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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1349456
Metabolomics and physio-chemical analyses of mulberry plants leaves response to manganese deficiency and toxicity reveal key metabolites and their pathways in manganese tolerance
Provisionally accepted- 1 Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2 Institute for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Manganese (Mn) plays a pivotal role in plant growth and development. Aside aiding in plant growth and development, Mn as heavy metal (HM) can be toxic in soil when applied in excess.Morus alba is an economically significant plant, capable of adapting to a range of environmental conditions and possessing the potential for phytoremediation of contaminated soil by HMs. The mechanism by which M. alba tolerates Mn stresses remains obscure. In this study, Mn concentrations comprising sufficiency (0.15 mM), higher regimes (1.5 mM and 3 mM), and deficiency (0 mM and 0.03 mM), were applied to M. alba in pot treatment for 21 days to understand M. alba Mn tolerance.Mn stress effects on the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), chlorophyll content, plant morphological traits, enzymatic and non-enzymatic parameters were analyzed as well as metabolome signatures via non-targeted LC-MS technique. Mn deficiency and toxicity decrease plant biomass, Pn, Ci, Gs, Tr, and chlorophyll content and plant biomass. Mn stresses induced a decline in the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), while peroxidase (POD) activity, and leaf Mn content, increased. Soluble sugars, soluble proteins, malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline exhibited an elevation in Mn deficiency and toxicity concentrations. Metabolomic analysis indicates that Mn concentrations induced 1031 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs), particularly amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, benzene and derivatives and secondary metabolites. The DEMs are significantly enriched in alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, galactose metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, pentose phosphate pathway, carbon metabolism, etc.The upregulation of Galactinol, Myo-inositol, Jasmonic acid, L-aspartic acid, Coproporphyrin I, Trigonelline, Pantothenol, and Pantothenate and their significance in the metabolic pathways makes them Mn stress tolerance metabolites in M. alba. Our findings reveal the fundamental understanding of DEMs in M. alba's response to Mn nutrition and the metabolic mechanisms involved, which may hold potential significance for the advancement of M. alba genetic improvement initiatives and phytoremediation programs.
Keywords: mulberry, Manganese stress, physio-chemical, enzymatic activities, LC-MS, metabolomics, metabolic pathways
Received: 04 Dec 2023; Accepted: 10 May 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Li, Ackah, Amoako, Cui, Sun, Li, Tsigbey and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Michael Ackah, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
Weiguo Zhao, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
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