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. 2022 Apr 13;12(8):1341.
doi: 10.3390/nano12081341.

Triiron Tetrairon Phosphate (Fe7(PO4)6) Nanomaterials Enhanced Flavonoid Accumulation in Tomato Fruits

Zhenyu Wang  1   2 , Xiehui Le  1   2 , Xuesong Cao  1   2 , Chuanxi Wang  1   2 , Feiran Chen  1   2 , Jing Wang  1   2 , Yan Feng  1   2 , Le Yue  1   2 , Baoshan Xing  3
Affiliations

Triiron Tetrairon Phosphate (Fe7(PO4)6) Nanomaterials Enhanced Flavonoid Accumulation in Tomato Fruits

Zhenyu Wang et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Flavonoids contribute to fruit sensorial and nutritional quality. They are also highly beneficial for human health and can effectively prevent several chronic diseases. There is increasing interest in developing alternative food sources rich in flavonoids, and nano-enabled agriculture provides the prospect for solving this action. In this study, triiron tetrairon phosphate (Fe7(PO4)6) nanomaterials (NMs) were synthesized and amended in soils to enhance flavonoids accumulation in tomato fruits. 50 mg kg-1 of Fe7(PO4)6 NMs was the optimal dose based on its outstanding performance on promoting tomato fruit flavonoids accumulation. After entering tomato roots, Fe7(PO4)6 NMs promoted auxin (IAA) level by 70.75 and 164.21% over Fe-EDTA and control, and then up-regulated the expression of genes related to PM H+ ATPase, leading to root proton ef-flux at 5.87 pmol cm-2 s-1 and rhizosphere acidification. More Mg, Fe, and Mn were thus taken up into plants. Subsequently, photosynthate was synthesized, and transported into fruits more rapidly to increase flavonoid synthesis potential. The metabolomic and transcriptomic profile in fruits further revealed that Fe7(PO4)6 NMs regulated sucrose metabolism, shi-kimic acid pathway, phenylalanine synthesis, and finally enhanced flavonoid biosynthesis. This study implies the potential of NMs to improve fruit quality by enhancing flavonoids synthesis and accumulation.

Keywords: Fe7(PO4)6 NMs; flavonoids; metabonomic; tomato fruits; transcriptomic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Characterizations of synthesized Fe7(PO4)6 NMs. (a) TEM image; (b) EDS image of Fe, P, and O elements; (c) XRD pattern; (d) XPS diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Tomato fruits upon 5 and 50 mg kg−1 Fe7(PO4)6 NMs; (b) total fruit yield; (c–e) content of naringenin (c), quercetin (d) and rutin (e) in red mature fruits; (f), relative expression of flavonoids synthesis genes in tomato fruits. Letters of “a” in (b) represent no significance between treatments. Asterisk quantity represents significance as following: “*” for 0.01 < p < 0.05, “**” for 0.001 < p < 0.01 and “***” for p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The impacts of Fe7(PO4)6 NMs on tomato seedling growth. (a) tomato phenotype; (b) root tips number; (c) Pn of the fourth fully unfolded true leaf; (d,e) element content of significant increased by NMs treatment in roots and shoots; (f) single particles distribution in leaf, stem and root of Fe7(PO4)6 NMs and average size of NMs. Different letters in (b–e) represent significance of p < 0.05. ND in (f) means not detected.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Fe7(PO4)6 NMs stimulated root PM H+ ATPase and IAA accumulation. (a) H+ net flow rate of tomato seedling root elongation zone. Negative value means H+ influx and positive value means efflux. (b) relative expressions of LHA in tomato roots. (c) IAA concentration in tomato roots. Different letters in represent significance of p < 0.05.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relative expressions of sucrose transporter genes (a) and sucrose content in tomato fruits (b) Different letters in represent significance of p < 0.05.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Transcriptomic profiling in tomato fruits upon Fe7(PO4)6 NM exposure. (a), PCA plot; (b), classification of DEGs in GO; (c), KEGG enrichment analysis of DEGs.
Figure 7
Figure 7
GO and KEGG enrichment of DEGs in tomato fruits upon Fe7(PO4)6 NMs exposure. (a) GO enrichment; (b) KEGG enrichment of pathways.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Transcriptomic and metabolomic pathways of flavonoids synthesis enhanced by Fe7(PO4)6 NMs in tomato fruits. (a) sucrose metabolism; (b) shikimic acid pathway; (c) phenylalanine synthesis pathway; (d) flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. The data of transcriptomics and metabolomics were normalized before comparison in heatmaps. The color scheme represents decrease or increase of value of log2(fold change) and the fold change indicated the FPKM ratio of DEG and response value ratio of DEM in 50 mg kg−1 NMs to control. At transcriptional level, blue represents downregulation and yellow means upregulation; at metabolic level, blue represents downregulation and red means upregulation. Upper squares represent samples of CK and lower ones represent samples of NMs.
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