SCIENCE@home

Root volatiles in plant-plant interactions I: Characterization of root sesquiterpene emissions from Centaurea stoebe and their effects on other plants

Valentin Gfeller,M. Huber,Christian Foerster,Wei Huang,Tobias G. Koellner,Matthias Erb

Published 2018 in bioRxiv

ABSTRACT

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plant leaves can influence the physiology of neighboring plants. In contrast to interactions above ground, little is known about the role of VOCs in belowground plant-plant interactions. Here, we characterize constitutive root volatile emissions of the spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) and explore the impact of these volatiles on the germination and growth of different sympatric plant species. We show that C. stoebe roots emit high amounts of sesquiterpenes, with estimated release rates of (E)-β-caryophyllene above 3 μg g−1 dw h−1. Sesquiterpene emissions show little variation between different C. stoebe populations, but vary substantially between different Centaurea species. Through root transcriptome sequencing, we identify six root-expressed sesquiterpene synthases (TPSs). Two root-specific TPSs, CsTPS4 and CsTPS5, are sufficient to produce the full blend of emitted root sesquiterpenes. Volatile exposure experiments demonstrate that C. stoebe root volatiles have neutral to positive effects on the germination and growth of different sympatric neighbors. Thus, constitutive root sesquiterpenes produced by two C. stoebe TPSs are associated with facilitation of sympatric neighboring plants. The release of root VOCs may thus influence C. stoebe abundance and plant community structure in nature.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2018

  • Venue

    bioRxiv

  • Publication date

    2018-10-13

  • Fields of study

    Biology, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1101/441717
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-75 of 75 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY