Figure 1.

Effect of heat stress on the activity and transcript levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme in stems and roots of different squashes. (a) SOD activity in stems and roots; (b) Relative abundance of antioxidant gene transcripts determined through qRT-PCR in “C. moschata”, “C. maxima” and “Maxchata” stems and roots at 30, 37, and 42 °C using ACTIN as the internal control. The values are the means ± SD (n = 3). The different letters indicate significant differences between various temperature treatments (p < 0.05); and (c) The DNA bands were obtained using Cu/ZnSOD, FeSOD, MnSOD and ACTIN specific primers through gel electrophoresis after reverse transcriptase-PCR.