Photosynthetica 2020, 58(4):984-994 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2020.051

Exogenous acetylcholine alleviates cadmium-induced phytotoxicity by modulating photosynthetic metabolism and antioxidant potential in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana)

Y.Y. SU1, Y.Q. CHENG1, C. QIN1, N. AHMED2, Y.H. MU3, N.S. MUSTAFAD5, M. ASHRAF6, L.X. ZHANG1
1 College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 712100 Yangling, China
2 Department of Botany, Mohi-Ud-Din Islamic University, 12080 Tarar Khal, Pakistan
3 Shangluo Branch Company of Shaanxi Tobacco Company, 726000 Shangluo, China
5 Pomology Department, National Research Centre, 12622 Cairo, Egypt
6 Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, 38000 Faisalabad, Pakistan

Acetylcholine (ACh) plays a potential role in mediating various physiological processes in plants. However, the involvement of acetylcholine in cadmium (Cd) stress tolerance is unknown. Cd stress caused a decline in biomass, pigment, and photosynthetic capacity in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. A significant oxidative stress was evident through enhancing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation. However, pretreatment with acetylcholine (50 and 100 µM) effectively decreased oxidative damage, especially by 50 µM ACh, which reduced H2O2 and O2*- contents by 50.4 and 45.3%, respectively, in plants treated with Cd. Our results indicated that the protection of photosynthesis by ACh was attributed to the improved photochemical activity of PSII and inhibited stomatal closure. Additionally, ACh-induced Cd toxicity tolerance was closely associated with improved activities of antioxidant enzymes and ascorbate and glutathione pools. Thus, our results suggest that acetylcholine may act as a positive regulator against Cd toxicity in tobacco.

Additional key words: antioxidant system; chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; photoinhibition.

Received: February 16, 2020; Revised: May 17, 2020; Accepted: June 22, 2020; Prepublished online: July 28, 2020; Published: September 4, 2020  Show citation

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SU, Y.Y., CHENG, Y.Q., QIN, C., AHMED, N., MU, Y.H., MUSTAFAD, N.S., ASHRAF, M., & ZHANG, L.X. (2020). Exogenous acetylcholine alleviates cadmium-induced phytotoxicity by modulating photosynthetic metabolism and antioxidant potential in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana). Photosynthetica, 58(4), 984-994. doi: 10.32615/ps.2020.051
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