γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) alleviated oxidative damage and programmed cell death in fresh-cut pumpkins

Jingyi Liang; Fan Guo; Shifeng Cao; Ke Zhao; KeXin Zhao; Hongfei Wang; Xingfeng Shao; Yingying Wei; Chundan Zhang; Yonghua Zheng; Feng Xu

doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.03.029

γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) alleviated oxidative damage and programmed cell death in fresh-cut pumpkins

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2022 Jun 1:180:9-16. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.03.029. Epub 2022 Mar 26.

Authors

Jingyi Liang¹, Fan Guo¹, Shifeng Cao², Ke Zhao¹, KeXin Zhao¹, Hongfei Wang¹, Xingfeng Shao¹, Yingying Wei¹, Chundan Zhang¹, Yonghua Zheng³, Feng Xu⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
² College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, China.
³ College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China. Electronic address: xufeng1@nbu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35366616
DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.03.029

Abstract

The regulation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on plant anti-oxygenation and programmed cell death (PCD) in fresh-cut pumpkins was investigated. Exogenous GABA positively promoted GABA accumulation and alleviated oxidant damage in pumpkins tissue. Pumpkins treated with GABA showed lower electrolyte leakage, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and MDA content, while higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) as compared to the non-treated tissues. Our results also found that GABA treatment retarded DNA degradation and cytochrome c release and delayed the apoptosis of pumpkin cells. On the other hand, the inhibitor of GABA generation, 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MP) treatment not only accelerated oxidant damage, but also induced cell death involving chromatin condensation, DNA ladder and cytochrome c releasing. Taken together, our present research indicated that exogenous GABA could alleviate the wound-induced oxidative stress and PCD occurrence in fresh-cut pumpkins.

Keywords: Fresh-cut pumpkins; GABA; Programmed cell death; ROS content.