María Patricia BenavidesUniversity of Buenos Aires | UBA · Department of Biological Chemistry
María Patricia Benavides
PhD
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80
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Publications (80)
Nanoparticles (NPs)-based growth stimulators have promising usage in agriculture. This research analyzed the impact of citric acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs; 50 mg Fe L⁻¹) added once at pre-sowing on soybean and alfalfa seedlings growing in association with their corresponding microsymbiont partners, Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Sin...
Nitric oxide (NO) is a small gaseous molecule regarded as an important signaling compound. It induces several developmental and physiological responses in plants, ranging from germination and senescence to photosynthesis and redox homeostasis. It can interact with phytohormones, like abscisic acid and auxins, inhibit programmed cell death (PCD), an...
In this work, we tested if inoculation with the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria Azospirillum brasilense strain Az39 alleviates Cd²⁺ stress in wheat seedlings grown under controlled conditions. Growth, total N, N-related metabolites/enzymes, and oxidative stress parameters were measured. Additionally, the usefulness of a real-time PCR protocol...
In this work, the internalization and distribution of citric acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles (here, Fe3O4-NPs) in soybean and alfalfa tissues and their effects on plant growth were studied. Both legumes were germinated in pots containing an inert growing matrix (vermiculite) to which Hoagland solution without (control, C), with Fe3O4-NPs (50 an...
Cadmium is one of the most important contaminants and it induces severe plant growth restriction. In this study, we analyzed the metabolic changes associated with root growth restriction caused by cadmium in the early seminal root apex of wheat. Our study included two genotypes: the commercial variety ProINTA Federal (WT) and the PSARK::IPT (IPT) l...
Nitrogen (N) is a central mineral nutrient essential for plant development and growth. It is usually scarcely found in soils, so the knowledge of the overall plant N metabolism deserves substantial attention. Polyamines (PAs) are N‐containing low‐molecular‐weight compounds of polycationic nature involved in essential processes all throughout the li...
Cyclin-dependent kinase A (CDKA) is a key component for cell cycle progression. The catalytic kinase activity depends on the protein's ability to form an active complex with cyclins and on phosphoregulatory mechanisms. Cell cycle arrest and plant growth impairment under abiotic stress have been linked to different molecular processes triggered by i...
Modern breeding programs might have caused a reduction in plant responsiveness to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).
Flavonoids and polyamines (PAs) are hypothesized to play a role in this symbiosis.We tested the effects of them inAMF roots of
improved (I-1) and unimproved (UI-4) soybean genotypes, under the hypothesis that domestication decreased...
Polyamines (PAs) produce H2O2 and nitric oxide (NO) during their normal catabolism and modulate plant growth and development. To explore the biochemical basis of PAs-induced growth inhibition in Triticum aestivum L seedlings, we examined the role of O2·-, H2O2 or NO in shoot and root development. Although all PA treatments resulted in a variable re...
Eichhornia crassipes is a macrophyte widely used in phytoremediation, demonstrating a high ability to remove metals from water. The aim of this work was to evaluate its enzymatic detoxification strategies and metal accumulation when it is exposed to different Zn concentrations (0, 2, 4, 6, and 9 ppm) for periods of 24, 48, and 72 h. Zn concentratio...
In the present study we evaluated the pre-treatment (priming) of Arabidopsis thaliana plants with sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO-donor, as an interesting approach for improving plant tolerance to cadmium stress. We focused on the cell redox balance and on the methionine sulfoxide reductases (MSR) family as a key component of such response. MSR ca...
Microbes trigger stomatal closure through microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). The bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) synthesizes the polyketide toxin coronatine, which inhibits stomatal closure by MAMPs and by the hormone abscisic acid (ABA). The mechanism by which coronatine, a jasmonic acid-isoleucine analog, achi...
Interest on the environmental impact of engineered nanomaterials has rapidly increased over the past years because it is expected that these materials will eventually be released into the environment. In this work, physiological effects and possible cell internalization of citric acid coated-Fe3O4 nanoparticles (5, 10, 15, 20 mg L⁻¹) on wheat (Trit...
Plants are exposed to environmental stress, in natural and agricultural conditions.Nitric oxide (NO), a small gaseous molecule which plays important roles in plants, has been involved in many physiological processes, and emerged as an important endogenous signaling molecule in the adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stress. NO is produced fr...
In this investigation we analyzed in detail the consequences of water deficit during the first 4 days of wheat development, focusing on root growth as affected by eventual changes in cell cycle regulation and oxidative processes. Root elongation decreased under water restriction in correlation with the intensity of this limitation, but the total nu...
The effect of exposure of Eichhornia crassipes to Cr (III) was assessed by measuring changes in photosynthetic pigments, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, catalase, and guaiacol peroxidase activities, as well as Cr concentration in tissues. Cr concentration in roots was significantly higher than in aerial parts and incre...
El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar los efectos de la exposición de soluciones conteniendo Cr (III) y nutrientes sobre parámetros fisiológicos, peroxidación lipídica y la acumulación del metal en Eichhornia crassipes. Acuarios con plantas expuestas a 4, 6 y 8 mg/l de Cr se compararon con tratamientos con las mismas concentraciones de Cr (I...
The response of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) wild-type SR1 leaf discs in terms of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and cell death occurrence was evaluated after exposure to the polyamines (PAs) putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm). Although NADPH oxidase-like enzyme activity was inhibited by all PAs at 3 or 21 h of treatm...
A considerable number of soil and rhizospheric fungi and bacteria collectively known as plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPM) have demonstrated ability to colonize plant roots and to provide benefits to their hosts. Among these benefits, many authors documented improved root hydraulic conductance and alleviation of abiotic stresses such as d...
Proteins are molecules especially susceptible to oxidative modifications owing to their abundance and reactivity to radicals. Amongst the protein oxidative (redox) changes, carbonylation of the molecules represents an irreversible process that leads to the lost of protein functionality. The bulk of carbonylated proteins are produced as a result of...
The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the ways by which ROS are generated are very important facts related to heavy metal toxicity in plants. In this work, superoxide anion (O 2 ˙⎯) generation diminished in cadmium treated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) leaf discs, and this reduction was time and Cd-concentration dependent. In line...
The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the ways by which ROS are generated are very important facts related to heavy metal toxicity in plants. In this work, superoxide anion (O2·-) generation diminished in cadmium treated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) leaf discs, and this reduction was time and Cd-concentration dependent. In line wi...
In the present work, the response of tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) wild-type SR1 and transgenic CAT1AS plants (with a basal reduced CAT activity) was evaluated after exposure to the herbicide paraquat (PQ). Superoxide anion (O
2.−) formation was inhibited at 3 or 21 h of exposure, but H2O2 production and ion leakage increased significantly, both...
In the present work, the effect of polyamines (PAs) on nitrate reductase (NR) activity was studied in wheat leaves exposed to exogenously added PAs while assessing the nitric oxide (NO) involvement in the regulation of the enzyme activity. A biphasic response was observed along the time of treatment using 0.1 mM of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd...
The ability of two strains of Azospirillum brasilense to mitigate NaCl stress in barley plants was evaluated. Barley seedlings were inoculated and subjected to 200 mM NaCl for 18 days. Several days after NaCl treatment, a significant decline in biomass as well as in height was observed in uninoculated plants. However, smaller reductions in biomass...
Nitrate reductase (NR), a committed enzyme in nitrate assimilation, is involved in the generation of nitric oxide (NO) in plants. In wheat leaf segments exposed to sodium nitroprusside (SNP) or S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), NR activity was significantly reduced to different degrees between 3 and 21 h, whereas its activity was partially recovered whe...
The physiological responses of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to oxidative stress induced by cadmium were examined with respect to reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, antioxidant enzymes activities, and cell death appearance in wild-type SR1 and catalase-deficient CAT1AS plants. Leaf disks treated with 100 or 500 µM CdCl2 increased Evans blue...
To further explore the biochemical basis of Cd toxicity in developing wheat seedlings, we studied the possible role of nitric oxide (NO) and polyamines as signaling molecules involved in metal-induced root growth inhibition. When used at 0.1 mM, sodium nitroprusside, a NO-releasing compound, inhibited root growth to a similar extent as Cd and enhan...
Although sunflower is usually regarded as a highly tolerant crop, impairment of root growth at initial stages of plant development may result in poor crop establishment and higher susceptibility to pathogen attack. In order to evaluate if Cd2+ and Cu2+ may impact on sunflower germination and initial root development, a pot experiment under controll...
In this review we will concentrate in the results published the last years regarding the involvement of polyamines in the plant responses to abiotic stresses, most remarkably on salt and drought stress. We will also turn to other types of abiotic stresses, less studied in relation to polyamine metabolism, such as mineral deficiencies, chilling, wou...
One of the main antioxidant enzymes, catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6), is capable of catalyzing the dismutation of H(2)O(2). This enzyme is involved in signal transduction pathway in plants, controlling the cellular level of this reactive oxygen species. Four different genes, CATA1-CATA4, were identified in Helianthus annuus L. cotyledons. Incubation of...
To better understand the role of endogenous salicylic acid (SA) in plants exposed to abiotic stresses known to generate oxidative damage, the response to cadmium treatment of a wild Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype and a SA-deficient transgenic line was investigated. After 5 days of Cd treatment, chlorophyll content was significantly reduced and TBARS...
An in vitro rooting protocol for producing Nothofagus nervosa microplants using successive steps during tissue culture is reported. Qualitative and quantitative changes in putrescine,
spermidine, and spermine tissue contents, during the rooting process and their correlation with other biochemical markers
and morphological changes, provided the rati...
Polyamine metabolism, as well as spermine (Spm) antioxidant properties, were studied in wheat leaves under Cd2+ or Cu2+ stress. The oxidative damage produced by both metals was evidenced by an increased of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and a significant decrease in glutathione under both metal treatments. Ascorbate peroxidase (APO...
The effect of different doses of cadmium and copper was studied in relation to growth and polyamine (Pas) metabolism in shoots of sunflower plants. Cadmium accumulated to higher levels than copper and shoot length was reduced by 0.5 and 1 mM Cd, but only by 1 mM Cu. At 1 mM of Cd or Cu, Put content increased 270% and 160% with Cd2+ and Cu2+, respec...
Nitric oxide is a bioactive molecule involved in many biological events that has been reported as prooxidant as well as antioxidant in plants. In the present study, we evaluated the protective effect of nitric oxide (NO) against Cd-induced oxidative stress in sunflower leaves. Leaves from seedlings pretreated before metal exposure with 100 μM sodiu...
Although Berberis buxifolia has been reported to propagate in vitro, rooting is difficult to achieve during subcultures, with reduced quantity and quality of roots, as is the case with many other woody species. Several cofactors of rhizogenesis have been proposed, and the role of polyamines in rooting has recently acquired relevance. Polyamines can...
The effect of moderate (50 M) and high (200 M) doses of Cd were studied in relation to polyamine (Pas) metabolism, proline level and the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase system (GS/GOGAT) activity in nodules and roots of soybean plants during 6 days of treatment. The lower Cd concentration increased putrescine (Put) in both nodules and roots...
Heavy metals are important environmental pollutants and their toxicity is a problem of increasing significance for ecological, evolutionary, nutritional, and environmental reasons. Plants posses homeostatic cellular mechanisms to regulate the concentration of metal ions inside the cell to minimize the potential damage that could result from the exp...
Berberis buxifolia is a Patagonian shrub with great economic potential for tinctorial, pharmacological, and food industries. Clonal propagation is possible through in vitro culture and is also useful for metabolite production. However, this species is difficult to root, and to improve this, more knowledge of rhizogenesis processes is needed. Polyam...
A relationship between the antioxidant defense system and salt tolerance in two types of sunflower calli differing in salt sensitivity was studied. No reduction in growth occurred in the NaCl-salt-adapted cell line (T) when grown on 175 mM NaCl but growth of the salt-stressed cell line (S) was reduced by 83%. Lipid peroxidation and protein oxidatio...
The influence of Cd2+ or Cu2+ on polyamine (Pa) metabolism and ethylene evolution was studied in sunflower and wheat leaf-discs. Both metals increased putrescine (Put) content in wheat leaves 280 and 90%, respectively, but reduced this Pa in sunflower leaves by about 50% of the control values. Spermidine content was diminished in cadmium and copper...
The nitrogen metabolism of soybean (Glycine max L.) nodules and roots was studied in plants subjected to two different concentrations (50 and 200 μM) of CdCl2. Nitrogenase activity was decreased in nodules treated with 200 μM Cd2+. In 50 μM Cd2+-treated plants, NH4+ content showed similar values to controls in nodules, but increased by 55% in roots...
Responses of sunflower tissues to NaCl stress were studied in control (C), salt-stressed (S) and salt-adapted (T) calluses in terms of proline, polyamines and ethylene content for a period of 21 days. Salt-adapted calluses showed their adaptation to salinity by growing in the medium with 175 mM NaCl, at a similar rate than C calluses on medium with...
A relationship between the antioxidant defence system and metal iontolerance in two types of sunflower callus differing in metal ion sensitivitywas studied. The antioxidant defence system of callus subjected to anadaptationtreatment of Cd(II), Al(III) and Cr(III) responded differently to 150M of each metal compared with the corresponding controls u...
Polyamines antioxidant properties were studied in sunflower leaf discs under cadmium and copper induced oxidative stress. Both metals induced oxidative damage in the studied tissue, as evidenced by an increment in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase (APOX), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutas...
A comparative growth analysis was made between salt-tolerant plants obtained by recurrent selection methods in vitro and Solanum tuberosum L. 'Kennebec' original mother plants (wild type). They were grown at three different salt concentrations (0.5, 25, and 100 mM NaCl) by hydroponic culture. Fourteen days after the saline treatment was applied, no...
Polyamines antioxidant properties were studied in sunflower leaf discs under cadmium and copper induced oxidative stress. Both metals induced oxidative damage in the studied tissue, as evidenced by an increment in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase (APOX), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutas...
Polyamines have been reported as efficient antioxidant compounds in plants. Sunflower leaf discs, treated with 100 µM paraquat (PQ), a well known oxidative stress inducer, showed decreased levels of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) (between 33% and 80% with respect to the controls). Arginine decarboxylase (ADC) and ornithine de...
A relationship between the antioxidant defence system and salt tolerance in two clones of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) differing in salt sensitivity was studied. The antioxidant defence system of the sensitive clone responded differently to 100 and 150 mM NaCl. At 100 mm NaCl, growth, dehydroascorbate reductase and catalase activities remained una...
The accumulation of compatible solutes is one of the strategies that plants have developed to tolerate salt stress. Proline and betaine are the main metabolites that accumulate in various species of higher plants in response to salt stress. In Helianthus annuus L., pre-treatment of seeds with ethanolamine led to enhanced seedling tolerance to condi...
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds were germinated and grown in the presence of 50, 100 and 200 µM CdCl2. The lower concentration (50 µM) of Cd2 ions produced slight decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) content and overall increase (except superoxide dismutase) in
antioxidant enzyme activities, and in H2O2 concentration. Chlorophyll content, l...
Root induction on in vitro Simmondsia chinensis shoots was improved after 60 days co cultivation with Agrobacterium rhizogenes, with or without 490 μM IBA simultaneously added. The three strains used (A4, 1601 and 9402) increased the rooting percentage to 80, 73.4 and 73.3%, respectively. IBA produced calli at the base of the stem in similar percen...
The antioxidant defence systems of soybean (Glycine max
(L.) Merr) nodules responded differently to 50 and 200 mM NaCl. At 50 mM NaCl,
leghaemoglobin content and nitrogenase activity remained unaltered but there
was an overall increase in the antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase,
catalase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase) and in...
The antioxidant defence systems of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) nodules responded differently to 50 and 200 mM NaCl. At 50 mM NaCl, leghaemoglobin content and nitrogenase activity remained unaltered but there was an overall increase in the antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase) and in...
The level of the three main polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine and the biosynthetic enzyme arginine decarboxylase
(ADC) decreased in Helianthus annuus L. seedlings subjected to increasing (50, 100, and 150 mm) NaCl concentrations. The pattern of polyamines in control plants increased during the initial 72 h and then reached a plateau....
Two soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars NaCl tolerant (377) and NaCl sensitive (411), were grown on medium with 150 mM NaCl. Salt treatment produced a 50% decrease in leghemoglobin (Lb) in 411, while in 377 no significant change was observed. Decreases of 50% in acetylene reduction activity (ARA) occurred in 411, while in the tolerant 377 values rem...
The relationship between heavy metal ion toxicity and oxidative stress in plant cells was studied. Leaf segments from 14 day old sunflower seedlings were incubated in solutions containing 0.5 mM Fe(II), Cu(II) or Cd(II) ions for 12 h in the light. Treatment with metal ions studied produced a decrease in chlorophyll and GSH contents as well as incre...
Relationship between cadmium ion toxicity and oxidative reactions in plant cells was studied. Helianthus annuus L. plants were treated with two concentrations (50 μM and 100 μM) of CdCl2 from 3 to 22 days after germination. Both cadmium concentrations caused a decrease in leaf chlorophyll content as well as an increase in lipid peroxidation rate. T...
Herbicide diuron was tested for toxicity to the nodule forming bacteria Rhizobium loti, Rhizobium meliloti and Bradyrhizobium japonicum, and to the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis of these organisms. Neither growth nor symbiotic behaviour of the Rhizobium loti strain assayed was affected by addition of diuron to the culture medium. In contrast, cultures...
Plants of the wild species Tagetes mendocina were regenerated, via organogenesis, from explants and callus cultures, and the occurrence of biocidal metabolites, thiophenes, by such undifferentiated tissues and regenerated plants was investigated. Differences between explant sources were apparent in terms of their competence for dedifferentiation an...
Questions
Questions (4)
I have tried heat, heat +EDTA and a reextraction but they did not work, at least with plant tissues.
Hello: I am trying to measure NADPH oxidase activity in wheat roots and leaves and I cannot do it adequately. I measure activity y the supernatant from 15000rpm extracts, but I cannot detect any activity in plant microsomes that come from a 45000rpm centrifugation step, according to several published protocols. Can anyone suggest me the best method to measure this enzyme activity?
Sometimes I have problems with germination and post-germination growth of some Arabidopsis mutants. Can anybody give me any general advice about cultivation strategies for Arabidopsis mutants, independently of the type of mutation?
I need to know about the best conditions (temperature, humidity, day/night cycle) to grow Arabidopsis plants in a growth room. Is it necessary to change light conditions to go from vegetative to reproductive stage?
