Abstract
Plant response mechanisms to deficiency of a single nutrient, such as sulfur (S) or iron (Fe), have been described at agronomic, physiological, biochemical, metabolomics, and transcriptomic levels. However, agroecosystems are often characterized by different scenarios, in which combined nutrient deficiencies are likely to occur. Soils are becoming depleted for S, whereas Fe, although highly abundant in the soil, is poorly available for uptake because of its insolubility in the soil matrix. To this end, earlier reports showed that a limited S availability reduces Fe uptake and that Fe deficiency results in the modulation of sulfate uptake and assimilation. However, the mechanistic basis of this interaction remains largely unknown. Metabolite profiling of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) shoots and roots from plants exposed to Fe, S, and combined Fe and S deficiency was performed to improve the understanding of the S-Fe interaction through the identification of the main players in the considered pathways. Distinct changes were revealed under the different nutritional conditions. Furthermore, we investigated the development of the Fe deficiency response through the analysis of expression of ferric chelate reductase, iron-regulated transporter, and putative transcription factor genes and plant sulfate uptake and mobilization capacity by analyzing the expression of genes encoding sulfate transporters (STs) of groups 1, 2, and 4 (SlST1.1, SlST1.2, SlST2.1, SlST2.2, and SlST4.1). We identified a high degree of common and even synergistic response patterns as well as nutrient-specific responses. The results are discussed in the context of current models of nutrient deficiency responses in crop plants.
Highlights
Plant response mechanisms to deficiency of a single nutrient, such as sulfur (S) or iron (Fe), have been described at agronomic, physiological, biochemical, metabolomics, and transcriptomic levels
It has been suggested that, in grasses, this effect could be ascribed to a decrease in the production and release of phytosiderophores induced by S deficiency, whereas in tomato, the effect was rather caused by an impaired ethylene and nicotianamine (NA) production
As previously observed (Zuchi et al, 2009), the overall growth of tomato seedlings was severely reduced by either S or Fe deficiency (Table I), which is perhaps unsurprising given that both are essential elements
Summary
Plant response mechanisms to deficiency of a single nutrient, such as sulfur (S) or iron (Fe), have been described at agronomic, physiological, biochemical, metabolomics, and transcriptomic levels. 1997; Astolfi et al, 2006a), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum; Zuchi et al, 2009), and durum wheat (Triticum durum; Zuchi et al, 2012; Ciaffi et al, 2013) increased under adequate S supply. In these studies, it has been suggested that, in grasses (strategy II plants), this effect could be ascribed to a decrease in the production and release of phytosiderophores induced by S deficiency, whereas in tomato (a strategy I plant), the effect was rather caused by an impaired ethylene and nicotianamine (NA) production. After inside root cells, NA plays an important role for Fe distribution within the plant (Rudolph et al, 1985; Douchkov et al, 2002; Takahashi et al, 2003)
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