Induction of plant VOC emission by biotic and abiotic stresses and consequences for community ecology: a multidisciplinary approach (A-BIO-VOC)

Plants produce a multitude of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). The amounts of BVOCs disseminated into the atmosphere by plants are enormous: e.g. ca. 1000 tera-gram of carbon per year in the form of terpenoids. Other plant volatiles include green leaf volatiles, nitrogen-containing compounds and aromatic compounds. BVOCs are a crucial component of a plant’s phenotype and play a dominant role in the ecology of plants. This volatile-related phenotype is plastic, because the emission is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. Plants are members of complex communities, and they have evolved intricate mechanisms to defend themselves against pathogens and herbivores while engaging in beneficial interactions with organisms such as carnivorous arthropods. In addition, abiotic stresses such as ozone or high temperature influence the emission of volatiles by directly affecting their biosynthesis or by impairing primary metabolism and plant energetics.

Through this Collaborative REsearch Project, seven high-quality, complementary, European groups in the area of the ecology of inducible BVOCs from plants and the mechanisms underlying the production have joined forces to address the ways in which plants respond to combinations of biotic and/or abiotic stresses in terms of BVOC emission and the ecological effects on organisms from the plant-surrounding community at different trophic levels. This is done through an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that includes transcriptomics, metabolomics, phenomics, modelling and behavioural and community ecology. The partners have a long history of extensive collaboration in other European programmes. Through this proposal we will build on the knowledge on plant responses to single stresses and gain profound insight in how multiple stresses influence plant BVOC emission and consequently the plant’s interactions with its community members. This approach is timely and at the forefront of current developments in the research area on inducible plant BVOCs and requires a multidisciplinary and complementary team approach.