Primary Metabolism Is Distinctly Modulated by Plant Resistance Inducers in Coffea arabica Leaves Infected by Hemileia vastatrix

Kátia Ferreira Possa; Joyce Alves Goulart Silva; Mário Lúcio Vilela Resende; Rita Tenente; Carla Pinheiro; Inês Chaves; Sebastien Planchon; Ana Cristina Andrade Monteiro; Jenny Renaut; Milene Alves Figueiredo Carvalho; Cândido Pinto Ricardo; Leonor Guerra-Guimarães

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00309

Primary Metabolism Is Distinctly Modulated by Plant Resistance Inducers in Coffea arabica Leaves Infected by Hemileia vastatrix

Front Plant Sci. 2020 Mar 20:11:309. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00309. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Kátia Ferreira Possa^{1

2}, Joyce Alves Goulart Silva¹, Mário Lúcio Vilela Resende¹, Rita Tenente², Carla Pinheiro^{3

4}, Inês Chaves^{3

5}, Sebastien Planchon⁶, Ana Cristina Andrade Monteiro¹, Jenny Renaut⁶, Milene Alves Figueiredo Carvalho⁷, Cândido Pinto Ricardo³, Leonor Guerra-Guimarães^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Brazil.
² Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
³ Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB NOVA), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁴ Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁵ Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Oeiras, Portugal.
⁶ Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Environmental Research and Innovation Department, Belval, Luxembourg.
⁷ Embrapa Café, Parque Estação Biológica, Brasília, Brazil.
⁸ Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.

Abstract

Epidemics of coffee leaf rust (CLR) leads to great yield losses and huge depreciation of coffee marketing values, if no control measures are applied. Societal expectations of a more sustainable coffee production are increasingly imposing the replacement of fungicide treatments by alternative solutions. A protection strategy is to take advantage of the plant immune system by eliciting constitutive defenses. Based on such concept, plant resistance inducers (PRIs) have been developed. The Greenforce CuCa formulation, similarly to acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), shows promising results in the control of CLR (Hemileia vastatrix) in Coffea arabica cv. Mundo Novo. The molecular mechanisms of PRIs action are poorly understood. In order to contribute to its elucidation a proteomic, physiological (leaf gas-exchange) and biochemical (enzymatic) analyses were performed. Coffee leaves treated with Greenforce CuCa and ASM and inoculation with H. vastatrix were considered. Proteomics revealed that both PRIs lead to metabolic adjustments but, inducing distinct proteins. These proteins were related with photosynthesis, protein metabolism and stress responses. Greenforce CuCa increased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, while ASM caused a decrease in these parameters. It was further observed that Greenforce CuCa reinforces the redox homeostasis of the leaf, while ASM seems to affect preferentially the secondary metabolism and the stress-related proteins. So, the PRIs prepare the plant to resist CLR but, inducing different defense mechanisms upon pathogen infection. The existence of a link between the primary metabolism and defense responses was evidenced. The identification of components of the plant primary metabolism, essential for plant growth and development that, simultaneously, participate in the plant defense responses can open new perspectives for plant breeding programs.

Keywords: 2DE-MALDI/TOF/TOF-MS/MS; Coffea arabica cv. Mundo Novo; acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM); coffee leaf rust (CLR); enzymatic activities; greenforce CuCa; physiological parameters; proteomics.