The Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to an Innovative Controlled-Release Phosphorus–Chitosan Fertilizer: The Identification of a Gene Signature for Diagnostic and Prognostic Analyses of Plant Nutritional Status
摘要
Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and fruiting. However, due to its poor solubility and mobility, it is often found in insufficient conditions in the soil. This deficiency negatively affects plant growth and production. Despite this, plants have evolved complex strategies to sense and respond to phosphorus availability. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for developing innovative fertilization systems to meet their needs under phosphorous deficiency conditions. In this study, using high-throughput technologies and bioinformatic approaches, transcriptional responses of Arabidopsis thaliana plants to one of these innovative fertilizers (MF13) and its encapsulant matrix were deeply analyzed. MF13 is a phosphate fertilizer manufactured with chitosan derivatives, significantly enhancing plant growth. The molecular mechanisms by which this controlled-release fertilizer promotes plant growth include thousands of phosphate-responsive genes dependent and independent of PHOSPHATE RESPONSIVE 1 (PHR1) transcription factor. Additionally, based on these results, a 274-gene signature whose expression profile (phosphorus-dependent) can be used as a biomarker to predict the plant's nutritional status and evaluate how it responds to fertilizer addition when growing in Pi starvation conditions was identified.