Crofton weed is an invasive weed in southwestern China. The activities of several antioxidative enzymes involved in plant protection against oxidative stress were assayed to determine physiological aspects of the crofton weed that might render the plant vulnerable to environmental stress. Stresses imposed on crofton weed were heat （progressively increasing temperatures： 25 ℃, 30 ℃, 35 ℃, 38℃ and 42 ℃ at 24 h intervals）, cold （progressively decreasing temperatures： 25 ℃, 20 ℃, 15℃, 10 ℃ and 5℃ at 24h intervals）, and drought （without watering up to 4days）. The three stresses induced oxidative damage as evidenced by an increase in lipid peroxidation. The effect varied with the stress imposed and the length of exposure. The activity of superoxide dismutase （SOD） increased in response to all stresses but was not significantly different from the controls （P 〈 0.05） when exposed to cold stress. Catalase （CAT） activity decreased in response to heat and drought stress but increased when exposed to cold conditions. Guaiacol peroxidase （POD） and glutathione reductase （GR） activities increased in response to cold and drought but decreased in response to heat stress. The activity of ascorbata peroxidase （APX） responded differently to all three stresses. Monodehydroascorbate reductase （MDHAR） activity decreased in response to heat and drought, and slightly increased in response to the cold stress but was not significantly different from the controls （P 〈 0.05）. The activity of dehydroascorbata reductase （DHAR） increased in response to all three stresses. Taken together, the co-ordinate increase of the oxygen-detoxifying enzymes might be more effective to protect crofton weed from the accumulation of oxygen radicals at low temperatures rather than at high temperatures.
The effect of thermal stress on the antioxidant system was investigated in two invasive plants, Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng. and E. odoratum L. The former is sensitive to high temperature, whereas the latter is sensitive to low temperature. Our aim was to explore the relationship between the response of antioxidant enzymes and temperature in the two invasive weeds with different distribution patterns in China. Plants were transferred from glasshouse to growth chambers at a constant 25 ℃for I week to acclimatize to the environment. For the heat treatments, temperature was increased stepwise to 30, 35, 38 and finally to 42 ℃. For the cold treatments, temperature was decreased stepwise to 20, 15, 10 and finally to 5 ℃. Plants were kept in the growth chambers for 24 h at each temperature step. In E. adenophorum, the coordinated increase of the activities of antioxidant enzymes was effective in protecting the plant from the accumulation of active oxygen species （AOS） at low temperature, but the activities of catalase （CAT）, guaiacol peroxidase （POD）, ascorbate peroxidase （APX）, glutathione reductase （GR）, and monodehydroascorbate reductase （MDAR） were not accompanied by the increase of superoxide dismutase （SOD） during the heat treatments. As a result, the level of lipid peroxidation in E. adenophorum was higher under heat stress than under cold stress. In E. odoratum, however, the lesser degree of membrane damage, as indicated by low monodehydroascorbate content, and the coordinated increase of the oxygen. Datoxifying enzymes were observed in heat-treated plants, but the antioxidant enzymes were unable to operate in cold stress. This indicates that the plants have a higher capacity for scavenging oxygen radicals in heat stress than in cold stress. The different responses of antioxidant enzymes may be one of the possible mechanisms of the differences in temperature sensitivities of the two plant species.
