Allantoin: A Potential Compound for the Mitigation of Adverse Effects of Abiotic Stresses in Plants

Stress-induced alterations vary with the species of plants, the intensity and duration of the exposure, and stressors availability in nature or soil. Purine catabolism acts as an inherent defensive mechanism against various abiotic stresses and plays a pivotal role in the stress acclimatisation of plants. The intermediate metabolite of purine catabolism, allantoin, compensates for soil nitrogen deficiency due to the low carbon/nitrogen ratio, thereby maintaining nitrogen homeostasis and supporting plant growth and development. Allantoin accounts for 90% of the total nitrogenous compound in legumes, while it contributes only 15% in non-leguminous plants. Moreover, studies on a variety of plant species have reported the differential accumulation of allantoin in response to abiotic stresses, endowing allantoin as a stress modulator. Allantoin functions as signalling molecule to stimulate stress-responsive genes (P5CS; pyrroline-5-carboxylase synthase) and ROS (reactive oxygen species) scavenging enzymes (antioxidant). Moreover, it regulates cross-talk between the abscisic acid and jasmonic acid pathway, and maintains ion homeostasis by increasing the accumulation of putrescine and/or spermine, consequently enhancing the tolerance against stress conditions. Further, key enzymes of purine catabolism (xanthine dehydrogenase and allantoinase) have also been explored by constructing various knockdown/knockout mutant lines to decipher their impact on ROS-mediated oxidative injury in plants. Thus, it is established that allantoin serves as a regulatory signalling metabolite in stress protection, and therefore a lower accumulation of allantoin also reduces plant stress tolerance mechanisms. This review gives an account of metabolic regulation and the possible contribution of allantoin as a photo protectant, osmoprotectant, and nitrogen recycler to reduce abiotic-stress-induced impacts on plants.