β-Cyclocitral-Mediated Metabolic Changes Optimize Growth and Defense Responses in Solanum lycopersicum L.

Abstract

β-cyclocitral (βCC) is one of the significant oxidative products of β-carotene. It primes plants for multiple stress acclimation without compromising plant growth. Metabolic reorganization is necessary to maintain a balance between growth and defense. However, the βCC-mediated changes in a plant’s metabolic network are unknown. Here, we demonstrate how βCC-induced metabolic changes enable Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato) plants to promote defense and maintain growth under stress. An analysis of early (0–240 min) and late (72 h) changes in the tomato metabolome after βCC-treatment using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry identified 57 compounds. A principal coordinate analysis suggested that βCC treatment significantly changes the metabolite profile. A variable importance in projection (VIP) analysis revealed 16 and 19 discriminant metabolites from early and late samples, respectively (VIP ≥ 1.0). Upregulated metabolites were mainly amino acids and phytophenols. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that βCC treatment influenced amino acid metabolism at early and later times; however, phenylpropanoid and isoquinoline biosynthesis were influenced only at the later time. A 66.6% similarity in the upregulated metabolites of βCC- and simulated-herbivory-treated plants confirmed βCC’s role against herbivores. We conclude that βCC steers a temporal separation in amino acids and defense metabolite accumulation that optimizes resource allocation to growth and defense.