title: Physiological responses of Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb leaves to cadmium stress.
abstract: Aquatic macrophytes were found to be the potential scavengers of heavy metals from aquatic environment. In this study, several physiological responses of Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb leaves to elevated concentrations of cadmium (up to 10mM) were investigated. It was found that A. philoxeroides was able to accumulate cadmium in its leaves. The pigment contents decreased with the increase of the Cd concentrations. The Cd could induce rise of the activity of peroxidase (POD) at lower concentration (<5mM), however, when the concentration of Cd rose up to 10mM, the POD activity declined. The changes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) activities were exactly opposite to that of POD. In the leaves of Cd-treated fronds, the amounts of three polypeptides with apparent molecular weights 80, 39 and 28kDa, respectively, were became visible in SDS-PAGE. The nature of these polypeptides remains to be determined.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. bigheadding@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Bingzhong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Guoxin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jinzhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qinsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D027703:Amaranthaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000032:analysis; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000032:analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium; D002734:Chlorophyll; D002374:Catalase; D009195:Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D010100:Oxygen