Abstract
Key message
Abscisic acid could regulate structural genes in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway and alleviate the decrease of carotenoids in maize seedlings under low-temperature stress.
Abstract
Low temperature often hampers the development of maize seedlings and hinders the accumulation of carotenoids, which are functional against chilling stress for plants and providing health benefits for human. To explore effective approaches in reducing chilling stress and enhancing the potential nutritional values of maize seedlings, exogenous plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and salicylic acid (SA) that may affect carotenoid biosynthesis were applied on low-temperature-stressed maize seedlings. Results showed that low temperature significantly reduced the carotenoid levels in maize seedlings, only preserving 62.8% in comparison to the control. The applied ABA probably interacted with the ABA-responsive cis-acting elements (ABREs) in the promoter regions of PSY3, ZDS and CHYB and activated their expressions. Consequently, the total carotenoid concentration was apparently increased to 1121 ± 47 ng·g−1 fresh weight (FW), indicating the stress alleviation by ABA. The application of SA did not yield positive results in alleviating chilling stress in maize seedlings. However, neoxanthin content could be notably boosted to 52.12 ± 0.45 ng·g−1 FW by SA, offering a biofortification strategy for specific nutritional enhancement. Structural gene PSY1 demonstrated positive correlations with β-carotene and zeaxanthin (r = 0.93 and 0.89), while CRTISO was correlated with total carotenoids (r = 0.92), indicating their critical roles in carotenoid accumulation. The present study exhibited the effectiveness of ABA to mitigate chilling stress and improve the potential nutritional values in low-temperature-stressed maize seedlings, thereby promoting the production of plant-based food sources.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- ABA:
-
Abscisic acid
- SA:
-
Salicylic acid
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- RNS:
-
Reactive nitrogen species
- CK:
-
Control
- MDA:
-
Malondialdehyde
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- REL:
-
Relative electrolyte leakage
- qRT-PCR:
-
Quantitative real-time PCR
- PSY:
-
15-Cis-Phytoene synthase
- PDS:
-
15-Cis-Phytoene desaturase
- Z-ISO:
-
Zeta-carotene isomerase
- ZDS:
-
Zeta-carotene desaturase
- CRTISO:
-
Carotenoid isomerase
- LCYE:
-
Lycopene epsilon-cyclase
- LCYB:
-
Lycopene beta-cyclase
- CHYE:
-
Carotenoid epsilon hydroxylase
- CHYB:
-
Beta-carotene 3-hydroxylase
- ZEP:
-
Zeaxanthin epoxidase
- VDE:
-
Violaxanthin de-epoxidase
- LUT5:
-
LUTEIN DEFICIENT 5
- NXS:
-
Neoxanthin synthase
- NCED:
-
Nine-cis-epoxy-carotenoid dioxygenase
- CCD:
-
Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase
- ABRE:
-
ABA-responsive cis-acting elements
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Funding
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001563), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou-China (2023B03J1316), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2021A1515012110), and the 111 project (B17018).
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NX and XG conceived and designed research. NX and BZ conducted experiments. JH and XG contributed new reagents or analytical tools. NX and KL analyzed data. NX wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Xiang, N., Zhang, B., Hu, J. et al. Modulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings by exogenous abscisic acid and salicylic acid under low temperature. Plant Cell Rep 43, 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-023-03106-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-023-03106-6