Effects of Pyrene Stress on Growth and Physiological Indexes of Maize(Zea mays L.) Seedling

[Objective]The paper was to explore the effects of pyrene stress on growth and physiological indexes of maize seedling.[Method] The effects of different concentrations of pyrene（0,0.5,1.0,and 2.0 mg/L） on growth and several physiological indexes,such as chlorophyll content,malnodiadehyde（MDA） content of both leaves and roots of maize（Zea Mays L.） seedlings of Shixiang 1（sensitive variety） and Guangtian 3（tolerant variety） were studied by a hydroponic experiment.[Result]As the concentration of prene increasing within the test concentration range,the contents of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b in Shixiang 1 first increased and then decreased;relative growth yield and absolute growth rate showed the decreasing trend;MDA contents in roots and leaves showed the increasing trend.Relative growth yield,absolute growth rate and chlorophyll a content in Guangtian 3 first increased and then decreased;chlorophyll b and MDA contents in roots showed the increasing trend;MDA contents in leaves showed the decreasing trend.Compared with control,chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents of Shixiang 1 significantly increased under pyrene concentration of 0.5-1.0 mg/L,which significantly decreased as the concentration of pyrene ≥2.0 mg/L;MDA contents in roots and leaves significantly increased as the concentration of pyrene ≥1.0 mg/L,while relative growth yield and absolute growth rate significantly decreased.Chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents in Guangtian 3 significantly increased as the concentration of pyrene ≥1.0 mg/L.Pyrene concentration had significantly negative correlation with relative growth yield and absolute growth rate of Shixiang 1,while it had significant positive correlation with MDA contents in roots.Pyrene concentration had significant positive correlation with chlorophyll b and MDA contents in roots of tolerant variety Guangtian 3.[Conclusion]The study provided basis for the management measures of maize during its seedling stage.

Protein Changes in Response to Pyrene Stress in Maize （Zea mays L.） Leaves

Phytoremedlation is a relatively new approach to remove polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） from the environment. When plants are grown under pyrene treatment, they respond by synthesizing a set of protective proteins. To learn more about protein changes in response to pyrene treatment, we extracted total proteins from the leaves of maize （Zea mays L.） 1 week after pyrene treatment. The proteins extracted were separated with twodimensional gel electrophoresis. In total, approximately 54 protein spots were found by comparing gels from treated and control groups. According to the Isoelectric point, molecular weight, and abundance of these protein spots, 20 pyrene-lnduced proteins were found to have changed abundance. Of these, 15 protein spots were Increased and five protein spots were newly appeared in pyrene-treated plant leaves. Six model upregulated protein spots of different molecular weights were excised from the gels and subjected to trypsin digestion followed by peptide separation using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Peptlde masses were used to search the matrix-science database for protein Identification. Two of the proteins were Identified on the basis of the homology of their peptide profiles with existing protein sequences as pyruvate orthophosphate diklnase and the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunlt. These proteins are Involved in the regulation of carbohydrate and energy metabolism. The present study gives new Insights into the pyrene stress response In maize leaves and demonstrates the power of the proteomlc approach in phytoremedlation of PAHs.