Abstract
Globally expected changes in environmental conditions, especially the increase of UV irradiation, necessitate extending our knowledge of the mechanisms mediating tree species adaptation to this stress. This is crucial for designing new strategies to maintain future forest productivity. Studies focused on environmentally realistic dosages of UV irradiation in forest species are scarce. Pinus spp. are commercially relevant trees and not much is known about their adaptation to UV. In this work, UV treatment and recovery of Pinus radiata plants with dosages mimicking future scenarios, based on current models of UV radiation, were performed in a time-dependent manner. The combined metabolome and proteome analysis were complemented with measurements of + physiological parameters and gene expression. Sparse PLS analysis revealed complex molecular interaction networks of molecular and physiological data. Early responses prevented phototoxicity by reducing photosystem activity and the electron transfer chain together with the accumulation of photoprotectors and photorespiration. Apart from the reduction in photosynthesis as consequence of the direct UV damage on the photosystems, the primary metabolism was rearranged to deal with the oxidative stress while minimizing ROS production. New protein kinases and proteases related to signaling, coordination, and regulation of UV stress responses were revealed. All these processes demonstrate a complex molecular interaction network extending the current knowledge on UV-stress adaptation in pine.
Highlights
Forests are relevant players in ecosystems, providing food and raw material for processing industries
Increased UV irradiation induced system level changes in Pinus radiata needles We have studied the effect of a moderate UV irradiation in a five time-points experiment by mimicking the expected environmental dosage
The applied UV dosage did not significantly alter the morphology of the plants, that showed none sign of external damage (Fig. 1a), phenolic compounds progressively accumulated in the needles: first and quickly in epidermic cells and stomata, and throughout all the tissues in the long UV-stress exposure (Fig. 2)
Summary
Forests are relevant players in ecosystems, providing food and raw material for processing industries. One of the future challenges facing forests is the increased UV radiation (280–320 nm), which has increased in recent years [1] and is modelled to continue increasing during the following decades [2]. This situation is, and will be, especially acute in many countries, including South American and European [Chile has 1.5 million ha of this species [3]; northwestern Spain has approximately 300,000 ha [4]], with increments close to 12% in the incidence of radiation in some regions
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