Antioxidant metabolism protects cells from oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). In plants, several enzymes act jointly to maintain redox homeostasis. Moreover, isoform diversity contributes to the fine tuning necessary for plant responses to both exogenous and endogenous signals influencing antioxidant metabolism. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the major classes of antioxidant enzymes in the woody species Eucalyptus grandis. A careful survey of the FORESTs data bank revealed 36 clusters as encoding antioxidant enzymes: six clusters encoding ascorbate peroxidase (APx) isozymes, three catalase (CAT) proteins, three dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), two glutathione reductase (GR) isozymes, four monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), six phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidases (PhGPx), and 12 encoding superoxide dismutases (SOD) isozymes. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all clusters (identified herein) grouped with previously characterized antioxidant enzymes, corroborating the analysis performed. With respect to enzymes involved in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle, both cytosolic and chloroplastic isoforms were putatively identified. These sequences were widely distributed among the different ESTs libraries indicating a broad gene expression pattern. Overall, the data indicate the importance of antioxidant metabolism in eucalyptus.
Eucalyptus; antioxidant metabolism; catalase; ascorbate-gluthatione cycle
