Research Progress of Superoxide Dismutase

Superoxide Dismutases (SOD) is one of the most important intracellular enzymatic antioxidants, which constitutes the first line of defense against ROS. SOD is a metalloenzyme that is ubiquitous in all aerobic organisms. SOD catalyzes the dismutation of superoxide radical to more stable H2O2. SOD regulates the concentration of superoxide anionic radical to prevent cells from the toxic effects of reactive oxygen species. In this review, we introduce the basic information about SOD (including distribution, structure features, and catalysis mechanism, et al.); the biosynthesis and regulatory mechanism; inducible expression, function and their roles in response to environmental stress in plant. Moreover, we also mention the direction of further research and application of SOD.