Osmotic stress-induced lignin synthesis is regulated at multiple levels in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

In this study, we combined physiological, transcriptional, and metabolic analyses to reveal the changes in lignin content in alfalfa under mannitol-induced osmotic stress. Osmotic stress enhanced lignin accumulation by increasing G and S units, which was associated with increases in enzyme activities and decreases in 8 intermediate metabolites. Upon combined analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome, we identified five key structural genes and several coexpressed transcription factors, such as MYB and WRKY, which may play a core role in regulating lignin content and composition under osmotic stress. In addition, lignin synthesis was positively regulated by ABA but negatively regulated by ethylene under osmotic stress. These results provide new insight into the regulatory mechanism of lignin synthesis under abiotic stress.PMID:37348591 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125501
Source: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Source Type: research