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Impact of exogenous caffeine on morphological, biochemical, and ultrastructural characteristics of Nicotiana tabacum

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is purine alkaloid, and it is secondary metabolite produced naturally in plants. It plays a crucial role in defense and stress tolerance. A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study the morphological, biochemical, and ultrastructural effects of caffeine treatment on seedlings of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Turkish). The plants were grown in a growth chamber for 14 d in Hoagland’s nutrient solution supplemented with 0 (control), 25, 50, 100, 1000, and 5000 μM caffeine. Shoot heights as well as root lengths significantly decreased in the plants treated with 1000 and 5000 μM caffeine. Total protein and sugar content in leaves increased significantly in the 5000 μM caffeine-treated plants. Moreover, electron microscopic analysis shows that in plants exposed to 1000 and 5000 μM caffeine, mesophyll cells possessed enlarged chloroplasts with disrupted thylakoid membranes associated with large starch grains and plastoglobules. Scanning electron micrographs exhibit that the vast majority of stomata in the plants treated with 1000 and 5000 μM were closed. In contrast, the 25 and 50 μM caffeine-treated plants showed an enhanced growth and no signs of injury.

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Abbreviations

EC50 :

half maximum effective caffeine concentration

PBS:

phosphate buffered saline

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

r:

Pearson correlation coefficient

rs:

Spearmen correlation coefficient

SEM:

scanning electron microscope

TEM:

transmission electron microscope

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    R. Alkhatib, B. Alkhatib & L. Al-Eitan

  2. Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    R. Alkhatib & N. Al-Quraan

  3. Department of Public Health, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    N. Abdo

  4. Department of Biology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, 21163, Jordan

    R. Muhaidat

Authors
  1. R. Alkhatib
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  2. B. Alkhatib
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  4. L. Al-Eitan
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  5. N. Abdo
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  6. R. Muhaidat
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Correspondence to R. Alkhatib.

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Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jordan University of Science and Technology for their generous grant # 2013/262. Also, the authors heartedly thank Mr. Munier Alkhdour (the EM facility director at Yarmouk University) for obtaining the TEM images needed for this work. Finally, the authors would like to thank the Nanotechnology Center at Jordan University of Science and Technology for obtaining the scanning electron microscopy images.

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Alkhatib, R., Alkhatib, B., Al-Quraan, N. et al. Impact of exogenous caffeine on morphological, biochemical, and ultrastructural characteristics of Nicotiana tabacum . Biol Plant 60, 706–714 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-016-0600-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-016-0600-z

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