Airborne dimethyl sulfide (DMS) cues dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) increases in the intertidal green alga Ulva fenestrata.

ABSTRACT: Although the use of airborne molecules as infochemicals is common in terrestrial plants, it has not been shown to occur in an ecologically relevant context in marine seaweeds. Like terrestrial plants, intertidal plants spend part of their lives emersed at low tide and release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air when they are grazed or physiologically stressed. We hypothesized seaweeds could use airborne VOCs as infochemicals and respond to them by upregulating a keystone defensive metabolite, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). We conducted laboratory and field experiments in which Ulva fenestrata was exposed to airborne dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a volatile antiherbivore and antioxidant metabolite released when the seaweed is grazed or physiologically stressed. In the laboratory, U

SUBMITTER: Van Alstyne KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10017803 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature