Study of the gene expression related to the citral synthesis pathway and its final product under the influence of nitrogen fertilizer and salicylic acid application in lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus DC. Stapf)

Barahmandzadeh, Lida; Abdali Mashhadi, Alireza; Bakhshandeh, Abdolmahdi; Lotfi Jalal Abadi, Amin; Shafeinia, Alireza; Soltani, Narges

doi:10.22034/jpr.2025.8587.3397

Study of the gene expression related to the citral synthesis pathway and its final product under the influence of nitrogen fertilizer and salicylic acid application in lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus DC. Stapf)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Lida Barahmandzadeh ¹

Alireza Abdali Mashhadi ¹

Abdolmahdi Bakhshandeh ¹

Amin Lotfi Jalal Abadi ¹

Alireza Shafeinia ¹

Narges Soltani ²

¹ Department of Plant Production Engineering and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Khuzestan, Iran.

² Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran.

10.22034/jpr.2025.8587.3397

Abstract

In order to investigate the relative expression of genes in the lemongrass essential oil production pathway under nitrogen nutrition and salicylic acid foliar application conditions, a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with two levels of nitrogen (no application and application of 100 kg/ha) from urea source and three levels of salicylic acid (control, 10 μM, and 100 μM) with three replications was conducted at the research farm of the Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan in 2012-2013. The results showed that salicylic acid had a significant effect on all traits except essential oil yield, and the highest essential oil yield (48.9 g/m2) was obtained with the application of 100 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare. The interaction of salicylic acid and nitrogen fertilizer was significant in phenolic, total flavonoid and essential oil yield traits. Also, salicylic acid foliar spraying, regardless of the difference in time treatment, resulted in an increase in relative expression of the Aldh gene, as the final gene of the essential oil synthesis pathway, compared to the control treatment, which was consistent with the results obtained from chromatography. The percentage of citral (sum of neral and geranial) obtained by foliar spraying of both concentrations of 10 micromolar salicylic acid (27.1 and 45.2 percent, respectively) and 100 micromolar salicylic acid (14.89 and 21.34 percent, respectively) was much higher than the percentage of these two substances in the control treatment (4.96 and 7.83 percent, respectively).

Keywords

Citronella grass

elicitor

plant nutrition

medicinal plant

Subjects