Determination of the expression level of stress-related genes in Cicer arietinum root cell under Cd stress and the relationship to H2O2 concentrations

In this study, stress-related gene expression levels and the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which are oxidative stress markers, were investigated in the chickpea (Cicer arietinum) plant’s roots that are exposed to cadmium (Cd). MDA and H2O2 concentrations showed a linear increase. It was found that metallothionein-like gene (MT2) stress genes had a high level of expression at the 12-h application, while the kinetics of expression levels of glutathione reductase (GR1) and superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn/SOD) genes increased until 24 h of application with a decrease in expression levels by 48 h of application. It has been observed that catalase (CAT) continues to be expressed at 24 and 48 h of Cd exposure. This study found that the expression of stress-related genes can be related to the oxidative status of the cell and the H2O2 concentration in the mechanism of signalization. This may up-regulate the expression of the stress genes until a certain concentration degree, while a higher concentration of H2O2 may down-regulate the gene expressions. The findings of this study may contribute to further oxidative signalling studies.