SUPEROXIDE RADICAL PRODUCTION IN WHEAT PLANTS DIFFERENTLY SENSITIVE TO DROUGHT

There is increasing evidence to support the view that during dehydration oxygen radicals play a role in mediating the degradative reactions that precede loss of membrane integrity (Price et al. 1989; Quartacci & Navari-Izzo 1992; Sgherri et al. 1993). Oxygen radicals are normally produced in biological tissues as a consequence of oxidative metabolism and electron transport. In normal conditions these reactions are tightly controlled, but during stress radicals become cytotoxic and cause an oxidative injury to cellular components.