The response of the laboratory cultivated Quercus coccifera plants to an artificial water stress
Aikaterina L. Stefi,
Theodora Nikou,
Sofia Papadopoulou,
Μaria Kalaboka,
Dido Vassilacopoulou,
Maria Halabalaki,
Nikolaos S. Christodoulakis
Affiliations
Aikaterina L. Stefi
Section of Botany, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15701, Greece
Theodora Nikou
Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15771, Greece
Sofia Papadopoulou
Section of Botany, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15701, Greece
Μaria Kalaboka
Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15771, Greece
Dido Vassilacopoulou
Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15701, Greece
Maria Halabalaki
Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15771, Greece
Nikolaos S. Christodoulakis
Section of Botany, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, Athens, 15701, Greece; Corresponding author at: Section of Botany, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15701, Greece.
Seedlings of Quercus coccifera were planted to grow in a series of liquid culture–mediums of gradually increasing PolyEthylene Glycol (PEG) concentration. The induced water stress strongly affected plant growth. As the PEG concertation raised the growth of the stems and roots was retarded, roots appeared to rely on the distribution of the phenolic containing cells for retaining a water flow, phenolic synthesis dramatically increased in the leaves and shifted to the production of condensed forms, oxidative stress appeared, thus, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) steeply increased, pigment absorption weakened and a remarkable rate of L-Dopa DeCarboxylase (DDC) expression was triggered. Phytochemical investigation via Liquid Chromatography – High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS) contributed to the detailed identification of the phenolic compounds in leaf extracts, and confirmed their profiles and metabolism both via biochemical detection and anatomical distribution the microscopic findings. Totally 25 compounds were identified showing qualitative and quantitative alternations in different PEG treatments.
