Abstract
Heavy metal contamination, particularly with hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)], is a growing environmental concern that severely impairs plant growth, photosynthesis, and nitrogen metabolism, posing a threat to crop productivity and food security. This study investigates the individual and interactive roles of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and nitric oxide (NO) in alleviating Cr(VI) toxicity in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena ). The exposure to 20 µM Cr(VI) for seven days significantly reduced shoot/root length, biomass, photosynthetic pigment levels, and the activity of nitrogen-assimilating enzymes (NR, NiR, GS, GOGAT), with brinjal showing greater sensitivity than tomato. Supplementation with H₂O₂ or NO significantly mitigated these effects, improving growth parameters by up to 34% and restoring pigment content and nitrogen metabolism. Inhibitor-based assays revealed that H₂O₂ functions upstream of NO in the signaling cascade, as NO scavengers (c-PTIO, L-NAME) abolished H₂O₂-induced recovery, while ROS inhibitors (NAC, DPI) did not affect NO’s benefits. The novelty of this study lies in its demonstration of a hierarchical H₂O₂–NO signaling pathway that modulates nitrogen metabolism and antioxidant defense under Cr(VI) stress. These findings suggest a hierarchical H₂O₂–NO signaling mechanism that mitigates oxidative and metabolic damage under Cr(VI) stress. Among treatments, the application of SNP showed the most effective amelioration of Cr(VI) toxicity. This research provides a promising physiological strategy to enhance metal stress tolerance in solanaceous crops. Future work may explore the gene regulatory networks associated with this crosstalk for broader agricultural applications.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Cr(VI) significantly reduced shoot and root length, biomass and photosynthetic pigment levels in tomato.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicume7 - Treatment
- Cr(VI)e0
- Outcome
- shoot/root length, biomass, photosynthetic pigment levelse0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e0“Cr(VI) for seven days significantly reduced shoot/root length, biomass, photosynthetic pigment levels, and the activity of nitrogen-assimilating enzymes (NR, NiR, GS, GOGAT)”
Claim · model-written summary
Brinjal was more sensitive to Cr(VI) than tomato.
- Taxon
- brinjal
Solanum melongenae1 - Outcome
- sensitivitye1
- Direction
- greatere1
- Comparator
- tomatoe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e1“with brinjal showing greater sensitivity than tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Supplementation with H2O2 improved growth parameters of Cr(VI)-stressed plants by up to 34%.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Treatment
- Supplementation with H₂O₂e2
- Outcome
- growth parameterse2
- Direction
- improvinge2
- Value
- 34%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e2“Supplementation with H₂O₂ or NO significantly mitigated these effects, improving growth parameters by up to 34% and restoring pigment content and nitrogen metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
NO supplementation improved growth parameters of Cr(VI)-stressed plants by up to 34%.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Treatment
- NOe2
- Outcome
- growth parameterse2
- Direction
- improvinge2
- Value
- 34%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e2“Supplementation with H₂O₂ or NO significantly mitigated these effects, improving growth parameters by up to 34% and restoring pigment content and nitrogen metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
NO scavengers abolished the H2O2-induced recovery under Cr(VI) stress.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Treatment
- NO scavengers (c-PTIO, L-NAME)e3
- Outcome
- H₂O₂-induced recoverye3
- Direction
- abolishede3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e3“NO scavengers (c-PTIO, L-NAME) abolished H₂O₂-induced recovery”
Claim · model-written summary
ROS inhibitors did not affect the benefits of NO under Cr(VI) stress.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Treatment
- ROS inhibitors (NAC, DPI)e4
- Outcome
- NO’s benefitse4
- Direction
- did not affecte4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e4“ROS inhibitors (NAC, DPI) did not affect NO’s benefits”
Claim · model-written summary
H2O2 acts upstream of NO in the signalling cascade under Cr(VI) stress.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Compound
- H₂O₂e5
- Outcome
- signaling cascadee5
- Qualifier
- upstream of NOe5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e5“H₂O₂ functions upstream of NO in the signaling cascade”
Claim · model-written summary
SNP was the most effective treatment for ameliorating Cr(VI) toxicity.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume7
- Treatment
- SNPe6
- Outcome
- amelioration of Cr(VI) toxicitye6
- Direction
- most effectivee6
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and brinjal ( Solanum melongena )”
e6“the application of SNP showed the most effective amelioration of Cr(VI) toxicity”
The same questions in other papers
hydrogen peroxide · growth · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results differ
9 papers in the same direction as this paper · 4 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- no effect
10 papers more in this group
See all 14 papers →chromium atom · physiology: photosynthesis · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- negative
2 papers more in this group
See all 6 papers →nitric oxide · physiology: oxidative · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
7 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
4 papers more in this group
See all 8 papers →nitric oxide · growth · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
8 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- negative
- negative
12 papers more in this group
See all 16 papers →sodium nitroprusside · pest · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.