Sansevieria trifasciata’s specific metabolite improves tolerance and efficiency for
particulate matter and volatile organic compound removal

Phytoremediation has become famous for removing particulate matter (PM) and

volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but the ability is affected by plant health. Lately,

the priming technique was a simple approach to studying improving plant tolerance

against abiotic stress by specific metabolites that accumulated, known as "memory”,

but the mechanism underlying this mechanism and how long this "memory" was

retained in the plant was a lack of study. Sansevieria trifasciata was primed for one

week for PM and VOC stress to improve plant efficiency on PM and VOC. After that,

the plant was recovered for two- or five-weeks, then re-exposed to the same stress

with similar PM and VOC concentrations from cigarette smoke. Primed S. trifasciata

showed improved removal of PMs entirely within two hours and VOC within 24 h. The

primed plant can maintain a malondialdehyde (MDA) level and retain the “memory” for

two weeks. Metabolomics analysis showed that an ornithine-related compound was

accumulated as a responsive metabolite under exposure to PM and VOC stress.

Exogenous ornithine can maintain plant efficiency and prevent stress by increasing

proline and antioxidant enzymes. This study is the first to demonstrate plant "memory”

mechanisms under PM and VOC stress.