The role of amino acid metabolism during abiotic stress release

Abstract

Plant responses to abiotic stress include various modifications in amino acid metabolism. By using a hydroponic culture system, we systematically investigate modification in amino acid profiles and the proteome of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves during initial recovery from low water potential or high salinity. Both treatments elicited oxidative stress leading to a biphasic stress response during recovery. Degradation of highly abundant proteins such as subunits of photosystems and ribosomes contributed to an accumulation of free amino acids. Catabolic pathways for several low abundant amino acids were induced indicating their usage as an alternative respiratory substrate to compensate for the decreased photosynthesis. Our results demonstrate that rapid detoxification of potentially detrimental amino acids such as Lys is a priority during the initial stress recovery period. The content of Pro, which acts as a compatible osmolyte during stress, was adjusted by balancing its synthesis and catabolism both of which were induced both during and after stress treatments. The production of amino acid derived secondary metabolites was up-regulated specifically during the recovery period, and our dataset also indicates increased synthesis rates of the precursor amino acids. Overall, our results support a tight relationship between amino acid metabolism and stress responses.

Developmentally controlled changes during Arabidopsis leaf development indicate causes for loss of stress tolerance with age

“…Several primary metabolites, including amino acids, sugars, and organic acids, have been reported to accumulate and function during environmental stress ( Rai, 2002 ; Kaplan and Guy, 2004 ; Rosa et al , 2009 ; Bitrián et al , 2012 ; Nakabayashi and Saito, 2015 ; Drincovich et al , 2016 ; Batista-Silva et al , 2019 ). The gene expression analysis provided a strong argument that cellular stress increases during leaf development and we expected the abundance of protective metabolites or stress marker metabolites to reflect this too.…”

Development and characterization of a Nannochloropsis mutant with simultaneously enhanced growth and lipid production

“…It was also interesting to find the remarkable increase in certain amino acids in Mut68, mainly those of proline, glutamine, and tryptophan. Among these, proline is well known for its association with stress tolerance [46], which may have been induced by the lack of trehalose in Mut68. Tryptophan can also be involved in stress response as a precursor to hormones such as melatonin and auxin [55], which can be involved in stress tolerance as well as developmental regulation in animals and plants.…”

“…Mut68 contains greatly reduced trehalose contents, which can render it imbalanced in stress-related amino acids. In general, certain amino acids accumulate under stress conditions, as reported in plants [46], and certain stress conditions are known to induce lipid accumulation in microalgae [47]. Therefore, we also included amino acids in the metabolite profiling using GC-MS ( Fig.…”

Pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater induce a stress response in tomato plants

“…Abiotic stress tolerance can be achieved by proline (Pro) synthesis to counter osmotic stress 34 , making Pro a stress indicator. Besides Pro and its derivatives, glycine betaine (GB), valine (Val), isoleucine (Ile) and aspartic acid (Asp) are major organic osmolytes that accumulate in a variety of plant species in response to environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, UV radiation and heavy metals 35 . A meta-study on the metabolic response of Arabidopsis to abiotic stresses revealed that lysine (Lys) and threonine (Thr) are also induced under several stress conditions 36 .…”