Volatile organic compound emissions from Alnus glutinosa under interacting drought and herbivory stresses

Abstract

Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) elicited in response to herbivory can serve as cues for parasitic and predatory insects, but the modification of VOC elicitation responses under interacting abiotic stresses is poorly known. We studied foliage VOC emissions in the deciduous tree induced by feeding by the larvae of green alder sawfly () under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions Drought strongly curbed photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance, but there were no effects of insect feeding on photosynthetic characteristics. Feeding induced emissions of volatile products of lipoxygenase pathway and monoterpenes, and emissions of stress marker compounds ()-β-ocimene and homoterpene DMNT. The emissions were more strongly elicited and reached a maximum value earlier in drought-stressed plants. In addition, methyl salicylate emissions were elicited in herbivory-fed drought-stressed plants. Herbivores were more strongly attracted to well-watered plants and consumed more than a four-fold greater fraction of leaf area than they consumed from drought-treated plants. Overall, this study demonstrates an important priming effect of drought, suggesting that plants under combined drought/herbivory stress are more resistant to herbivores.

Myzus persicae Feeding on Water Stressed-Arabidopsis Affects the Emission Profile of Plant Volatile Organic Compounds

“…Moreover, blank analyses were also conducted. Similar observations have been reported by Copolovici et al (2014) in studies of well-watered versus drought-stressed Alnus glutinosa leaves infested by the green alder sawfly, Monsoma pulveratum.…”

“…Furthermore, VOCs play an important role in eliciting priming and in determining the integrated responses of plant responses to biotic, abiotic, or subsequent herbivorous stresses (Copolovici et al, 2014). Here, A. thaliana plantlets were submitted to both controlled and stressed water conditions prior to infestation by M. persicae, and uninfested plants were used as controls.…”

Differential controls by climate and physiology over the emission rates of biogenic volatile organic compounds from mature trees in a semi-arid pine forest

“…Numerous studies have been conducted on the responses of BVOC emissions to various biotic and abiotic stresses (Niinemets 2010). Most of these studies have been conducted with the aim of elucidating physiological responses to stress under highly controlled growth conditions and on tree saplings growing in pots or gardens (e.g., Sharkey and Loreto 1993;Bertin and Staudt 1996;Fang et al 1996;Hansen andSeufert 1999, Pegoraro et al 2004;Brilli et al 2007;Staudt et al 2008;Peñuelas et al 2009;Copolovici et al 2014;Bourtsoukidis et al 2014). Only a few have been conducted within the natural ecological settings of the plants and in response to natural stresses (see Lavoir et al 2009;Llusià et al 2011Llusià et al , 2013, and all of these field-oriented studies focused on broad-leaved trees with limited study of emissions during the entire seasonal climate cycle and/or on one or two limited types of BVOCs.…”

Examining plant physiological responses to climate change through an evolutionary lens

“…Additionally, plant populations that have historically experienced spatiotemporal variation in herbivore damage may have evolved multiple defense strategies (Carmona and Fornoni, 2013) that may decrease susceptibility to altered herbivore assemblages, especially if projected increases in climate variability translate into greater temporal variation in herbivory. Finally, simultaneous changes in both [CO 2 ] and climate will likely mediate plant and herbivore responses in surprising ways (Copolovici et al, 2014), resulting in novel ecoevolutionary dynamics.…”