A turn-on NIR fluorescent probe for risk-assessing oxidative stress in cabbage roots under abiotic stress

Oxidative stress is closely related to the crop health status under stress conditions. H2O2 is an important signaling molecule in plants under stress. Therefore, monitoring H2O2 fluctuations is of great significance when risk -assessing oxidative stress. However, few fluorescent probes have been reported for the in situ tracking of H2O2 fluctuations in crops. Herein, we designed a turn-on NIR fluorescent probe (DRP-B) to detect and in situ-image H2O2 in living cells and crops. DRP-B exhibited good detection performance for H2O2 and could image endogenous H2O2 in living cells. More importantly, it could semi-quantitatively visualize H2O2 in cabbage roots under abiotic stress. Visualization of H2O2 in cabbage roots revealed H2O2 upregulation in response to adverse environments (metals, flood, and drought). This study provides a new method for risk-assessing oxidative stress in plants under abiotic stress and is expected to provide guidance for the development of new antioxidant defense strategies to enhance plant resistance and crop productivity.

Automated summary

Oxidative stress is closely related to crop health under stress conditions, and H2O2 serves as an important signaling molecule in plants. However, there is a lack of fluorescent probes for tracking H2O2 fluctuations in crops. In this study, a turn-on NIR fluorescent probe was designed to detect and image H2O2 in living cells and crops. The probe showed good detection performance and the ability to visualize H2O2 in cabbage roots under abiotic stress. The visualization of H2O2 upregulation in response to adverse environments provides a new method for risk-assessing oxidative stress and guiding the development of antioxidant defense strategies.