Combining Physiological and Metabolomic Analysis to Unravel the Regulations of Coronatine Alleviating Water Stress in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.).

Jiayang Xu,Zicheng Xu,Zheng Chen,Liusheng Duan,Yuyi Zhou

doi:10.3390/biom10010099

Jiayang Xu, Zicheng Xu + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10010099

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Abstract

Drought is a major abiotic stress that restricts plants growth, development, and yield. Coronatine (COR), a mimic of JA-Ile, functions in plant tolerance to multiple stresses. In our study, we examined the effects of COR in tobacco under polyethylene glycol (PEG) stress. COR treatment improved plant growth under stress as measured by fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW). The enzyme activity assay indicated that, under osmotic stress conditions, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) were enhanced by COR treatment. Histochemical analyses via nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) and 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining showed that COR reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation during osmotic stress. Metabolite profiles revealed that COR triggered significant metabolic changes in tobacco leaves under osmotic stress, and many essential metabolites, such as sugar and sugar derivatives, organic acids, and nitrogen-containing compounds, which might play active roles in osmotic-stressed tobacco plants, were markedly accumulated in the COR-treated tobacco. The work presented here provides a comprehensive understanding of the COR-mediated physiological, biochemical, and metabolic adjustments that minimize the adverse impact of osmotic stress on tobacco.

Highlights

Drought is an adverse abiotic factor that severely limits plants growth, development, and productivity
The dry weight (DW) of seedlings was significantly reduced by 16.86% (Table 1); the fresh weight (FW) of COR-treated tobacco markedly increased 25.02% under polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment
The use of a harmless plant growth regulator to protect crops from damage caused by stress, especially drought stress, is of great economic value

Summary

Introduction

Drought is an adverse abiotic factor that severely limits plants growth, development, and productivity. With global climate changes and increasing demands for food production, drought stress-related yield losses have received increasing attention in recent years [1,2]. In addition to the decline of production, drought triggers an array of morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses, including the inhibition of cell elongation and expansion, the disruption of major components of photosynthesis, the triggering of severe oxidative bursts, and even resulting in the death of the plants [5]. It is crucial to expound the defense responses through which plants improve tolerance (or resistance) against drought, via the cellular and the molecular mechanism (e.g., regulation of multiple functional genes and proteins, accumulation of diverse stress-associated osmolytes) that meet the needs for growth and development. The biological activity of COR is similar to that of JA-Ile, and both COR and JA-Ile share

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