Physiological and biochemical responses of Ricinus communis seedlings to different temperatures: a metabolomics approach

Abstract

BackgroundCompared with major crops, growth and development of Ricinus communis is still poorly understood. A better understanding of the biochemical and physiological aspects of germination and seedling growth is crucial for the breeding of high yielding varieties adapted to various growing environments. In this context, we analysed the effect of temperature on growth of young R. communis seedlings and we measured primary and secondary metabolites in roots and cotyledons. Three genotypes, recommended to small family farms as cash crop, were used in this study.ResultsSeedling biomass was strongly affected by the temperature, with the lowest total biomass observed at 20°C. The response in terms of biomass production for the genotype MPA11 was clearly different from the other two genotypes: genotype MPA11 produced heavier seedlings at all temperatures but the root biomass of this genotype decreased with increasing temperature, reaching the lowest value at 35°C. In contrast, root biomass of genotypes MPB01 and IAC80 was not affected by temperature, suggesting that the roots of these genotypes are less sensitive to changes in temperature. In addition, an increasing temperature decreased the root to shoot ratio, which suggests that biomass allocation between below- and above ground parts of the plants was strongly affected by the temperature. Carbohydrate contents were reduced in response to increasing temperature in both roots and cotyledons, whereas amino acids accumulated to higher contents. Our results show that a specific balance between amino acids, carbohydrates and organic acids in the cotyledons and roots seems to be an important trait for faster and more efficient growth of genotype MPA11.ConclusionsAn increase in temperature triggers the mobilization of carbohydrates to support the preferred growth of the aerial parts, at the expense of the roots. A shift in the carbon-nitrogen metabolism towards the accumulation of nitrogen-containing compounds seems to be the main biochemical response to support growth at higher temperatures. The biochemical changes observed in response to the increasing temperature provide leads into understanding plant adaptation to harsh environmental conditions, which will be very helpful in developing strategies for R. communis crop improvement research.

Profiling of primary metabolites and flavonols in leaves of two table grape varieties collected from semiarid and temperate regions

“…Such changes were reported in various studies, as for the accumulation of sorbose by the cotyledons of Ricinus communis that were subjected to 35°C (Ribeiro et al, 2014), and the …”

“…Furthermore, it was mentioned that such reorganization may not lead to greater accumulation of solutes, and that the total amount of metabolites may remain unchanged during osmotic stress (Quéro et al, 2014). In addition, it appears that amino acids and carbohydrates are the key responsive elements of plasticity and tolerance mechanisms in plants (Ribeiro et al, 2014). In our results, it is obvious that a metabolic shift occurred that led to higher levels of amino acids, which was accompanied by lower levels of other metabolites (e.g.…”

Photosynthetic capacity and water use efficiency in Ricinus communis (L.) under drought stress in semi-humid and semi-arid areas

“…Under high temperature, castor bean plants present biochemical response to adjust their growth, development, and to maintain cellular homeostasis (Ribeiro et al 2014). This makes castor bean crop a good candidate for agricultural production in tropical regions.…”

Metabolite profiling, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Brazilian propolis: Use of correlation and multivariate analyses to identify potential bioactive compounds

“…Data processing and compound identification were performed as described by Ribeiro et al (2014) and Ribeiro et al (2015). Raw data were processed by ChromaTOF software 2.0 (Leco Instruments) followed by alignment between chromatograms using the MetAlign software (Lommen, 2009).…”

“…Secondary metabolite profiling was performed with an Agilent 7809A gas chromatograph (Agilent Technologies) coupled to a Triple-Axis detector (Agilent 5975C), using a ZB-5 (Phenomenex; 30 m × 0.25 mm) capillary column (0.25 mm film thickness) using helium as a carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL/min as described by Ribeiro, Fernandez, de Castro, Ligterink, and Hilhorst (2014). Approximately 5 mg of the extracts were transferred to a 12-mL tube and 5 mL of a methanol:chloroform (1:1) solution was added.…”