Variability of Plant Specialized Metabolism: Causes, Consequences and Possibilities

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 5273

Special Issue Editor

Department of Biology, Division of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 9a, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: phytochemistry; plant specialized metabolites; plant extract bioactivity; biotic stress; abiotic stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The scope of this Special Issue of the journal Plants covers the effect of different genetic and/or environmental challenges causing variability/adaptability of plant specialized metabolism. Plasticity of the plant specialized metabolism is reflected in qualitative and quantitative adjustments of compounds depending on internal and/or external conditions. It is known that climate conditions, for example, cause significant changes in phytochemical profiles, however those changes are not universal and are highly dependent on plant species, developmental stages, tissue, etc. Likewise, different pathogens will cause different changes in the specialized metabolism of a certain plant species, and vice versa, the same pathogen will cause different perturbations in the specialized metabolism of different plant hosts. The aim of this Special Issue is to present papers dealing with the consequences of such plant specialized metabolism plasticity (e.g., changes in concentration of different metabolites, synthesis of new compounds,  genotype and/or phenotype adjustment (ecotype and/or yield, respectively), bioactivity and bioavailability changes), and possibilities like the use of a specialized metabolites profile as an indicator of stress in the environment, boosting of specific metabolites in order to produce a  value-added plant food, screening of specialized metabolism changes for prediction models, etc.

Dr. Ivana Sola
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • antioxidants
  • cytotoxicity
  • flavonoids
  • hydroxycinnamic acids
  • hydroxybenzoic acids
  • phenolic acids
  • phenolics
  • total proteins
  • sugars
  • tannins
  • anthocyanins
  • proanthocyanidins
  • chlorophylls
  • carotenoids
  • porphyrins
  • glucosinolates
  • bioactivity
  • biopotential
  • plant specialized metabolites
  • value-added food
  • climate change
  • adaptation of specialized metabolism to environmental challenges
  • abiotic stress
  • biotic stress
  • regulation/modulation of plant specialized metabolism
  • interactions of specialized metabolites with nucleic acids and proteins
  • phytochemistry

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5777 KiB  
Article
The Fruit Proteome Response to the Ripening Stages in Three Tomato Genotypes
by Hyo-Gil Choi, Dong-Young Park and Nam-Jun Kang
Plants 2022, 11(4), 553; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11040553 - 19 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1866
Abstract
The tomato is a horticultural crop that appears in various colors as it ripens. Differences in the proteome expression abundance of a tomato depend on its genotype and ripening stage. Thus, this study aimed to confirm the differences in changes in the proteome [...] Read more.
The tomato is a horticultural crop that appears in various colors as it ripens. Differences in the proteome expression abundance of a tomato depend on its genotype and ripening stage. Thus, this study aimed to confirm the differences in changes in the proteome according to four ripening stages (green, breaker, turning, and mature) of three tomato genotypes, i.e., yellow, black, and red tomatoes, using a gel-based proteomic technique. The number of protein spots shown as two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels differed according to tomato genotype and ripening stage. A total of 286 variant proteins were determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, confirming 233 identified protein functions. In three tomato genotypes in each ripening stage, grouping according to the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences (MIPS) functional categories confirmed the variant proteins involved in the following: energy processes (21%); metabolism (20%); protein fate (15%); protein synthesis (10%); a protein with a binding function or cofactor requirement (8%); cell rescue, defense, and virulence (8%); cellular transport, transport facilitation, and transport routes (6%); the biogenesis of cellular components (5%); cell cycle and DNA processing (2%); others (5%). Among the identified protein spots in the function category, two proteins related to metabolism, four related to energy, four related to protein synthesis, and two related to interaction with the cellular environment showed significantly different changes according to the fruit color by the ripening stage. This study reveals the physiological changes in different types of tomatoes according to their ripening stage and provides information on the proteome for further improvement. Full article
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19 pages, 1005 KiB  
Article
Biopotential of Underutilized Rosaceae Inflorescences: LC-DAD-MS Phytochemical Profiles Associated with Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, Anti-Inflammatory and Antiproliferative Activity In Vitro
by Ivana Šola, Danijela Poljuha, Maja Mikulic-Petkovsek, Dino Davosir, Marija Pinterić, Josipa Bilić, Robert Veberic, Metka Hudina and Gordana Rusak
Plants 2022, 11(3), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11030271 - 20 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2538
Abstract
The aim of this work was to assess the biopotential of the young inflorescence tissues of Prunus, Malus and Chaenomeles in order to evaluate the possibility of their application in the food industry, and to provide a polyphenolic fingerprint for their quality [...] Read more.
The aim of this work was to assess the biopotential of the young inflorescence tissues of Prunus, Malus and Chaenomeles in order to evaluate the possibility of their application in the food industry, and to provide a polyphenolic fingerprint for their quality control. The contents of different bioactive compounds and their antioxidant capacities were spectrophotometrically measured, the main phenolic compounds were identified and quantified using LC-DAD-MS, the antidiabetic potential was determined using α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays, the anti-inflammatory potential was determined using a 5-lipoxygenase inhibition assay, and the cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay. Using one-way ANOVA, principal component analysis, hierarchical clustering and Pearson’s correlation coefficient, the relations between the samples, and between the samples and the measured parameters, were revealed. In total, 77 compounds were identified. The concentration of sugars was low in M. purpurea, at 1.56 ± 0.08 mg/g DW. The most effective sample in the inhibition of antidiabetic enzymes and anti-inflammatory 5-lipoxygenase was C. japonica. The inhibition of α-glucosidase was strongly positively correlated with the total and condensed tannins, procyanidin dimers and procyanidin tetramer, and was very strongly correlated with chlorogenic acid. In α-amylase inhibition, C. japonica and P. serrulata ‘Kiku Shidare Zakura’ were equally efficient to the standard inhibitor, maltose. The most effective in the growth and proliferation inhibition of HepG2, HCT116 and HaCaT cells was P. avium. The results suggest Prunus, Malus and Chaenomeles inflorescences as functional food ingredients. Full article
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