Младежка научна конференция “Климентови дни” 17-18 ноември, 2016 г. , София, Биологически факултет
ПОСТЕРИ
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CHANGES OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE ACTIVITY IN THE COMMON BEECH AS A RESPONSE TO HERBIVORY SIMONA GEORGIEVA1*, PETYA DIMITROVA-MATEVA2, SVETOSLAV ANEV3, NIKOLINA TZVEJKOVA3, MIROSLAVA ZHIPONOVA4, DETELINA PETROVA4, GANKA CHANEVA4
1 – B.Sc. student, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria 2 – South-West State Enterprise - Blagoevgrad, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Bulgaria 3 - Department of Dendrology, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria 4 – Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria *Corresponding author:
[email protected] Keywords: superoxide dismutase, Fagus sylvatica, Orchestes fagi
The plant enzymatic antioxidant response seems to be rapidly activated by insect herbivory. Common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is one of the most industrially important and highly abundant tree species in central Europe, which is often exposed to insects‘ attacks. Beech weevil (Orchestes fagi L.), in particular, being the most significant pest in beech forests in Bulgaria, causes serious damages and could considerably reduce the yield of wood. The aim of the study was to assess the changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the beech trees located at two different altitudes - 680 m asl and 1400 m asl, at the Petrohan Training and Experimental Forest Range, Western Balkan Mountains. We observed that the trees at lower altitude were highly affected by O. fagi infestation. The highest SOD activity in their leaves was measured in the beginning of the vegetation period when the growing larvae had activated the defense systems in the leaf tissues. During the season, SOD activity significantly decreased – it was almost 65% lower in August. SOD in the leaves of the trees grown at 1400 m asl changed in a different way. The highest enzyme activity was registered in July, which in turn decreased in August. In general, the lowest values of SOD activities in beech were registered at the end of the vegetation period, especially at lower altitude and that effect could be considered as a result of an overproduction of reactive oxygen species. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by grant 93/2015 of the University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria
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