The Geomagnetic Field (GMF) Modulates Nutrient Status and Lipid Metabolism during Arabidopsis thaliana Plant Development

Abstract

The Geomagnetic field (GMF) is a typical component of our planet. Plant perception of the GMF implies that any magnetic field (MF) variation would induce possible metabolic changes. In this work was we assessed the role of the GMF on Arabidopsis thaliana Col0 mineral nutrition and lipid metabolism during plant development. We reduced the local GMF (about 40 μT) to Near Null Magnetic Field (NNMF, about 30 nT) to evaluate the effects of GMF on Arabidopsis in a time-course (from rosette to seed-set) experiment by studying the lipid content (fatty acids, FA; and surface alkanes, SA) and mineral nutrients. The expression of selected genes involved in lipid metabolism was assessed by Real-Time PCR (qPCR). A progressive increase of SA with carbon numbers between 21 and 28 was found in plants exposed to NNMF from bolting to flowering developmental stages, whereas the content of some FA significantly (p < 0.05) increased in rosette, bolting and seed-set developmental stages. Variations in SA composition were correlated to the differential expression of several Arabidopsis 3-ketoacyl-CoAsynthase (KCS) genes, including KCS1, KCS5, KCS6, KCS8, and KCS12, a lipid transfer protein (LTPG1) and a lipase (LIP1). Ionomic analysis showed a significant variation in some micronutrients (Fe, Co, Mn and Ni) and macronutrients (Mg, K and Ca) during plant development of plants exposed to NNMF. The results of this work show that A. thaliana responds to variations of the GMF which are perceived as is typical of abiotic stress responses.

Geomagnetic Field (GMF)-Dependent Modulation of Iron-Sulfur Interplay in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…At the root level, two-way ANOVA revealed that (i) NA significantly affected Fe ( p < 0.001), Zn ( p < 0.001), and Mo ( p < 0.001) content; (ii) MF significantly affected Cu ( p < 0.001) and Zn ( p < 0.05); (iii) the NAxMF interaction significantly affected only Cu content ( Table 1 ). In particular, under control conditions, NNMF-exposed plants displayed low Fe content compared to GMF- exposed plants, while the content of other metals did not change, in agreement with our previous findings [ 14 ]. Under –Fe, the content of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn in the roots were higher in the NNMF- than in the GMF-exposed plants ( p < 0.05; Table 1 ).…”

“…Since we previously identified a link between Fe and Cu under NNMF conditions [ 14 ], we monitored the expression of SPL7 and miR408 , two master regulator genes involved in the cross-link between Fe and Cu homeostasis in plants [ 16 , 17 ]. Two-way ANOVA revealed that NA ( p < 0.001), MF ( p < 0.001), and NAxMF ( p < 0.05) affected SPL7 expression ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…Recently, the reduction of the GMF to near null MF (NNMF) conditions was found to affect the nutrient status of plants [ 7 , 13 , 14 ]. In addition, specific evidence has also been provided about the impact of GMF on metal homeostasis in plants.…”

Effect of Magnetopriming on Photosynthetic Performance of Plants

“…Among the natural components of our planet, such as water, temperature, climate and electric charges, Earth's magnetic field or geomagnetic field (GMF) is a component that influences many biological processes in plants [15][16][17][18]. As a sessile organism, plants show different levels of morphophysiological and molecular responses under different magnetic field (MF) intensities, such as shoot, root and stem elongation, photosynthetic performance, plant nutrient uptake and the expression of several genes associated with photoreceptors [8,[18][19][20].…”

Biological Effects of Hypomagnetic Field: Ground‐Based Data for Space Exploration

“…In one study, the biomass accumulation of Arabidopsis was 36% lower when the plants grew to the reproductive stage, and the number of siliques and the production of seeds per plant was also lower, resulting in an approximately 20% decrease in the harvest index [Xu et al, 2013]. The leaf area index was also reduced during the flowering and seed set stages under HMF conditions, accompanied by a reduction in fresh and dry mass [Islam et al, 2020b].…”