Tag Archives: ecology

Metabolomics and transcriptomics to decipher molecular mechanisms underlying ectomycorrhizal root colonization of an oak tree

M. Sebastiana, A. Gargallo-Garriga, J. Sardans, M. Pérez-Trujillo, F. Monteiro, A. Figueiredo, M. Maia, R. Nascimento, M. Sousa Silva, A. N. Ferreira, C. Cordeiro, A. P. Marques, L. Sousa, R. Malhó & J. Peñuelas

Scientific Reports volume 11, Article number: 8576 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87886-5

Mycorrhizas are known to have a positive impact on plant growth and ability to resist major biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the metabolic alterations underlying mycorrhizal symbiosis are still understudied. By using metabolomics and transcriptomics approaches, cork oak roots colonized by the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus tinctorius were compared with non-colonized roots. Results from this global metabolomics analysis suggest decreases in root metabolites which are common components of exudates, and in compounds related to root external protective layers which could facilitate plant-fungal contact and enhance symbiosis. Root metabolic pathways involved in defense against stress were induced in ectomycorrhizal roots that could be involved in a plant mechanism to avoid uncontrolled growth of the fungal symbiont in the root apoplast. Several of the identified symbiosis-specific metabolites, such as GABA, may help to understand how ectomycorrhizal fungi such as P. tinctorius benefit their host plants.

Long-term fertilization determines different metabolomic profiles and responses in saplings of three rainforest tree species with different adult canopy position

Long-term fertilization determines different metabolomic profiles and responses in saplings of three rainforest tree species with different adult canopy position” by  A. Gargallo-Garriga, S. J. Wright, J. Sardans, M. Pérez-Trujillo, M. Oravec, K. Večeřová,O. Urban, M. Fernández-Martínez, T. Parella, J. Peñuelas.

Plos One, 2017, 1-21. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177030

Tropical rainforests are frequently limited by soil nutrient availability. However, the response of the metabolic phenotypic plasticity of trees to an increase of soil nutrient availabilities is poorly understood. We expected that increases in the ability of a nutrient that limits some plant processes should be detected by corresponding changes in plant metabolome profile related to such processes. We studied the foliar metabolome of saplings of three abundant tree species in a 15 year field NPK fertilization experiment in a Panamanian rainforest. The largest differences were among species and explained 75% of overall metabolome variation.

PhD Thesis by Albert Gargallo Garriga: Publications and Data Sets

Portada

The links below point to the research articles and Mass Spectrometry and NMR Spectroscopy raw datasets that were part of my thesis work. The last link points to my Ph.D. Thesis in pdf format.

Chapter 1

MEE“Ecometabolomics: Optimized NMR-based method” by Albert Rivas-Ubach, Miriam Pérez-Trujillo, Jordi Sardans, Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Teodor Parella, Josep Peñuelas. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, February 2013. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12028

Chapter 4

scireportsOpposite metabolic responses of shoots and roots to drought by Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Jordi Sardans, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, Albert Rivas-Ubach, Michal Oravec, Teodor Parella and Josep Peñuelas. Scientific reports 4, Article number: 6829, October 2014. DOI: 10.1038/srep06829

Chapter 5

Warming differentially influences the effects of drought on stoichiometry and metabolomics in shoots and roots” by Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Jordi Sardans, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, Michal Oravec,Otmar Urban, Anke Jentsch, Juergen Kreyling, Carl Beierkuhnlein Teodor Parella and Josep Peñuelas. New Phytologist. March 2015. DOI: 10.1111/nph.13377

Chapter 6

Plant Biology“Metabolomic responses of Quercus ilex seedlings to wounding simulating herbivory” By Jordi Sardans, Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, Teodor Parella, Roger Seco, Iolanda Filella, Josep  Peñuelas. Plant biology. April 2013. DOI: 10.1111/plb.12032

Chapter 7

Ph.D. Thesis

Shifts in plant foliar and floral metabolomes in response to the suppression of the associated microbiota

logo_BMCPB“Shifts in plant foliar and floral metabolomes in response to the suppression of the associated microbiota” by A. Gargallo-Garriga, J. Sardans, M. Pérez-Trujillo, A. Guenther, J. Llusià, L. Rico, J. Terradas, G. Farré-Armengol, I. Filella, T. Parella and J. Peñuelas. BMC Plant Biology 2016; 16:78. DOI: 10.1186/s12870-016-0767-7

The significance of microbial populations to the health and physiology of human and animal hosts has become a burgeoning and increasingly newsworthy topic. Of course, plants are also hosts for microbial life, and our metabolomics new study in BMC Plant Biology suggests that microbial influence on plant biology is more complex than we currently appreciate. Continue reading Shifts in plant foliar and floral metabolomes in response to the suppression of the associated microbiota

Warming differentially influences the effects of drought on stoichiometry and metabolomics in shoots and roots

“Warming differentially influences the effects of drought on stoichiometry and metabolomics in shoots and roots” by Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Jordi Sardans, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, Michal Oravec,Otmar Urban, Anke Jentsch, Juergen Kreyling, Carl Beierkuhnlein Teodor Parella and Josep Peñuelas. New Phytologist. March 2015. DOI: 10.1111/nph.13377

Plants in natural environments are increasingly being subjected to a combination of abiotic stresses, such as drought and warming, in many regions. The effects of each stress and the combination of stresses on the functioning of shoots and roots have been studied extensively, but little is known about the simultaneous metabolome responses of the different organs of the plant to different stresses acting at once. We studied the shift in metabolism and elemental composition of shoots and roots of two perennial grasses, Holcus lanatus and Alopecurus pratensis, in response to simultaneous drought and warming. Continue reading Warming differentially influences the effects of drought on stoichiometry and metabolomics in shoots and roots

Diversity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in native and invasive Senecio pterophorus (Asteraceae): Implications for toxicity

14Phytochemistry“Diversity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in native and invasive Senecio pterophorus (Asteraceae): Implications for toxicity” by Eva Castells, Patrick P.J. Mulder  and Miriam Perez-Trujillo. Phytochemistry (2014) 108:137-146. DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.09.006

Changes in plant chemical defenses after invasion could have consequences on the invaded ecosystems by modifying the interactions between plants and herbivores and facilitating invasion success. However, no comprehensive biogeographical studies have yet determined the phenotypic levels of plant chemical defenses, as consumed by local herbivores, covering large distributional areas of a species. Continue reading Diversity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in native and invasive Senecio pterophorus (Asteraceae): Implications for toxicity

Drought enhances folivory by shifting foliar metabolomes in Quercus ilex trees

“Drought enhances folivory by shifting foliar metabolomes in Quercus ilex trees”

Albert Rivas-Ubach, Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Jordi Sardans, Michal Oravec, Laia Mateu Castell, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo,Teodor Parella, Romà Ogaya, Otmar Urban and Josep Peñuelas. January 2014. New Phytologist DOI: 10.1111/nph.12687

Plants respond to external environmental conditions such as drought or to the seasonal changes by shifting the foliar C:N:P:K stoichiometry and metabolome. Continue reading Drought enhances folivory by shifting foliar metabolomes in Quercus ilex trees

Metabolic responses of Quercus ilex seedlings to wounding analysed with nuclear magnetic resonance profiling

Plant Biology“Metabolomic responses of Quercus ilex seedlings to wounding simulating herbivory” By Jordi Sardans, Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Míriam Pérez-Trujillo, Teodor Parella, Roger Seco, Iolanda Filella, Josep  Peñuelas. Plant biology. April 2013. DOI: 10.1111/plb.12032.

Plants defense themselves against herbivory at several levels. One of these levels is the synthesis of inducible chemical defenses. By using NMR metabolomic technique we studied the metabolic changes of plant leaves after a wounding treatment simulating herbivore attack in the Mediterranean sclerophyllous tree Quercus ilex. Continue reading Metabolic responses of Quercus ilex seedlings to wounding analysed with nuclear magnetic resonance profiling

NMR-based Protocol for Ecometabolomics

13MEE“Ecometabolomics: Optimized NMR-based method” by Albert Rivas-Ubach, Miriam Pérez-Trujillo, Jordi Sardans, Albert Gargallo-Garriga, Teodor Parella, Josep Peñuelas. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, February 2013. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12028

Metabolomics is allowing great advances in biological sciences and in particular Ecometabolomics (metabolomic approach for ecological studies). Ecometabolomics is a powerful tool that allows identifying changes in the metabolome of individuals of the same species associated to environmental changes, detecting and identifying biological markers. Continue reading NMR-based Protocol for Ecometabolomics

Organic composition in soil studied by solid state NMR

Changes in soil bacterial community: diversity, composition and function triggered by drought-induced gap succession preceded changes in soil C stocks and quality ” Curiel-Yuste J., Barba J., Fernandez-Gonzalez A.J., Fernandez-Lopez M., Mattana S., Martinez-Vilalta J., Pau Nolis, Lloret F. Ecology and Evolution. Accepted 2012.

We investigated soil bacterial taxonomic composition, soil respiration and soil organic matter quantity and quality in a mixed Mediterranean forest where the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) population is affected by climatic drought-induced die-off, and replaced by Holm-oak (Quercus ilex) populations as the dominant tree species. Continue reading Organic composition in soil studied by solid state NMR