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First published online June 9, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.083063 Plant Physiology 141:1676-1683 (2006) © 2006 American Society of Plant Biologists
The Relationship between the Methyl-Erythritol Phosphate Pathway Leading to Emission of Volatile Isoprenoids and Abscisic Acid Content in Leaves1Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, 00016 Monterotondo Scalo (Rome), Italy
It was investigated whether the methyl-erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway that generates volatile isoprenoids and carotenoids also produces foliar abscisic acid (ABA) and controls stomatal opening. When the MEP pathway was blocked by fosmidomycin and volatile isoprenoid emission was largely suppressed, leaf ABA content decreased to about 50% and leaf stomatal conductance increased significantly. No effect of fosmidomycin was seen in leaves with constitutively high rates of stomatal conductance and in plant species with low foliar ABA concentration. In all other cases, isoprene emission was directly associated with foliar ABA, but ABA reduction upon MEP pathway inhibition was also observed in plant species that do not emit isoprenoids. Stomatal closure causing a midday depression of photosynthesis was also associated with a concurrent increase of isoprene emission and ABA content. It is suggested that the MEP pathway generates a labile pool of ABA that responds rapidly to environmental changes. This pool also regulates stomatal conductance, possibly when coping with frequent changes of water availability. MEP pathway inhibition by leaf darkening, and its down-regulation by exposure to elevated CO2, was also associated with a reduction of foliar ABA content. However, stomatal conductance was reduced, indicating that stomatal aperture is not regulated by the MEP-dependent foliar ABA pool, under these specific cases.
Volatile isoprenoids (isoprene and monoterpenes) are formed via a chloroplastic pathway (the methyl-erythritol phosphate [MEP] pathway; Lichtenthaler et al., 1997
Understanding the regulation of ABA biosynthesis and catabolism is key to developing an integrated perspective on plant stress and to linking processes acting at the chloroplast level to those acting at cellular and larger scales. Loreto and Velikova (2001) We explored whether a direct link between the MEP pathway functioning and ABA biosynthesis exists. Fosmidomycin and a range of environmental factors were used to modulate MEP pathway activity and the consequent emission of volatile isoprenoids, and ABA concentration was measured in all these conditions. It is shown that (1) The MEP pathway may generate a part of foliar ABA in both isoprenoid-emitting and -nonemitting plants; (2) Volatile isoprenoid emissions are directly associated to ABA content in leaves; and (3) The ABA pool formed by the MEP pathway regulates stomatal opening in response to rapid changes of water status while it does not control stomatal closure in the dark and at elevated CO2.
When the MEP pathway of the isoprene-emitting Phragmites australis leaves was inhibited by fosmidomycin to about 10% of the initial level, a simultaneous increase of stomatal conductance was observed (Fig. 1 ). The change in conductance was inversely proportional to the initial conductance and was absent in leaves that had very high initial rates of conductance. All plants were maintained under well-watered conditions (see "Materials and Methods"), and the range of initial conductances represents the natural variability observed in this species. The use of fosmidomycin caused no changes in photosynthesis in any of the leaves measured, even after several hours of feeding, suggesting that there were no toxic, direct effects of the inhibitor on carbon metabolism (data not shown). When MEP-inhibited leaves were supplied with exogenous isoprene to reconstitute the internal pool of this volatile metabolite, conductances remained high (Fig. 1). When the MEP pathway activity was blocked using fosmidomycin in Quercus ilex, a monoterpene-emitting oak, again a small increase of conductance was observed (Fig. 1).
In P. australis leaves with conductances between 0.15 and 0.35 mol m2 s1 (i.e. those rates at which MEP inhibition was well correlated with an increase in conductance) a correlation (r2 = 0.83) was also found between isoprene emission and foliar ABA content (Fig. 2 ).
The effect of MEP inhibition on conductances and ABA content was also studied in a second isoprene-emitting plant, Populus alba. P. alba large leaves allowed us to investigate the temporal course of MEP inhibition on parameters measured in different areas of the same leaves, avoiding leaf-to-leaf variability and also studying the possible impact of wounding on ABA. The time course of stomatal conductance increase after fosmidomycin feeding was similar to that observed for isoprene emission inhibition, usually complete by 60 min after the fosmidomycin was added (Fig. 3 ). At this time the total ABA content of isoprene-inhibited leaves was significantly lower than in isoprene-emitting leaves, confirming that ABA levels and stomatal conductance are both influenced by MEP inhibition and do not respond specifically to wounding (Fig. 3).
The inhibition of the MEP pathway regulated ABA and stomatal conductance not only in leaves emitting isoprene (as in P. australis and P. alba) but also in the nonemitting leaves of Prunus persica (Table I ). In contrast, a reduction of ABA and stomatal conductance were not observed in Pawlonia fortunei leaves that do not emit isoprene and are characterized by constitutive low levels of ABA (Table I).
Three more treatments were used to induce changes in stomatal conductance and to study whether these changes were associated with changes in isoprene emission and ABA content in P. alba leaves. During a light-to-dark transition that caused a 30% reduction of stomatal opening, isoprene emission dropped rapidly and ABA leaf content was also reduced although more slowly than isoprene. ABA concentration after 200 s of darkness was about 50% of the value observed in illuminated leaves (Fig. 4 ). Stomatal closure in the dark therefore occurred independently of ABA accumulation in leaves.
ABA leaf content and isoprene emission increased in pair during the day, while poplar leaves experienced a midday depression of photosynthesis consequent to stomatal closure (Fig. 5 ).
Finally, stomata of poplar leaves closed at elevated CO2, but again this was not a consequence of ABA accumulation (Fig. 6 ). Both ABA level and isoprene emission at elevated CO2 were lower than at ambient CO2 level, while at low CO2 there were no significant effects on any parameter. Fosmidomycin feeding after exposing plants at elevated CO2 did not significantly change ABA content and did not induce stomatal opening (data not shown).
In all plants where the inhibition of the MEP pathway caused a decrease in ABA content, a significant increase of stomatal conductance was also observed. In those leaves of P. australis and P. fortunei where the inhibition of the MEP pathway did not reduce ABA content, there was also no effect on conductance. In the two isoprene-emitting species, the inhibition of the MEP pathway also caused the well-known sharp decline in isoprene emission (Loreto and Velikova, 2001
To our knowledge, this result is the first to demonstrate a link between MEP pathway activity, ABA concentration, and stomatal conductance over short time scales. The biosynthesis of ABA has been widely discussed, and several pathways suggested. Recent advances reviewed by Schwartz et al. (2003)
The very similar time constants of the response to fosmidomycin of isoprene emission, ABA concentration, and stomatal conductance also indicate a direct link between MEP pathway activity and ABA formation. However, while isoprene was completely inhibited 60 min after fosmidomycin feeding, ABA concentrations only dropped from 50% to 70% of the initial values in the different species (Table I), suggesting that only one component of the leaf ABA pool depends closely upon activity of the MEP pathway. As noted in "Materials and Methods," these experiments were all performed with excised leaves, and no contribution of root or xylem ABA was possible (Tardieu et al., 1992
These results might suggest that changes in MEP pathway activity should also lead to changes in xanthophylls, the carotenoids from which ABA is formed (Schwartz et al., 2003
The labile pool of ABA directly linked to the MEP pathway seems to regulate stomatal opening in well-watered leaves, except in conditions where stomata are wide open and ABA concentration is very low (e.g. in P. fortunei and some P. australis leaves). However, as shown in Figure 5, isoprene emission and ABA concentration were found to increase simultaneously during the day, when stomatal closure induced a midday depression of photosynthesis (Raschke and Resemann, 1986
The other two environmental factors used to reduce stomatal conductance, darkening and elevated CO2, also caused a reduction in isoprene emission and leaf ABA concentration. The inhibition of isoprene following a light-to-dark transition is very rapid (Loreto and Sharkey, 1990
Isoprene is often inhibited by exposure (Loreto and Sharkey, 1990 In an additional experiment, it was also found that ABA concentration did not decrease and stomata did not open when the MEP pathway was inhibited by fosmidomycin in leaves exposed to elevated CO2. This result is interpreted as confirming that elevated CO2 may inhibit the formation of the MEP-dependent labile pool of ABA by a yet unknown mechanism.
In conclusion, these experiments indicate that the MEP pathway is involved in ABA biosynthesis. Changes in the activity of the MEP pathway may modulate a labile ABA pool and, consequently, stomatal conductance in leaves, although stomatal closure under darkness and elevated CO2 does not depend on leaf ABA content. For those taxa that have evolved the capability to emit isoprenoids, changes in isoprenoid emission can be used as a proxy of MEP pathway activity and changes in the ABA labile pool. For those plants with inherently high stomatal conductance (as observed in some cases with P. australis) or constitutively low ABA content (P. fortunei), this rapid modulation of leaf ABA does not appear to occur. A stimulation of isoprene emission has been observed after water stress occurrence (Sharkey and Loreto, 1993
Plant Material and Experiment Planning Potted plants of Phragmites australis and Populus alba (isoprene-emitting species), Quercus ilex (monoterpene-emitting species), and Prunus persica and Pawlonia fortunei (species not emitting isoprenoids) were used. Plants were maintained under optimal water and nutrient conditions by regular fertilization and irrigation. P. australis plants were maintained with the pot immersed in water to recreate the living conditions of this aquatic plant species. Experiments were carried out on fully developed, healthy leaves. Experiments were replicated at least three times on different leaves of different plants. Statistical significance of differences between means were assessed by Tukey's test and differences significant at P < 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10 levels are represented by ***, **, and *, respectively. The time course of changes of the measured parameters in response to fosmidomycin and leaf darkening was followed in three leaves of different P. alba plants. P. alba large leaves allowed multiple sampling on the same leaf, minimizing leaf-to-leaf variability, especially when isoprene emission and ABA concentration changed rapidly, as in response to darkening. In the experiment with fosmidomycin, a part of the leaf was punched away before feeding the inhibitor and another part of the same leaf was sampled when the inhibitor suppressed isoprene emission to a steady-state minimum value. In the light-to-dark transition experiment, samples from the same leaf were punched away every 20 s after switching off the light to determine ABA content. The daily trend of the ABA concentration, isoprene emission, photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance was also measured on the same leaf of P. alba, punching away five different areas (away from edges and midrib) at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30 AM, and 1:00 and 5:00 PM. This experiment was replicated on four different leaves.
Single leaves were cut from the plants and the petiole was recut again under water to avoid embolism. The petiole was placed in an Eppendorf vial filled with water, while a portion of the leaf lamina was enclosed in a gas-exchange cuvette to determine photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and water transpiration. The gas-exchange system was described by Loreto and Velikova (2001)
When photosynthesis was steady for at least 30 min, fosmidomycin was fed to the leaf through the petiole. Fosmidomycin was dissolved in the water of the vial to get a 20 µM concentration. Fosmidomycin causes a quasicomplete and rapid inhibition of volatile isoprenoid emissions (Loreto and Velikova, 2001
In some leaves of P. australis the increment of transpiration after endogenous isoprene inhibition was again measured after reconstituting the internal pool with exogenous isoprene (3 ppm of gaseous isoprene in the air flowing in the chamber, see Loreto et al., 2001
Leaf discs (2 cm2) were cut from the same leaves exposed to gas exchange, immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen, and homogenized in a precooled mortar with pestle. Twenty milligrams of leaf tissue (free of midrib) were extracted overnight in 1.5 mL distilled water in dark, at 4°C on a shaker. The extracts were centrifuged at 10,000g for 25 min, and the ABA content of the supernatants was quantified in an ELISA using the Phytodetek-ABA kit (AGDIA) according to the indications of the manufacturer. The monoclonal antibody raised against ABA (ABA-15-I-C-5) was previously shown to have high specificity for 2-cis-(S)-ABA and cross-reactivity of less than 1 or 0 against 12 different structurally ABA-related compounds (Weiler, 1982
The authors would like to thank Dr. Violeta Velikova and Prof. Ulo Niinemets for discussions about data interpretation, Prof. Gabriel Cornic for critical reading of the manuscript, and Prof. Manuel Lerdau for discussions and help with the revision of the manuscript. Received May 3, 2006; returned for revision June 2, 2006; accepted June 2, 2006.
1 This work was supported by the European Commission Marie Curie project "Ecological and physiological functions of biogenic isoprenoids and their impact on the environment" (ISONET, MRTN-CT2003504720) and by the European Science Foundation scientific programme Volatile Organic Compounds in the Biosphere-Atmosphere System. The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Francesco Loreto (francesco.loreto{at}ibaf.cnr.it). Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.083063. * Corresponding author; e-mail francesco.loreto{at}ibaf.cnr.it; fax 39069064492.
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