Elevated CO₂ mitigates the impact of drought stress by upregulating glucosinolate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

authored by

Hamada AbdElgawad, Gaurav Zinta, Johann Hornbacher, Jutta Papenbrock, Marios N. Markakis, Han Asard, Gerrit T.S. Beemster

Abstract

Elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) reduces the impact of drought, but the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Therefore, we used a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the interaction of drought and eCO₂ in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. Transcriptome and subsequent metabolite analyses identified a strong induction of the aliphatic glucosinolate (GL) biosynthesis as a main effect of eCO₂ in drought-stressed leaves. Transcriptome results highlighted the upregulation of ABI5 and downregulation of WRKY63 transcription factors (TF), known to enhance and inhibit the expression of genes regulating aliphatic GL biosynthesis (e.g., MYB28 and 29 TFs), respectively. In addition, eCO₂ positively regulated aliphatic GL biosynthesis by MYB28/29 and increasing the accumulation of GL precursors. To test the role of GLs in the stress-mitigating effect of eCO₂, we investigated the effect of genetic perturbations of the GL biosynthesis. Overexpression of MYB28, 29 and 76 improved drought tolerance by inducing stomatal closure and maintaining plant turgor, whereas loss of cyp79f genes reduced the stress-mitigating effect of eCO₂ and decreased drought tolerance. Overall, the crucial role of GL metabolism in drought stress mitigation by eCO₂ could be a beneficial trait to overcome future climate challenges.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Botany

External Organisation(s)

University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen)
University of Beni Suef
CSIR - Biomedicine and Agriculture
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR)

Type

Article

Journal

Plant Cell and Environment

Volume

46

Pages

812-830

No. of pages

19

ISSN

0140-7791

Publication date

01.02.2023

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physiology, Plant Science

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14521 (Access: Closed)