Elicitation of flavonoids by chitosan and salicylic acid in callus of Rumex vesicarius L

B2 O3 nanoparticles alleviate salt stress in maize leaf growth zones by enhancing photosynthesis and maintaining mineral and redox status

Salt stress induces significant loss in crop yield worldwide. Although the growth-stimulating effects of micronutrient nanoparticles (NPs) application under salinity have been studied, the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying these effects are poorly understood. The large size of maize leaf growth zones provides an ideal model system to sample and investigate the molecular and physiological bases of growth at subzonal resolution. Using kinematic analysis, our study indicated that salinity at 150 mM inhibited maize leaf growth by decreasing cell division and expansion in the meristem and elongation zones. Consistently, salinity downregulated cell cycle gene expression (wee1, mcm4, and cyclin-B2-4). B2 O3 NP (BNP) mitigated the stress-induced growth inhibition by reducing the decrease in cell division and expansion. BNP also enhanced the photosynthesis-related parameters. Simultaneously, chlorophyll, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase were stimulated in the mature zone. Concomitant with growth stimulation by BNP, mineral homeostasis, particularly for B and Ca, was monitored. BNP reduced oxidative stress (e.g., lessened H2 O2 generation along the leaf zones and reduced lipid peroxidation in the mature zone) induced by salinity. This resulted from better maintenance of the redox status, that is, increased the glutathione-ascorbate cycle in the meristem and elongation zones, and flavonoids and tocopherol levels in the mature zone. Our study has important implications for assessing the salinity stress impact mitigated by BNP on maize growth, providing a basis to improve the resilience of crop species under salinity stress conditions.

BiP-overexpressing soybean plants display accelerated hypersensitivity response (HR) affecting the SA-dependent sphingolipid and flavonoid pathways

Biotic and abiotic environmental stresses have limited the increase in soybean productivity. Overexpression of the molecular chaperone BiP in transgenic plants has been associated with the response to osmotic stress and drought tolerance by maintaining cellular homeostasis and delaying hypersensitive cell death. Here, we evaluated the metabolic changes in response to the hypersensitivity response (HR) caused by the non-compatible bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato in BiP-overexpressing plants. The HR-modified metabolic profiles in BiP-overexpressing plants were significantly distinct from the wild-type untransformed. The transgenic plants displayed a lower abundance of HR-responsive metabolites as amino acids, sugars, carboxylic acids and signal molecules, including p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and dihydrosphingosine (DHS), when compared to infected wild-type plants. In contrast, salicylic acid (SA) biosynthetic and signaling pathways were more stimulated in transgenic plants, and both pathogenesis-related genes (PRs) and transcriptional factors controlling the SA pathway were more induced in the BiP-overexpressing lines. Furthermore, the long-chain bases (LCBs) and ceramide biosynthetic pathways showed alterations in gene expression and metabolite abundance. Thus, as a protective pathway against pathogens, HR regulation by sphingolipids and SA may account at least in part by the enhanced resistance of transgenic plants. GmNAC32 transcriptional factor was more induced in the transgenic plants and it has also been reported to regulate flavonoid synthesis in response to SA. In fact, the BiP-overexpressing plants showed an increase in flavonoids, mainly prenylated isoflavones, as precursors for phytoalexins. Our results indicate that the BiP-mediated acceleration in the hypersensitive response may be a target for metabolic engineering of plant resistance against pathogens.