Free-radical scavenging enzymes and lipid peroxidation in pathogen bearing soybean seeds

• Grant number: 13/21310-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: January 05, 2014
• End date: July 04, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Roberval Daiton Vieira
• Grantee: Bruno Guilherme Torres Licursi Vieira
• Supervisor: Allan Bruce Downie
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Kentucky (UK), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/14837-4 - Image analysis, pathogens presence and the soybean seeds physiological potential, BP.PD

Abstract

The main challenge of studies on seed vigor is the identification of parameters related to seed deterioration, which precede loss of germination capacity. The protein electrophoresis technique may enable the detection of the deterioration initial stages by the evaluation of enzyme activities associated with degradation and oxidation processes of reserve substances as well as with biosynthesis of new substances. It is known that the viability loss of several seeds is related to certain types of stresses, especially water stresses associated with high temperatures; also, that these stresses are followed by an increase in lipid peroxidation and free-radical accumulation. However, it is not yet fully understood whether the stress caused by pathogens may also affect lipid peroxidation and free-radical accumulation. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the activity of free-radical scavenging enzymes and lipid peroxidation in soybean seeds naturally infected by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Cercospora kikuchii, pathogens that cause, respectively, white mold and purple seed stain. (AU)