Journal of Environmental BiologypISSN: 0254-8704 ; eISSN: 2394-0379 ; CODEN: JEBIDP |
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Abstract - Issue Sep 2008, 29 (5) BackStudies on
the changes in lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in
drought stress induced cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) varieties Akhila S. Nair*1,
T.K. Abraham2 and D.S. Jaya1 1Department
of Environmental Sciences, (Received: April 07, 2006;
Revised received: March 07, 2007; Accepted: April 02, 2007) Abstract: Cowpea
(Vigna unguiculata L.) is
one of the major vegetable crops cultivated in tropical conditions. Two
varieties of cowpea, i.e., Vigna unguiculata
L.cv Kanakamony and cv Pusakomal
were selected for the present study. The changes in lipid peroxidation,
ascorbic acid content and activities of enzymatic antioxidants associated with
drought stress were determined. A high level of lipid peroxidation
was observed in test plants subjected to water stress. The Pusakomal
leaves with severe stress showed 2.7 fold increase in
TBARS compared to control and 1.2 fold to that of Kanakamony.
The drought tolerant variety showed significant increase in the activities of peroxidase and catalase on
exposure to drought stress. Kanakamony leaves in
severe stress possess 1.09 times increase in peroxidase
and 1.8 times increase in catalase activity than Pusakomal.? The
concentration of ascorbic acid in test plants depleted with increased drought
stress in both varieties. While the leaves of tolerant variety in severe stress
showed 1.13 times higher ascorbic acid content than Pusakomal.? Among the two varieties, Kanakamony
possess the best antioxidant system to tolerate drought stress. This could
limit cellular damage caused by active oxygen species, during water deficit.
The variety Pusakomal was relatively poor in these
adaptations. Key words:?? Antioxidants, Catalase,
Drought stress, Lipid peroxidation, Peroxidase, Cowpea PDF of full length paper is available with author (*akhilasiva@gmail.com) Copyright ? 2008 Triveni Enterprises. All rights reserved. No part of the Journal can be reproduced in any
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of the data, and the acceptability of the conclusions enforced or derived, rest
completely with the author(s). |