Hydrogen peroxide treatment results in reduced curvature values in the Arabidopsis root apex

J Plant Physiol. 2009 Mar 15;166(5):554-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2008.07.009. Epub 2008 Oct 5.

Abstract

Curvature of a plane curve is a measurement related to its shape. A Mathematica code was developed [Cervantes E, Tocino A. J Plant Physiol 2005;162:1038-1045] to obtain parametric equations from microscopic images of the Arabidopsis thaliana root apex. In addition, curvature values for these curves were given. It was shown that ethylene-insensitive mutants (etr1-1 and ein2-1) have reduced curvature values in the root apex. It has also been shown that blocking ethylene action by norbornadiene, an ethylene inhibitor, results in reduced curvature values in the two outer cell layers of the root apex [Noriega A, Cervantes E, Tocino A. J Plant Physiol 2008, in press]. Because ethylene action has been related with hydrogen peroxide [Desikan R, Hancock JT, Bright J, Harrison J, Weir I, Hooley R, Neill SJ. Plant Physiol 2005;137:831-834], the effect of a treatment with hydrogen peroxide in the curvature values of three successive layers of the root apex in Arabidopsis thaliana was investigated by confocal microscopy. Treatment with 10mM hydrogen peroxide resulted in reduced curvature values in the three layers. The effect was associated with smaller cells having higher circularity indices. The results are discussed in the context of the role of ethylene in development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / anatomy & histology*
  • Arabidopsis / drug effects*
  • Germination / drug effects
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / pharmacology*
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Plant Roots / anatomy & histology*
  • Plant Roots / cytology
  • Plant Roots / drug effects*
  • Seedlings / cytology
  • Seedlings / drug effects

Substances

  • Hydrogen Peroxide