their direct or indirect involvement in making food, fuel, fiber, and shelter available to human, understanding intricacies of and improving plant life processes under sub-optimal conditions seems timely and imperative. The entitled above edited volume comprising 20 chapters contributed by eminent researchers, is an attempt to gain insights into both the devastating and signaling role of oxidative stress, and the major defense strategies adopted in plants. Focused at “ROS and photosynthesis,” the Chapter 1 introduces main steps of light and dark reactions, and discusses the production and scavenging of excess excitation energy (EEE) and ROS since their significant role in photosynthesis under environmental stresses. Besides, before briefly discussing the evolution of plant adaptation mechanisms to counteract the damaging effects of EEE and ROS, the author nicely presented the facts how photosynthesis can be regulated by redox status and ROS through their contribution in the signaling pathways. ROS have been implicated as second messengers in plant hormone responses. To this end, the discussion outcomes of the Chapter 2 unveiled that an integrated network, formed by ROS and plant hormone signaling pathways involves a number of crosstalk pathways (related with roles of ABA, ethylene, JA, and MeJA), and can regulate plant growth, development, and their responses to environmental factors. Discussion in the Chapter 3 is centered on the superoxide dismutase (SOD), the first line of defense in plants against varied ROS such as superoxide (O2 ·−) that is generated after the reduction of molecular O2 and is considered to have strong reactivity and oxidizing ability. The author has thoroughly reviewed the significance and modulation of SOD in abiotic stressed plants. The dismutation of O2 ·− by SOD yields H2O2, a non-radical and longer half-time (1 ms) having ROS. H2O2 has the capacity to diffuse and reach numerous biomolecules and affect the activity of proteins oxidizing the thiol groups. Hence, considering the role of H2O2 in plants, and the availability of very little information on the versatility of catalase (CAT) in plants, the Chapter 4 presents a thorough review of the overall aspects of CAT in plants, where CAT, with its excellent enzyme kinetics efficiently removeH2O2 without needing any reducing substrate.

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APA

Anjum, N. A. (2015). Book Review: Oxidative Damage to Plants-Antioxidant Networks and Signaling. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00452

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