Isoprene-Emitting Tobacco Plants Are Less Affected by Moderate Water Deficit under Future Climate Change Scenario and Show Adjustments of Stress-Related Proteins in Actual Climate
Susanna Pollastri,
Violeta Velikova,
Maurizio Castaldini,
Silvia Fineschi,
Andrea Ghirardo,
Jenny Renaut,
Jörg-Peter Schnitzler,
Kjell Sergeant,
Jana Barbro Winkler,
Simone Zorzan,
Francesco Loreto
Affiliations
Susanna Pollastri
Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
Violeta Velikova
Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., bl. 21, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Maurizio Castaldini
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Center for Agriculture and Environment, Via di Lanciola 12/A, 50125 Cascine del Riccio, Florence, Italy
Silvia Fineschi
Institute of Heritage Science-CNR (ISPC), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
Andrea Ghirardo
Research Unit Environmental Simulation (EUS), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Jenny Renaut
GreenTech Innovation Centre, Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) Department, Luxembourg Institute of Scienceand Technology (LIST), L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Jörg-Peter Schnitzler
Research Unit Environmental Simulation (EUS), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Kjell Sergeant
GreenTech Innovation Centre, Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) Department, Luxembourg Institute of Scienceand Technology (LIST), L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Jana Barbro Winkler
Research Unit Environmental Simulation (EUS), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Simone Zorzan
GreenTech Innovation Centre, Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) Department, Luxembourg Institute of Scienceand Technology (LIST), L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Francesco Loreto
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Naples, Italy
Isoprene-emitting plants are better protected against thermal and oxidative stresses, which is a desirable trait in a climate-changing (drier and warmer) world. Here we compared the ecophysiological performances of transgenic isoprene-emitting and wild-type non-emitting tobacco plants during water stress and after re-watering in actual environmental conditions (400 ppm of CO2 and 28 °C of average daily temperature) and in a future climate scenario (600 ppm of CO2 and 32 °C of average daily temperature). Furthermore, we intended to complement the present knowledge on the mechanisms involved in isoprene-induced resistance to water deficit stress by examining the proteome of transgenic isoprene-emitting and wild-type non-emitting tobacco plants during water stress and after re-watering in actual climate. Isoprene emitters maintained higher photosynthesis and electron transport rates under moderate stress in future climate conditions. However, physiological resistance to water stress in the isoprene-emitting plants was not as marked as expected in actual climate conditions, perhaps because the stress developed rapidly. In actual climate, isoprene emission capacity affected the tobacco proteomic profile, in particular by upregulating proteins associated with stress protection. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that isoprene biosynthesis is related to metabolic changes at the gene and protein levels involved in the activation of general stress defensive mechanisms of plants.
