Removal of floral microbiota reduces floral terpene emissions
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Farré Armengol, Gerard (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Llusià Benet, Joan (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Gargallo-Garriga, Albert (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Rico, Laura (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Terradas, Jaume (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Filella, Iolanda (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2014
Abstract:	The emission of floral terpenes plays a key role in pollination in many plant species. We hypothesized that the floral phyllospheric microbiota could significantly influence these floral terpene emissions because microorganisms also produce and emit terpenes. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the effect of removing the microbiota from flowers. We fumigated Sambucus nigra L. plants, including their flowers, with a combination of three broad-spectrum antibiotics and measured the floral emissions and tissular concentrations in both antibiotic-fumigated and non-fumigated plants. Floral terpene emissions decreased by ca. two thirds after fumigation. The concentration of terpenes in floral tissues did not decrease, and floral respiration rates did not change, indicating an absence of damage to the floral tissues. The suppression of the phyllospheric microbial communities also changed the composition and proportion of terpenes in the volatile blend. One week after fumigation, the flowers were not emitting b-ocimene, linalool, epoxylinalool, and linalool oxide. These results show a key role of the floral phyllospheric microbiota in the quantity and quality of floral terpene emissions and therefore a possible key role in pollination.
Grants:	European Commission 610028 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2013-48074-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-274
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Atmospheric science ; Ecology ; Microbial ecology
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 4 (Oct. 2014) , art. 6727, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/srep06727
PMID: 25335793

4 p, 606.1 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
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