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A high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy approach to assess adaptive variation in the chemical composition of pollen.

ABSTRACT: The two factors defining male reproductive success in plants are pollen quantity and quality, but our knowledge about the importance of pollen quality is limited due to methodological constraints. Pollen quality in terms of chemical composition may be either genetically fixed for high performance independent of environmental conditions, or it may be plastic to maximize reproductive output under different environmental conditions. In this study, we validated a new approach for studying the role of chemical composition of pollen in adaptation to local climate. The approach is based on high-throughput Fourier infrared (FTIR) characterization and biochemical interpretation of pollen chemical composition in response to environmental conditions. The study covered three grass species, Poa alpina, Anthoxanthum odoratum, and Festuca ovina. For each species, plants were grown from seeds of three populations with wide geographic and climate variation. Each individual plant was divided into four genetically identical clones which were grown in different controlled environments (high and low levels of temperature and nutrients). In total, 389 samples were measured using a high-throughput FTIR spectrometer. The biochemical fingerprints of pollen were species and population specific, and plastic in response to different environmental conditions. The response was most pronounced for temperature, influencing the levels of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates in pollen of all species. Furthermore, there is considerable variation in plasticity of the chemical composition of pollen among species and populations. The use of high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy provides fast, cheap, and simple assessment of the chemical composition of pollen. In combination with controlled-condition growth experiments and multivariate analyses, FTIR spectroscopy opens up for studies of the adaptive role of pollen that until now has been difficult with available methodology. The approach can easily be extended to other species and environmental conditions and has the potential to significantly increase our understanding of plant male function.

SUBMITTER: Zimmermann B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5743575 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy approach to assess adaptive variation in the chemical composition of pollen.

Zimmermann Boris B Bağcıoğlu Murat M Tafinstseva Valeria V Kohler Achim A Ohlson Mikael M Fjellheim Siri S

Ecology and evolution 20171109 24

The two factors defining male reproductive success in plants are pollen quantity and quality, but our knowledge about the importance of pollen quality is limited due to methodological constraints. Pollen quality in terms of chemical composition may be either genetically fixed for high performance independent of environmental conditions, or it may be plastic to maximize reproductive output under different environmental conditions. In this study, we validated a new approach for studying the role o ...[more]

PMID: 29299262

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Project description:Pollen studies are important for the assessment of present and past environment, including biodiversity, sexual reproduction of plants and plant-pollinator interactions, monitoring of aeroallergens, and impact of climate and pollution on wild communities and cultivated crops. Although information on chemical composition of pollen is of importance in all of those research areas, pollen chemistry has been rarely measured due to complex and time-consuming analyses. Vibrational spectroscopies, coupled with multivariate data analysis, have shown great potential for rapid chemical characterization, identification and classification of pollen. This study, comprising 219 species from all principal taxa of seed plants, has demonstrated that high-quality Raman spectra of pollen can be obtained by Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy. In combination with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), FT-Raman spectroscopy is obtaining comprehensive information on pollen chemistry. Presence of all the main biochemical constituents of pollen, such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, carotenoids and sporopollenins, have been identified and detected in the spectra, and the study shows approaches to measure relative and absolute content of these constituents. The results show that FT-Raman spectroscopy has clear advantage over standard dispersive Raman measurements, in particular for measurement of pollen samples with high pigment content. FT-Raman spectra are strongly biased toward chemical composition of pollen wall constituents, namely sporopollenins and pigments. This makes Raman spectra complementary to FTIR spectra, which over-represent chemical constituents of the grain interior, such as lipids and carbohydrates. The results show a large variability in pollen chemistry for families, genera and even congeneric species, revealing wide range of reproductive strategies, from storage of nutrients to variation in carotenoids and phenylpropanoids. The information on pollen's chemical patterns for major plant taxa should be of outstanding value for various studies in plant biology and ecology, including aerobiology, palaeoecology, forensics, community ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, and climate effects on plants.

Project description:Evidence of plant root biomass and production in peatlands at the level of species or plant functional type (PFT) is needed for defining ecosystem functioning and predicting its future development. However, such data are limited due to methodological difficulties and the toilsomeness of separating roots from peat. We developed Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy based calibration models for quantifying the mass proportions of several common peatland species, and alternatively, the PFTs that these species represented, in composite root samples. We further tested whether woody roots could be classified into diameter classes, and whether dead and living roots could be separated. We aimed to solve whether general models applicable in different studies can be developed, and what would be the best way to build such models. FTIR spectra were measured from dried and powdered roots: both "pure roots", original samples of 25 species collected in the field, and "root mixtures", artificial composite samples prepared by mixing known amounts of pure roots of different species. Partial least squares regression was used to build the calibration models. The general applicability of the models was tested using roots collected in different sites or times. Our main finding is that pure roots can replace complex mixtures as calibration data. Using pure roots, we constructed generally applicable models for quantification of roots of the main PFTs of northern peatlands. The models provided accurate estimates even for far distant sites, with root mean square error (RMSE) 1.4-6.6% for graminoids, forbs and ferns. For shrubs and trees the estimates were less accurate due to higher within-species heterogeneity, partly related to variation in root diameter. Still, we obtained RMSE 3.9-10.8% for total woody roots, but up to 20.1% for different woody-root types. Species-level and dead-root models performed well within the calibration dataset but provided unacceptable estimates for independent samples, limiting their routine application in field conditions. Our PFT-level models can be applied on roots separated from soil for biomass determination or from ingrowth cores for estimating root production. We present possibilities for further development of species-level or dead-root models using the pure-root approach.

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A high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy approach to assess adaptive variation in the chemical composition of pollen.

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A high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy approach to assess adaptive variation in the chemical composition of pollen.

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