Oxidative damage induced by herbicides is mediated by thiol oxidation and hydroperoxides production

Abstract

Toxicological and environmental issues are associated with the extensive use of agricultural pesticides, although the knowledge of their toxic effects as commercial formulations is still far from being complete. This work investigated the impact of three herbicides as commercial formulations on the oxidative status of a wild type Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. With yeast being a well-established model of eukaryotic cells, especially as far as regards the stress response, these results may be indicative of potential damages on higher eukaryotes. It was found that herbicide-mediated toxicity towards yeast cells could be the result of an increased production of hydroperoxides (like in the case of the herbicides Pointer and Silglif) or advanced oxidation protein products and lipid peroxidation (especially in the case of the herbicide Proper Energy). Through a redox-proteomic approach it was found also that, besides a common signature, each herbicide showed a specific pattern for protein thiols oxidation.

Keywords::

• Commercial formulations
• pesticides
• protein oxidation
• redox-proteomics
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• 2D-PAGE

Declaration of interest: This work was partly supported by Siena Biotech, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi 2008, and TLS Orf-0108 grants. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This paper was first published online on Early Online on 02 June 2010.