Abstract

Plants have evolved adaptive mechanisms that allow them to tolerate a continuous range of abiotic and biotic stressors. Tropospheric ozone (O-3), a global anthropogenic pollutant, directly affects living organisms and ecosystems, including plant-herbivore interactions. In this study, we investigate the stress responses of Brassica nigra (wild black mustard) exposed consecutively to O-3 and the specialist herbivore Pieris brassicae. Transcriptomics and metabolomics data were evaluated using multivariate, correlation, and network analyses for the O-3 and herbivory responses. O-3 stress symptoms resembled those of senescence and phosphate starvation, while a sequential shift from O-3 to herbivory induced characteristic plant defense responses, including a decrease in central metabolism, induction of the jasmonic acid/ethylene pathways, and emission of volatiles. Omics network and pathway analyses predicted a link between glycerol and central energy metabolism that influences the osmotic stress response and stomatal closure. Further physiological measurements confirmed that while O-3 stress inhibited photosynthesis and carbon assimilation, sequential herbivory counteracted the initial responses induced by O-3, resulting in a phenotype similar to that observed after herbivory alone. This study clarifies the consequences of multiple stress interactions on a plant metabolic system and also illustrates how omics data can be integrated to generate new hypotheses in ecology and plant physiology.

Published in

Plant Physiology
2016, Volume: 172, number: 3, pages: 2057-2078
Publisher: AMER SOC PLANT BIOLOGISTS

SLU Authors

• Moritz, Thomas

  • Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


Sustainable Development Goals

SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Botany


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.16.01318

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/84279