Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33765/thate.15.4.2
Published in: Holistic Approach Environ. 15(2025) 4, pp. 150 – 156
Paper reference number: HAE-24139
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EFFECTS OF COPPER STRESS ON BIOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT RESPONSES OF Enydra fluctuans Lour. (Asteraceae)
Sultana Parven*, Aparajita De*, Abhik Gupta*, Aasif Abdullah Baba*
* Assam University, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Silchar, Assam, India
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ABSTRACT
Enydra fluctuans, an edible aquatic macrophyte with medicinal properties, was exposed to different concentrations of copper (0.11 – 3.03 mg L-1) to determine its effects on chlorophyll a (Chl ‘a’) and chlorophyll b (Chl ‘b’), protein and carbohydrate content, catalase activity and proline content. The copper exposure at 0.11 mg L-1 initially increased the chlorophyll a concentration, while concentrations of 0.51 mg L-1 and higher caused a decrease. One-way ANOVA showed significant differences (p ˂ 0.05) between Cu-exposed plants and control plants for chlorophyll a, but not for chlorophyll b. At cooper concentrations of 1.09 – 3.03 mg L-1, protein content was significantly reduced in the leaf, upper and lower parts of the stem. Cu at 0.11 – 0.51 mg L-1 caused insignificant increase in carbohydrate content in the leaf (except on day 15) and the upper and lower parts of the stem, while a significant decrease occurred in the leaf at 1.09 – 3.03 mg L-1 Cu on day 15, and only at 3.03 mg L-1 in the upper and lower parts of the stem. Catalase activity and proline content were significantly elevated in all plant tissues at Cu exposure of 0.11 mg L-1 and above. Therefore, the study showed that although Cu can significantly affect Enydra fluctuans at relatively low concentrations, the plant has the ability to cope with Cu stress by increasing the activities of the antioxidant enzyme catalase and the accumulation of the non-enzymatic antioxidant proline.
Keywords: chlorophyll, protein, carbohydrate, Enydra fluctuans, catalase, proline
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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