Physiological and iTRAQ-based proteomic analyses reveal the function of exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in improving tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) tolerance at cold temperature

Abstract

BackgroundInternal γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) interacting with stress response substances may be involved in the regulation of differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) associated with optimum temperature and cold stress in tea plants (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze).ResultsTea plants supplied with or without 5.0 mM GABA were subjected to optimum or cold temperatures in this study. The increased GABA level induced by exogenous GABA altered levels of stress response substances – such as glutamate, polyamines and anthocyanins – in association with improved cold tolerance. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) – based DAPs were found for protein metabolism and nucleotide metabolism, energy, amino acid transport and metabolism other biological processes, inorganic ion transport and metabolism, lipid metabolism, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, antioxidant and stress defense.ConclusionsThe iTRAQ analysis could explain the GABA-induced physiological effects associated with cold tolerance in tea plants. Analysis of functional protein–protein networks further showed that alteration of endogenous GABA and stress response substances induced interactions among photosynthesis, amino acid biosynthesis, and carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and the corresponding differences could contribute to improved cold tolerance of tea plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-019-1646-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Foliar Application of Y-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Improves Vegetative Growth, and the Physiological and Antioxidative Potential of Daucus Carota L. under Water Deficit Conditions

“…Synthesis of cyoprotectant molecules, increase in tissue-specific scavenging capacity against excessive ROSs, decrease in malondialdehyde content, and production of nitrogenous compounds with low molecular weight are some conspicuous examples of protective/defensive mechanisms involved in minimizing the deleterious effects of stressing agents in plants. In response to environmental anxiety, plants start accumulating GABA in their affected tissues quickly which help them adapting stress conditions to some extent [14]. Intensive studies in the recent past have demonstrated that endogenous levels of GABA can remarkeably be increased by exogenous application of GABA [39,40].…”

“…In addition to playing an important role in amino acid transport model, various types of proteins help in producing stress response substances and are directly or indirectly involved in the related metabolic pathways. Zhu et al [14] identified thirty-six (36) proteins involved in amino acid transport system in tea plant (Camellia sinesis L.). Any damage to the structure of proteins, either due to stress or other harmful agent, may compromise tissue-specific cellular integrity of plants [77].…”

“…A large volume of studies conducted in the recent past have shown that certain plant growth regulators (PGRs), when applied exogeneously, play their important role in regulating the responses of plants to mitigate abiotic stress signals through various tolerance mechanisms [7]. Among the PGRs already tested on diverse plant species in this context, GABA -a 4-carbon non-protein amino acid, has emerged as a promising multiprotactant with the ability to rapidly induce tolerance in plants against a variety of abiotic stresses such as mechanical injury or stimulation, hormonal toxicity, water logging, extreme temperatures, heat shocks, salt and/or drough stresses 0 [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In plants, GABA is involved in a multitude of physio-biochemical functions so as to regulate their growth and tolerance against various abiotic stresses.…”

Co-production of Nisin and γ-Aminobutyric Acid by Engineered Lactococcus lactis for Potential Application in Food Preservation

“…It was generally caused by the faster rate of anthocyanin degradation compared with its biosynthesis rate in strawberry. Exogenous GABA treatment has been reported to induce anthocyanins accumulation in plants (Zhu et al, 2019). This might explain why the F44/GadB1C1 group showed the slightest change of C-value.…”

“…Furthermore, GABA can alleviate oxidative damage of fruits (Yang et al, 2011;Li et al, 2019) and barley seedlings (Song et al, 2010) through enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Exogenous GABA treatment significantly improves the storage performance of fruits through increasing the accumulation of citrate and amino acids (Sheng et al, 2017), reducing chilling injury (Shang et al, 2011), and altering the carbon and nitrogen metabolism (Zhu et al, 2019). Therefore, GABA has great potential as an antioxidant or additive in food preservation.…”