ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1537516
This article is part of the Research TopicMechanisms of Stress Tolerance in Horticultural Crops: Physiological and Molecular InsightsView all 16 articles
Investigation of the Physiological and Molecular Regulatory Mechanism of Soluble Sugar Metabolism in Lavandula angustifolia Mill. under Cold Stress
Provisionally accepted
- 1Harbin Normal University, Harbin, China
- 2Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Cold stress is a main abiotic factor that affected sugar metabolism, limiting global plant production and distribution. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) is a valuable aromatic plant with commercial importance, but its introduction to Northeast China may pose potential challenges due to cold stress affecting agricultural productivity. Thus, to promote economic development, it is imperative to investigate the cold tolerance mechanisms of the species in this region. We measured the sugar content and performed transcriptome analysis in L. angustifolia at temperatures of 30℃ (control), 20℃, 10℃, and 0℃. The results revealed that when the temperature dropped from 30℃ to 0℃, the amylase activities and the content of maltose and glucose increased, while the starch content decreased. The decomposition of starch into soluble sugars played a crucial role in osmotic regulation and facilitated subsequent sugar metabolism for L. angustifolia under cold stress. During the process, the upregulation of LaAMY and LaBAM1/3 suggests an adaptive response in L. angustifolia to cold stress by promoting the breakdown of starch. Meanwhile, the up-regulation of sugar metabolism genes LaRHM1, LaMUR4, LaUGD4, alongside the down-regulation of photosynthesis-related genes LaPSAD1, LaPSAN, LaPSBQ2, LaLHCB4.2, and LaPSB27-1 are closely linked to soluble sugar metabolism. These pivotal genes exhibit significant correlations with starch content and amylase activities, specifically in the decomposition of starch into soluble sugars, potentially mitigating lightinduced damage and promoting cellular homeostasis. Further molecular docking analyses between the proteins PSAN and RHM1, MUR4 and UGD4, as well as between LHCB4.2 and RHM1, MUR4, and UGD4 predict that these protein functions in sugar metabolism and photosynthesis contribute to enhancing L. angustifolia's cold resistance.
Keywords: Lavandula angustifolia Mill.1, cold stress2, sugar metabolism3, Key genes4, molecular docking5
Received: 01 Dec 2024; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liang, Liu, Wang, Yang, Yuan and Li. 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:
Zening Yuan, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, China
Hui Li, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, 100093, Beijing Municipality, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.