Biochemical and pharmaceutical traits of Marrubium vulgare L. plants treated with plant growth-promoting bacteria and elevated CO2

Hamada AbdElgawad; Shereen Magdy Korany; Nashwa Hagagy; Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi; Ahmed Mohamed Reyad; Carmine Crecchio; Adel M Zakri; Emad A Alsherif; Marwa Reda Bakkar

doi:10.1007/s13205-023-03836-0

Biochemical and pharmaceutical traits of Marrubium vulgare L. plants treated with plant growth-promoting bacteria and elevated CO₂

3 Biotech. 2023 Dec;13(12):412. doi: 10.1007/s13205-023-03836-0. Epub 2023 Nov 22.

Authors

Hamada AbdElgawad^{1

2}, Shereen Magdy Korany³, Nashwa Hagagy⁴, Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi⁵, Ahmed Mohamed Reyad², Carmine Crecchio⁵, Adel M Zakri⁶, Emad A Alsherif², Marwa Reda Bakkar³

Affiliations

¹ Integrated Molecular Plant Physiology Research (IMPRES), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
² Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, 62521 Egypt.
³ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, 11795 Egypt.
⁴ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy.
⁶ Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 37997597
PMCID: PMC10663420 (available on 2024-12-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s13205-023-03836-0

Abstract

The present research aimed to understand the influence of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) on various biochemical, nutritional, and pharmaceutical characteristics of Marrubium vulgare plants grown under elevated carbon dioxide (eCO₂). To achieve this objective, a pot experiment was carried out, consisting of two treatments, namely: (i) biofertilization (Bf) by a PGPB strain (Micromonospora sp.) and (ii) two different air CO₂ levels, including ambient CO₂ (aCO₂) and eCO₂ concentrations (410 and 710 μmol CO₂ mol^-1, respectively). The improvement in the photosynthesis rate of eCO₂ and Bf-treated plants can explain the increase in the production of carbohydrate. This is evidenced by a substantial rise, reaching up to + 75% and 25% in the total sugar and starch content in plants subjected to eCO₂ treatment, respectively. Additionally, eCO₂-treated plants exhibited a remarkable 102% increase in soluble sugar synthesis, while plants subjected to Bf treatment showed a notable increase of 66%. Such modifications could be the main factor affecting plants carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Although the level of certain amino acids (such as glycine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine) in plants exhibited significant increases in response to eCO₂ and Bf, the levels of other amino acids demonstrated enhancements in plants grown under eCO₂ (e.g., histidine) or under treatments containing Bf (e.g., alanine and ornithine). Improvements in primary metabolites led to more benefits in plants treated with Bf and CO₂ by boosting secondary metabolites accumulation, including phenolics (+ 27-100%), flavonoids (+ 30-92%), and essential oils (up to + 296%), as well as improved antioxidant capacity (FRAP). This remarkable effectiveness was evident in the significant increase in the biomass production, highlighting the synergistic impact of the treatments. Therefore, the interaction of Bf and eCO₂ not only induced plant biomass accumulation but also improved the nutritional and pharmaceutical value of M. vulgare plants.

Keywords: Actinobacteria; Elevated CO2; Essential oils; Flavonoids; Marrubium vulgare; Metabolites; Phenolic acids; Plant growth-promoting bacteria.

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