The Metabolic Reprogramming Induced by Sub-Optimal Nutritional and Light Inputs in Soilless Cultivated Green and Red Butterhead Lettuce

Abstract

Sub-optimal growing conditions have a major effect on plants; therefore, large efforts are devoted to maximizing the availability of agricultural inputs to crops. To increase the sustainable use of non-renewable inputs, attention is currently given to the study of plants under non-optimal conditions. In this work, we investigated the impact of sub-optimal macrocations availability and light intensity in two lettuce varieties that differ for the accumulation of secondary metabolites (i.e., ‘Red Salanova’ and ‘Green Salanova’). Photosynthesis-related measurements and untargeted metabolomics were used to identify responses and pathways involved in stress resilience. The pigmented (‘Red’) and the non-pigmented (‘Green Salanova’) lettuce exhibited distinctive responses to sub-optimal conditions. The cultivar specific metabolomic signatures comprised a broad modulation of metabolism, including secondary metabolites, phytohormones, and membrane lipids signaling cascade. Several stress-related metabolites were altered by either treatment, including polyamines (and other nitrogen-containing compounds), phenylpropanoids, and lipids. The metabolomics and physiological response to macrocations availability and light intensity also implies that the effects of low-input sustainable farming systems should be evaluated considering a range of cultivar-specific positive and disadvantageous metabolic effects in addition to yield and other socio-economic parameters.

Foliar Application of Different Vegetal-Derived Protein Hydrolysates Distinctively Modulates Tomato Root Development and Metabolism

“…The injection sequence was randomized, and blank samples (extraction solvent only) injected at the beginning and at the end of the sequence. Besides, quality control samples (QCs) were randomly analyzed throughout the sequence, using the same chromatographic method but in a data-dependent tandem MS/MS mode (10 precursors per cycle, 1 Hz, 50–1200 m / z ), at different collision energies (10, 20, and 40 eV) [ 50 ]. QCs were used to increase confidence in the annotation.…”

“…Metabolomics data were analyzed through Agilent Technologies Mass Profiler Professional 12.6, where abundance was log2 transformed, normalized, and baselined against the median [ 50 ]. At first, unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis (Euclidean distance, Ward’s linkage) was used to describe similarity/dissimilarity across treatments.…”

Unraveling the Modulation of Controlled Salinity Stress on Morphometric Traits, Mineral Profile, and Bioactive Metabolome Equilibrium in Hydroponic Basil

“…It is long established that salinity and other suboptimal environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, light intensity, nutrients, and water) have a strong impact on the accumulation of secondary compounds in plants [6][7][8]. The array of diverse molecules probably represents the most important functional feature of medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) species [9].…”

Intraspecific Variability Largely Affects the Leaf Metabolomics Response to Isosmotic Macrocation Variations in Two Divergent Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Varieties

“…Our current understanding of how the controlled manipulation of multiple mineral elements interacts on a pre-existing phytochemical diversity in plants is very limited, also because, for instance, different studies have been carried out in relation to an exposure to abiotic stress conditions [51][52][53][54]. The analysis of the effects on the NS in relation to the different colored genotypes provided interesting insights.…”