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Redox status and oxalate exudation determines the differential tolerance of two contrasting varieties of ‘Assam tea’ [Camelia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntz] in response to aluminum toxicity

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Abstract

The tea plant [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntz] is a well-known hyper-accumulator of aluminum (Al3+) that can grow in acidic soils contaminated with excess levels of Al3+. In this work, we used various assays for ascorbate–glutathione cycle components and other antioxidant enzymes to show that the alterations in the redox status after Al3+ treatment on tea cultivars, TV23 (tolerant) and S3A1 (sensitive), is responsible for their differential tolerance to Al3+ stress. A lower dose of Al3+ stress hastened the growth rate as suggested by an increase in biomass with respect to the control in both roots and leaves, but on further increasing the dose, the reverse occurred. Organic acid exudation has a major role in Al3+ detoxification. This study also reports the involvement of oxalate as a major exudate, since the activity of glycolate oxidase (GO) was found to drastically increase under the Al3+ stress condition. The increment in reactive oxygen species production and accumulation was quantitated in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA), super oxide anion (O2−), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which was followed by a rapid increase in the activity of many stress-responsive antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX). The results indicated that differential tolerance to Al3+ toxicity in tea varieties is linked to their oxidative stress response; and, antioxidant enzymes, as a crucial constituent of the defense response, appear to function differentially in the two cultivars. This is the first report showing differential tolerance of two contrasting varieties of ‘Assam Tea’ to Al3+ stress.

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Acknowledgements

SSD sincerely thanks UGC, New Delhi, India, for providing NON-NET fellowship throughout the research. In addition, we would also to like convey our thanks to the Manager and staffs of Rosekandy Tea Estate, Silchar, India to be generous enough to provide us the tea cultivars. We gratefully acknowledge the DBT-Biotech hub, Assam University, Silchar, India, for instrumentation facility. We would also like to acknowledge Central Instrumentation Facility, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India for AAS instrumentation facility.

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  1. Bedabrata Saha

    Present address: School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, Jatani, 752050, India

  2. Sanjib Kumar Panda

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, 305817, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar, 788011, India

    Sanjenbam Sanjibia Devi, Bedabrata Saha, Jay Prakash Awasthi, Preetom Regon & Sanjib Kumar Panda

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SSD and SKP conceived, visualised and designed the experiments. SKP arranged the resources and supervised the project. SSD, BS, JPA, PR performed the experiments. SSD, BS and SKP critically analysed the data. BS and SSD contributed to the writing of the draft manuscript.

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Devi, S.S., Saha, B., Awasthi, J.P. et al. Redox status and oxalate exudation determines the differential tolerance of two contrasting varieties of ‘Assam tea’ [Camelia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntz] in response to aluminum toxicity. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 61, 485–499 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00241-x

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