Evaluation of Two Arms of Antioxidant Machineries in Pistaciaatlantica and Pistaciakhinjuk under Different Climatic Conditions

One of the favorite issues for the ecologists and physiologists is searching the effects of the environmental factors (i.e. salinity, temperature, drought, rainfall, etc.) in the plants. In the present paper, the response of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in different populations of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk were investigated under different climatic conditions. Ten trees of any population of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk were garnered from diverse locations of Iran in September, 2017. The leaf samples were transferred to the laboratory using liquid nitrogen and were frozen for analysis of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in different populations. According to the soil and climatic analyses, Jebalbarez, Sangan and Anjirk are more stressful compared to other regions. Generally, our results unveiled that the contents of protein, proline and total soluble sugar like compatible osmolytes in some populations of P. atlantica are higher than those of P. khinjuk . The antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase were more in P. khinjuk. The activity of key enzymes in the biosynthesis pathway of the phenolic compounds in P. khinjuk was more than that of P. atlantica . Furthermore, the content of non-enzymatic antioxidants such as phenol, flavonoids and tocopherols in P. atlantica was higher than that of P. khinjuk . The respiratory enzymes (e.g. aconitase, fumarase and succinate dehydrogenase) had high activity in P. khinjuk . P. atlantica used more non-enzymatic systems; however, P. khinjuk applied the enzymatic system in response to different climatic conditions. In conclusion, the present study revealed that P. atlantica used more of the osmoregulation and non-enzymatic system; however, P. khinjuk utilized the enzymatic antioxidant system and the respiratory enzymes in response to the ecophysiological conditions.