Alterations in the leaf lipidome of Brassica carinata under high-temperature stress

BACKGROUND: Brassica carinata (A) Braun has recently gained increased attention across the world as a sustainable biofuel crop. B. carinata is grown as a summer crop in many regions where high temperature is a significant stress during the growing season. However, little research has been conducted to understand the mechanisms through which this crop responds to high temperatures. Understanding traits that improve the high-temperature adaption of this crop is essential for developing heat-tolerant varieties. This study investigated lipid remodeling in B. carinata in response to high-temperature stress. A commercial cultivar, Avanza 641, was grown under sunlit-controlled environmental conditions in Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Research (SPAR) chambers under optimal temperature (OT; 23/15°C) conditions. At eight days after sowing, plants were exposed to one of the three temperature treatments [OT, high-temperature treatment-1 (HT-1; 33/25°C), and high-temperature treatment-2 (HT-2; 38/30°C)]. The temperature treatment period lasted until the final harvest at 84 days after sowing. Leaf samples were collected at 74 days after sowing to profile lipids using electrospray-ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Temperature treatment significantly affected the growth and development of Avanza 641. Both high-temperature treatments caused alterations in the leaf lipidome. The alterations were primarily manifested in terms of decreases in unsaturation levels of membrane lipids, which was a cumulative effect of lipid remodeling. The decline in unsaturation index was driven by (a) decreases in lipids that contain the highly unsaturated linolenic (18:3) acid and (b) increases in lipids containing less unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic (18:1) and linoleic (18:2) acids and/or saturated fatty acids such as palmitic (16:0) acid. A third mechanism that likely contributed to lowering unsaturation levels, particularly for chloroplast membrane lipids, is a shift toward lipids made by the eukaryotic pathway and the channeling of eukaryotic pathway-derived glycerolipids that are composed of less unsaturated fatty acids into chloroplasts. CONCLUSIONS: The lipid alterations appear to be acclimation mechanisms to maintain optimal membrane fluidity under high-temperature conditions. The lipid-related mechanisms contributing to heat stress response as identified in this study could be utilized to develop biomarkers for heat tolerance and ultimately heat-tolerant varieties. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-021-03189-x.