Glutathione and ascorbic acid protect Arabidopsis plants against detrimental effects of iron deficiency

RAMIREZ, L; BARTOLI, C. G.; LAMATTINA, L.

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2013 vol. 64 p. 3169 - 3178

0022-0957

Iron is an essential micronutrient required for a wide variety of cellular functions in plant growth and development. Chlorosis is the first visible symptom in iron deficient plants. Glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (Asc) are multifunctional metabolites playing important roles in redox balancing. In this work, we show that GSH and Asc treatment prevent the chlorosis and the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration induced by iron deficiency in Arabidopsis leaves. In iron deficient Arabidopsis, GSH and Asc are also able to preserve the levels of the iron-sulfur protein ferredoxin 2 (Fd2) and the activity of the heme protein ascorbate peroxidase (APX) at the same level found in iron sufficient plants. GSH content decreases 25 % in iron deficient Arabidopsis seedlings, whereas the Asc levels are not affected. All together, these results show that GSH and Asc supplementation protect Arabidopsis seedlings from iron deficiency preserving cell redox homeostasis and improving internal iron availability.