Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) : In silico Studies and Determination of Enzyme Activities in Potato Organs

Abstract

Potato is one of the most significant tuber crops in terms of nutrition and consumption. It has a promising role in world in terms of food security. The process of tuberization is governed by several TFs and is susceptible to variable temperatures. This indicates the economical and scientific importance of tuber formation for further research. A number of biotechnological and genetic techniques can be used to understand the complex process of tuberization and associated biochemical pathways in order to increase potato yield. Superoxide dismutases (EC 1.15.1.1), an antioxidant enzyme belongs to the oxidoreductases family. It is one of the crucial enzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide radicals (O2•¯) into molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) during the stolon-to-tuber transition of potatoes. The formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) like superoxide radicals in response environmental abiotic stressors like drought , salinity, severe temperatures leads to the disruption of ROS homeostasis. In this study, enzyme extraction and assay were performed from various harvested organs of five potato cultivars. It primarily focusses on the comparative study of Cu/Zn-SOD isoforms and their functions applying various bioinformatic tools. The multiple sequence alignment along with the phylogenetic analysis was performed to study the conserved patterns of Cu/Zn-SODs in various plant species. Crucial motifs with their functions were retrieved and analysed. Protparam tool was used to predict various physico-chemical properties of different SODs. This study would be useful to study the regulation of Cu/Zn-SOD enzyme in Indian potato cultivars. It would provide insights on the involvement of Cu/Zn-SOD in the maturation of plant organs. This would help in the right approach for genetic manipulations to raise transgenics with high Cu/Zn-SODs activity in various cultivars of potato to satisfy the future global nutritional demands.