Hydrogen-rich water confers plant tolerance to mercury toxicity in alfalfa seedlings.
Weiti Cui, Peng Fang, Kaikai Zhu, Yu Mao, Cunyi Gao, Yanjie Xie, Jin Wang, Wenbiao Shen · Ecotoxicology and environmental safety · 2014
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Independent study record
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H2HUBB TAKEAWAY
Hg-induced increases in total and isozymatic activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly reversed by HRW. This source-grounded publication contributes evidence relevant to molecular hydrogen and is retained in a transparent general research category when a more specific study design is not supported by the indexed record.
How Molecular Hydrogen Was Addressed
In this report, the effect of hydrogen-rich water (HRW), which was used to investigate the physiological roles of hydrogen gas (H₂) in plants recently, on the regulation of plant adaptation to mercury (Hg) toxicity was studied. Further results suggested that HRW-induced the activities of guaiacol peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), two hydrogen peroxide-scavenging enzymes, was at transcriptional levels.
What the Publication Reported
Hg-induced increases in total and isozymatic activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly reversed by HRW.
Authors’ Conclusion
The authors concluded that in summary, the results of this investigation indicated that HRW was able to alleviate Hg toxicity in alfalfa seedlings by (i) alleviating growth stunt and reducing Hg accumulation, and (ii) avoidance of oxidative stress and reestablishment of redox homeostasis.