Thymol ameliorates ammonium toxicity via repressing polyamine oxidase-derived hydrogen peroxide and modulating ammonium transporters in rice root
Open Access
- 5 March 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Food Production, Processing and Nutrition
- Vol. 3 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-021-00053-1
Abstract
Background: Ammonium is an indispensable nutrient for crop growth, but anoxic conditions or inappropriate fertilizer usage result in the increase in ammonium content in soil. Excessive ammonium causes phytotoxicity. Thymol is a kind of natural phenolic compound with anti-microbial properties. However, little is known about the role of thymol in modulating plant physiology. Here we find the novel role of thymol in protecting rice from ammonium toxicity. Results: Thymol remarkably rescued rice seedlings growth from ammonium stress, which may resulted from the attenuation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, oxidative injury, and cell death in both shoots and roots. Polyamine oxidase (PAO) metabolizes polyamines to produce ROS in plants in response to stress conditions. Thymol blocked ammonium-induced upregulation of a set of rice PAOs, which contributed to the decrease in ROS content. In rice seedlings upon ammonium stress, thymol downregulate the expression of ammonium transporters (AMT1;1 and AMT1;2); thymol upregulated the expression of calcineurin B-like interacting protein kinase 23 (CIPK23) and calcineurin B-like binding protein 1 (CBL1), two negative regulators of AMTs. This may help rice avoid ammonium overload in excessive ammonium environment. Correlation analysis indicated that PAOs, AMTs, and CBL1 were the targets of thymol in the detoxification of excessive ammonium. Conclusion: Thymol facilitates rice tolerance against ammonium toxicity by decreasing PAO-derived ROS and modulating ammonium transporters. Such findings may be applicable in the modulation of nutrient acquisition during crop production. GraphicalKeywords
Funding Information
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771705)
- The Central Government Guides Local Science and Technology Development Fund Projects (YDZX20203700003919)
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M570627)
- Program for Youth Innovation and Technology Team in University of Shandong Province (2019KJF016)
- Rizhao (vegetable) Science and Technology Innovation Center (Rikezi [2020] No.13)
- Special Science and Technology Project of Rizhao (2019CXZX2205)
- Shandong Academy of Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (LKYZ2018-60)
- Science and Technology Project of Yantai (2019ZDCX016)
- Open Project Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering (PCCE-KF-2019-05)
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