Adaptive strategies of Scots pine under shade: Increase in lignin synthesis and ecotypic variation in defense-related gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Shade is a stressful condition for plants characterized by low Red:Far-Red (R:FR) ratio. The northern latitudes in Sweden daily receive more hours of FR-enriched light (twilight) or shade-like conditions compared to southern forests during the growing season. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a shade-intolerant species. Yet, it is well adapted to this latitudinal variation in light, which is evident by a northward increase in FR requirement to maintain growth. Shade adversely affects plant growth; it makes the plant weak and, therefore, susceptible to pathogen attack. Lignin is involved in plant protection against pathogen invasion mainly by forming a physical barrier. We studied lignin synthesis and expression of defense-related genes (growth-defense trade-offs) under a low R:FR (shade)

SUBMITTER: Ranade SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9827939 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature