Does Abiotic Stress Cause Functional B Vitamin Deficiency in Plants?
B vitamins are the precursors of essential metabolic cofactors but are prone to destruction under stress conditions. It is therefore a priori reasonable that stressed plants suffer B vitamin deficiencies and that certain stress symptoms are metabolic knock-on effects of these deficiencies. Given the logic of these arguments, and the existence of data to support them, it is a shock to realize that the roles of B vitamins in plant abiotic stress have had minimal attention in the literature (100-fold less than hormones) and continue to be overlooked. In this article, we therefore aim to explain the connections among B vitamins, enzyme cofactors, and stress conditions in plants. We first outline the chemistry and biochemistry of B vitamins and explore the concept of vitamin deficiency with the help of information from mammals. We then summarize classical and recent evidence for stress-induced vitamin deficiencies and for plant responses that counter these deficiencies. Lastly, we consider potential implications for agriculture.
Horticultural Sciences Department (A.D.H., G.A.B., D.R.M) and Food Science and Human Nutrition Department (J.F.G.), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0690 adha@ufl.edu.
Andrew D
0000-0003-2585-9340
AD
Hanson
Horticultural Sciences Department (A.D.H., G.A.B., D.R.M) and Food Science and Human Nutrition Department (J.F.G.), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0690.
Guillaume A
GA
Beaudoin
Horticultural Sciences Department (A.D.H., G.A.B., D.R.M) and Food Science and Human Nutrition Department (J.F.G.), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0690.
Donald R
0000-0001-8694-5117
DR
McCarty
Horticultural Sciences Department (A.D.H., G.A.B., D.R.M) and Food Science and Human Nutrition Department (J.F.G.), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0690.
Jesse F
JF
Gregory
D000383:Agriculture; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014803:Vitamin B Complex / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
D014803:Vitamin B Complex