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Application of exogenous substances reduces tobacco-specific nitrosamines content by regulating biosynthesis of nicotine and nitrite in burley tobacco

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Abstract

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are carcinogenic chemicals found in tobacco plants. The increasing health consciousness of individuals had led to an increased interest in research on reducing TSNAs content. The aim of this study was to use a pot experiment in which exogenous substances were applied to burley tobacco to dissect the mechanism of TSNAs production. The results indicated that spraying the exogenous substances IAA, NAA, SA and combination thereof on burley tobacco after topping decreased TSNAs content by 2.69–29.4 % in upper leaves and 0.23–39.3 % in middle leaves without affecting total sugar, total nitrogen, potassium and chlorine contents. The application of exogenous substances could down-regulate expression of the NR gene and the activity of the NR enzyme, resulting in less accumulation of the TSNAs precursor nitrite. The exogenous substances significantly reduced nicotine accumulation, which was consistent with low enzyme activities and the down-regulated expressions of genes involved in nicotine biosynthesis, especially significant in the case of quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase. These results suggested that the application of exogenous substances on burley tobacco after topping could reduce TSNAs content which may be attributed to the regulation of exogenous substances on nitrite and nicotine. This also implies one potential improvement to agronomic practices aimed at controlling the accumulation of TSNAs in burley tobacco.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grant from Key Scientific Research Project of China National Tobacco Corporation (Grant No. 110201002020). We thank Candong Deng, Youlun Fan, Danqing Liu, Jizhen He, Wenzhang Qin and Liexian Deng at Burley Tobacco Experimental Station in Enshi for their help in managing the pot experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Siwei Liang & Fangsen Xu

  2. Burley Tobacco Experimental Station of CNTC, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Jinpeng Yang, Jun Yu & Chunlei Yang

  3. Test Center, R&D, Beijing Tobacco Factory, Shanghai Tobacco Group Co. LTD., Beijing, 101121, China

    Jun Zhou, Yanjun Ma & Ruoshi Bai

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  1. Siwei Liang
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  2. Jinpeng Yang
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  3. Jun Zhou
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  4. Jun Yu
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  5. Yanjun Ma
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  6. Ruoshi Bai
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  7. Fangsen Xu
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  8. Chunlei Yang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Fangsen Xu or Chunlei Yang.

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Communicated by H. Li.

S. Liang and J. Yang are co-first authors.

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Liang, S., Yang, J., Zhou, J. et al. Application of exogenous substances reduces tobacco-specific nitrosamines content by regulating biosynthesis of nicotine and nitrite in burley tobacco. Acta Physiol Plant 35, 3027–3036 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1335-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1335-5

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