Citral accumulation in Cymbopogon citratus plant as influenced by N6-benzylaminopurine and light intensity

Prins, Claudia Lopes; Freitas, Silvério de Paiva; Gomes, Mara de Menezes de Assis; Vieira, Ivo José Curcino; Gravina, Geraldo de Amaral

Abstract

Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) is an aromatic species whose essential oil is rich in citral, with industrial applications due to its lemon scent. The effects of environmental factors on the percentage and composition of essential oils are the main challenges in commercial cultivation. Various studies have indicated the positive effect of cytokinin on terpene production. The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) associated with light intensity on the production and composition of essential lemongrass oil. Plants were grown under field conditions (FIELD) and shade (SHADE). The study employed a 2x7 factorial scheme with two growing environments, seven BAP concentrations, and five replicates. After seven months of growth, a single application of the synthetic cytokinin BAP was performed at concentrations 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 mg L-1. One week after the BAP application, plants were harvested and the essential oil was extracted in a Clevenger apparatus. The chemical composition of the essential oil of plants treated with 60, 120, and 180 mg L-1 of BAP was determined by Gas Chromatography (GC). The essential oil percentage was not affected by the treatments, showing 1.08% on average. On the other hand, the citral percentage was negatively influenced by BAP, and light intensity had no effects. In plants treated with 60 mg L-1 of BAP, citral percentage was 72%, on average, while in plants treated with 180 mg L-1, the mean percentage of citral was 33%.

cytokinin; essential oil; lemongrass; shade

References

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Aharoni A, Giri AP, Deuerlein S, Griepink F, Kogel WJ, Verstappen FWA, Verhoeven HA, Jongsman MA, Schwab W, Bouwmeester HJ (2003) Terpenoid metabolism in wild-type and transgenic Arabidopsis plant. The Plant Cell 15:2866-2884.
Alizadeh O, Haghighi BJ, Ordookhani K (2010) The effect of exogenous cytokinin application on sink size in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). African Journal of Agricultural Research 5:2893-2898.
Budavani S, O'Neil MJ, Smith A, Heckelman PE, Kinneary JF (ed.) (1996) The Merck Index - an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs, and biologicals. Merck Research Laboratories, New Jersey, USA.
Chen D, Li Z, Pan R, Wang X (2006) Anthocyanin accumulation mediated by blue light and cytokinin in Arabidopsis seedlings. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 48:420-425.
Cheng AX, Lou YG, Mao YB, Lu S, Wang LJ, Chen XY (2007) Plant terpenoids: biosynthesis and ecological functions. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 49:179-186.
Chernyad`ev II (2000) Ontogenetic changes in the photosynthetic apparatus and effects of cytokinins. Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology 36:527-539.
Decendit A, Petit G, Andreu F, Doireau P, Mérillon JM, Rideau M (1993) Putative sites of cytokinin action during their enhancing effect on indole alkaloid accumulation in periwinkle cell suspensions. Plant Cell Reports 12: 710-712.
El-Keltawi NE, Croteau R (1987) Influence of foliar applied cytokinins on growth and essential oil content of several members of the Lamiaceae. Phytochemistry 26:891-895.
Gershenzon J (1994) Metabolic costs of terpenoid accumulation in higher plants. Journal of Chemical Ecology 20: 1281-1328.
Gharib FAE (2005) Changes in regeneration and oil accumulation of Pelargonium nervosum under various culture conditions. Journal of Biological Sciences 5:670-677.
Gomes EC, Rücker NGA, Negrelle RRB (2004) Estudo prospectivo da cadeia produtiva do capim-limão - Estado do Paraná. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural 42:709-731.
Gonçalves LA, Barbosa LCA, Azevedo AA, Casali VWD, Nascimento EA (2003) Production and composition of essential oil of "Alfavaquinha" (Ocimum selloi Benth) to two levels of solar radiation. Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais 6:8-14.
Ioio RD, Linhares FS, Sabatini S (2007) Emerging role of cytokinin as a regulator of cellular differentiation. Current Opinion in Plant Biology l10:1-5.
Kamada-Nobusada T, Sakakibara H (2009) Molecular basis for cytokinin. Phytochemistry 70:444-449.
Khandelwal SK, Gupta NK, Sahu MP (2002) Effect of plant growth regulators on growth, yield and essential oil production of henna (Lawsonia inermis L.). Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology 77:67-72.
Kraepiel Y, Miginiac E (1997) Photomorphogenesis and phytohormones. Plant, Cell & Environment 20:807-812.
Maffei M, Canova D, Bertea CM, Scannerini S (1999) UV-A effects on photomorphogenesis and essential oil composition in Mentha piperita Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology 52:105-110.
Manzano D, Busquets A, Closa M, Hoyerová K, Schaller H, Kamínek M, Arró M, Ferrer A (2006) Overexpression of farnesyl diphosphate synthase in Arabidopsis mitochondria tiggers light-dependent lesion formation and alters cytokinin homeostasis. Plant Molecular Biology 61:195-213.
Masferrer A, Arró M, Manzano D, Schaller H, Fernández-Busquets X, Moncaleán P, Fernández B, Cunillera N, Boronat A, Ferrer A (2002) Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS1S) in transgenic Arabidopsis induces a cell death/senescence-like response and reduced cytokinin levels. The Plant Journal 30:123-132.
Naito T, Kiba T, Koizumi N, Yamashino T, Mizuno T (2007) Characterization of a unique GATA family gene that responds to both light and cytokinin in Arabidopsis thaliana. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 71:1557-1560.
Natarajan S, Xu C, Caperna TJ, Garrett WM (2005) Comparison of protein solubilization methods suitable for proteomic analysis of soybean seed proteins. Analytical Biochemistry 342:214-220.
Papon N, Bremer J, Vansiri A, Andreu F, Rideau M, Crèche J (2005) Cytokinin and ethylene control indole alkaloid production at the level of the MEP/Terpenoid pathway in Catharanthus roseus suspension cells. Planta Medica 71:572-574.
Peer WA, Langenheim JH (1998) Influence of phytochrome on leaf monoterpene variation in Satureja douglasii Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 26:25-34.
Pinto JEBP, Cardoso JCW, Castro EM, Bertolucci SK, Melo LA, Dousseau S (2007) Morphophysiological aspects and essential oil content in Brazilian-lavender as affected by shadowing. Horticultura Brasileira 25:210-214.
Prins CL, Vieira IJC, Freitas SP (2010) Growth regulators and essential oil production. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 22:91-102.
Rodríguez-Concepción M (2006) Early steps in isoprenoid biosynthesis: multilevel regulation of the supply of common precursors in plant cells. Phytochemistry Reviews 5:1-15.
Roitsch T, Ehneß R (2000) Regulation of source/sink relations by cytokinins. Plant Growth Regulation 32:359-367.
Sales JF, Pinto JEBP, Ferri PH, Silva FG, Oliveira CBA, Botrel PP (2009) Influência do nível de irradiância no crescimento, produção e composição química do óleo essencial de hortelã do campo (Hyptis marrubioides Epl.). Semina - Ciências Agrárias 30:389-396.
Sanches RR (2000) Aplicação de biorreguladores vegetais: aspectos fisiológicos e aplicações práticas na citricultura mundial. Funep, Jaboticabal. 160p.
Sangwan NS, Farooqi AHA, Shabih F, Sangwan RS (2001) Regulation of essential oil production in plants. Plant Growth Regulation 34:3-21.
Sano H, Seo S, Koizumi N, Niki T, Iwamura H, Ohashi Y (1996) Regulation by citokinins of endogenous levels of jasmonic acid and salicylic acids in mechanically wounded tobacco plants. Plant and Cell Physiology 37:762-769.
Shah SH (2007) Effect of kinetin spray on growth and productivity of Black cumin Plants. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 54:702-705.
Silva FG, Pinto JEBP, Cardoso MG, Nascimento EA, Nelson DL, Sales JF, Mol DJS (2006) Influence of radiation level on plant growth, yield and quality of essential oil in carqueja. Ciência e Agrotecnologia 30: 52-57.
Sokolova SV, Balakshina NO, Krasavina MS (2002) Activation of soluble acid invertase accompanies the cytokinin-induced source-sink leaf transition. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 49:86-91.
Stoeva T, Iliev L (1997) Influence of some phenylureia cytokinins on spearmint essential oil composition. Bulgarian Journal of Plant Physiology 23:66-71.
Sudriá C, Piñol MT, Palazón J, Cusidó RM, Vila R, Morales C, Bonfill M, Cañigueral S (1999) Influence of plant growth regulators on the growth and essential oil content of cultured Lavandula dentata plantlets. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 58:177-184.
Sudriá C, Palazón J, Cusidó R, Bonfill M, Piñol MT, Morales C (2004) Effect of benzyladenine and indolebutyric acid on ultrastructure, glands formation, and essential oil accumulation in Lavandula dentata plantlets. Physiologia Plantarum 44:1-6.
Towne G, Owensby C (1983) Cytokinins effect on protein and chlorophyll content of big bluestem leaves. Journal of Range Management Archives 36:75-77.
Veerasamy M, He Y, Huang B (2007) Leaf senescence and protein metabolism in creeping bentgrass exposed to heat stress and treated with cytokinins. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 132:467-472.
Yakir E, Hilman D, Harir Y, Green RM (2007) Regulation of output from the plant circadian clock. FEBS Journal 274:335-345.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
15 Oct 2013
Date of issue
2013

History

Received
19 Sept 2012
Accepted
15 July 2013

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] Affonso VR, Bizzo HR, Lage CLS, Sato A (2009) Influence of growth regulators in biomass production and volatile profile of in vitro plantlets of Thymus vulgaris Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57:6392-6395.

[2] Aharoni A, Giri AP, Deuerlein S, Griepink F, Kogel WJ, Verstappen FWA, Verhoeven HA, Jongsman MA, Schwab W, Bouwmeester HJ (2003) Terpenoid metabolism in wild-type and transgenic Arabidopsis plant. The Plant Cell 15:2866-2884.

[3] Alizadeh O, Haghighi BJ, Ordookhani K (2010) The effect of exogenous cytokinin application on sink size in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). African Journal of Agricultural Research 5:2893-2898.

[4] Budavani S, O'Neil MJ, Smith A, Heckelman PE, Kinneary JF (ed.) (1996) The Merck Index - an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs, and biologicals. Merck Research Laboratories, New Jersey, USA.

[5] Chen D, Li Z, Pan R, Wang X (2006) Anthocyanin accumulation mediated by blue light and cytokinin in Arabidopsis seedlings. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 48:420-425.

[6] Cheng AX, Lou YG, Mao YB, Lu S, Wang LJ, Chen XY (2007) Plant terpenoids: biosynthesis and ecological functions. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 49:179-186.

[7] Chernyad`ev II (2000) Ontogenetic changes in the photosynthetic apparatus and effects of cytokinins. Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology 36:527-539.

[8] Decendit A, Petit G, Andreu F, Doireau P, Mérillon JM, Rideau M (1993) Putative sites of cytokinin action during their enhancing effect on indole alkaloid accumulation in periwinkle cell suspensions. Plant Cell Reports 12: 710-712.

[9] El-Keltawi NE, Croteau R (1987) Influence of foliar applied cytokinins on growth and essential oil content of several members of the Lamiaceae. Phytochemistry 26:891-895.

[10] Gershenzon J (1994) Metabolic costs of terpenoid accumulation in higher plants. Journal of Chemical Ecology 20: 1281-1328.

[11] Gharib FAE (2005) Changes in regeneration and oil accumulation of Pelargonium nervosum under various culture conditions. Journal of Biological Sciences 5:670-677.

[12] Gomes EC, Rücker NGA, Negrelle RRB (2004) Estudo prospectivo da cadeia produtiva do capim-limão - Estado do Paraná. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural 42:709-731.

[13] Gonçalves LA, Barbosa LCA, Azevedo AA, Casali VWD, Nascimento EA (2003) Production and composition of essential oil of "Alfavaquinha" (Ocimum selloi Benth) to two levels of solar radiation. Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais 6:8-14.

[14] Ioio RD, Linhares FS, Sabatini S (2007) Emerging role of cytokinin as a regulator of cellular differentiation. Current Opinion in Plant Biology l10:1-5.

[15] Kamada-Nobusada T, Sakakibara H (2009) Molecular basis for cytokinin. Phytochemistry 70:444-449.

[16] Khandelwal SK, Gupta NK, Sahu MP (2002) Effect of plant growth regulators on growth, yield and essential oil production of henna (Lawsonia inermis L.). Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology 77:67-72.

[17] Kraepiel Y, Miginiac E (1997) Photomorphogenesis and phytohormones. Plant, Cell & Environment 20:807-812.

[18] Maffei M, Canova D, Bertea CM, Scannerini S (1999) UV-A effects on photomorphogenesis and essential oil composition in Mentha piperita Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology 52:105-110.

[19] Manzano D, Busquets A, Closa M, Hoyerová K, Schaller H, Kamínek M, Arró M, Ferrer A (2006) Overexpression of farnesyl diphosphate synthase in Arabidopsis mitochondria tiggers light-dependent lesion formation and alters cytokinin homeostasis. Plant Molecular Biology 61:195-213.

[20] Masferrer A, Arró M, Manzano D, Schaller H, Fernández-Busquets X, Moncaleán P, Fernández B, Cunillera N, Boronat A, Ferrer A (2002) Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS1S) in transgenic Arabidopsis induces a cell death/senescence-like response and reduced cytokinin levels. The Plant Journal 30:123-132.

[21] Naito T, Kiba T, Koizumi N, Yamashino T, Mizuno T (2007) Characterization of a unique GATA family gene that responds to both light and cytokinin in Arabidopsis thaliana. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 71:1557-1560.

[22] Natarajan S, Xu C, Caperna TJ, Garrett WM (2005) Comparison of protein solubilization methods suitable for proteomic analysis of soybean seed proteins. Analytical Biochemistry 342:214-220.

[23] Papon N, Bremer J, Vansiri A, Andreu F, Rideau M, Crèche J (2005) Cytokinin and ethylene control indole alkaloid production at the level of the MEP/Terpenoid pathway in Catharanthus roseus suspension cells. Planta Medica 71:572-574.

[24] Peer WA, Langenheim JH (1998) Influence of phytochrome on leaf monoterpene variation in Satureja douglasii Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 26:25-34.

[25] Pinto JEBP, Cardoso JCW, Castro EM, Bertolucci SK, Melo LA, Dousseau S (2007) Morphophysiological aspects and essential oil content in Brazilian-lavender as affected by shadowing. Horticultura Brasileira 25:210-214.

[26] Prins CL, Vieira IJC, Freitas SP (2010) Growth regulators and essential oil production. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 22:91-102.

[27] Rodríguez-Concepción M (2006) Early steps in isoprenoid biosynthesis: multilevel regulation of the supply of common precursors in plant cells. Phytochemistry Reviews 5:1-15.

[28] Roitsch T, Ehneß R (2000) Regulation of source/sink relations by cytokinins. Plant Growth Regulation 32:359-367.

[29] Sales JF, Pinto JEBP, Ferri PH, Silva FG, Oliveira CBA, Botrel PP (2009) Influência do nível de irradiância no crescimento, produção e composição química do óleo essencial de hortelã do campo (Hyptis marrubioides Epl.). Semina - Ciências Agrárias 30:389-396.

[30] Sanches RR (2000) Aplicação de biorreguladores vegetais: aspectos fisiológicos e aplicações práticas na citricultura mundial. Funep, Jaboticabal. 160p.

[31] Sangwan NS, Farooqi AHA, Shabih F, Sangwan RS (2001) Regulation of essential oil production in plants. Plant Growth Regulation 34:3-21.

[32] Sano H, Seo S, Koizumi N, Niki T, Iwamura H, Ohashi Y (1996) Regulation by citokinins of endogenous levels of jasmonic acid and salicylic acids in mechanically wounded tobacco plants. Plant and Cell Physiology 37:762-769.

[33] Shah SH (2007) Effect of kinetin spray on growth and productivity of Black cumin Plants. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 54:702-705.

[34] Silva FG, Pinto JEBP, Cardoso MG, Nascimento EA, Nelson DL, Sales JF, Mol DJS (2006) Influence of radiation level on plant growth, yield and quality of essential oil in carqueja. Ciência e Agrotecnologia 30: 52-57.

[35] Sokolova SV, Balakshina NO, Krasavina MS (2002) Activation of soluble acid invertase accompanies the cytokinin-induced source-sink leaf transition. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 49:86-91.

[36] Stoeva T, Iliev L (1997) Influence of some phenylureia cytokinins on spearmint essential oil composition. Bulgarian Journal of Plant Physiology 23:66-71.

[37] Sudriá C, Piñol MT, Palazón J, Cusidó RM, Vila R, Morales C, Bonfill M, Cañigueral S (1999) Influence of plant growth regulators on the growth and essential oil content of cultured Lavandula dentata plantlets. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 58:177-184.

[38] Sudriá C, Palazón J, Cusidó R, Bonfill M, Piñol MT, Morales C (2004) Effect of benzyladenine and indolebutyric acid on ultrastructure, glands formation, and essential oil accumulation in Lavandula dentata plantlets. Physiologia Plantarum 44:1-6.

[39] Towne G, Owensby C (1983) Cytokinins effect on protein and chlorophyll content of big bluestem leaves. Journal of Range Management Archives 36:75-77.

[40] Veerasamy M, He Y, Huang B (2007) Leaf senescence and protein metabolism in creeping bentgrass exposed to heat stress and treated with cytokinins. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 132:467-472.

[41] Yakir E, Hilman D, Harir Y, Green RM (2007) Regulation of output from the plant circadian clock. FEBS Journal 274:335-345.