Low temperature limits for root growth in alpine species are set by cell differentiation

Nagelmüller, Sebastian; Hiltbrunner, Erika; Körner, Christian

doi:10.1093/aobpla/plx054

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Reduced belowground biomass may result from lower allocation to belowground organs, possibly because lower evaporative forcing and higher soil moisture in shade may require less roots to support aboveground plant functioning. Additionally, lower temperature could have reduced root growth in shade, although there is evidence that root growth in alpine plants is quite tolerant to low soil temperatures (Nagelmüller, Hiltbrunner, & Körner, ). In line with our finding, root production of different grassland communities was found to be more responsive to PFD than to temperature (Fitter et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Möhl

Hiltbrunner

Körner

2020

Global Change Biology

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In temperate alpine environments, the short growing season, low temperature and a slow nutrient cycle may restrict plant growth more than carbon (C) assimilation does. To test whether C is a limiting resource, we applied a shade gradient from ambient light to 44% (maximum shade) of incident photon flux density (PFD) in late successional, Carex curvula‐dominated alpine grassland at 2,580 m elevation in the Swiss central Alps for 3 years (2014–2016). Total aboveground biomass did not significantly decrease under reduced PFD, with a confidence interval ranging from +4% to −15% biomass in maximum shade. Belowground biomass, of which more than 80% were fine roots, was significantly reduced by a mean of 17.9 ± 4.6% (±SE), corresponding to 228 g/m2, in maximum shade in 2015 and 2016. This suggests reduced investments into water and nutrient acquisition according to the functional equilibrium concept. Specific leaf area (SLA) and maximum leaf length of the most abundant species increased with decreasing PFD. Foliar concentration of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) was reduced by 12.5 ± 4.3% under maximum shade (mean of eight tested species), while NSC concentration of belowground storage organs were unchanged in the four most abundant forbs. Furthermore, maximum shade lowered foliar δ13C by 1.56 ± 0.35‰ and increased foliar nitrogen concentrations per unit dry mass by 18.8 ± 4.1% across six species in 2015. However, based on unit leaf area, N concentrations were lower in shade (effect of higher SLA). Thus, while we found typical morphological and physiological plant responses to lower light, shading did not considerably affect seasonal aboveground biomass production of this alpine plant community within a broad range of PFD. This suggests that C is not a growth‐limiting resource, matching the unresponsiveness to in situ CO2 enrichment previously reported for this type of grassland.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Möhl

Hiltbrunner

Körner

2020

Global Change Biology

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“…Warming-induced snow-melt and soil exposure led to forming a microclimate suitable for microbial and plant growth, eventually initiating respiration. At this point, soil moisture was adequate for their metabolic activities; however, temperature limited exponential growth 25 , 26 . Also, nutrient availability, both in quality and quantity, allowed only specialized microbial and plant communities 27 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equilibrium in soil respiration across a climosequence indicates its resilience to climate change in a glaciated valley, western Himalaya

Tiwari

Bhattacharya

Rawat

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Soil respiration (SR), a natural phenomenon, emits ten times more CO2 from land than anthropogenic sources. It is predicted that climate warming would increase SR in most ecosystems and give rise to positive feedback. However, there are uncertainties associated with this prediction primarily due to variability in the relationship of SR with its two significant drivers, soil temperature and moisture. Accounting for the variabilities, we use a climosequence in Himalaya with a temperature gradient of ~ 2.1 °C to understand the variations in the response of SR and its temperature sensitivity to climate change. Results indicate an equilibrium in SR ranging from 1.92 to 2.42 µmol m−2 s−1 across an elevation gradient (3300–3900 m) despite its increased sensitivity to temperature (Q10) from 0.47 to 4.97. Additionally, moisture reduction towards lower elevation weakens the temperature-SR relationship. Finally, soil organic carbon shows similarities at all the elevations, indicating a net-zero CO2 flux across the climosequence. The findings suggest that as the climate warms in this region, the temperature sensitivity of SR reduces drastically due to moisture reduction, limiting any change in SR and soil organic carbon to rising temperature. We introduce an equilibrium mechanism in this study which indicates the resilient nature of SR to climate change and will aid in enhancing the accuracy of climate change impact projections.

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“…Overall, roots show differential response to low and high temperature. Low temperature enhanced carbohydrate metabolism to maintain cellular energy metabolism and compensate for nutrient limitations (Bakermans and Nealson 2004;Ghobakhlou et al 2015) and inhibited root growth (Zhu and Geisler 2015;Nagelmüller et al 2017). In contrast, high temperature increased glycosyl compound biosynthetic processes and secondary metabolic processes to facilitate stabilization (Dixon and Paiva 1995;Oh et al 2009;Dixon et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transcriptional levels corresponding to transmembrane transport processes increased, such as AT2G37460 (encoding a nodulin MtN21-like transporter family protein), AT5G12860 (encoding a dicarboxylate transporter), AT2G41190, and AT1G25530 (encoding a transmembrane amino acid transporter family protein). Low temperature inhibited plant root growth Nagelmüller et al 2017), as changes in the organization or biogenesis of cell wall compounds possibly restricted cell elongation. Xyloglucan endohydrolase 31 (XTH31), encoded by AT3G44990, showed significantly increased levels to modulate cell wall xyloglucan content (Table S2).…”

Section: Low Temperature-regulated Transcriptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptome profiling and phytohormone responses of Arabidopsis roots to different ambient temperatures

Fei

Liang

et al. 2019

Journal of Plant Interactions

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Ambient temperatures influence plant growth and development, however very little is known about changes in root growth in response to ambient temperature change. Here, we performed transcriptome profiling and compared the differences in gene expression at lower and higher temperatures compared with normal plant growth temperatures. Our analysis of the biological processes and molecular functions regulated by differentially expressed genes revealed that low temperature upregulated carbohydrate metabolism and transmembrane transport, and downregulated signal transduction and defense. High temperature upregulated metabolic processes, transport, and auxin biosynthesis, and downregulated catabolic processes. We found that increased temperature specifically affected the levels of Arabidopsis response regulators, ARR1 and ARR12, to decrease cytokinin signaling, altered the level of the brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 to downregulate brassinosteroid signaling, and changed the level of the gibberellin receptor DELLA to upregulate gibberellin signaling and mediate root elongation. These data contribute to our knowledge of how root growth adapts to elevated ambient temperature under climate warming.

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Low temperature limits for root growth in alpine species are set by cell differentiation

Cited by 29 publications

References 37 publications

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Halving sunlight reveals no carbon limitation of aboveground biomass production in alpine grassland

Equilibrium in soil respiration across a climosequence indicates its resilience to climate change in a glaciated valley, western Himalaya

Transcriptome profiling and phytohormone responses of Arabidopsis roots to different ambient temperatures

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