l-Aspartate: An Essential Metabolite for Plant Growth and Stress Acclimation

Abstract

L-aspartate (Asp) serves as a central building block, in addition to being a constituent of proteins, for many metabolic processes in most organisms, such as biosynthesis of other amino acids, nucleotides, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis pathway intermediates, and hormones, which are vital for growth and defense. In animals and humans, lines of data have proved that Asp is indispensable for cell proliferation. However, in plants, despite the extensive study of the Asp family amino acid pathway, little attention has been paid to the function of Asp through the other numerous pathways. This review aims to elucidate the most important aspects of Asp in plants, from biosynthesis to catabolism and the role of Asp and its metabolic derivatives in response to changing environmental conditions. It considers the distribution of Asp in various cell compartments and the change of Asp level, and its significance in the whole plant under various stresses. Moreover, it provides evidence of the interconnection between Asp and phytohormones, which have prominent functions in plant growth, development, and defense. The updated information will help improve our understanding of the physiological role of Asp and Asp-borne metabolic fluxes, supporting the modular operation of these networks.

Altitudinal Variation of Metabolites, Mineral Elements and Antioxidant Activities of Rhodiola crenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba

“…Furthermore, among the six amino acid families with differential amino acids changing with altitude, various amino acids such as glutathione, tyrosine, arginine, cysteine, proline, ornithine, glycine, aspartate, lysine, isoleucine, and leucine enhance plant stress tolerance in multiple ways [ 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 ]; while valine and tryptophan are associated with promoting plant growth [ 116 , 117 ]. These differential amino acid changes suggest that Rhodiola crenulata may involve multiple forms of adaptive changes with altered growth patterns in response to altitude changes.…”

Application of Ascophyllum nodosum-Based Soluble Extract on Micropropagation and Regeneration of Nicotiana benthamiana and Prunus domestica

“…Glutamic acid plays a key role as a signaling molecule involved in plant growth under normal or stressful conditions [ 47 ]. Aspartic serves as a central building block for many constituents including nucleotides and plant growth regulator hormones [ 48 ]. Amino acids are known as biostimulants that improve plant growth and yield and serve as hormone precursors [ 2 , 49 ] and exogenously applied amino acids have also been reported to play a critical role in in vitro plant tissue culture [ 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

Impact of Plasma-Activated Water Treatment on Quality and Shelf-Life of Fresh Spinach Leaves Evaluated by Comprehensive Metabolomic Analysis

“…Moreover, photorespiratory nitrogen transamination by glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase could lead to a reduction in glutamate concentrations [ 47 ]. The content of free aspartate in the spinach leaves decreased during storage, probably because this amino acid acts similarly to glutamate as a nitrogen carrier and contributes to its transport, recycling and storage [ 48 ]. Aspartate is also involved in the biosynthesis of other amino acids such as asparagine, lysine, methionine, threonine and isoleucine, and is a building block in the production of nucleic acids.…”