Effects of temperature on oxidative stress defense systems, lipid peroxidation and lipoxygenase activity in Phalaenopsis

Higher plants growing in natural environments experience various abiotic stresses. The aim of this study was to determine whether exposure to temperature-stress would lead to oxidative stress and whether this effect varied with different exposure periods. The thermal dependencies of the activities of protective enzymes, photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), protein, non-protein thiol (NP-SH), cysteine content, lipoxygenase (LOX) activity (EC 1.13.11.12) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content at 25–40 °C were determined for 4, 24 and 48 h in leaf and root segments of Phalaenopsis. The increase in MDA level and LOX activity may be due to temperature-associated oxidative damage to leaf and root segments. Temperature-stress induced not only activities of active oxygen species (AOS) scavenging enzymes but also protein, NP-SH and cysteine content in both leaf and root segments at 30 °C for 4 and 24 h (except for 48 h in some cases) compared to 25 °C—and greenhouse-grown leaf and root segments indicating that antioxidants enzymes played an important role in protecting plant from temperature-stress. However, activities of dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR, EC 1.8.5.1), glutathione peroxidase (GPX, EC 1.11.1.9) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) in leaf and root, glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2) in leaf and guaiacol peroxidase (G-POD, 1.11.1.7) in root segments were induced significantly at 40 °C compared to 25 °C and greenhouse-grown plants suggesting that these enzymes play protective roles at high temperature. In contrast, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR, EC 1.6.5.4) in leaf and root, catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) in root, GR in root, and protein, cysteine, NP-SH content in both root and leaf and Fv/Fm ratio were diminished significantly at 40 °C compared to 25 °C—and greenhouse-grown plants. These indicate that these enzymes were apparently not involved in detoxification process and sensitive at higher temperature. Also, the close relation between activities of enzymes with their metabolites at 30 °C than 40 °C indicated that the antioxidants enzymes and metabolites both may play an important role in protecting cells against the temperature-stress.