ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Metabolomics and Biochemical Analysis Reveal the Regulatory Mechanism of Exogenous Sorbitol-Chelated Potassium on Wheat under Drought Stress
Provisionally accepted
Mingxia Zhang1Guohui Du2
Huanyang Zhang1Ruili Zheng1
li zhao1
Mingli Huang1Xiaocui Wang1Kezhong Liu3
Dongyun Yan1*- 1Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
- 2Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology, Jinan, China
- 3Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, China
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Potassium fertilization is a strategy to alleviate the impact of drought stress on wheat production. However, the effects of chelated potassium remain to be verified. This study simulated drought stress using 10% PEG-6000 (-0.8MPa) and investigated the effects of spraying with distilled water (CK2), sorbitol (S), potassium chloride (K), sorbitol mixed with potassium (MK), and sorbitol-chelated potassium (SK) on the biomass, photosynthetic performance, antioxidant system, osmoregulation capacity, and metabolome of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. The results showed that SK treatment alleviated the inhibitory effect of drought on growth, with the aboveground biomass increasing by 15.66% and 20.00% compared to the K and MK treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with MK, SK treatment significantly increased total chlorophyll content by 18.74% and reduced malondialdehyde content by 16.02%, while also enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity and the accumulation of osmoregulatory substances. Metabolomic analysis revealed that 51 differential metabolites (11 upregulated and 40 downregulated) were identified in SK .vs. CK2, mainly including (-)-Jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine, N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine, and (+)-Abscisic acid. These metabolites were primarily enriched in pathways such as α-linolenic acid metabolism, histidine metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, carotenoid biosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis. In conclusion, this study provides new insights into the role of specific metabolic pathways in enhancing drought tolerance in wheat and offers valuable references for drought resistance research in crops.
Keywords: antioxidant system, Drought stress, Metabolomics, Sorbitol-chelated potassium, wheat
Received: 21 Nov 2025; Accepted: 26 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhang, Du, Zhang, Zheng, zhao, Huang, Wang, Liu and Yan. 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: Dongyun Yan
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