Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 56, Issue 3, Pages 2021-2032Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c06772
Keywords
drought; carbon cycle; abotic plant stress; position-specific pyruvate labeling tropical rainforest
Categories
Funding
- DOE Office of Science User Facilities
- European Research Council (ERC) [647008]
- Department of Energy, Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research Grant [DE-SC0021349]
- Biosphere 2 through the office of the Senior Vice President for Research Innovation and Impact at the University of Arizona
- Philecology Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0021349] Funding Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- European Research Council (ERC) [647008] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
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This study examined the effects of drought on root metabolic profiles and carbon allocation pathways of three tropical rainforest species. The results showed that drought had species-specific impacts on metabolic profiles and spatial distribution in different plants. The presence of microbial also influenced root metabolic pathways.
As direct mediators between plants and soil, roots play an important role in metabolic responses to environmental stresses such as drought, yet these responses are vastly uncharacterized on a plant-specific level, especially for co-occurring species. Here, we aim to examine the effects of drought on root metabolic profiles and carbon allocation pathways of three tropical rainforest species by combining cutting-edge metabolomic and imaging technologies in an in situ position-specific C-13-pyruvate root-labeling experiment. Further, washed (rhizosphere-depleted) and unwashed roots were examined to test the impact of microbial presence on root metabolic pathways. Drought had a species-specific impact on the metabolic profiles and spatial distribution in Piper sp. and Hibiscus rosa sinensis roots, signifying different defense mechanisms; Piper sp. enhanced root structural defense via recalcitrant compounds including lignin, while H. rosa sinensis enhanced biochemical defense via secretion of antioxidants and fatty acids. In contrast, Clitoria fairchildiana, a legume tree, was not influenced as much by drought but rather by rhizosphere presence where carbohydrate storage was enhanced, indicating a close association with symbiotic microbes. This study demonstrates how multiple techniques can be combined to identify how plants cope with drought through different drought-tolerance strategies and the consequences of such changes on below-ground organic matter composition.
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