Department of Biochemistry and Biochemical Technology, College of Biotechnology & Allied Sciences, Allahabad Agricultural Institute-Deemed University, Allahabad-211 007, Uttar Pradesh.
* Corresponding author, E-mail: pkj_biotech@rediffmail.com
The study was conducted to evaluate the lead (Pb) induced changes at the cellular levels in the Cicer arietinum L. cv. Abrodhi. The seedlings were grown hydroponically, and subjected to increasing concentration of Pb (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mM) as Pb(NO3)2 for 5 days. The activities of enzymes involved in antioxidative defense such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (POD) were markedly enhanced while catalase (CAT) decreased prominently with increasing the concentration of Pb. The non-enzymatic antioxidative scavengers, viz. ascorbic acid, non-protein thiols, phenol and proline contents showed a progressive increase during the time of Pb treatment. The maximum increase or decreases in the level of the above biochemicals were observed at 2.0 mM concentration. The results suggested that Pb toxicity causes oxidative stress in seedlings and the antioxidative enzymes play a pivotal role against oxidative injury.
Antioxidative defense, Cicer arietinum, lead, oxidative stress, superoxide dismutase
