Responses of Antioxidants Enzymes to Oxidative Stress in the Floral Species Drimia Maritime

Abstract

In natural habitats, plants that encounter adverse growth conditions are preserved in natural reserves where rare or endangered species, such the rare plant species “Drimia maritima” are protected. However, abiotic stress, generated by air pollution near Bentael natural reserve Lebanon, where ‘Drimia maritima” is widespread, is suspected to induce alteration in the biochemical status of the plant. The antioxidant potential was determined by measuring the activities variations of five different enzymes related to stress: Catalase (CAT), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Ascorbate peroxidase (APX), Guaiacol peroxidase (POX), and Glutathione reductase (GR). The study was conducted in Bentael natural reserve that was exposed to road works on its borders, within three various locations: location 1 directly localized on the road (P1), location 2, opposite to P1 (P2) and a control location in the middle of the reserve (Ctrl). All enzymes showed higher activities in P1 than in the other sites with proportional correlations for all the studied sites. The resulting outcome demonstrate that alteration in enzymes activities are significant element in plant responses to environmental derivatives abiotic stresses which appraise the danger of landscape activities on conserved areas’ wild floral species.