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Callisto, containing the active ingredient mesotrione (2-[4-methylsulfonyl-2-nitrobenzoyl]1,3-cyclohenanedione), is a selective herbicide that controls weeds in corn crops and is a potential environmental contaminant. The objective of this work was to evaluate enzymatic and structural changes in Pantoea ananatis, a strain isolated from water, in response to exposure to this herbicide. Despite degradation of mesotrione, probably due a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pathway in Pantoea ananatis, this herbicide induced oxidative stress by increasing hydrogen peroxide production. Thiol fragments, eventually produced after mesotrione degradation, could be involved in increased GST activity. Nevertheless, there was no peroxidation damage related to this production, as malondialdehyde (MDA) synthesis, which is due to lipid peroxidation, was highest in the controls, followed by the mesotrione- and Callisto-treated cultures at log growth phase. Therefore, P. ananatis can tolerate and grow in the presence of the herbicide, probably due an efficient control of oxidative stress by a polymorphic catalase system. MDA rates depend on lipid saturation due to a pattern change to a higher level of saturation. These changes are likely related to the formation of GST-mesotrione conjugates and mesotrione degradation-specific metabolites and to the presence of cytotoxic adjuvants. These features may shift lipid membrane saturation, possibly providing a protective effect to bacteria through an increase in membrane impermeability. This response system in P. ananatis provides a novel model for bacterial herbicide tolerance and adaptation in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility to use membrane-lipid measurements to screen barley genotypes for salt resistance was studied. The results showed that wild barley ( Hordeum maritimum) displayed a typical halophytic response as compared to cultivated barley ( Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Manel). Growth, tissue hydration, and photosynthetic activity were less affected by salinity in H. maritimum than in H. vulgare. The induced effects of long-term NaCl treatment were reflected in root membrane lipids that remained relatively unchanged in wild barley, whilst they were significantly diminished with increasing salinity in H. vulgare. The levels of membrane-lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage were changed only at high salt concentrations in H. maritimum whereas those of H. vulgare were considerably increased by lower salinity levels as a result of oxidative damage. These findings indicate that maintained membrane integrity (in H. Maritimum) may be considered a possible trait for salt resistance. However, membrane fluidity in H. vulgare was more increased than in H. maritimum. Thus, the unsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid ratio (UFAs : SFAs) and the double-bond index (DBI), significantly increased in response to salt stress in cultivated barley while it did not change in H. maritimum. The changes in lipid unsaturation were predominantly due to increases in linolenic (C18:3), linoleic (C18:2), and oleic (C18:1) acids and decreases in stearic acid (C18:0). These results suggest that, in spite of being important for maintenance of membrane fluidity, the ability to increase unsaturation is not a determinant factor for salt resistance in barley species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]