Abstract
Stresses caused by viral diseases and drought have long threatened sustainable production of grapevine. These two stresses frequently occur simultaneously in many of grapevine growing regions of the world. We studied responses of in vitro-grown plantlets (Vitis vinifera) to Grapevine leafroll associated virus-3 (GLRaV-3) and PEG-induced drought stress. Results showed that stress induced by either virus infection or drought had negative effects on vegetative growth, caused significant decreases and increases in total soluble protein and free proline, respectively, induced obvious cell membrane damage and cell death, and markedly increased accumulations of and H2O2. Co-stress by virus and drought had much severer effects than single stress on the said parameters. Virus infection alone did not cause significant alternations in activities of POD, ROS, and SOD, and contents of MDA, which, however, markedly increased in the plantlets when grown under single drought stress and co-stress by the virus and drought. Levels of ABA increased, while those of IAA decreased in the plantlets stressed by virus infection or drought. Simultaneous stresses by the virus and drought had co-effects on the levels of ABA and IAA. Up-regulation of expressions of ABA biosynthesis genes and down-regulation of expressions of IAA biosynthesis genes were responsible for the alternations of ABA and IAA levels induced by either the virus infection or drought stress and co-stress by them. Experimental strategies established in the present study using in vitro system facilitate investigations on ‘pure’ biotic and abiotic stress on plants. The results obtained here provide new insights into adverse effects of stress induced by virus and drought, in single and particularly their combination, on plants, and allow us to re-orientate agricultural managements toward sustainable development of the agriculture.
Highlights
Stresses caused by abiotic and biotic factors have long threatened sustainable development of agricultural production
No significant differences were found in this parameter in the healthy shoots grown at 0% and 2% polyethylene glycol (PEG), but PEG at 4% considerably delayed the time duration for axillary bud elongation (5.8 days)
Length of the longest roots was similar in the healthy shoots grown at 0 and 2% PEG (Figure 1D), but 4% PEG resulted in much shorter length of the longest roots (Figure 1D)
Summary
Stresses caused by abiotic and biotic factors have long threatened sustainable development of agricultural production. The influence of stress by either virus infection (Sampol et al, 2003; Moutinho-Pereira et al, 2012; Li et al, 2013; Cui et al, 2015) or drought (Zhu, 2002; Suzuki et al, 2014) has been well-demonstrated on plant development, growth, photosynthetic capability and various physiological metabolisms, eventually resulting in reduction of crop yield and quality Studies on their combining effects have been quite limited (Atkinson and Urwin, 2012; Prasch, 2013; Suzuki et al, 2014). Better understanding of effects of combining abiotic with biotic stress is of great significance and would allow us to orientate agricultural management strategies to ensure sustainable development of agricultural production
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