Determination of Glutathione and Its Redox Status in Isolated Vacuoles of Red Beetroot Cells

Abstract

The glutathione of the red beetroot vacuoles (Beta vulgaris L.) was measured using three well-known methods: the spectrofluorimetric method with orthophthalic aldehyde (OPT); the spectrophotometric method with 5.5'-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB); the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The content of reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) differed depending on the research method. With OPT the concentration of glutathione was: GSH – 0.059 µmol /mg protein; GSSG – 0.019 µmol/mg protein and total glutathione (GSHtotal) – 0.097 µmol/mg protein. In the case of determining with DTNB the concentration of glutathione was: GSH – 0.091 µmol/mg protein; GSSG – 0.031 µmol/mg protein; GSHtotal – 0.153 µmol/mg protein. HPLC-defined concentration of glutathione was lower: GSH – 0.039 µmol/mg protein; GSSG – 0.007 µmol/mg protein; GSHtotal – 0.053 µmol/mg protein. Redox ratio of GSH/GSSG was also dependent on the method of determination: with OPT – 3.11; with DTNB – 2.96 and HPLC – 5.57. Redox ratio of glutathione in vacuoles was much lower than the tissue extracts of red beetroot, which, depending on the method of determination, was: 7.23, 7.16 and 9.22. The results showed the vacuoles of red beetroot parenchyma cells contain glutathione. Despite the low value of the redox ratio GSH/GSSG, in vacuoles the pool of reduced glutathione prevailed over the pool of oxidized glutathione.

Keywords

• Beta vulgaris L.
• vacuole
• glutathione