Elucidating Drought-Tolerance Mechanisms in Plant Roots through 1H NMR Metabolomics in Parallel with MALDI-MS, and NanoSIMS Imaging Techniques

Journal Article · Tue Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 2022 · Environmental Science & Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c06772· OSTI ID:1844352

Honeker, Linnea K. ^[1]; Hildebrand, Gina ^[1]; Fudyma, Jane D. ^[1]; Daber, Erik ^[2]; Hoyt, David W. ^[3]; Flowers, Sarah E. ^[3]; Gil Loaiza, Juliana ^[1]; Kuebert, Angelika ^[2]; Bamberger, Ines ^[4]; Anderton, Christopher R. ^[3]; Cliff, John B. ^[3]; Leichty, Sarah I. ^[3]; Aminitabrizi, Roya ^[1]; Kreuzwieser, Juergen ^[2]; Shi, Lingling ^[5]; Bai, Xuejuan ^[6]; Velickovic, Dusan ^[3]; Dippold, Michaela ^[7]; Ladd, S. Nemiah ^[1]; Werner, Christiane ^[8] ; Meredith, Laura ^[1]; Tfaily, Malak M. ^[9]

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1. University of Arizona
2. University of Freiburg
3. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
4. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
5. Georg August University of Göttingen
6. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation
7. Georg-August University Goettingen
8. University of Fribourg
9. VISITORS

As direct mediators between plants and soil, roots play an important role in metabolic responses to environmental stresses such as drought, yet these responses are vastly uncharacterized on a plant-specific level, especially for co-occurring species. Here, we aim to examine the effects of drought on root metabolic profiles and carbon allocation pathways of three tropical rainforest species by combining cutting-edge metabolomic and imaging technologies in an in situ position-specific 13C-pyruvate root-labeling experiment. Further, washed (rhizosphere-depleted) and unwashed roots were examined to test the impact of microbial presence on root metabolic pathways. Drought had a species-specific impact on the metabolic profiles and spatial distribution in Piper sp. and Hibiscus rosa sinensis roots, signifying different defense mechanisms; Piper sp. enhanced root structural defense via recalcitrant compounds including lignin, while H. rosa sinensis enhanced biochemical defense via secretion of antioxidants and fatty acids. In contrast, Clitoria fairchildiana, a legume tree, was not influenced as much by drought but rather by rhizosphere presence where carbohydrate storage was enhanced, indicating a close association with symbiotic microbes. This study demonstrates how multiple techniques can be combined to identify how plants cope with drought through different drought-tolerance strategies and the consequences of such changes on below-ground organic matter composition.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1844352
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-163445
• Journal Information: Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science & Technology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 56
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Drought
Carbon cycle
MALDI-MSI
Metabolomics
NanoSIMS
1H-NMR
Roots
tropical rainforest