Induction of Glutathione and Glutathione S-transferase in Several Crops with the Treatment of Acetochlor

The response of glutathione（GSH） content and glutathione S-transferease（GST） activity to the acetochlor in roots and shoots of the maize ’Dongnong248’,the sorghum ’Aoza No.2’ and millet’Yugu’ was evaluated.The concentrations of pre-emergence acetochlor causing a 50% inhibition of plant shoot height were 25 μmol·L-1 for the tolerant ’Dongnong248’ maize,5 μmol·L-1 for the sensitive ’Aoza No.2’ sorghum and 0.5 μmol·L-1 for the very sensitive ’Yugu’millet.Pre-treatment with 10 μmol·L-1 of acetochlor induced the root GST activities and nonprotein thiol content of all three cultivars.The induction of root GST activities and nonprotein thiol content compared to controls are observed on the fourth day after acetochlor treatment,The extents of activity and content increase from the higher to the lower were:tolerant maize cultivar ’Dongnong248’>sorghum cultivar’Aoza No.2’>millet cultivar ’Yugu’.The activities and contents induced in shoots were similar to that in roots,but the degrees of increase were less.Under different concentration treatment,the thiol content and GST activities increased with the herbicide concentration rising,then reached their peaks and began to decrease in all tested crop seedlings.The extent of induced GST activities and thiol content correlated well with differential cultivar resistance to acetochlor,so their protective mechanism appears to be strongly dependent on the endogenous levels of GSH and activities of GST.