Secondary Metabolism Rearrangements in Linum usitatissimum L. after Biostimulation of Roots with COS Oligosaccharides from Fungal Cell Wall

In vitro culture of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) was exposed to chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) in order to investigate the effects on the growth and secondary metabolites content in roots and shoots. COS are fragments of chitosan released from the fungal cell wall during plant–pathogen interactions. They can be perceived by the plant as pathogen-associated signals, mediating local and systemic innate immune responses. In the present study, we report a novel COS oligosaccharide fraction with a degree of polymerization (DP) range of 2–10, which was produced from fungal chitosan by a thermal degradation method and purified by an alcohol-precipitation process. COS was dissolved in hydroponic medium at two different concentrations (250 and 500 mg/L) and applied to the roots of growing flax seedlings. Our observations indicated that the growth of roots and shoots decreased markedly in COS-treated flax seedlings compared to the control. In addition, the results of a metabolomics analysis showed that COS treatment induced the accumulation of (neo)lignans locally at roots, flavones luteolin C-glycosides, and chlorogenic acid in systemic responses in the shoots of flax seedlings. These phenolic compounds have been previously reported to exhibit a strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. COS oligosaccharides, under the conditions applied in this study (high dose treatment with a much longer exposure time), can be used to indirectly trigger metabolic response modifications in planta, especially secondary metabolism, because during fungal pathogen attack, COS oligosaccharides are among the signals exchanged between the pathogen and host plant.