Professor Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India
Body of Abstract: The present study demonstrates the role of ferritin in controlling oxidative stress induced by aluminium in chickpea. Two contrasting genotypes of chickpea e. g. RSG 974 (Al tolerant) and RSG 945 (Al sensitive) were used as test plants. Al-tolerant genotype (RSG 974) showed lesser inhibition of root growth as well as lower oxidative damages, measured in terms of the accumulation of H2O2and lipid peroxidation compared to the Al-sensitive genotype (RSG945). Subsequently, DDRT-PCR results showed the differential expression of two genes, chitinase and ferritin in chickpea genotypes after the treatment of 1.0 mM Al. Further, Q-PCR analyses confirmed the Al-responsive expression of chitinase in the Al-tolerant chickpea genotype, whereas, the expression of ferritin was found to be constitutively higher in the Al-tolerant genotype compared to Al-sensitive chickpea. The biochemical data showed that the higher expression of ferritin in Al-tolerant chickpea genotypes in the present study is associated with the efficient sequestration of free iron responsible for generating reactive oxygen species. Whereas, aluminium sensitive genotype of chickpea (RSG-945) due to negligible expression of ferritin could not efficiently control the free form of Fe and hence failed to avoid the consequences and thereby became more susceptible to Al toxicity. Further experiments are underway to provide the mechanistic details of managing oxidative stress in chickpea by ferritin to alleviate Al toxicity.