Ameliorating Effect of Boric Acid Against Vanadium Toxicity in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution, which is one of the most important environmental problems, has a significant effect on plant productivity. Vanadium (V) is considered one of the most important elements of the twenty-first century due to its high consumption in industries. Morphological and physiological measurements have been performed in V studies, but there are deficiencies in molecular studies. The purpose of the present work was to elucidate the effects of V on enzymes activity, DNA damage levels and genomic template stability (GTS%) in Triticum aestivum L., as well as to investigate whether boric acid (BA) has preventive effects on these changes. Antioxidant enzyme activities were determined by SOD (superoxide dismutase), POD (peroxidase) and MDA (malondialdehyde) level. The inter-simple sequence repeats polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR) assay was used to determine the genotoxic effects of V on DNA. According to the obtained results, while V stress increased MDA level and POD enzyme activity, SOD enzyme activity decreased. When V and BA were applied together, MDA level decreased and SOD and POD enzyme activities increased. All doses of V (4.4, 6.6, 8.8 mM) resulted in DNA damage and decreased GTS%. On the other hand, different concentrations of BA (4 and 8 mM) combined with V decreased the toxic effects of V. The results suggested that V could also have negative effects on wheat plants by increasing DNA damage and lipid peroxidation, and BA has an antagonistic effect against V toxicity. BA may be an alternative to reduce genetic damage in plants.