Iron deficiency stimulates anthocyanin accumulation in grapevine apical leaves

Protective and defensive role of anthocyanins under plant abiotic and biotic stresses: An emerging application in sustainable agriculture

Global warming is the major cause of abiotic and biotic stresses that reduce plant growth and productivity. Various stresses such as drought, low temperature, pathogen attack, high temperature and salinity all negatively influence plant growth and development. Due to sessile beings, they cannot escape from these adverse conditions. However, plants develop a variety of systems that can help them to tolerate, resist, and escape challenges imposed by the environment. Among them, anthocyanins are a good example of stress mitigators. They aid plant growth and development by increasing anthocyanin accumulation, which leads to increased resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses. In the primary metabolism of plants, anthocyanin improves the photosynthesis rate, membrane permeability, up-regulates many enzyme transcripts related to anthocyanin biosynthesis, and optimizes nutrient uptake. Generally, the most important genes of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathways were up-regulated under various abiotic and biotic stresses. The present review will highlight anthocyanin mediated stress tolerance in plants under various abiotic and biotic stresses. We have also compiled literature related to genetically engineer stress-tolerant crops generated using over-expression of genes belonging to anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway or its regulation. To sum up, the present review provides an up-to-date description of various signal transduction mechanisms that modulate or enhance anthocyanin accumulation under stress conditions.

The role of iron nanoparticles on morpho-physiological traits and genes expression (IRT1 and CAT) in rue (Ruta graveolens)

The iron nanoparticles with different physic-chemical properties induce inconsistent effects on various studied plant species. Thus, the effect of ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles was compared with Fe₂O₃ microparticles and FeSO₄complexes of EDTA for major physiological and gene expression in Rue (Ruta graveolens). Iron root content increased as Fe-MPs + EDTA ˂˂ Fe-NPs + EDTA˂ FeSO₄ + EDTA. The shoot's iron remained unchanged or slightly increased under most of FeSO₄ and Fe-MPs + EDTA treatments. Under Fe-NPs + EDTA treatment, 50 and 250 µM concentration decreased on shoot iron by 23.2% and 19.4% compared to control, respectively. But the shoot iron at 500 µM NPs was 28.2% higher than that of the control. A 46-58 fold lower Fe translocation was observed under Fe-NPs + EDTA than Fe-MPs + EDTA. The effect of Fe-NPs + EDTA was more significant on plant fresh and dry mass than the control. All treatments showed an increase in anthocyanin by 19-84% in leaves compared to the control. The Fe-NPs + EDTA and MPs + EDTA induced similar effects on enhanced growth parameters, total chlorophyll, catalase enzyme activity, gene, and reduced chlorophyll a/b and oxidants. Catalase enzyme activity in FeSO₄ and MPs + EDTA was similar, and in Fe-NPs + EDTA treatments were influenced by coarse and fine regulation mechanisms, respectively. Iron MPs + EDTA had a more negative effect on IRT₁ relative gene expression in roots as compared to other iron forms. The IRT₁ relative gene expression in shoots was positively affected by 31-81% under all treatment types (except control and 250 µM Fe-NPs + EDTA, and 250 µM MPs + EDTA). These results could reveal the potential mechanism of plant response to nanoparticles.

A Reference List of Phenolic Compounds (Including Stilbenes) in Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) Roots, Woods, Canes, Stems, and Leaves

Due to their biological activities, both in plants and in humans, there is a great interest in finding natural sources of phenolic compounds or ways to artificially manipulate their levels. During the last decade, a significant amount of these compounds has been reported in the vegetative organs of the vine plant. In the roots, woods, canes, stems, and leaves, at least 183 phenolic compounds have been identified, including 78 stilbenes (23 monomers, 30 dimers, 8 trimers, 16 tetramers, and 1 hexamer), 15 hydroxycinnamic acids, 9 hydroxybenzoic acids, 17 flavan-3-ols (of which 9 are proanthocyanidins), 14 anthocyanins, 8 flavanones, 35 flavonols, 2 flavones, and 5 coumarins. There is great variability in the distribution of these chemicals along the vine plant, with leaves and stems/canes having flavonols (83.43% of total phenolic levels) and flavan-3-ols (61.63%) as their main compounds, respectively. In light of the pattern described from the same organs, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, quercetin-3-O-galactoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, and caftaric acid are the main flavonols and hydroxycinnamic acids in the leaves; the most commonly represented flavan-3-ols and flavonols in the stems and canes are catechin, epicatechin, procyanidin B1, and quercetin-3-O-galactoside. The main stilbenes (trans-ε-viniferin, trans-resveratrol, isohopeaphenol/hopeaphenol, vitisin B, and ampelopsins) accumulate primarily in the woods, followed by the roots, the canes, and the stems, whereas the leaves, which are more exposed to environmental stresses, have a low concentration of these compounds. Data provided in this review could be used as (i) a metabolomic tool for screening in targeted and untargeted analyses and (ii) a reference list in studies aimed at finding ways to induce naturally occurring polyphenols on an industrial scale for pant and human disease control.

Understanding the Role of the Antioxidant System and the Tetrapyrrole Cycle in Iron Deficiency Chlorosis

Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) is an abiotic stress often experienced by soybean, owing to the low solubility of iron in alkaline soils. Here, soybean lines with contrasting Fe efficiencies were analyzed to test the hypothesis that the Fe efficiency trait is linked to antioxidative stress signaling via proper management of tissue Fe accumulation and transport, which in turn influences the regulation of heme and non heme containing enzymes involved in Fe uptake and ROS scavenging. Inefficient plants displayed higher oxidative stress and lower ferric reductase activity, whereas root and leaf catalase activity were nine-fold and three-fold higher, respectively. Efficient plants do not activate their antioxidant system because there is no formation of ROS under iron deficiency; while inefficient plants are not able to deal with ROS produced under iron deficiency because ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase are not activated because of the lack of iron as a cofactor, and of heme as a constituent of those enzymes. Superoxide dismutase and peroxidase isoenzymatic regulation may play a determinant role: 10 superoxide dismutase isoenzymes were observed in both cultivars, but iron superoxide dismutase activity was only detected in efficient plants; 15 peroxidase isoenzymes were observed in the roots and trifoliate leaves of efficient and inefficient cultivars and peroxidase activity levels were only increased in roots of efficient plants.

Constitutive Polyphenols in Blades and Veins of Grapevine ( Vitis vinifera L.) Healthy Leaves

Despite the economic importance and the diffusion of grapevine cultivation worldwide, little is known about leaf chemical composition. We characterized the phenolic composition of Nebbiolo, Barbera, Pinot noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, and Shiraz ( Vitis vinifera L.) healthy leaves (separating blades and veins) during the season. Quantitative and qualitative differences were found between leaf sectors and among genotypes. In healthy grapevine leaves, anthocyanins, dihydromyricetin-rhamnoside, hexosides of dihydroquercetin, and dihydrokaempferol exclusively accumulated in veins. Astilbin was the only flavanonol detected in blades and the prevalent flavanonol in veins. Barbera distinguished for the lowest proanthocyanidin and the highest hydroxycinnamate content, and Pinot noir for the absence of acylated-anthocyanins. Nebbiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon displayed a high concentration of epigallocatechin gallate in veins. Nebbiolo leaves showed the highest concentrations of flavanonols and the widest profile differentiation. Knowledge derived from the present work is a contribution to find out leaf polyphenol potential as a part of grapevine defense mechanisms and to dissect genotype-related susceptibility to pathogens; moreover, it represents a starting point for future deepening about grapevine and vineyard byproducts as a source of bioactive phenolic compounds.