Linking the use of reclaimed water to indicators of crop stress by metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. A tool to compare water irrigation quality

The occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) or heavy metals in reclaimed water used for agricultural irrigation may affect crop morphology and physiology. Here, we analyzed lettuce (Lactuca sativa) grown in outdoor lysimeters and irrigated with either tap water, used as a control, or reclaimed water: CAS-reclaimed water, an effluent from a conventional activated sludge system (CAS) followed by chlorination and sand filtration, or MBR-reclaimed water, an effluent from a membrane biological reactor (MBR). Chemical analyses identified seven CECs in the reclaimed waters, but only two of them were detected in lettuce (carbamazepine and azithromycin). Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed that irrigation with reclaimed water increased the concentrations of several crop metabolites (5-oxoproline, leucine, isoleucine, and fumarate) and of transcripts codifying for the plant stress-related genes Heat-Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) and Manganese Superoxide Dismutase (MnSOD). In both cases, MBR-water elicited the strongest response in lettuce, perhaps related to its comparatively high sodium adsorption ratio (4.5), rather than to its content in CECs or heavy metals. Our study indicates that crop metabolomic and transcriptomic profiles depend on the composition of irrigating water and that they could be used for testing the impact of water quality in agriculture.