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. 2021 May 14;10(5):982.
doi: 10.3390/plants10050982.

The Impacts of Woolly Cupgrass on the Antioxidative System and Growth of a Maize Hybrid

Arnold Szilágyi  1 , László Radócz  1 , Mária Takácsné Hájos  2 , Csaba Juhász  3 , Béla Kovács  4 , Gabriella Kovács  1 , Erika Budayné Bódi  3 , Csaba Radványi  1 , Makoena Joyce Moloi  5 , Lóránt Szőke  4
Affiliations

The Impacts of Woolly Cupgrass on the Antioxidative System and Growth of a Maize Hybrid

Arnold Szilágyi et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Woolly cupgrass (Eriochloa villosa (Thunb.) Kunth) is a new invasive weed in Hungary. This study was conducted to elucidate the effects of this weed on the biochemistry and growth of maize (Zea mays L. cv. Armagnac) under greenhouse conditions. Activities of the antioxidative enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD)), the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), and protein were measured in the shoots and roots, whereas the content of the photosynthetic pigments was measured only in the shoots. The measured growth parameters included plant height, root length, root volume, root and shoot dry weight, and stem diameter. Results showed the allelopathic effects of woolly cupgrass on maize, with significant decreases in plant height, root length, root volume, and root dry weight. Woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) induced significantly higher activities of APX and SOD in the shoots, whereas POD was only induced in the roots. The contents of chlorophyll-a, total chlorophyll (including relative chlorophyll), carotenoids, and root protein were substantially reduced by WCI, except for the leaf chlorophyll-b. The results suggest that high APX and SOD activities in the shoots could be involved in stabilizing the leaf chlorophyll-b, chlorophyll a/b, shoot protein, and shoot dry weight because all of these parameters were not inhibited when these two enzymes were induced. In contrast, high activity of POD in the roots is not effective in counteracting allelopathy. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to further investigate if an increase in the activities of APX and SOD in the shoots of WCI maize is responsible for stabilizing leaf chlorophyll-b, shoot protein, and shoot dry weight, which could contribute to improved maize yield under WCI.

Keywords: allelopathy; antioxidant enzymes; morphological parameters; protein; woolly cupgrass.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the leaf relative-chlorophyll content of the fourth (14 d.a.s.) and fifth (21 d.a.s.) maize leaves (values represent means ± SD, n = 50). Small letters (a, b) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The effects of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the individual leaf photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, and carotenoids) of the fourth (14 d.a.s.) maize leaf (values represent means ± SD, n = 10). Small letters (a, b) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the maize plant height (14 and 21 d.a.s.) (values represent means ± SD, n = 10). Small letters (a, b, c) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the dry weights of maize 21 d.a.s. (values represent means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b, c, d) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the MDA content of maize 21 d.a.s. (values represent means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b, c) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 6
Figure 6
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the APX activity of maize 21 d.a.s. (values are means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 7
Figure 7
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the SOD activity of maize 21 d.a.s. (values are means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 8
Figure 8
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the POD activity of maize 21 d.a.s. (values represent means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b, c) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
Figure 9
Figure 9
The effect of woolly cupgrass infestation (WCI) on the protein content of maize 21 d.a.s. (values represent means ± SD, n = 5). Small letters (a, b, c) show significant differences between treatments based on independent t-test (p < 0.05).
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