Effect of Benzothiadiazole on the Metabolome of Tomato Plants Infected by Citrus Exocortis Viroid
María Pilar López-Gresa,
Celia Payá,
Ismael Rodrigo,
José María Bellés,
Susana Barceló,
Young Hae Choi,
Robert Verpoorte,
Purificación Lisón
Affiliations
María Pilar López-Gresa
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Celia Payá
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Ismael Rodrigo
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
José María Bellés
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Susana Barceló
Department of Applied Statistics and Operational Research, and Quality. Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), 46022 Valencia, Spain
Young Hae Choi
Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Robert Verpoorte
Natural Products Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Purificación Lisón
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Benzothiadiazole (BTH) is a functional analogue of the phytohormone salycilic acid (SA) involved in the plant immune response. NahG tomato plants are unable to accumulate SA, which makes them hypersusceptible to several pathogens. Treatments with BTH increase the resistance to bacterial, fungal, viroid, or viral infections. In this study, metabolic alterations in BTH-treated Money Maker and NahG tomato plants infected by citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Using multivariate data analysis, we have identified defence metabolites induced after viroid infection and BTH-treatment. Glycosylated phenolic compounds include gentisic and ferulic acid accumulated in CEVd-infected tomato plants, as well as phenylalanine, tyrosine, aspartate, glutamate, and asparagine. Besides, an increase of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamine, adenosine, and trigonelline, contributed to a clear discrimination between the metabolome of BTH-treated tomato leaves and their corresponding controls. Among them, GABA was the only metabolite significantly accumulated in both genotypes after the chemical treatment. In view of these results, the addition of GABA was performed on tomato plants infected by CEVd, and a reversion of the NahG hypersusceptibility to CEVd was observed, indicating that GABA could regulate the resistance to CEVd induced by BTH.
