Cold-Stress Early in Life Constrains Morphogenetic Events Later.

Publikations-Art

Kongressbeitrag

Autoren

VALLURU, R., J. LINK & W. CLAUPEIN

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Seite (von - bis)

51

Tagungsname

19th New Phytologist Symposium

Tagungsort

Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood, Oregon, USA

Tagungsdatum

17.09.2008

22. Cold-stress early in life constrains morphogenetic events laterVALLURU, RAVI, LINK, JOHANNA, CLAUPEIN, WILHELMInstitute for Crop Production and Grassland Research (340), University of Hohenheim,70599 Stuttgart, GermanyPlant morphogenesis is a combined developmental decision between environmentalsignals and genetic-programme. However, the quality of environment is an intimate cuedesigning developmental pathway for a phenotype. Environmental stress early in life canstrongly affect later growth and development. We tested this hypothesis imposingexogenous cold-stress (CS, 40C) during seedling emergence of five Triticum aestivumand grown under optimal glasshouse conditions. CS plants flowered significantly earlierand diverged in allocational responses. Individual trait biomass varied significantlybetween CS and non-CS (NCS) plants as they grew and developed. At flowering, CSplants were constrained in specific leaf area (SLA) but benefited from higher leaf massratio (LMR). Moreover, their lower photosynthetic efficiency and increased darkrespiration rates led to a reduction in net carbon assimilation and reserve carbonstorage. In most cases, individual trait size differences were more pronounced atflowering compared to pre-flowering stages, indicating that CS-induced phenotypicplasticity appeared later in the growth and development. These results suggest thatcold-stress early in life triggered different selective pressures on endogenousdevelopmental pathways. Collectively, these results lay a foundation for thecomprehensive understanding of how potentially complex environmental stresssystem(s) during early in life are connected to diversified developmental events later,including plant reproduction.