The Combined Effects of Ethylene and MeJA on Metabolic Profiling of Phenolic Compounds in Catharanthus roseus Revealed by Metabolomics Analysis

Abstract

Phenolic compounds belong to a class of secondary metabolites and are implicated in a wide range of responsive mechanisms in plants triggered by both biotic and abiotic elicitors. In this study, we approached the combinational effects of ethylene and MeJA (methyl jasmonate) on phenolic compounds profiles and gene expressions in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus. In virtue of a widely non-targeted metabolomics method, we identified a total of 34 kinds of phenolic compounds in the leaves, composed by 7 C6C1-, 11 C6C3-, and 16 C6C3C6 compounds. In addition, 7 kinds of intermediates critical for the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and alkaloids were identified and discussed with phenolic metabolism. The combinational actions of ethylene and MeJA effectively promoted the total phenolic compounds, especially the C6C1 compounds (such as salicylic acid, benzoic acid) and C6C3 ones (such as cinnamic acid, sinapic acid). In contrast, the C6C3C6 compounds displayed a notably inhibitory trend in this case. Subsequently, the gene-to-metabolite networks were drawn up by searching for correlations between the expression profiles of 5 gene tags and the accumulation profiles of 41 metabolite peaks. Generally, we provide an insight into the controlling mode of ethylene-MeJA combination on phenolic metabolism in C. roseus leaves.

Plant Hormesis Management with Biostimulants of Biotic Origin in Agriculture

“…Low dose of elicitors normally induces a eustress condition and at high dose a distress in plants ( Mandal et al, 2013 ; Garcia-Mier et al, 2015 ; Zunun-Pérez et al, 2017 ). This behavior is similar to the hormetic effect of physical and chemical factors ( Hooper et al, 2010 ; Tierranegra-García et al, 2011 ; Mejía-Teniente et al, 2013 ; Baenas et al, 2014 ; Calabrese, 2014a ; Liu et al, 2016 ). In order to unify concepts in this sense, it would be necessary to carry out experimentation evaluating elicitor’s dose–response curves to determine the hormetic effects of these compounds.…”

UV-B Radiation Largely Promoted the Transformation of Primary Metabolites to Phenols in Astragalus mongholicus Seedlings

“…The extraction and derivatization of RNA from roots, leaves, stems and petioles were performed as described previously by Liu et al [67]. Amplification, detection, and data analysis were performed using a Rotor-Gene 6000 real-time rotary analyzer (Corbett Life Science, Sydney, Australia).…”

Net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation: more than just CO2 and O2 reduction cycles

“…In addition, in Chlamydomonas the retrograde ROS‐signaling protein TER23 (ethylene‐dependent EGY1 in Arabidopsis) participates in the fast phosphorylation response and thus on cyclic vs linear electron flux in the chloroplast under stressful conditions (Schönberg et al ., ). Accordingly, in nonsenescing leaves, ethylene has been shown to cause changes in antioxidant contents (Hodges & Forney, ) and a considerable increase in biosynthesis of phenolic compounds (Tomás‐Barberán et al ., ; Liu et al ., ), thereby consuming sugar phosphates and reductive power in the chloroplast. Ethylene also perturbs polyamine synthesis and S‐adenosylmethionine metabolism (Aziz et al ., ) and a beneficial effect on nitrogen and sulfur assimilation has been proposed (Iqbal et al ., ).…”