Untargeted metabolomics of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa ‘Camarosa’) fruit from plants grown under osmotic stress conditions

Abstract

BACKGROUND Plants activate defense mechanisms to cope with adverse environmental conditions, leading to the accumulation and / or depletion of general and specialized metabolites. In this study, a multiplatform untargeted metabolomics strategy was employed to evaluate metabolic changes in strawberry fruit of cv. Camarosa grown under osmotic stress conditions. Liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) data from strawberries grown under two water‐deficit conditions, irrigated at 95% crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and 85% ETc, and one excess salt condition with a 80 mmol L−1 NaCl solution, were analyzed to determine treatment effects on fruit metabolism. RESULTS Multivariate principal component analysis, orthogonal projections to latent structures – discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA), and univariate statistical analyses were applied to the data set. While multivariate analyses showed group separation by treatment, T‐tests and fold change revealed 12 metabolites differentially accumulated in strawberries from different treatments – among them phenolic compounds, glycerophospholipids, phytosterols, carbohydrates, and an aromatic amino acid. CONCLUSION Untargeted metabolomic analysis allowed for the annotation of compounds differentially accumulated in strawberry fruit from plants grown under osmotic stress and non‐stressed plants. The metabolic disturbance in plants under stress involved metabolites associated with the inhibition of reactive oxygen species and cell‐wall and membrane lipid biosynthesis, which might serve as osmotic stress biomarkers. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Metabolomics Response to Drought Stress in Morus alba L. variety Yu-711

“…The reduced phytosterol level in this study indicates that the mulberry under stress conditions activates a distinct pathway as a defense to the stress treatments and may have led to forming other derivatives with a more substantial water holding capacity. The results here agree with the study reported by [49].…”

“…However, our study reveals a decreased level of phytosterol. As an adaptive response to environmental conditions, high terpene synthase (TPS) activity levels increase sterol content [49]. The terpene level in this study was higher, and that TPS might have enhanced the sterol content.…”

“…Thus, drought stress has a reducing effect on cinnamic content. According toAntunes et al (2019), a reduced cinnamic acid was recorded when strawberry plants were exposed to drought stress. Similarly, our results produced a decrease in cinnamic content.…”

“…Similarly, our results produced a decrease in cinnamic content. For instance, 2hydroxycinnamic acid and m-Coumaric acid were mostly affected with lower concentrations.Cinnamic acid may play a role by regulating the flux into the phenylpropanoid pathway[49] Sun et al (2012). exposed cucumber to water deficit and found that the level of cinnamic acid was reduced[68].…”

Genome-wide identification, and characterization of the CDPK gene family reveal their involvement in abiotic stress response in Fragaria x ananassa

“…ABA content was also observed to increase in strawberry fruits under saline and drought stresses; however, ABA biosynthesis related genes (FaNCEDs, FaCYP707As, FaGTs, and FaBGs) were mostly upregulated only in drought stressed fruits 25 . Similarly, only the drought stress increased the concentrations of ascorbic acid, sugars, and methylsyringin, whereas salt stress induced the synthesis of amino acids in the fruits 26,70 . A mechanism of salt and drought response in strawberry fruits based on these previous results and the gene expression data from this study is shown in Fig.…”