Effects of humic substances and indole-3-acetic acid on Arabidopsis sugar and amino acid metabolic profile
2018
Conselvan, GiovanniBattista | Fuentes, David | Merchant, Andrew | Peggion, Cristina | Francioso, Ornella | Carletti, Paolo
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Humic substances (HS) are known to influence plant physiological processes, enhancing crop yield, plant growth and nutrient uptake. The present study sought to gain a better understanding of the specific effects of HS application on the abundance of metabolites in plant tissues, using mass spectrometry analyses. METHODS: Arabidopsis thaliana plants, grown in hydroponic conditions, were treated for 8 h with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), HS from International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) and HS from earthworm faeces (EF), respectively. Humic substances structural characteristics were analyzed by ¹H NMR an FT-IR spectroscopies. Root and leaf free amino acids, sugar alcohols and carbohydrate contents, and leaf amino acids from protein hydrolysis were identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) was used to evaluate the influence of the treatments on the studied parameters. RESULTS: EF treatment had the highest influence on metabolite profiles compared to the control, IAA and IHSS. CDA analysis highlighted a clear distinction between EF and IHSS plant physiological responses, depending on the different chemical and structural properties of the HS. IAA-treated plants showed no significant difference from the control. CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of the specific effects of different HS, also related to their chemical characteristics, might serve as a basis for the identification of marker compounds for HS bioactivity.
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