Elevated CO2 induces age-dependent restoration of growth and metabolism in gibberellin-deficient plants
2019
Gasparini, Karla | Costa, Lucas C. | Brito, Fred A. L. | Pimenta, Thaline M. | Cardoso, Flávio Barcellos | Araújo, Wagner L. | Zsögön, Agustín | Ribeiro, Dimas M.
MAIN CONCLUSION: The effect of elevated [CO₂] on the growth of tomato plants with reduced gibberellin content is influenced by developmental stage. The impact of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) on plants has aroused interest in the last decades. Signaling molecules known as plant hormones are fundamental controllers of plant growth and development. Elevated CO2 concentration ([CO₂]) increases plant growth; however, whether plant hormones act as mediators of this effect is still an open question. Here, we show the response to elevated [CO₂] in tomato does not require a functional gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis pathway. We compared growth and primary metabolism between wild-type (WT) and GA-deficient mutant (gib-1) plants transferred from ambient (400 ppm) to elevated (750 ppm) [CO₂] at two different growth stages (either 21 or 35 days after germination, DAG). Growth, photosynthetic parameters and primary metabolism in the stunted gib-1 plants were restored when they were transferred to elevated [CO₂] at 21 DAG. Elevated [CO₂] also stimulated growth and photosynthetic parameters in WT plants at 21 DAG; however, only minor changes were observed in the level of primary metabolites. At 35 DAG, on the other hand, elevated [CO₂] did not stimulate growth in WT plants and gib-1 mutants showed their characteristic stunted growth phenotype. Taken together, our results reveal that elevated [CO₂] enhances growth only within a narrow developmental window, in which GA biosynthesis is dispensable. This finding could be relevant for breeding crops in the face of the expected increases in atmospheric CO₂ over the next century.
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