Phenotypic and metabolic plasticity shapes life-history strategies under combinations of abiotic stresses

Lidor Shaar-Moshe, Ruchama Hayouka, Ute Roessner, Zvi Peleg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Plants developed various reversible and non-reversible acclimation mechanisms to cope with the multifaceted nature of abiotic-stress combinations. We hypothesized that in order to endure these stress combinations, plants elicit distinctive acclimation strategies through specific trade-offs between reproduction and defense. To investigate Brachypodium distachyon acclimation strategies to combinations of salinity, drought and heat, we applied a system biology approach, integrating physiological, metabolic, and transcriptional analyses. We analyzed the trade-offs among functional and performance traits, and their effects on plant fitness. A combination of drought and heat resulted in escape strategy, while under a combination of salinity and heat, plants exhibited an avoidance strategy. On the other hand, under combinations of salinity and drought, with or without heat stress, plant fitness (i.e., germination rate of subsequent generation) was severely impaired. These results indicate that under combined stresses, plants’ life-history strategies were shaped by the limits of phenotypic and metabolic plasticity and the trade-offs between traits, thereby giving raise to distinct acclimations. Our findings provide a mechanistic understanding of plant acclimations to combinations of abiotic stresses and shed light on the different life-history strategies that can contribute to grass fitness and possibly to their dispersion under changing environments.

Original languageAmerican English
Article numbere00113
JournalPlant Direct
Volume3
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Brachypodium
  • abiotic-stress combinations
  • fitness
  • life-history strategy
  • metabolomics
  • physiology
  • trade-off
  • transcriptomics

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
  • Plant Science
  • Ecology

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