Exogenous application of Methyl jasmonate alleviates chromium-induced toxicity in Avena sativa L. by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and regulating lipid peroxidation

Exogenous application of Methyl jasmonate alleviates chromium-induced toxicity in Avena sativa L. by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and regulating lipid peroxidation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exogenous application of Methyl jasmonate alleviates chromium-induced toxicity in Avena sativa L. by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and regulating lipid peroxidation Salim Salim Salim, Shivani Chauhan Shivani Chauhan, Rajesh Pareek Pareek, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract High levels of hazardous metals such as chromium (Cr) have been produced over decades of growing industrial activity, which reduces crop productivity. The impact of Cr on the physio-biochemical characteristics of A. sativa L. was assessed in this study. It was further shown that exogenous application of MeJA mitigated Cr-induced toxicity. The performance of oats was first assessed by measuring growth parameters (Plant Shoot length, root length, and biomass) and physio-biochemical parameters (Enzymatic and Non-enzymatic antioxidants). This study examined how methyl jasmonate (MeJA 50 and 100 µM) reduced Cr stress at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 µM. The findings demonstrated that Cr stress drastically decreased photosynthetic pigments, protein content, and total carbohydrate content accumulation in the leaves, which in turn decreased the biomass and height of plants. In addition to inducing oxidative stress and raising leaf levels of oxidative stress markers, chromium toxicity was linked to elevated malondialdehyde levels by 44.70% compared to the control. However, in plants under Cr stress, MeJA supplementation enhanced the amounts of photosynthetic pigments, decreased the Cr accumulation in plants, and enhanced the efficiency of the photosynthetic machinery. By upregulating antioxidant enzymes, MeJA supplementation improved the antioxidant defense system, including POD (+ 127%) at 150 mM Cr + 100 µM MeJA, CAT at 150 µM Cr + 100 µM MeJA (+ 93% vs. control), and SOD (+ 82.9%) at 150 µM Cr + 50 µM MeJA. By lowering the MDA content by 44.70% and 25.37%, respectively, MeJA application also reduced lipid peroxidation (E1 and E2). MeJA at a concentration of 100 µM was found to be more effective in reducing Cr toxicity. Consequently, MeJA supplementation might be a practical way to reduce Cr absorption and its negative effects on plants of the A. sativa L. grown in environments contaminated with Cr. Chromium toxicity Antioxidants Malondialdehyde content Methyl Jasmonate Sustainable agriculture Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8828963","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":597068176,"identity":"c679cb69-8d80-4470-ac06-41e7e5b1ad20","order_by":0,"name":"Salim Salim Salim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chaudhary Charan Singh University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Salim","middleName":"Salim","lastName":"Salim","suffix":""},{"id":597068177,"identity":"cbc80c53-c381-4ff3-a75c-d127c76af1c0","order_by":1,"name":"Shivani Chauhan Shivani Chauhan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chaudhary Charan Singh University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shivani","middleName":"Chauhan Shivani","lastName":"Chauhan","suffix":""},{"id":597068178,"identity":"5a956259-8249-4da2-9e45-917fe08d9504","order_by":2,"name":"Rajesh Pareek Pareek","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chaudhary Charan Singh University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rajesh","middleName":"Pareek","lastName":"Pareek","suffix":""},{"id":597068179,"identity":"1e9a0d49-bdfb-42cc-a7d2-452a354be0cf","order_by":3,"name":"Ishwar Singh Ishwar Singh","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABA0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBIYDYBpIHpADMx6QosUYzEggbM8BOCOxAWIIbmBwI8eA4cGfO4n9s48/PFzw6076/LDDD4G22MnpNuDRktj2LHHGuRyDwzP7nuVuvJ1mANSSbGx2ALsWs9u5GxgSGw7nNpzhYTjM23M4d+PsBJCWA4nb8GlJ+HM4d/4Z9gcgLemGs9M/EKGF7XDuhjMMBod5fhxOkJfOwW+L/f33Hw4kth2u33iGx+Awb8Nhww3SOQUHEgxw+0Wy51jiwx9/DhvLnWF//Jnnz2F5+dnpmz98qLCTw6UFBBBSjG3AMARzDXArRwN/GBjkG4hWPQpGwSgYBSMEAADDmnTq6HLc2gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Chaudhary Charan Singh University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ishwar","middleName":"Singh Ishwar","lastName":"Singh","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-09 10:10:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104966707,"identity":"159bf92f-04ab-4980-8926-04d3de2efc87","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-19 09:57:58","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1924867,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Methyljasmonatealleviateschromiumtoxicityinplantsbyenhancingtheantioxidantdefensesystemandregulatinglipidperoxidation.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8828963/v1_covered_16f2972d-7f1e-4d04-969c-d1fb9ff82616.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exogenous application of Methyl jasmonate alleviates chromium-induced toxicity in Avena sativa L. by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and regulating lipid peroxidation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Chromium toxicity, Antioxidants, Malondialdehyde content, Methyl Jasmonate, Sustainable agriculture","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eHigh levels of hazardous metals such as chromium (Cr) have been produced over decades of growing industrial activity, which reduces crop productivity. The impact of Cr on the physio-biochemical characteristics of \u003cem\u003eA. sativa\u003c/em\u003e L. was assessed in this study. It was further shown that exogenous application of MeJA mitigated Cr-induced toxicity. The performance of oats was first assessed by measuring growth parameters (Plant Shoot length, root length, and biomass) and physio-biochemical parameters (Enzymatic and Non-enzymatic antioxidants). This study examined how methyl jasmonate (MeJA 50 and 100 µM) reduced Cr stress at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 µM. The findings demonstrated that Cr stress drastically decreased photosynthetic pigments, protein content, and total carbohydrate content accumulation in the leaves, which in turn decreased the biomass and height of plants. In addition to inducing oxidative stress and raising leaf levels of oxidative stress markers, chromium toxicity was linked to elevated malondialdehyde levels by 44.70% compared to the control. However, in plants under Cr stress, MeJA supplementation enhanced the amounts of photosynthetic pigments, decreased the Cr accumulation in plants, and enhanced the efficiency of the photosynthetic machinery. By upregulating antioxidant enzymes, MeJA supplementation improved the antioxidant defense system, including POD (+ 127%) at 150 mM Cr + 100 µM MeJA, CAT at 150 µM Cr + 100 µM MeJA (+ 93% vs. control), and SOD (+ 82.9%) at 150 µM Cr + 50 µM MeJA. By lowering the MDA content by 44.70% and 25.37%, respectively, MeJA application also reduced lipid peroxidation (E1 and E2). MeJA at a concentration of 100 µM was found to be more effective in reducing Cr toxicity. Consequently, MeJA supplementation might be a practical way to reduce Cr absorption and its negative effects on plants of the \u003cem\u003eA. sativa\u003c/em\u003e L. grown in environments contaminated with Cr.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exogenous application of Methyl jasmonate alleviates chromium-induced toxicity in Avena sativa L. by enhancing the antioxidant defense system and regulating lipid peroxidation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-26 16:47:27","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8828963/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"6fe8f2b3-f32f-4936-a1d8-2a272839fed2","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 26th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-19T09:56:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-26 16:47:27","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8828963","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8828963","identity":"rs-8828963","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}