Abiotic Stress in Plants and Metabolic Responses

Abstract

The vast metabolic diversity observed in plants is the direct result of continuous evolutionary processes. There are more than , known plant secondary metabolites, representing a vast reservoir of diverse functions. When the environment is adverse and plant growth is affected, metabolism is profoundly involved in signaling, physiological regulation, and defense responses. "t the same time, in feedback, abiotic stresses affect the biosynthesis, concentration, transport, and storage of primary and secondary metabolites. Metabolic adjustments in response to abiotic stressors involve fine adjustments in amino acid, carbohydrate, and amine metabolic pathways. Proper activation of early metabolic responses helps cells restore chemical and energetic imbalances imposed by the stress and is crucial to acclimation and survival. Time-series experiments have revealed that metabolic activities respond to stress more quickly than transcriptional activities do. In order to study and map all the simultaneous metabolic responses and, more importantly, to link these responses to a specific abiotic stress, integrative and comprehensive analyses are required. Metabolomics is the systematic approach through which qualitative and quantitative analysis of a large number of metabolites is increasing our knowledge of how complex metabolic networks interact and how they are dynamically modified under stress adaptation and tolerance processes. " vast amount of research has been done using metabolomic approaches to i characterize metabolic responses to abiotic stress, ii to discover novel genes and annotate gene function, and, iii more recently, to identify metabolic quantitative trait loci. The integration of the collected metabolic data concerning abiotic stress responses is helping in the identification of tolerance traits that may be transferable to cultivated crop species. In this review, the diverse metabolic responses identified in plants so far are discussed. We also include recent advances in the study of plant metabolomes and metabolic fluxes with a focus on abiotic stress-tolerance trait interactions.

Non-targeted metabolomics and scavenging activity of reactive oxygen species reveal the potential of Salicornia brachiata as a functional food

“…It has been reported that dietary gangliosides decrease cholesterol content, thus exerting a potential anti-inflammatory effect (Park et al, 2005). Salicornia does not synthesize most of the metabolites under stress conditions (Supplementary Table S3), as synthesis of metabolites are known to be environmentally dependent and energy diverts to the stress responses that are involved in complex regulatory networks, including metabolism adjustment and gene expression (Fraire-Velázquez & Balderas-Hernández, 2013;Krasensky & Jonak, 2012).…”

“…There is a vast array and a structural diversity of plant metabolites (Nakabayashi & Saito, 2013), and more than 200,000 plant metabolites are reported (Fraire-Velázquez & Balderas-Hernández, 2013;Matsuda et al, 2009), but many are still to be identified and characterized. Several conventional and advanced methods and strategies have been reported for the untargeted metabolomics of unknown plant metabolites under abiotic stress (Dunn et al, 2013;Fraire-Velázquez & Balderas-Hernández, 2013;Matsuda et al, 2009;Nakabayashi & Saito, 2013;Okazaki & Saito, 2012). Synthesis of plant metabolites is influenced by varying stress conditions; therefore, strategies for metabolic profiling with a steady-state level of metabolites are very important for the analysis of complex metabolic networks (Kruger et al, 2012).…”

European cowpea landraces for a more sustainable agriculture system and novel foods

“…Agricultural productivity of food legumes, grown in semi‐arid areas or drylands, e.g. the Mediterranean Basin, is usually characterized by instability, as it is influenced by several environmental constraints, such as water scarcity and extreme temperatures that prevail in these areas . Tolerance to low water regimes and adaptation to high temperatures make cowpea an important crop for southern European countries; thus it is considered one of the most drought‐tolerant crops .…”

“…9,10 Agricultural productivity of food legumes, grown in semi-arid areas or drylands, e.g. the Mediterranean Basin, is usually characterized by instability, as it is influenced by several environmental constraints, such as water scarcity and extreme temperatures 11,12 that prevail in these areas. 13 Tolerance to low water regimes and 11,14 Furthermore, cowpea capacity to establish symbiosis with rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi allows it to grow in low-fertility soils, reducing or even eliminating the need for application of inorganic fertilizers, thus resulting in a more environmentally sustainable culture as well as rendering it one of the soil fertility-restoring crops.…”

Stress memory induced transcriptional and metabolic changes of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in response to salt stress

“…Many studies have indicated that most of the 200 000 known plant secondary metabolites are profoundly involved in defense responses including high temperature, cold, salinity, drought, diseases and insect pests response (Rizhsky et al , Du et al , Jänkänpää et al , Krasensky and Jonak , Zhang et al , Fraire‐Velázquez and Balderas‐Hernández , Xu et al , Ruan ). Jänkänpää et al () found that high light intensity induced numerous metabolic accumulation including 5 sugars and sugar derivatives (fructose, sucrose, glucose, galactose and raffinose), 4 tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates (citric acid, fumaric acid, malic acid and succinic acid), and 13 amino acids in Arabidopsis using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of polar compounds.…”