Preliminary studies on the involvement of glutathione metabolism and redox status against zinc toxicity in radish seedlings by 28-Homobrassinolide

• HBR maintains GSH redox homeostasis under zinc stress.
• Application of HBR regulated GSH levels by increasing activities of γ-ECS, GS &GR.
• HBR induces detoxification via GPX & GST activities under Zn stress conditions.
• PCs and Cys levels increased in HBR treated radish seedlings.

The effect of exogenous application of 28-Homobrassinolide (HBR) on radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seedlings under zinc (Zn2+) stress on glutathione (GSH) production, consumption and changes in redox status was investigated. Zinc toxicity resulted in oxidative burst as evidenced by increased accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. These stress indices were significantly decreased by HBR supplementation. Under Zn2+ stress, GSH pool was decreased, while the contribution of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) to total GSH increased (GSSH/GSH ratio), this translated into significant reduction of GSH redox homeostasis. In addition, an increase of phytochelatins (PCs) was observed. In radish seedlings under Zn2+ stress, the activities of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-ECS), glutathione synthetase (GS), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and cysteine (Cys) levels increased but the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) decreased. However, application of HBR increased the GSH pool and maintained their redox ratio by increasing the enzyme activities of GSH biosynthesis (γ-ECS and GS) and GSH metabolism (GR, GPX and GST). The results of present study are novel in being the first to demonstrate that exogenous application of HBR modulates the GSH synthesis, metabolism and redox homeostasis to confer resistance against Zn2+ induced oxidative stress.