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Molybdenum-induced alteration of fatty acids of thylakoid membranes contributed to low temperature tolerance in wheat

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Abstract

The fact that molybdenum (Mo) applications can alleviate low temperature stress (LTS) in plants has been widely reported, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The effects of Mo (0 and 0.15 mg kg−1) on photosynthetic pigments, fatty acids and the chlorophyll–protein complex of wheat seedlings in pot culture were investigated at 0, 2, 4 and 6 days of LTS. Chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were significantly enhanced by Mo application. The palmitic acid (C16:0) content and total saturated fatty acids (TSFA) were drastically decreased in wheat cultivar 97003 at 2 and 4 days of LTS and in wheat cultivar 97014 at 2 days of LTS. The linolenic acid (C18:3) content and total unsaturated fatty acids (TUSFA) were significantly increased in both cultivars at 2 and 4 days of LTS. The palmitoleic acid (C16:1) content was also drastically increased in cultivar 97003 at 2 days of LTS, suggesting that Mo induced a greater production of unsaturated fatty acids or the conversion of TSFA to TUSFA. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids and the index of unsaturated fatty acids in the thylakoid membranes were enhanced with supplemental Mo, suggesting that Mo might improve the degree of unsaturation. However, no significant differences were observed in the chlorophyll–protein complexes between the +Mo and −Mo treatments. These results indicated that the alteration of fatty acids induced by Mo application in the thylakoid membranes of wheat contributed to LTS tolerance.

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Abbreviations

Mo:

Molybdenum

TSFA:

Total saturated fatty acids

TUSFA:

Total unsaturated fatty acids

U/S:

Ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids

IUFA:

Index of unsaturated fatty acids

LHC:

Light-harvesting complex

CPI:

Chlorophyll–protein I

CPII:

Chlorophyll–protein II

LTS:

Low temperature stress

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Ron McLaren from Lincoln University, New Zealand for his critical review and revision of the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development program of China (2016YFD0200108), the Fundamental National Key Project of Science and Technology (2014BAD14B02) and the 948 Project from the Ministry of Agriculture of China (2016-X41).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for New-Type Fertilizers, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China

    Songwei Wu, Siqi Wei, Chengxiao Hu, Qiling Tan, Tianwu Huang & Xuecheng Sun

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  1. Songwei Wu
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  2. Siqi Wei
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  3. Chengxiao Hu
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Correspondence to Xuecheng Sun.

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Communicated by K. Apostol.

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Wu, S., Wei, S., Hu, C. et al. Molybdenum-induced alteration of fatty acids of thylakoid membranes contributed to low temperature tolerance in wheat. Acta Physiol Plant 39, 237 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-017-2534-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-017-2534-2

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