Oxidative stress in plants

Edith Stabentheiner (Graz): Plants have to cope with tremendous challenges due to climate change and global warming. Heat, drought and soil salinization are just a few of them with increasing global relevance in the next years and decades. Stress often leads to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) followed by oxidative stress and finally resulting in oxidative damage. However, ROS are Janus-faced molecules and redox regulation and thus production and scavenging of ROS is part of nearly every aspect in plant development and interaction with the environment. The antioxidative defence system consists of low molecular water or lipid soluble antioxidants (e.g., ascorbate, glutathione, proline, tocopherol) and several enzymes (e.g., peroxidase, catalase, superoxide-dismutase) – these components are often used to identify and to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate oxidative stress. But there is a huge variation in reports on antioxidant activities and possible oxidative damage, thus tolerating a wide scope in the interpretation of stress scenarios. Reliable and informative stress markers, however, are crucial for better understanding what´s going on in plants exposed to stressful situations. The lecture will give an introduction into current research dealing with oxidative stress in plants.