Abstract
Wood vinegar (WV) or pyroligneous acid (PA) is a reddish-brown liquid created during the dry distillation of biomass, a process called pyrolysis. WV contains important biologically active components, which can enhance plant growth and tolerance to drought stress. However, its mechanism of action remains unknown. Our results after presoaking wheat seeds with various concentrations of WV indicate that a 1:900 WV concentration can significantly enhance growth. To investigate the response of wheat roots to drought stress, we compared quantitative proteomic profiles in the roots of wheat plants grown from seeds either presoaked (treatment) or non-presoaked (control) with WV. Our results indicated that the abscisic acid (ABA) content of wheat roots in the WV treatment was significantly increased. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malonaldehyde (MDA) levels roots were significantly lower than in the control treatment under drought stress, while the activity of major antioxidant enzymes was significantly increased. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) identified 138 differentially accumulated protein (DAP) spots representing 103 unique protein species responding to drought stress in wheat roots of the control and WV-treated groups. These DAPs are mostly involved in the stress response, carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, and secondary metabolism. Proteome profiles showed the DAPs involved in carbohydrate metabolism, stress response, and secondary metabolism had increased accumulation in roots of the WV-treated groups. These findings suggest that the roots from wheat seeds presoaked with WV can initiate an early defense mechanism to mitigate drought stress. These results provide an explanation of how WV enhances the tolerance of wheat plants to drought stress.
Highlights
Wood vinegar (WV) or pyroligneous acid (PA), a translucent reddish-brown aqueous liquid, is a by-product of the carbonization of tree branches, crop straw, bamboo, wood residue, and other biomaterials [1,2]
Results from fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) of shoots, and roots results were confirmed by quantitative analysis (Tables 1 and 2 and Table S2A)
The FW of wheat shoots and roots that had been pretreated with 1:900 WV for 3 days, were significantly higher than those of the control, by 10.0% and 15.7% at 2 days, 15.5% and 38.6% at 3 days, 13.4% and 22.1% at 4 days, 14.9% and 20.8% at 5 days, and 16.5% and 15.9% at 6 days, respectively (Tables 1 and 2 and Table S2A)
Summary
Wood vinegar (WV) or pyroligneous acid (PA), a translucent reddish-brown aqueous liquid, is a by-product of the carbonization of tree branches, crop straw, bamboo, wood residue, and other biomaterials [1,2]. WV is a complex mixture, which contains various types of complicated chemical ingredients, namely organic acids, phenolic, alkane, furan derivatives, esters, alcohol, sugar derivatives, and nitrogen compounds [1,3]. As a natural agricultural material, it contains important biologically active components, such as organic acid and phenolic compounds, and has been widely applied in the areas of medicine, food, and agriculture [5,6]. Studies indicate that WV improves seed germination rate and accelerates the growth of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits [2,9]. There has been an increasing interest in the antioxidant activities of WV and its use in food to replace synthetic antioxidants; previous studies based on typical chemical assays have valued the antioxidant for agricultural use only. There are no reports to date that focus on the regulation of the molecular mechanism of WV in plants under stress
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