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Responses of Mikania micrantha, an Invasive Weed to Elevated CO2: Induction of β-Caryophyllene Synthase, Changes in Emission Capability and Allelopathic Potential of β-Caryophyllene

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Abstract

To better understand the effect of predicted elevated levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) on an invasive weed Mikania micrantha, we constructed a suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) library from the leaves of M. micrantha exposed to CO2 at 350 and 750 ppm for 6 d, and isolated a novel gene named β-caryophyllene synthase. β-Caryophyllene synthase catalyses the conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to β-caryophyllene, a volatile sesquiterpene with allelopathic potential. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that gene expression of β-caryophyllene synthase in M. micrantha leaves was strongly induced in response to elevated CO2. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography (GC) analyses showed that emission levels of β-caryophyllene from leaves of M. micrantha increased when exposed to 750 ppm CO2. Bioassays showed that phytotoxicity of β-caryophyllene against Raphanus sativus, Brassica campestris, Lactuca sativa, and M. micrantha was dose-dependent and varied with the receptor plants and concentrations of CO2. β-Caryophyllene displayed higher phytotoxic effects at 750 ppm than those at 350 ppm CO2, especially on R. sativus. These results suggest that elevated atmospheric CO2 levels may enhance biosynthesis and phytotoxicity of allelochemicals in M. micrantha, one of the worst invasive weeds in the world, which in turn might enhance its potential allelopathic effect on neighboring native plants if released in bioactive concentrations. Further investigations are required to determine the adaptive responses of both invasive and native plants to a gradual increase of atmospheric CO2 to 750 ppm predicted over a 100 year period.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Azim Mallik for linguistic corrections and help with the introduction and discussion of the paper. Three anonymous reviewers provided valuable suggestions to improve the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Key Program of Ministry of Education of China (No.704037), the Natural Science Fund of Guangdong (9251027501000006) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30670385).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, East Campus, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Rui-Long Wang, Christian Staehelin, Shao-Lin Peng & Wen-Tian Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Agroecology and Rural Environment of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, People’s Republic of China

    Rui-Long Wang

  3. Instruments and Analysis Research Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, People’s Republic of China

    Xi-Mei Xie & Hui-Ning Lu

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  1. Rui-Long Wang
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Wang, RL., Staehelin, C., Peng, SL. et al. Responses of Mikania micrantha, an Invasive Weed to Elevated CO2: Induction of β-Caryophyllene Synthase, Changes in Emission Capability and Allelopathic Potential of β-Caryophyllene. J Chem Ecol 36, 1076–1082 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-010-9843-x

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