Differential responses in activity of antioxidant enzymes to different environmental stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana

The effects of various environmental stresses on the activities of seven antioxidant enzymes were investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana, Three-week-old plants were exposed to a high temperature (30 C), an enhanced light intensity (200 mu E/m(2)/sec), water deficiency (water deprivation for 2 days), a chilling temperature (5 C), or ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation (0.25 or 0.094 W/m(2)) for 1 week (except for water deficiency), The high temperature and enhanced light treatments increased only dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activity. Water deficiency enhanced the activities of DHAR and guaiacol peroxidase(PER), Chilling temperature increased the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR), whereas it decreased catalase(CAT)activity. UV-B at an intensity of 0.25 W/m(2) elevated the activities of APX, monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), GR, PER and superoxide dismutase (SOD). It was suggested that the amounts of phenylpropanoid compounds increased during treatments of plants with enhanced light intensity, chilling temperature, and UVB, These results suggest that some differences exist among the oxidative stress conditions caused by the different treatments, although all of these treatments seem to be related to active oxygen production. We propose that in A. thaliana, environmental stresses may be classified into those which induce DHAR activity and those which induce APX activity.