Eyes on the future – evidence for trade-offs between growth, storage and defense in Norway spruce

Jianbei Huang; Almuth Hammerbacher; Alexander Weinhold; Michael Reichelt; Gerd Gleixner; Thomas Behrendt; Nicole M. van Dam; Anna Sala; Jonathan Gershenzon; Susan Trumbore; Henrik Hartmann

doi:10.1111/nph.15522

Eyes on the future – evidence for trade-offs between growth, storage and defense in Norway spruce

Jianbei Huang
, Almuth Hammerbacher
, Alexander Weinhold
, Michael Reichelt
, Gerd Gleixner
, Thomas Behrendt
, Nicole M. van Dam
, Anna Sala
, Jonathan Gershenzon
, Susan Trumbore
, Henrik Hartmann

Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

116 Scopus citations

Abstract

Carbon (C) allocation plays a central role in tree responses to environmental changes. Yet, fundamental questions remain about how trees allocate C to different sinks, for example, growth vs storage and defense. In order to elucidate allocation priorities, we manipulated the whole-tree C balance by modifying atmospheric CO ₂ concentrations [CO ₂ ] to create two distinct gradients of declining C availability, and compared how C was allocated among fluxes (respiration and volatile monoterpenes) and biomass C pools (total biomass, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and secondary metabolites (SM)) in well-watered Norway spruce (Picea abies) saplings. Continuous isotope labelling was used to trace the fate of newly-assimilated C. Reducing [CO ₂ ] to 120 ppm caused an aboveground C compensation point (i.e. net C balance was zero) and resulted in decreases in growth and respiration. By contrast, soluble sugars and SM remained relatively constant in aboveground young organs and were partially maintained with a constant allocation of newly-assimilated C, even at expense of root death from C exhaustion. We conclude that spruce trees have a conservative allocation strategy under source limitation: growth and respiration can be downregulated to maintain ‘operational’ concentrations of NSC while investing newly-assimilated C into future survival by producing SM.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	144-158
Number of pages	15
Journal	New Phytologist
Volume	222
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15522
State	Published - Apr 2019

Funding

We thank Savoyane Lambert and Jessica Heublein for their help with sample collection and processing, Olaf Kolle and RenéSchwalbe for their help with [CO2] manipulation. Agnes Fastnacht helped us in the glasshouse, Iris Kuhlmann and Anett Enke supported us in the laboratory. Heiko Moossen and Heike Geilmann carried out isotope measurements. JH was funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council and Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, and acknowledges support from the International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

Funders
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

Keywords

CO
Norway spruce (Picea abies)
biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs)
carbon allocation
carbon limitation
growth–defense trade-offs
nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) storage
secondary metabolites (SM)

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10.1111/nph.15522

Cite this

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title = "Eyes on the future – evidence for trade-offs between growth, storage and defense in Norway spruce",

abstract = " Carbon (C) allocation plays a central role in tree responses to environmental changes. Yet, fundamental questions remain about how trees allocate C to different sinks, for example, growth vs storage and defense. In order to elucidate allocation priorities, we manipulated the whole-tree C balance by modifying atmospheric CO 2 concentrations [CO 2 ] to create two distinct gradients of declining C availability, and compared how C was allocated among fluxes (respiration and volatile monoterpenes) and biomass C pools (total biomass, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and secondary metabolites (SM)) in well-watered Norway spruce (Picea abies) saplings. Continuous isotope labelling was used to trace the fate of newly-assimilated C. Reducing [CO 2 ] to 120 ppm caused an aboveground C compensation point (i.e. net C balance was zero) and resulted in decreases in growth and respiration. By contrast, soluble sugars and SM remained relatively constant in aboveground young organs and were partially maintained with a constant allocation of newly-assimilated C, even at expense of root death from C exhaustion. We conclude that spruce trees have a conservative allocation strategy under source limitation: growth and respiration can be downregulated to maintain {\textquoteleft}operational{\textquoteright} concentrations of NSC while investing newly-assimilated C into future survival by producing SM.",

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author = "Jianbei Huang and Almuth Hammerbacher and Alexander Weinhold and Michael Reichelt and Gerd Gleixner and Thomas Behrendt and \{van Dam\}, \{Nicole M.\} and Anna Sala and Jonathan Gershenzon and Susan Trumbore and Henrik Hartmann",

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AU - Huang, Jianbei

AU - Hammerbacher, Almuth

AU - Weinhold, Alexander

AU - Reichelt, Michael

AU - Gleixner, Gerd

AU - Behrendt, Thomas

AU - van Dam, Nicole M.

AU - Sala, Anna

AU - Gershenzon, Jonathan

AU - Trumbore, Susan

AU - Hartmann, Henrik

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N2 - Carbon (C) allocation plays a central role in tree responses to environmental changes. Yet, fundamental questions remain about how trees allocate C to different sinks, for example, growth vs storage and defense. In order to elucidate allocation priorities, we manipulated the whole-tree C balance by modifying atmospheric CO 2 concentrations [CO 2 ] to create two distinct gradients of declining C availability, and compared how C was allocated among fluxes (respiration and volatile monoterpenes) and biomass C pools (total biomass, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and secondary metabolites (SM)) in well-watered Norway spruce (Picea abies) saplings. Continuous isotope labelling was used to trace the fate of newly-assimilated C. Reducing [CO 2 ] to 120 ppm caused an aboveground C compensation point (i.e. net C balance was zero) and resulted in decreases in growth and respiration. By contrast, soluble sugars and SM remained relatively constant in aboveground young organs and were partially maintained with a constant allocation of newly-assimilated C, even at expense of root death from C exhaustion. We conclude that spruce trees have a conservative allocation strategy under source limitation: growth and respiration can be downregulated to maintain ‘operational’ concentrations of NSC while investing newly-assimilated C into future survival by producing SM.

AB - Carbon (C) allocation plays a central role in tree responses to environmental changes. Yet, fundamental questions remain about how trees allocate C to different sinks, for example, growth vs storage and defense. In order to elucidate allocation priorities, we manipulated the whole-tree C balance by modifying atmospheric CO 2 concentrations [CO 2 ] to create two distinct gradients of declining C availability, and compared how C was allocated among fluxes (respiration and volatile monoterpenes) and biomass C pools (total biomass, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and secondary metabolites (SM)) in well-watered Norway spruce (Picea abies) saplings. Continuous isotope labelling was used to trace the fate of newly-assimilated C. Reducing [CO 2 ] to 120 ppm caused an aboveground C compensation point (i.e. net C balance was zero) and resulted in decreases in growth and respiration. By contrast, soluble sugars and SM remained relatively constant in aboveground young organs and were partially maintained with a constant allocation of newly-assimilated C, even at expense of root death from C exhaustion. We conclude that spruce trees have a conservative allocation strategy under source limitation: growth and respiration can be downregulated to maintain ‘operational’ concentrations of NSC while investing newly-assimilated C into future survival by producing SM.

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KW - Norway spruce (Picea abies)

KW - biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs)

KW - carbon allocation

KW - carbon limitation

KW - growth–defense trade-offs

KW - nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) storage

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Eyes on the future – evidence for trade-offs between growth, storage and defense in Norway spruce

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Keywords

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