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Fading of wound-induced volatile release during Populus tremula leaf expansion

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Abstract

The release of stress-driven volatiles throughout leaf development has been little studied. Therefore, we subjected poplar leaves during their developmental stage (from 2 days to 2 weeks old) to wounding by a single punch hole, and measured online the wound-induced volatile organic compound emissions. Our study shows that the emission of certain volatile compounds fades with increasing leaf age. Among these compounds we found lipoxygenase products (LOX products), acetaldehyde, methyl benzoate, methyl salicylate, and mono- and sesquiterpenes. In parallel, we studied the fading of constitutive emissions of methanol during leaf maturation, as well as the rise in isoprene constitutive emission during leaf maturation and its relationship to leaf photosynthetic capacity. We found highly significant relationships between leaf chlorophyll content, photosynthetic capacity, and leaf size during leaf ageing. As the level of constitutive defences increases with increasing leaf age, the strength of the volatile signal is expected to be gradually reduced. The higher elicitation of volatile organic compound emissions (especially LOX products) in younger leaves could be an evolutionary defence against herbivory, given that younger leaves are usually more subjected to infestation and herbivory.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Peter Harley, Eero Talts, and Tiina Tosens for constructive discussions during this study. This work was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Science and Education (Institutional Grant IUT-8-3), Estonian Science Foundation (Grant 9253), the European Commission through the European Regional Fund (Centre of Excellence in Environmental Adaptation) and Marie Curie (Grant ERMOS73) and through the Transnational Access to Research Infrastructures activity (ExpeER), the European Research Council (Advanced Grant 322603, SIP-VOL+) and the European Social fund ESF (MJD 438).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Excellence PLECO, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Miguel Portillo-Estrada

  2. Department of Plant Physiology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    Miguel Portillo-Estrada, Taras Kazantsev & Ülo Niinemets

  3. Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 6, 10130, Tallinn, Estonia

    Ülo Niinemets

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  1. Miguel Portillo-Estrada
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  2. Taras Kazantsev
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Correspondence to Miguel Portillo-Estrada.

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Portillo-Estrada, M., Kazantsev, T. & Niinemets, Ü. Fading of wound-induced volatile release during Populus tremula leaf expansion. J Plant Res 130, 157–165 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0880-6

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