Glutathione functions on physiological characters of corn plants to enhance Mn-induced corn production.

Abstract

A non-protein thiol, glutathione (GSH), presents abundantly in plant and affects the growth and development of the plants. In this study, the effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a precursor of GSH, on manganese (Mn)-induced corn production was evaluated. Different Mn concentrations (0.2, 1.5 and 3.0 ppm of Mn), with or without 100 µM of NAC, were arranged as completely randomised design with 5 replicates. Results show that both NAC and Mn affected plant height and leaf numbers. Treatment of NAC increased Mn-induced relative water content (RWC), photosynthesis (Pn) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in leaves of corn plants. In the Mn-treated plants, chlorophyll (Chl) content, Chl fluorescence (Fm) and quantum yield (Fv/FM) were found significantly higher than the Mn-untreated plants. In addition, corn plants showed improved yield and cob length in NAC-treated plants in the presence of Mn. Thus, this study suggests that NAC might improve some physiological functions of plants to enhance Mn-induced corn production, with 1.5 ppm of Mn showed the best results.