Journal of Applied Genetics

, Volume 56, Issue 4, pp 439–449 | Cite as

Metabolite profiling during cold acclimation of Lolium perenne genotypes distinct in the level of frost tolerance

  • Aleksandra Bocian
  • Zbigniew Zwierzykowski
  • Marcin Rapacz
  • Grzegorz Koczyk
  • Danuta Ciesiołka
  • Arkadiusz Kosmala
Plant Genetics • Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Abiotic stresses, including low temperature, can significantly reduce plant yielding. The knowledge on the molecular basis of stress tolerance could help to improve its level in species of relatively high importance to agriculture. Unfortunately, the complex research performed so far mainly on model species and also, to some extent, on cereals does not fully cover the demands of other agricultural plants of temperate climate, including forage grasses. Two Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) genotypes with contrasting levels of frost tolerance, the high frost tolerant (HFT) and the low frost tolerant (LFT) genotypes, were selected for comparative metabolomic research. The work focused on the analysis of leaf metabolite accumulation before and after seven separate time points of cold acclimation. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to identify amino acids (alanine, proline, glycine, glutamic and aspartic acid, serine, lysine and asparagine), carbohydrates (fructose, glucose, sucrose, raffinose and trehalose) and their derivatives (mannitol, sorbitol and inositol) accumulated in leaves in low temperature. The observed differences in the level of frost tolerance between the analysed genotypes could be partially due to the time point of cold acclimation at which the accumulation level of crucial metabolite started to increase. In the HFT genotype, earlier accumulation was observed for proline and asparagine. The increased amounts of alanine, glutamic and aspartic acids, and asparagine during cold acclimation could be involved in the regulation of photosynthesis intensity in L. perenne. Among the analysed carbohydrates, only raffinose revealed a significant association with the acclimation process in this species.

Keywords

Amino acids Carbohydrates Cold acclimation Frost tolerance Lolium perenne Metabolome profiling 

Abbreviations

Ala

Alanine

Asp

Aspartic acid

Asn

Asparagine

CA

Cold acclimation

Fru

Fructose

GC/MS

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Glu

Glutamic acid

Gly

Glycine

Glc

Glucose

HFT

High frost tolerant

Ino

Inositol

LFT

Low frost tolerant

Lys

Lysine

Man

Mannitol

PCA

Principal component analysis

PPFD

Photosynthetic photon flux density

Pro

Proline

Raf

Raffinose

Ser

Serine

Sor

Sorbitol

Suc

Sucrose

Tre

Trehalose

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Notes

Acknowledgments

The selection of L. perenne genotypes applied in the research was performed in the framework of the project of The National Centre for Research and Development (no. PBZMNiSW-2/3/2006/21). We thank prof. Maciej Stobiecki from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poznan, Poland) for the revision of the manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Aleksandra Bocian
    • 1
    • 2
  • Zbigniew Zwierzykowski
    • 1
  • Marcin Rapacz
    • 3
  • Grzegorz Koczyk
    • 1
  • Danuta Ciesiołka
    • 4
  • Arkadiusz Kosmala
    • 1
  1. 1.Institute of Plant GeneticsPolish Academy of SciencesPoznanPoland
  2. 2.Department of Biochemistry and BiotechnologyRzeszow University of TechnologyRzeszowPoland
  3. 3.Department of Plant PhysiologyUniversity of Agriculture in KrakowCracowPoland
  4. 4.Institute of Bioorganic ChemistryPolish Academy of SciencesPoznanPoland

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