Glycine betaine enhances tolerance of low temperature combined with low light in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) by improving the antioxidant capacity and regulating GB metabolism.

Glycine betaine (GB) is commonly used as an osmotic regulator and a donor to facilitate changes in methylation in plants and animals, thereby enhancing stress resistance. However, low temperature combined with low light stress represent the most prevalent stresses during pepper growth period in northwest China, and limited studies have focused on the potential stress-mitigating effects of GB. Therefore, to examine the regulatory mechanism of GB-induced tolerance to LL stress, pepper seedlings were pretreated with 20 mmol L GB and 60 μmol L 3-Deazaneplanocin A hydrochloride at a temperature of 10/5 °C and illumination of 100 μmol m s. The results demonstrated that GB significantly alleviated the detrimental effects of low temperature combined with low light stress on growth of primary and lateral roots and increased the roots absorption of mineral nutrients (N, P, Ca, Fe, and Zn). In addition, GB induced the expression of the genes for CaSOD, CaPOD, CaCAT, CaGR1, and CaDHAR, improved osmotic regulation, and increased the activities of enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase, and dehydroascorbate reductase) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (ascorbate and glutathione). This resulted in enhanced scavenging of reactive oxygen species, thereby maintaining a balanced oxidation-reduction within the cells. Furthermore, GB substituted S-adenosylmethionine, a partial methylation donor, during the methyl group metabolism process, altering the mA methylation level and increasing the resistance of pepper seedlings to LL stress. Overall, exogenous GB pretreatment could be used as a potential strategy for enhancing the LL tolerance of plants.