The role of glutathione in stress adaptation of plants

The tripeptide glutathione is not only essential in the sulfur metabolism of plants, but also an important redox buffer responsible for antioxidative protection and redox regulation of the cell functions. Changes in foliar glutathione concentrations occur upon various stress impacts, such as drought, cold acclimatisation, high altitude stress, and air pollution impacts. In general, results indicate an increase in glutathione concentrations with increasing stress level, which is ascribed a higher capacity for antioxidative protection, but stress impacts may also cause changes in the glutathione redox state which may have further implications on metabolism, such as enzyme regulation and gene expression. The present paper reviews the effects of environmental stress on glutathione metabolism in plants.