Effects of Calcium and Calmodulin Antagonist on Antioxidant Systems of Eggplant Seedlings Under High Temperature Stress

Ca2+ and calmodulin antagonist [trifluoperazine(TFP),N-(6-aminohexyl-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W7)] pretreatments were conducted on two eggplant varieties Nongyouqie andErmingqie, which have different heat resistance. The results showed that under 40C(day/night), Ca2+ immersion pretreatment enabled the eggplant seedlings to keep relatively higheractivities of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and peroxidase(POD), reduced the production rate ofsuperoxide anion O2_ and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA), alleviated the damage of reducedglutathione(GSH) and the accumulation of proline (Pro), whereas calmodulin antagonist TFP andW7 immersion pretreatments could lead to more rapid loss of SOD and POD activities, increasethe contents of MDA, Pro and production rate of O2_, aggravate the damage of GSH. Under the samestress condition, heat-resistant variety Nongyouqie was less injured compared to the heat-sensitive variety Erminqie. These data indicated that Ca2+-CaM signal transduction systemmight regulate the heat resistance of eggplant seedlings by controlling the activity of someantioxidant enzymes and the contents of antioxidant substance.