Green leaf volatiles, fire and nonanoic acid activate MAPkinases in the model grass species Lolium temulentum

Kidney-tonifying blood-activating decoction delays ventricular remodeling in rats with chronic heart failure by regulating gut microbiota and metabolites and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase/p65 nuclear factor kappa-B/aquaporin-4 signaling pathway

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Myocardial infarction has likely contributed to the increased prevalence of heart failure(HF).As a result of ventricular remodeling and reduced cardiac function, colonic blood flow decreases, causing mucosal ischemia and hypoxia of the villous structure of the intestinal wall.This damage in gut barrier function increases bowel wall permeability, leading to fluid metabolism disorder,gut microbial dysbiosis, increased gut bacteria translocation into the circulatory system and increased circulating endotoxins, thus promoting a typical inflammatory state.Traditional Chinese Medicine plays a key role in the prevention and treatment of HF.Kidney-tonifying Blood-activating(KTBA) decoction has been proved for clinical treatment of chronic HF.However,the mechanism of KTBA decoction on chronic HF is still unclear.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

The effect of KTBA decoction on gut microbiota and metabolites and p38MAPK/p65NF-κB/AQP4 signaling in rat colon was studied to investigate the mechanism that KTBA decoction delays ventricular remodeling and regulates water metabolism disorder in rats with HF after myocardial infarction based on the theory of "Kidney Storing Essence and Conducting Water".

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In vivo,a rat model of HF after myocardial infarction was prepared by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery combined with exhaustive swimming and starvation.The successful modeling rats were randomly divided into five groups:model group, tolvaptan group(gavaged 1.35mg/(kg•D) tolvaptan),KTBA decoction group(gavaged 15.75g/(kg•D) of KTBA decoction),KTBA decoction combined with SB203580(p38MAPK inhibitor) group(gavaged 15.75g/(kg•D) of KTBA decoction and intraperitoneally injected 1.5mg/(kg•D) of SB203580),and KTBA decoction combined with PDTC(p65NF-kB inhibitor) group(gavaged 15.75g/(kg•D) of KTBA decoction and intraperitoneally injected 120mg/(kg•D) of PDTC).The sham-operation group and model group were gavaged equal volume of normal saline.After 4 weeks of intervention with KTBA decoction,the effect of KTBA decoction on the cardiac structure and function of chronic HF model rats was observed by ultrasonic cardiogram.General state and cardiac index in rats were evaluated.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to measure N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentration in rat serum.Hematoxylin and eosin(H&E) staining,and transmission electron microscope(TEM) were used to observe the morphology and ultrastructure of myocardial and colonic tissue,and myocardial fibrosis was measured by Masson's staining.Cardiac E-cadherin level was detected by Western blot.The mRNA expression and protein expression levels of p38MAPK,I-κBα, p65NF-κB,AQP4,Occludin and ZO-1 in colonic tissue were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry. Protein expression of p38MAPK, p-p38MAPK,I-κBα,p-I-κBα,p65NF-κB, p-p65NF-κB,AQP4,Occludin and ZO-1 in rat colon was detected using Western blot.Colonic microbiota and serum metabolites were respectively analyzed by amplicon sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.In vitro, CCD-841CoN cell was placed in the ischemic solution under hypoxic conditions (94%N2,5%CO2,and 1%O2) in a 37 °C incubator to establish an ischemia and hypoxia model.The CCD-841CoN cells were divided into 7 groups, namely blank group and model group with normal rat serum plus control siRNA, tolvaptan group with rat serum containing tolvaptan plus control siRNA, KTBA group with rat serum containing KTBA plus control siRNA, KTBA plus p38MAPK siRNA group, KTBA plus p65NF-κB siRNA group,and KTBA plus AQP4siRNA group.After 24h and 48h of intervention with KTBA decoction,RT-qPCR,immunofluorescence and Western blot was used to detect the mRNA expression and protein expression levels of p38MAPK,I-κBα,p65NF-κB,AQP4, Occludin and ZO-1 in CCD-841CoN cells.

RESULTS

Compared with the model, KTBA decoction improved the general state, decraesed the serum NT-proBNP level,HW/BW ratio, LVIDd and LVIDs, increased E-cadherin level,EF and FS,reduced number of collagen fibers deposited in the myocardial interstitium,and recovered irregular arrangement of myofibril and swollen or vacuolated mitochondria with broken crista in myocardium.Moreover, KTBA decoction inhibited the expression of p38MAPK,I-κBα,and p65NF-κB and upregulated AQP4, Occludin and ZO-1 in colon tissues and CCD-841CoN cells.Additionally,p38siRNA or SB203580, p65siRNA or PDTC, and AQP4siRNA partially weakened the protective effects of KTBA in vitro and vivo.Notably,The LEfSe analysis results showed that there were six gut biomaker bacteria in model group, including Allobaculum, Bacillales,Turicibacter, Turicibacterales,Turicibacteraceae,and Bacilli. Besides, three gut biomaker bacteria containing Deltaproteobacteria, Desulfovibrionaceae,and Desulfovibrionales were enriched by KTBA treatment in chronic HF model.There were five differential metabolites, including L-Leucine,Pelargonic acid, Capsidiol,beta-Carotene,and L- Erythrulose, which can be regulated back in the same changed metabolic routes by the intervention of KTBA.L-Leucine had the positive correlation with Bacillales, Turicibacterales,Turicibacteraceae,and Turicibacter.L-Leucine significantly impacts Protein digestion and absorption, Mineral absorption,and Central carbon metabolism in cancer regulated by KTBA, which is involved in the expression of MAPK and tight junction in intestinal epithelial cells.

CONCLUSIONS

KTBA decoction manipulates the expression of several key proteins in the p38MAPK/p65NF-κB/AQP4 signaling pathway, modulates gut microbiota and metabolites toward a more favorable profile, improves gut barrier function, delays cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and fibrosis,and improves cardiac function.

Green leaf volatiles co-opt proteins involved in molecular pattern signalling in plant cells

The green leaf volatiles (GLVs) Z-3-hexen-1-ol (Z3-HOL) and Z-3-hexenyl acetate (Z3-HAC) are airborne infochemicals released from damaged plant tissues that induce defenses and developmental responses in receiver plants, but little is known about their mechanism of action. We found that Z3-HOL and Z3-HAC induce similar but distinctive physiological and signaling responses in tomato seedlings and cell cultures. In seedlings, Z3-HAC showed a stronger root growth inhibition effect than Z3-HOL. In cell cultures, the two GLVs induced distinct changes in MAP kinase (MAPK) activity and proton fluxes as well as rapid and massive changes in the phosphorylation status of proteins within 5 min. Many of these phosphoproteins are involved in reprogramming the proteome from cellular homoeostasis to stress and include pattern recognition receptors, a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase, MAPK cascade components, calcium signaling proteins and transcriptional regulators. These are well-known components of damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) signaling pathways. These rapid changes in the phosphoproteome may underly the activation of defense and developmental responses to GLVs. Our data provide further evidence that GLVs function like DAMPs and indicate that GLVs coopt DAMP signaling pathways.

Nontargeted metabolomic analysis to unravel alleviation mechanisms of carbon nanotubes on inhibition of alfalfa growth under pyrene stress

Carbon nanotubes have displayed great potential in enhancing phytoremediation of PAHs polluted soils. However, the response of plants to the coexistence of carbon nanotubes and PAHs and the associated influencing mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, the effect of carbon nanotubes on alfalfa growth and pyrene uptake under exposure to pyrene was evaluated through sand culture experiment and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometer (GC-TOF-MS) based metabolomics. Results showed that pyrene at 10 mg kg^-1 obviously reduced the shoot fresh weight of alfalfa by 18.3 %. Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) at 25 and 50 mg kg^-1 significantly enhanced the shoot fresh weight in a dose-dependent manner, nearly by 80 % at 50 mg kg^-1. Pyrene was mainly accumulated in alfalfa roots, in which the concentration was 35 times as much as that in shoots. MWCNTs greatly enhanced the accumulation of pyrene in alfalfa roots, almost by two times at 50 mg kg^-1, while decreased pyrene concentration in shoots, from 0.11 mg kg^-1 to 0.044 mg kg^-1 at MWCNTs concentration of 50 mg kg^-1. Metabolomics data revealed that pyrene at 10 mg kg^-1 trigged significant metabolic changes in alfalfa root exudates, downregulating 27 metabolites. MWCNTs generated an increase in the contents of some downregulated metabolites caused by pyrene stress, which were restored to the original level or even higher, mainly including organic acids and amino acids. MWNCTs significantly enriched some metabolic pathways positively correlated with shoot growth and pyrene accumulation in shoots under exposure to pyrene, including TCA cycle, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, cysteine and methione metabolism as well as alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism. This work highlights the regulation effect of MWCNTs on the metabolism of root exudates, which are helpful for alfalfa to alleviate the stress from pyrene contamination.

Metabolomic Response of the Creeping Wood Sorrel Oxalis corniculata to Low-Dose Radiation Exposure from Fukushima's Contaminated Soil

The biological consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident have been intensively studied using the pale grass blue butterfly Zizeeria maha and its host plant, the creeping wood sorrel Oxalis corniculata. Here, we performed metabolomic analyses of Oxalis leaves from Okinawa to examine the plant metabolites that were upregulated or downregulated in response to low-dose radiation exposure from Fukushima's contaminated soil. The cumulative dose of radiation to the plants was 5.7 mGy (34 μGy/h for 7 days). The GC-MS analysis revealed a systematic tendency of downregulation among the metabolites, some of which were annotated as caproic acid, nonanoic acid, azelaic acid, and oleic acid. Others were annotated as fructose, glucose, and citric acid, involved in the carbohydrate metabolic pathways. Notably, the peak annotated as lauric acid was upregulated. In contrast, the LC-MS analysis detected many upregulated metabolites, some of which were annotated as either antioxidants or stress-related chemicals involved in defense pathways. Among them, only three metabolite peaks had a single annotation, one of which was alfuzosin, an antagonist of the α₁-adrenergic receptor. We conclude that this Oxalis plant responded metabolically to low-dose radiation exposure from Fukushima's contaminated soil, which may mediate the ecological "field effects" of the developmental deterioration of butterflies in Fukushima.

Biochemical mechanisms of rhizospheric Bacillus subtilis-facilitated phytoextraction by alfalfa under cadmium stress - Microbial diversity and metabolomics analyses

The effects of Bacillus subtilis inoculation on the growth and Cd uptake of alfalfa were evaluated in this research using pot experiments, and the relevant biochemical mechanisms were first investigated by combined microbial diversity and nontarget metabolomics analyses. The results indicated that inoculation with alfalfa significantly decreased the amount of plant malondialdehyde (MDA) and improved the activities of plant antioxidant enzymes and soil nutrient cycling-involved enzymes, thereby promoting biomass by 29.4%. Inoculation also increased Cd bioavailability in rhizosphere soil by 12.0% and Cd removal efficiency by 139.3%. The biochemical mechanisms included enhanced bacterial diversity, transformed microbial community composition, regulated amounts of amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, flavonoids and phenols in rhizosphere soil metabolites, and modulations of the corresponding Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. These responses were beneficial to microbial activity, nutrient cycling, and Cd mobilization, detoxification, and decontamination by alfalfa in soil. This study, especially the newly identified differential metabolites and metabolic pathways, provides new insights into mechanism revelation and strategy development in microbe-assisted phytomanagement of heavy metal-contaminated soils.

Transcriptome Analysis of Wounding in the Model Grass Lolium temulentum

For forage and turf grasses, wounding is a predominant stress that often results in extensive loss of vegetative tissues followed by rapid regrowth. Currently, little is known concerning the perception, signaling, or molecular responses associated with wound stress in forage- and turf-related grasses. A transcriptome analysis of Lolium temulentum plants subjected to severe wounding revealed 9413 upregulated and 7704 downregulated, distinct, differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Categories related to signaling, transcription, and response to stimuli were enriched in the upregulated DEGs. Specifically, sequences annotated as enzymes involved in hormone biosynthesis/action and cell wall modifications, mitogen-activated protein kinases, WRKY transcription factors, proteinase inhibitors, and pathogen defense-related DEGs were identified. Surprisingly, DEGs related to heat shock and chaperones were more prevalent in the downregulated DEGs when compared with the upregulated DEGs. This wound transcriptome analysis is the first step in identifying the molecular components and pathways used by grasses in response to wounding. The information gained from the analysis will provide a valuable molecular resource that will be used to develop approaches that can improve the recovery, regrowth, and long-term fitness of forage and turf grasses before/after cutting or grazing.

Transcriptome analysis of the model grass Lolium temulentum exposed to green leaf volatiles

BACKGROUND

Forage and turf grasses are routinely cut and grazed upon throughout their lifecycle. When grasses are cut or damaged, they rapidly release a volatile chemical cocktail called green leaf volatiles (GLV). Previously we have shown that mechanical wounding or exposure to GLV released from cut grass, activated a Lt 46 kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) within 3 min and a 44 kDa MAPK within 15-20 min in the model grass species Lolium temulentum (Lt). Currently very little is known concerning the perception, signaling or molecular responses associated with wound stress in grasses. Since GLV are released during wounding, we wanted to investigate what genes and signaling pathways would be induced in undamaged plants exposed to GLV.

RESULTS

RNA-Seq generated transcriptome of Lolium plants exposed to GLV identified 4308 up- and 2794 down-regulated distinct differentially-expressed sequences (DES). Gene Ontology analysis revealed a strong emphasis on signaling, response to stimulus and stress related categories. Transcription factors and kinases comprise over 13% of the total DES found in the up-regulated dataset. The analysis showed a strong initial burst within the first hour of GLV exposure with over 60% of the up-regulated DES being induced. Specifically sequences annotated for enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid and other plant hormones, mitogen-activated protein kinases and WRKY transcription factors were identified. Interestingly, eleven DES for ferric reductase oxidase, an enzyme involved in iron uptake and transport, were exclusively found in the down-regulated dataset. Twelve DES of interest were selected for qRT-PCR analysis; all displayed a rapid induction one hour after GLV exposure and were also strongly induced by mechanical wounding.

CONCLUSION

The information gained from the analysis of this transcriptome and previous studies suggests that GLV released from cut grasses transiently primes an undamaged plant's wound stress pathways for potential oncoming damage, and may have a dual role for inter- as well as intra-plant signaling.

Nontargeted metabolomic analysis to unravel the impact of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate stress on root exudates of alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

Root exudates are the main media of information communication and energy transfer between plant roots and the soil. Understanding the response of root exudates to contamination stress is crucial in revealing the rhizoremediation mechanisms. Here, we investigate the response of alfalfa root exudates to bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) stress based on nontargeted metabolomic analysis. Alfalfa root exudates were collected using greenhouse hydroponic culture and analysed by gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). A total of 314 compounds were identified in alfalfa root exudates of which carbohydrates, acids and lipids accounted for 28.6, 15.58 and 13.87%, respectively. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) shows that DEHP exerted an important influence on the composition and quantity of root exudates. Fifty metabolites were clearly changed even at lower concentrations of DEHP, including common carbohydrates, fatty acids and some special rhizosphere signal materials, such as 4',5-dihyrroxy-7-methoxyisoflavone. DEHP stress significantly suppressed carbohydrate metabolism but promoted fatty acid metabolism. However, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle showed little change in response to DEHP stress.

Volatile β-Ocimene Can Regulate Developmental Performance of Peach Aphid Myzus persicae Through Activation of Defense Responses in Chinese Cabbage Brassica pekinensis

In nature, plants have evolved sophisticated defense mechanisms against the attack of pathogens and insect herbivores. Plant volatile-mediated plant-to-plant communication has been assessed in multitrophic systems in different plant species and different pest species. β-ocimene is recognized as an herbivore-induced plant volatile that play an important role in the chemical communication between plants and pests. However, it is still unclear whether β-ocimene can active the defense mechanism of Chinese cabbage Brassica pekinensis against the peach aphid Myzus persicae. In this study, we found that treatment of Chinese cabbage with β-ocimene inhibited the growth of M. persicae in terms of weight gain and reproduction. Moreover, β-ocimene treatment negatively influenced the feeding behavior of M. persicae by shortening the total feeding period and phloem ingestion and increasing the frequency of stylet puncture. When given a choice, winged aphids preferred to settle on healthy Chinese cabbage compared with β-ocimene-treated plants. In addition, performance of the parasitoid Aphidius gifuensis in terms of Y-tube olfaction and landings was better on β-ocimene-treated Chinese cabbage than on healthy plants. Furthermore, β-ocimene significantly increased the expression levels of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid marker genes and the accumulation of glucosinolates. Surprisingly, the transcriptional levels of detoxifying enzymes (CYP6CY3, CYP4, and GST) in aphids reared on β-ocimene-treated Chinese cabbage were significantly higher than those of aphids reared on healthy plants. In summary, our results indicated that β-ocimene can activate the defense response of Chinese cabbage against M. persicae, and that M. persicae can also adjust its detoxifying enzymes machinery to counter the host plant defense reaction.

Activation of MAP kinases by green leaf volatiles in grasses

Objective

Previously we have shown that mechanical wounding and volatiles released from cut grass, activated a 46 and 44 kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the model grass species Lolium temulentum (Lt). MAPKs play an important role as signal relays that connect incoming stress signals and stress responses. Since green leaf volatiles (GLV) are released during wounding, we wanted determine if specific compounds contained in the GLV mixture or if GLV generated from other plant species could activate these Lt MAPKs.

Results

Our analysis found that just a 1-min exposure to GLV was enough to activate the Lt 46 kDa MAPK within 3 min and the 44 kDa MAPK within 15 min. This activation pattern showed similar kinetics to those observed after wounding, and the GLV and wound activated bands associated with these MAPKs displayed identical migration on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. Thirteen different commercially available plant volatiles (alcohols, aldehydes and ketones) were tested and all thirteen volatile compounds were able to activate these same Lt MAPKs. Furthermore, GLV derived from three other grass species as well as tomato, a dicot, were also shown to activate these MAPKs in Lt.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-3076-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

(1)H NMR and GC-MS Based Metabolomics Reveal Defense and Detoxification Mechanism of Cucumber Plant under Nano-Cu Stress

Because copper nanoparticles are being increasingly used in agriculture as pesticides, it is important to assess their potential implications for agriculture. Concerns have been raised about the bioaccumulation of nano-Cu and their toxicity to crop plants. Here, the response of cucumber plants in hydroponic culture at early development stages to two concentrations of nano-Cu (10 and 20 mg/L) was evaluated by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H NMR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomics. Changes in mineral nutrient metabolism induced by nano-Cu were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results showed that nano-Cu at both concentrations interferes with the uptake of a number of micro- and macro-nutrients, such as Na, P, S, Mo, Zn, and Fe. Metabolomics data revealed that nano-Cu at both levels triggered significant metabolic changes in cucumber leaves and root exudates. The root exudate metabolic changes revealed an active defense mechanism against nano-Cu stress: up-regulation of amino acids to sequester/exclude Cu/nano-Cu; down-regulation of citric acid to reduce the mobilization of Cu ions; ascorbic acid up-regulation to combat reactive oxygen species; and up-regulation of phenolic compounds to improve antioxidant system. Thus, we demonstrate that nontargeted (1)H NMR and GC-MS based metabolomics can successfully identify physiological responses induced by nanoparticles. Root exudates metabolomics revealed important detoxification mechanisms.