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Stimulatory and Inhibitory Role of Allelopathic Chlorogenic Acid in Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Tall Fescue Grass (Festuca arundinaceae Schreb.) via pH Reprogramming

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Abstract

Exploring the effects of chlorogenic acid (CA) can allow its use in the sustainable management of natural fiber-producing grass species. Herein, the pH-dependent effect of CA on germination and the physiological response in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) seeds in comparison to gibberellic acid (GA3) and fluridon (FD) was investigated. All CA treatments conferred significant reduction in germination index (GI), seed vigour, fresh seedling weight, coleoptile length, primary root length and root hairs compared to the control nutrient solution at pH 4. Above 2.82 mM CA, higher expression of total soluble protein, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities, lipid peroxidation, electrolyte leakage levels, and an induced prominent 28.4 KDa peptide were observed. CA (8.46 mM) significantly inhibited seed germination (50%, F = 4.56, P = 0.031, P < 0.05) at pH 4, and by contrast, conferred a strong stimulating effect at pH 6.8. The impact of pH on CA activity was significantly correlated to GI and percentage inhibitory and stimulatory effects (r = 0.96, p = 0.001). It is demonstrated that buffered CA differentially modified the expression of antioxidant enzymes activities and seed physiology thereby inhibiting seed germination at pH 4 compared to the herbicide FD (or the growth hormone) GA3.

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Abbreviations

CA:

Chlorogenic acid

GA3 :

Gibberellic acid

FD:

Fluridon

EL:

Electrolyte leakage

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

Catalase:

CAT

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

PIS:

Percentage stimulatory and inhibitory effect

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Turfgrass Management Program, Department of Plant Sciences, Penn State University for the startup support.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from any external funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 119 Tyson Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Louis Bengyella, Travis R. Russell & John E. Kaminski

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  1. Louis Bengyella
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  2. Travis R. Russell
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  3. John E. Kaminski
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Contributions

LB: Conceived and designed the experiments; performed the experiment and interpreted the data; contributed analysis tools. LB, TRR and JEK wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Louis Bengyella.

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Supplementary Information

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344_2023_10989_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary file1 (JPG 217 KB)—Supplementary Fig. S1: Pearson’s correlation analysis. (A) pH effect. (B) Chlorogenic acid concentrations effect. Where root hair decapitation (RtH), germination index (GI), and percentage inhibition-stimulation (PIS), and * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, one-tailed.

344_2023_10989_MOESM2_ESM.jpg

Supplementary file2 (JPG 148 KB)—Supplementary Fig. S2. Graphical representations of Eigenvalues representing all the principal components greater than 5 (PC1 = 68.97, PC2 = 26.83, PC3 = 16.27, PC4 = 7.78, PC5 = 5.90, PC6 = 5.49) and the trendline is represented in red.

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Bengyella, L., Russell, T.R. & Kaminski, J.E. Stimulatory and Inhibitory Role of Allelopathic Chlorogenic Acid in Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Tall Fescue Grass (Festuca arundinaceae Schreb.) via pH Reprogramming. J Plant Growth Regul 42, 6969–6979 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-023-10989-y

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