Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis, Recycling and Oxidation in Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 10717

Special Issue Editors

Deptartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: ascorbic acid; ascorbate oxidase; diterpene synthases; biosynthesis of terpenoids and phenylpropanoids; hypoxia/anoxia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources- ΗΑΟ DEMETER, 1st km Thesaloniki-Poligiros, PO Box 60458 Thermi, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: metabolic pathways of ascorbic acid in plants; fruit genetics and genomics; plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and abiotic stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ascorbic acid (AsA) is considered one of the most important antioxidants in plant tissues, being highly abundant and exerting crucial roles in plant adaptation to unfavourable environments by contributing to a cellular redox state. Manipulation of AsA metabolism through the enhancement of AsA biosynthetic genes’ expression has been widely used as an effective strategy to increase AsA levels in plants. Maintaining ascorbate in its reduced and active form through modification of AsA recycling and oxidation has served as an alternative strategy for AsA biofortification. Although the identification and characterization of AsA metabolic pathways have been well established, there are still several gaps in our understanding of this putative orchestrator of plant responses. Recently, modification of AsA transcriptional and translational regulatory factors have emerged as a novel approach to increase AsA in crops.

The Special Edition is open to research articles on plant and crop studies, aiming to provide all current and future perspectives regarding ascorbic acid biosynthesis, recycling and oxidation in plant tissues.

Particularly welcome are research papers on the following topics:

  • Biosynthesis and its regulation in plants;
  • Novel AsA regulatory genes;
  • AsA and DHA as key signalling molecules;
  • AsA in abiotic and biotic stresses;
  • AsA regeneration and its regulation;
  • AsA oxidation: its regulation and consequences;
  • AsA biofortification in plants;
  • Genome edited plants.

Dr. Angelos K. Kanellis
Dr. Mellidou Ifigeneia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • ascorbic acid
  • dehydroascorbate
  • biosynthesis
  • recycling
  • oxidation
  • biofortification
  • genome editing
  • genes
  • stress

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 3409 KiB  
Article
Ascorbic Acid Content and Transcriptional Profiling of Genes Involved in Its Metabolism during Development of Petals, Leaves, and Fruits of Orange (Citrus sinensis cv. Valencia Late)
by Enriqueta Alós, Florencia Rey, José Vicente Gil, María Jesús Rodrigo and Lorenzo Zacarias
Plants 2021, 10(12), 2590; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10122590 - 26 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2613
Abstract
Citrus fruit is one of the most important contributors to the ascorbic acid (AsA) intake in humans. Here, we report a comparative analysis of AsA content and transcriptional changes of genes related to its metabolism during development of petals, leaves and fruits of [...] Read more.
Citrus fruit is one of the most important contributors to the ascorbic acid (AsA) intake in humans. Here, we report a comparative analysis of AsA content and transcriptional changes of genes related to its metabolism during development of petals, leaves and fruits of Valencia Late oranges (Citrus sinensis). Petals of close flowers and at anthesis contained the highest concentration of AsA. In fruits, AsA content in the flavedo reached a maximum at color break, whereas the pulp accumulated lower levels and experienced minor fluctuations during development. AsA levels in leaves were similar to those in the flavedo at breaker stage. The transcriptional profiling of AsA biosynthetic, degradation, and recycling genes revealed a complex and specific interplay of the different pathways for each tissue. The D-galacturonic acid pathway appeared to be relevant in petals, whereas in leaves the L-galactose pathway (GGP and GME) also contributed to AsA accumulation. In the flavedo, AsA content was positively correlated with the expression of GGP of the L-galactose pathway and negatively with DHAR1 gene of the recycling pathway. In the pulp, AsA appeared to be mainly controlled by the coordination among the D-galacturonic acid pathway and the MIOX and GalDH genes. Analysis of the promoters of AsA metabolism genes revealed a number of cis-acting elements related to developmental signals, but their functionalities remain to be investigated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis, Recycling and Oxidation in Plants)
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25 pages, 6402 KiB  
Article
A Transcriptional Analysis of the Genes Involved in the Ascorbic Acid Pathways Based on a Comparison of the Juice and Leaves of Navel and Anthocyanin-Rich Sweet Orange Varieties
by Paola Caruso, Maria Patrizia Russo, Marco Caruso, Mario Di Guardo, Giuseppe Russo, Simona Fabroni, Nicolina Timpanaro and Concetta Licciardello
Plants 2021, 10(7), 1291; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10071291 - 24 Jun 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2197
Abstract
Sweet oranges are an important source of ascorbic acid (AsA). In this study, the content of AsA in the juice and leaves of four orange clonal selections, different in terms of maturity time and the presence/absence of anthocyanins, was correlated with the transcription [...] Read more.
Sweet oranges are an important source of ascorbic acid (AsA). In this study, the content of AsA in the juice and leaves of four orange clonal selections, different in terms of maturity time and the presence/absence of anthocyanins, was correlated with the transcription levels of the main genes involved in the biosynthesis, recycling, and degradation pathways. Within each variety, differences in the above pathways and the AsA amount were found between the analysed tissues. Variations were also observed at different stages of fruit development and maturation. At the beginning of fruit development, AsA accumulation was attributable to the synergic action of l-galactose and Myo-inositol, while the l-gulose pathway was predominant between the end of fruit development and the beginning of ripening. In leaves, the l-galactose pathway appeared to play a major role in AsA accumulation, even though higher GalUr isoform expression suggests a synergistic contribution of both pathways in this tissue. In juice, the trend of the AsA content may be related to the decrease in the transcription levels of the GME, GDH, MyoOx, and GalUr12 genes. Newhall was the genotype that accumulated the most AsA. The difference between Newhall and the other varieties seems to be attributable to the GLDH, GalUr12, APX2, and DHAR3 genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis, Recycling and Oxidation in Plants)
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20 pages, 4113 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Analysis of MDHAR Gene Family in Four Cotton Species Provides Insights into Fiber Development via Regulating AsA Redox Homeostasis
by Fangfang Zhou, Bowen Zheng, Fei Wang, Aiping Cao, Shuangquan Xie, Xifeng Chen, Joel A. Schick, Xiang Jin and Hongbin Li
Plants 2021, 10(2), 227; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10020227 - 25 Jan 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
Monodehydroasorbate reductase (MDHAR) (EC1.6.5.4), a key enzyme in ascorbate-glutathione recycling, plays important roles in cell growth, plant development and physiological response to environmental stress via control of ascorbic acid (AsA)-mediated reduction/oxidation (redox) regulation. Until now, information regarding MDHAR function and regulatory mechanism in [...] Read more.
Monodehydroasorbate reductase (MDHAR) (EC1.6.5.4), a key enzyme in ascorbate-glutathione recycling, plays important roles in cell growth, plant development and physiological response to environmental stress via control of ascorbic acid (AsA)-mediated reduction/oxidation (redox) regulation. Until now, information regarding MDHAR function and regulatory mechanism in Gossypium have been limited. Herein, a genome-wide identification and comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of 36 MDHAR family genes in four Gossypium species, Gossypium arboreum, G. raimondii, G. hirsutum, and G. barbadense, were performed, indicating their close evolutionary relationship. Expression analysis of GhMDHARs in different cotton tissues and under abiotic stress and phytohormone treatment revealed diverse expression features. Fiber-specific expression analysis showed that GhMDHAR1A/D, 3A/D and 4A/D were preferentially expressed in fiber fast elongating stages to reach peak values in 15-DPA fibers, with corresponding coincident observances of MDHAR enzyme activity, AsA content and ascorbic acid/dehydroascorbic acid (AsA/DHA) ratio. Meanwhile, there was a close positive correlation between the increase of AsA content and AsA/DHA ratio catalyzed by MDHAR and fiber elongation development in different fiber-length cotton cultivars, suggesting the potential important function of MDHAR for fiber growth. Following H2O2 stimulation, GhMDHAR demonstrated immediate responses at the levels of mRNA, enzyme, the product of AsA and corresponding AsA/DHA value, and antioxidative activity. These results for the first time provide a comprehensive systemic analysis of the MDHAR gene family in plants and the four cotton species and demonstrate the contribution of MDHAR to fiber elongation development by controlling AsA-recycling-mediated cellular redox homeostasis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis, Recycling and Oxidation in Plants)
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14 pages, 1790 KiB  
Article
LED Light Quality of Continuous Light before Harvest Affects Growth and AsA Metabolism of Hydroponic Lettuce Grown under Increasing Doses of Nitrogen
by Yubin Zhang, Lingyan Zha, Wenke Liu, Chengbo Zhou, Mingjie Shao and Qichang Yang
Plants 2021, 10(1), 176; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10010176 - 19 Jan 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2586
Abstract
To study the effects of light quality of continuous light before harvest on the growth and ascorbic acid (AsA) metabolism of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown under relative high nitrogen level, lettuce plants grown under different nitrogen levels (8, 10 and 12 [...] Read more.
To study the effects of light quality of continuous light before harvest on the growth and ascorbic acid (AsA) metabolism of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown under relative high nitrogen level, lettuce plants grown under different nitrogen levels (8, 10 and 12 mmol·L−1) were subjected to continuous light with different red: blue light ratios (2R:1B and 4R:1B) before harvest. The results showed that the shoot fresh weight of lettuce under 12 mmol·L−1 nitrogen level was significantly higher than that under other treatments. There were no significant differences in shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, soluble sugar content, nitrate content and AsA content in leaves among the treatments at different nitrogen levels. The content of AsA in leaves was significantly higher than that in petioles before and after continuous light. Under the same nitrogen level, the fresh weight of lettuce under continuous light quality 4R:1B was significantly higher than that under other treatments. The content of AsA in lettuce leaves increased in different degrees after continuous light before harvest. High yield and AsA content could be obtained by 72 h continuous light with red and blue light 4R:1B at 12 mmol·L−1 nitrogen level. After continuous light, the content of AsA increased significantly due to the increase of the ratio of red light and nitrogen level, which increased the activities of L-galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase (GalLDH) and dehydroascorbic acid reductase (DHAR) involved in AsA synthesis and in the recycling of DHAR to AsA respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ascorbic Acid Biosynthesis, Recycling and Oxidation in Plants)
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