Primary metabolic responses in the leaves and roots of bell pepper plants subjected to microelements-deficient conditions

Plants need essential mineral elements to favorably develop and to complete their life cycle. Despite the irreplaceable roles of microelements, they are often ignored due to the relative importance of macroelements with their influence on crop growth and development. We focused on the changes in primary metabolites in the leaves and roots of bell pepper plants under 6 microelements-deficient conditions: Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo). Bell pepper plants were grown in hydroponic containers, and individual elements were adjusted to 1/10-strength of Hoagland nutrient solution. A remarkable perturbation in the abundance of the primary metabolites was observed for the Fe and B and the Mn and B deficiencies in the leaves and roots, respectively. The metabolites with up-accumulation in the Fe-deficient leaves were glucose, fructose, xylose, glutamine, asparagine and serine. In contrast, the Mn deficiency also resulted in a higher accumulation of glucose, fructose, xylose, galactose, serine, glycine, β-alanine, alanine and valine in the roots. The B deficiency noticeably accumulated alanine, valine and phenylalanine in the roots while it showed a substantial decrease in glucose, fructose and xylose. These results show that the primary metabolism could be seriously disturbed due to a microelement deficiency, and the alteration may be either the specific or adaptive responses of bell pepper plants.