Abstract
Key message
Carbohydrate differences in offspring as a consequence of maternal effects explain transgenerational tree-pathogen interactions.
Abstract
The expression of disease is increasingly recognised as being influenced by maternal effects, given that environmental conditions experienced by mother trees affect tolerance in offspring. It is hypothesised that plant carbohydrates could mediate transgenerational tree-pathogen interactions. The carbohydrate content of Pinus pinaster seedlings obtained from two contrasting maternal environments was studied and seedlings from the two environments were challenged with Fusarium circinatum. The representative mid-infrared spectra of samples in the range of the carbohydrates diagnosed higher proportion of methylesterified pectic polysaccharides and lower proportion of nonesterified pectic polysaccharides for inoculated than for control seedlings. Total carbohydrate content of seedlings from the unfavourable environment did not differ much from total carbohydrate content of seedlings from the favourable maternal environment. However, glucose was 13 % higher and uronic acids 11 % lower in seedlings from the favourable environment after inoculation in comparison to seedlings from the unfavourable maternal environment which had their carbohydrate contents unaltered after inoculation. It is concluded that plant carbohydrates mediate transgenerational tree-pathogen interactions.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Delicias Espada, Enrique Juárez and Andrea Pérez for technical assistance during the greenhouse experiment; Dr. Ana Pérez-Sierra for molecular identification of the fungus; César Cendán, Rocío Campano and Luz Pato for cone sampling and processing and Dr. Luis Sampedro and Dr. Rafael Zas for their technical advice and for providing us with the seed material. We also thank the Galician forestry authorities (Direccion Xeral de Montes-Xunta de Galicia) for the facilities provided at the seed orchards. This study was funded by Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria (RTA2007-100) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI) (AGL2010-18724). Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), European Union, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE for funding the QOPNA research unit. María Vivas and Claudia Nunes received grants from the FPU-PREDOC programme of MCI and from the FCT (SFRH/BPD/46584/2008), respectively.
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Communicated by W. Osswald.
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Vivas, M., Nunes, C., Coimbra, M.A. et al. Maternal effects and carbohydrate changes of Pinus pinaster after inoculation with Fusarium circinatum . Trees 28, 373–379 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0955-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0955-0