Search Results (9)

Background/Objectives: Possessing red and white ecotypes, and utilized in traditional Guyanese medicine, Doliocarpus dentatus’ red ecotype is preferred locally for its purported superior therapeutic efficacy. Although therapeutic metabolites were detected in D. dentatus previously, phytohormones remain largely unexplored, until now. Cytokinins, phytohormones responsible for plant cell division, growth and differentiation, are gaining traction for their therapeutic potential in human health. This study screened and quantified endogenous cytokinins and correlated detected cytokinins with selected secondary metabolites. Methods: Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to acquire phytohormone and metabolite data. Bioinformatics tools were used to assess untargeted metabolomics datasets via statistical and pathway analyses, and chemical groupings of putative metabolites. Results: In total, 20 of the 35 phytohormones were detected and quantified in both ecotypes, with the red ecotype displaying higher free base and glucoside cytokinin concentrations and exhibited 6.2 times the total CK content when compared to the white ecotype. Pathway analysis revealed flavonoid and monoterpenoid biosynthesis in red and white ecotypes, respectively. Positive correlations between specific cytokinins and alkaloids, and between trans-Zeatin and isopentenyladenosine riboside with phenolic compounds were observed. Conclusions: These results suggest that the red ecotype’s elevated cytokinin levels coupled with flavonoid biosynthesis enrichment support its preference in Guyanese traditional medicine. Full article

Hormonomics represents an innovative approach to plant physiology and biochemistry. We utilized hormonomics to analyze the hormone profiles of three lily bulbs. The hormones specifically enriched in BiFeng7 lily show a strong response to secondary metabolism pathways, while the Diwanghuang lily profile was predominantly focused on growth. Physiological experiments demonstrated that Diwanghuang exhibited higher levels of primary nutrients, whereas BiFeng7 displayed a greater concentration of secondary metabolites and enhanced antioxidant capacity. Through untargeted metabolomic analysis, it was revealed that BiFeng7 highly enriched four flavonoid glycosides, two flavones, one flavan, one pyranoflavonoid, two isoflavonoid O-glycosides and one rotenoid. These findings provide valuable information for developing breeding strategies and cultivation practices aimed at achieving ornamental quality, nutritional value, or stress resilience outcomes. This research demonstrates the practical application of hormone profiling in plant evaluation and offers insights into the mechanisms underlying flavonoid synthesis in lilies, serving as a reference for breeding stress-resistant lily varieties. Full article

Aluminum (Al) toxicity in acidic soils can significantly reduce peanut yield. The physiological response of peanut leaves to Al poisoning stress still has not been fully explored. This research examined the influences of Al toxicity on peanut leaves by observing the leaf phenotype, scanning the leaf area and perimeter, and by measuring photosynthetic pigment content, physiological response indices, leaf hormone levels, and mineral element accumulation. Fluorescence quantitative RT–PCR (qPCR) was utilized to determine the relative transcript level of specific genes. The results indicated that Al toxicity hindered peanut leaf development, reducing their biomass, surface area, and perimeter, although the decrease in photosynthetic pigment content was minimal. Al toxicity notably affected the activity of antioxidative enzymes, proline content, and MDA (malondialdehyde) levels in the leaves. Additionally, Al poisoning resulted in the increased accumulation of iron (Fe), potassium (K), and Al in peanut leaves but reduced the levels of calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg). There were significant changes in the content of hormones and the expression level of genes connected with hormones in peanut leaves. High Al concentrations may activate cellular defense mechanisms, enhancing antioxidative activity to mitigate excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) and affecting hormone-related gene expression, which may impede leaf biomass and development. This research aimed to elucidate the physiological response mechanisms of peanut leaves to Al poisoning stress, providing insights for breeding new varieties resistant to Al poisoning. Full article

Precision oncology is based on deep knowledge of the molecular profile of tumors, allowing for more accurate and personalized therapy for specific groups of patients who are different in disease susceptibility as well as treatment response. Thus, onco-breastomics is able to discover novel biomarkers that have been found to have racial and ethnic differences, among other types of disparities such as chronological or biological age-, sex/gender- or environmental-related ones. Usually, evidence suggests that breast cancer (BC) disparities are due to ethnicity, aging rate, socioeconomic position, environmental or chemical exposures, psycho-social stressors, comorbidities, Western lifestyle, poverty and rurality, or organizational and health care system factors or access. The aim of this review was to deepen the understanding of BC-related disparities, mainly from a biomedical perspective, which includes genomic-based differences, disparities in breast tumor biology and developmental biology, differences in breast tumors’ immune and metabolic landscapes, ecological factors involved in these disparities as well as microbiomics- and metagenomics-based disparities in BC. We can conclude that onco-breastomics, in principle, based on genomics, proteomics, epigenomics, hormonomics, metabolomics and exposomics data, is able to characterize the multiple biological processes and molecular pathways involved in BC disparities, clarifying the differences in incidence, mortality and treatment response for different groups of BC patients. Full article

In grafted plants, inorganic ions and plant hormones in the xylem exudate transported from the rootstock to the scion directly or indirectly affect the scion, thereby improving the traits. Therefore, the concentration of these components in the xylem exudate of grafted plants may be an indicator for rootstock selection. On the other hand, few reports have presented a comprehensive analysis of substances transferred from the rootstock to the scion in plants grafted onto different rootstocks, primarily commercial cultivars. In this study, we measured inorganic ions and plant hormones in the xylem exudate from the rootstock to the scion in various grafted plants of tomato and eggplant. The results revealed that the concentrations of inorganic ions and plant hormones in the xylem exudate significantly differed depending on the type of rootstock. In addition, we confirmed the concentration of the inorganic ions and plant hormones in the xylem exudate of plants grafted onto the same tomato rootstock cultivars as rootstock with tomato or eggplant as the scions. As a result, the concentrations of inorganic ions and plant hormones in the xylem exudate were significantly different in the grafted plants with eggplant compared with tomato as the scion. These results suggest that signals from the scion (shoot) control the inorganic ions and plant hormones transported from the rootstock (root). Full article

Parthenocarpy, the pollination-independent fruit set, can raise the productivity of the fruit set even under adverse factors during the reproductive phase. The application of plant hormones stimulates parthenocarpy, but artificial hormones incur extra financial and labour costs to farmers and can induce the formation of deformed fruit. This study examines the performance of parthenocarpic mutants having no transcription factors of SlIAA9 and SlTAP3 and sldella that do not have the protein-coding gene, SlDELLA, in tomato (cv. Micro-Tom). At 0 day after the flowering (DAF) stage and DAFs after pollination, the sliaa9 mutant demonstrated increased pistil development compared to the other two mutants and wild type (WT). In contrast to WT and the other mutants, the sliaa9 mutant with pollination efficiently stimulated the build-up of auxin and GAs after flowering. Alterations in both transcript and metabolite profiles existed for WT with and without pollination, while the three mutants without pollination demonstrated the comparable metabolomic status of pollinated WT. Network analysis showed key modules linked to photosynthesis, sugar metabolism and cell proliferation. Equivalent modules were noticed in the famous parthenocarpic cultivars ‘Severianin’, particularly for emasculated samples. Our discovery indicates that controlling the genes and metabolites proffers future breeding policies for tomatoes. Full article

Belowground interactions of plants with other organisms in the rhizosphere rely on extensive small-molecule communication. Chemical signals released from host plant roots ensure the development of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi which in turn modulate host plant growth and stress tolerance. However, parasitic plants have adopted the capacity to sense the same signaling molecules and to trigger their own seed germination in the immediate vicinity of host roots. The contribution of AM fungi and parasitic plants to the regulation of phytohormone levels in host plant roots and root exudates remains largely obscure. Here, we studied the hormonome in the model system comprising tobacco as a host plant, Phelipanche spp. as a holoparasitic plant, and the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis. Co-cultivation of tobacco with broomrape and AM fungi alone or in combination led to characteristic changes in the levels of endogenous and exuded abscisic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, cytokinins, salicylic acid, and orobanchol-type strigolactones. The hormonal content in exudates of broomrape-infested mycorrhizal roots resembled that in exudates of infested non-mycorrhizal roots and differed from that observed in exudates of non-infested mycorrhizal roots. Moreover, we observed a significant reduction in AM colonization of infested tobacco plants, pointing to a dominant role of the holoparasite within the tripartite system. Full article

Thidiazuron (TDZ) is a diphenylurea synthetic herbicide and plant growth regulator used to defoliate cotton crops and to induce regeneration of recalcitrant species in plant tissue culture. In vitro cultures of African violet thin petiole sections are an ideal model system for studies of TDZ-induced morphogenesis. TDZ induces de novo shoot organogenesis at low concentrations and somatic embryogenesis at higher concentrations of exposure. We used an untargeted metabolomics approach to identify metabolites in control and TDZ-treated tissues. Statistical analysis including metabolite clustering, pattern and pathway tools, logical algorithms, synthetic biotransformations and hormonomics identified TDZ-induced changes in metabolism. A total of 18,602 putative metabolites with extracted masses and predicted formulae were identified with 1412 features that were found only in TDZ-treated tissues and 312 that increased in response to TDZ. The monomer of TDZ was not detected intact in the tissues but putative oligomers were found in the database and we hypothesize that these may form by a Diels–Alder reaction. Accumulation oligomers in the tissue may act as a reservoir, slowly releasing the active TDZ monomer over time. Cleavage of the amide bridge released TDZ-metabolites into the tissues including organic nitrogen and sulfur containing compounds. Metabolomics data analysis generated six novel hypotheses that can be summarized as an overall increase in uptake of sugars from the culture media, increase in primary metabolism, redirection of terpene metabolism and mediation of stress metabolism via indoleamine and phenylpropanoid metabolism. Further research into the specific mechanisms hypothesized is likely to unravel the mode of action of TDZ and to provide new insights into the control of plant morphogenesis. Full article

The breeding of stress-tolerant cultivated plants that would allow for a reduction in harvest losses and undesirable decrease in quality attributes requires a new quality of knowledge on molecular markers associated with relevant agronomic traits, on quantitative metabolic responses of plants to stress challenges, and on the mechanisms controlling the biosynthesis of these molecules. By combining metabolomics with genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics datasets a more comprehensive knowledge of the composition of crop plants used for food or animal feed is possible. In order to optimize crop trait developments, to enhance crop yields and quality, as well as to guarantee nutritional and health factors that provide the possibility to create functional food or feedstuffs, knowledge about the plants’ metabolome is crucial. Next to classical metabolomics studies, this review focuses on several metabolomics-based working techniques, such as sensomics, lipidomics, hormonomics and phytometabolomics, which were used to characterize metabolome alterations during abiotic and biotic stress in order to find resistant food crops with a preferred quality or at least to produce functional food crops. Full article