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Abstract
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Cumin, Cuminum cyminum L., is the king of spices with a plethora of natural
compounds with pharmacological features. Drought stress is a well-known
factor that influences the production of some metabolites. We studied the
impact of drought stress on gene expression and metabolite content in flower
and leaf tissue organs of two ecotypes, Taybad and Ardakan populations.
Plants were imposed into three water level conditions, control, moderate, and
severe water deficit. Concerning the results, the expression of Limonene
synthase in flower organ of the Ardakan genotype increased 2.2 times under
50% of field capacity, whereas, the expression of Flavone synthase in leaf
tissue of the Ardakan ecotype, was the highest in this level of stress. Moreover,
the majority of detected terpenoids were β-Acoradiene and γ-Terpinene in leaf
and flower organs, respectively. Altogether, the monoterpenes content was
decreased in both ecotypes, but sesquiterpenes increased only in the Ardakan
population. Knowing the expression of key genes involved in the pathway of
major metabolites in cumin under water stress conditions is important in the
pharmaceutical industry and molecular researches
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