Naphthoquinones, plants secondary metabolites are known for their antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-parasitic properties. The biological activity of naphthoquinones is connected with their ability to generate reactive oxygen species and to modify biological molecules at their nucleophilic sites. In our research, the effect of naphthazarin (DHNQ) combined with 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (NQ-2-OH) or 1,4-naphthoquinone (1,4-NQ) on the elongation growth, pH changes of the incubation medium, oxidative stress and redox activity of maize coleoptile cells were investigated. This paper describes experiments performed with maize (Zea mays L.) coleoptile segments, which is a classical model system to study plant cell elongation growth. The data presented clearly demonstrate that lawsone and 1,4-naphthoquinone combined with naphthazarin, at low concentrations (1 and 10 nM), reduced the endogenous and IAA-induced (Indole-3-Acetic Acid) elongation growth of maize coleoptile segments. Those changes in growth correlated with the proton concentration in the incubation medium, which suggests that the changes in the growth of maize coleoptile segments observed in the presence of naphthoquinones are mediated through the activity of PM H⁺-ATPase. The presence of naphthoquinones induced oxidative stress in the maize coleoptile tissue by producing hydrogen peroxide and causing changes in the redox activity. Moreover, the incubation of maize segments with both naphthoquinones combined with naphthazarin resulted in lipid peroxidation and membrane damage. The regulation of PM H⁺-ATPase activity, especially its inhibition, may result from two major types of reaction: first, a direct interaction between an enzyme and naphthoquinone, which leads to the covalent modification of the protein thiols and the generation of thioethers, which have been found to alter the activity of the PM H⁺-ATPases; second, naphthoquinones induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which inhibits PM H⁺-ATPases by increasing cytosolic Ca2+. This harmful effect was stronger when naphthazarin and 1,4-naphthoquinone were added together. Taking these results into account, it can be suggested that by combining naphthoquinones in small quantities, an alternative to synthetic pesticides could be developed.
Keywords: 1,4-naphthoquinone; auxin; biopesticide; lawsone; naphthazarin; synergistic effect.