A multi-omics insight on the interplay between iron deficiency and N forms in tomato

Arianna Lodovici; Sara Buoso; Begoña Miras-Moreno; Luigi Lucini; Nicola Tomasi; Pascual García-Pérez; Roberto Pinton; Laura Zanin

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1408141

A multi-omics insight on the interplay between iron deficiency and N forms in tomato

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Oct 16:15:1408141. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1408141. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Arianna Lodovici¹, Sara Buoso¹, Begoña Miras-Moreno^{2

3}, Luigi Lucini², Nicola Tomasi¹, Pascual García-Pérez², Roberto Pinton¹, Laura Zanin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural. Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
² Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy.
³ Department of Plant Biology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Nitrogen (N) and iron (Fe) are involved in several biochemical processes in living organisms, and their limited bioavailability is a strong constraint for plant growth and yield. This work investigated the interplay between Fe and N nutritional pathways in tomato plants kept under N and Fe deficiency and then resupplied with Fe and N (as nitrate, ammonium, or urea) through a physiological, metabolomics and gene expression study.

Results: After 24 hours of Fe resupply, the Fe concentration in Fe-deficient roots was dependent on the applied N form (following the pattern: nitrate > urea > ammonium > Fe-deficient control), and whereas in leaves of urea treated plants the Fe concentration was lower in comparison to the other N forms. Untargeted metabolomics pointed out distinctive modulations of plant metabolism in a treatment-dependent manner. Overall, N-containing metabolites were affected by the treatments in both leaves and roots, while N form significantly shaped the phytohormone profile. Moreover, the simultaneous application of Fe with N to Fe-deficient plants elicited secondary metabolites' accumulation, such as phenylpropanoids, depending on the applied N form (mainly by urea, followed by nitrate and ammonium). After 4 hours of treatment, ammonium- and urea-treated roots showed a reduction of enzymatic activity of Fe(III)-chelate reductase (FCR), compared to nitrate or N-depleted plants (maintained in Fe deficiency, where FCR was maintained at high levels). The response of nitrate-treated plants leads to the improvement of Fe concentration in tomato roots and the increase of Fe(II) transporter (IRT1) gene expression in tomato roots.

Conclusions: Our results strengthen and improve the understanding about the interaction between N and Fe nutritional pathways, thinning the current knowledge gap.

Keywords: Strategy I; ammonium; metabolomic; multi-omic; nitrate; nutrient interplay; root uptake; urea.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Departmental Strategic Plan (PSD) of the University of Udine - Interdepartmental Project on Artificial Intelligence (2020-25) and within the Agritech National Research Center and received funding from the European Union Next-GenerationEU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D. 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022). This manuscript reflects only the authors’ views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them.