title: Impact of Phenylpropanoid Compounds on Heat Stress Tolerance in Carrot Cell Cultures.
abstract: The phenylpropanoid and flavonoid families include thousands of specialized metabolites that influence a wide range of processes in plants, including seed dispersal, auxin transport, photoprotection, mechanical support and protection against insect herbivory. Such metabolites play a key role in the protection of plants against abiotic stress, in many cases through their well-known ability to inhibit the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the precise role of specific phenylpropanoid and flavonoid molecules is unclear. We therefore investigated the role of specific anthocyanins (ACs) and other phenylpropanoids that accumulate in carrot cells cultivatedin vitro, focusing on their supposed ability to protect cells from heat stress. First we characterized the effects of heat stress to identify quantifiable morphological traits as markers of heat stress susceptibility. We then fed the cultures with precursors to induce the targeted accumulation of specific compounds, and compared the impact of heat stress in these cultures and unfed controls. Data modeling based on projection to latent structures (PLS) regression revealed that metabolites containing coumaric or caffeic acid, including ACs, correlate with less heat damage. Further experiments suggested that one of the cellular targets damaged by heat stress and protected by these metabolites is the actin microfilament cytoskeleton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Commisso
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Ketti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toffali
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strazzer
authors.affiliation: S-IN Soluzioni Informatiche Vicenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stocchero
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceoldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Padua Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baldan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guzzo
keywords: anthocyanins; biological role of secondary metabolites; cultured cells; heat stress; hydroxycinnamic acids; phenylpropanoids; untargeted metabolomics