Untargeted metabolomics of Pinus pinaster needles under heat and drought stress

ABSTRACT: Current projections for global climate change predict an increase in the intensity and frequency of heat waves and droughts. The improvement in our understanding of the mechanisms of how trees precisely can predict environmental threats and cope with these stresses benefits our natural selection or genetic improvement to the maintenance of forest sustainability. In this work, we investigate the metabolic changes in heat and drought combined stress in Pinus pinaster plantlets. Maritime pine is a coniferous tree with native populations distributed across the European Atlantic and Mediterranean basins and the north of Africa ranging from cool moist to warm dry climates. This species shows high plasticity and a contrasting adaptive capacity and resilience. This plasticity in the response to stress exposure may be associated with a differential ability to modulate their secondary metabolism. For this reason, the current study aims to investigate the gradual and synergetic metabolomic response using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based on untargeted metabolomic profiling of four stress levels. These metabolic profiles were supported by physiological and biochemical determinations. Our results showed that the metabolic profiles induced by low-stress exposition represent an adaptive conditioning mode with metabolome changes that help seedlings to cope with upcoming stress. The metabolism pathways involved in this response were mainly included in amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism leading to an enhanced accumulation of phenolics, flavonoids, and terpenoids. However, when the plantlets were exposed to higher-stress exposition, the secondary metabolites that starred the response are more complex and decorated, such as alkaloids, lignans, and glycosyloxyflavones. Those changes could help to maintain homeostasis and control the response magnitude on establishing and facilitating the plantlets’ survival. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the responsive mechanisms of the maritime pine under heat and drought stress in terms of metabolic profiles.

ORGANISM(S): Pinus Pinaster Maritime Pine

TISSUE(S): Plant

DISEASE(S): Stress

SUBMITTER: Cristina López Hidalgo  

PROVIDER: ST002198 | MetabolomicsWorkbench | Thu Jun 16 00:00:00 BST 2022

REPOSITORIES: MetabolomicsWorkbench