Assessing the expression of plant metabolites in different cultivated cotton speciesat various stages of plant growth and development

M. R.  LAKSHMI; S. MD.  AKBAR; N. P.  OLEKAR; S. S.  UDIKERI

M. R. LAKSHMI Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, Karnataka, India
S. MD. AKBAR Department of Biochemistry, Agricultural Research Station, Dharwad, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, Karnataka, India
N. P. OLEKAR Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, Karnataka, India
S. S. UDIKERI Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, Dharwad, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad - 580 005, Karnataka, India

Keywords: Cotton, Host plant resistance, Plant metabolites, Protein

Abstract

Plants synthesize various metabolites in different concentrations at various stages of growth and development toexhibit natural defense mechanism and adapt to diverse stresses. The present study was aimed to evaluate the levels ofprimary and secondary metabolites in four cultivated Gossypium spp. at different stages of growth and development. Thetotal soluble protein content was significantly increased in G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. herbaceum and G. arboreum withthe age of the plant with maximal accumulation at 120 DAS (144.32, 111.35, 67.56, 120.54 mg/g fr. tissue), whereas, thecarbohydrate content exhibited differential expression with optimal accumulation at 60 DAS (176.43, 178.04, 151.26 and182.64 mg/g fr. tissue) respectively. Secondary metabolites increased significantly with the growth stage of the plant and at90 DAS the metabolites like gossypol (0.82, 1.53, 0.92 and 1.03 mg/g fr. tissue), total phenols (15.75, 14.49, 10.24 and11.24 mg/g fr. tissue), flavonoids (32.11, 30.14, 27.61 and 32.92 mg/g fr. tissue) and tannins (163.04, 161.71, 176.38 and238.47 mg/g fr. tissue) accumulated to maximum levels in G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, G. herbaceum and G. arboreum. Thestudy provides information on distribution of plant metabolites in cotton at various stages of their growth and development.