2026-10-14T10:19:44Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33949048 2026-09-21T04:28:52Z category_133 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Supplementary file 1_Fertilizer placement modulates the effects of soil metabolite formulations on nutrient status, phenylpropanoid–flavonoid metabolism, and sensory quality in flue-cured tobacco.docx Xu Wei (2472718) Hongxun Li (17473590) Longchang Wang (13789513) Li Zhang (8200) Yechun Lin (4735206) Kai Cai (1344477) Shengqiang Peng (25079989) Jiawen Yuan (3122787) Lili Chen (66681) Yihe Sun (23665809) Plant Biology fertilizer placement flue-cured tobacco metabolomics sensory quality soil metabolite formulation transcriptomics well-cellar application WGCNA Background<p>The quality of flue-cured tobacco depends on nutrient acquisition, carbon–nitrogen allocation, and quality-related secondary metabolism, particularly phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways. However, whether fertilizer placement and exogenous soil metabolite formulations can jointly improve leaf nutritional physiology and cured-leaf quality remains unclear.</p>Methods<p>A field experiment was conducted with the flue-cured tobacco cultivar Yunyan 87 (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Six treatments combined two fertilizer placement methods, strip application and well-cellar application, with two soil metabolite formulations at the same total fertilizer application rate. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents and the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), and sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) were determined in mature middle leaves. Sensory evaluation of cured leaves was integrated with transcriptomic, metabolomic, multi-omics, and weighted gene co-expression network analyses.</p>Results<p>Compared with conventional strip application (CK1), well-cellar application (CK2) increased leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents by 4.45%, 7.57%, and 6.89%, respectively, with significant increases in nitrogen and potassium. Relative to CK2, A3 (well-cellar application with soil metabolite formulation 1) and A4 (well-cellar application with soil metabolite formulation 2) increased PPO activity by 29.49% and 28.16%, respectively, and PAL activity by 81.08% and 73.91%, respectively, whereas SPS activity showed only a non-significant upward trend. A3, which combined well-cellar application with soil metabolite formulation 1, showed the best overall sensory profile, with improved aroma quality, reduced irritancy and off-odors, and greater smoke softness. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses showed that treatment-responsive genes and metabolites were mainly associated with plant hormone signaling, photosynthesis, sugar and amino acid metabolism, and phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis. Integrated omics analysis revealed treatment-dependent changes in phenylpropanoid–flavonoid metabolism. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified a darkgreen module containing 4,363 genes that was significantly correlated with several flavonoid-related metabolites, including quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, and 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone (r = 0.56–0.69), and eight candidate hub genes were identified.</p>Conclusion<p>Well-cellar application combined with soil metabolite formulation 1 may improve nitrogen and potassium status in mature leaves and coordinate phenylpropanoid–flavonoid metabolism and quality-precursor accumulation, thereby enhancing the overall sensory quality of cured leaves. These findings highlight fertilizer placement as an important determinant of soil metabolite formulation performance and provide a theoretical basis for precision rhizosphere fertilization and the rational use of soil metabolite formulations in flue-cured tobacco production.</p> 2026-09-21T04:28:52Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fpls.2026.1949823.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Supplementary_file_1_Fertilizer_placement_modulates_the_effects_of_soil_metabolite_formulations_on_nutrient_status_phenylpropanoid_flavonoid_metabolism_and_sensory_quality_in_flue-cured_tobacco_docx/33949048 CC BY 4.0