Protecting the photosynthetic performance of snap bean under free air ozone exposure

Tropospheric ozone（O3） is a major air pollutant and causes serious injury to vegetation. To protect sensitive plants from O3 damage, several agrochemicals have been assessed,including cytokinin（e.g., kinetin, KIN） and ethylenediurea（EDU） with cytokinin-like activity.In higher plant, leaves are primarily injured by O3 and protective agrochemicals are often applied by leaf spraying. To our knowledge, the mitigating abilities of EDU and KIN have not been compared directly in a realistic setup. In the present research, impacts of elevated O3（2 × ambient O3, 24 hr per day, for 8 days） on an O3 sensitive line（S156） of snap bean（Phaseolus vulgaris）, which is often used for biomonitoring O3 pollution, were studied in a free air controlled exposure system. The day before starting the O3 exposure, plants were sprayed with a solution of EDU（300 ppm）, KIN（1 mmol/L） or distilled water, to compare their protective abilities. The results demonstrated that 2 × ambient O3 inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance, increased the minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state, decreased the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, and led to visible injury. KIN and EDU alleviated the reduction of the photosynthetic performance, and visible injury under O3 fumigation. The plants sprayed with EDU showed greater ability to mitigate the O3 damage than those sprayed with KIN. Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging may have detected more precisely the differences in O3 response across the leaf than the conventional fluorometer.

Effect of tibolone pretreatment on kinases and phosphatases that regulate the expression and phosphorylation of Tau in the hippocampus of rats exposed to ozone

Oxidative stress （OS） is a key process in the development of many neurodegenerative diseases, memory disorders, and other pathological processes related to aging. Tibolone （TIB）, a synthetic hormone used as a treatment for menopausal ymptoms, decreases lipoperoxidation levels, prevents memory impairment and learning disability caused by ozone （O3） exposure. However, it is not clear if TIB could prevent the increase in phosphorylation induced by oxidative stress of the microtubule-associated protein Tau. In this study, the effects of TIB at different times of administration on the phosphorylation of Tau, the activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β （GSK3β）, and the inactivation of Akt and phosphatases PP2A and PTEN induced by O3 exposure were assessed in adult male Wistar rats. Rats were divided into 10 groups： control group （ozone-free air plus vehicle [C]）, control ＋ TIB group （ozone-free air plus TIB 1 mg/kg [C ＋ TIB]）; 7,15, 30, and 60 days of ozone exposure groups [O3] and 7, 15, 30, and 60 days of TIB 1 mg/kg before ozone exposure groups [O3 ＋ TIB]. The effects of O3 exposure and TIB administration were assessed by western blot analysis of total and phosphorylated Tau, GSK3β, Akt, PP2A, and PTEN proteins and oxidative stress marker nitrotyrosine, and superoxide dismutase activity and lipid peroxidation of malondialdehyde by two different spectrophotometric methods （Marklund and TBARS, respectively）. We observed that O3 exposure increases Tau phosphorylation, which is correlated with decreased PP2A and PTEN protein levels, diminished Akt protein levels, and increased GSK3β protein levels in the hippocampus of adult male rats. The effects of O3 exposure were prevented by the long-term treatment （over 15 days） with TIB. Malondialdehyde and nitrotyrosine levels increased from 15 to 60 days of exposure to O3 in comparison to C group, and superoxide dismutase activity decreased. Furthermore, TIB administration limited the changes induced by O3 exposure. Our results suggest a beneficial use of hormone replacement therapy with TIB to prevent neurodegeneration caused by O3 exposure in rats.