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Updated: May 15, 2026
11:01
Monitoring Plant Hormones During Stress Responses
Published on: June 15, 2009
Elevated carbon dioxide increases salicylic acid in Glycine max
Clare L Casteel1, Lauren M Segal, Olivia K Niziolek
1Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
Environmental Entomology
|January 17, 2013
Summary
Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) affects soybean phytohormone levels differently across cultivars. While jasmonic acid (JA) responses varied, salicylic acid (SA) universally increased, impacting plant defenses.
Area of Science:
- Plant Science
- Environmental Science
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentrations are rising globally.
- Elevated CO(2) can alter plant physiology, including phytohormone signaling and defense mechanisms.
- The impact of elevated CO(2) on soybean (Glycine max L.) phytohormones and induced defenses requires further investigation across different cultivars.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of elevated CO(2) on jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) levels in six soybean cultivars.
- To determine if these effects vary among soybean cultivars under ambient and elevated CO(2) conditions.
- To assess the influence of herbivore damage (Japanese beetle and artificial) on phytohormone levels under different CO(2) concentrations.
Main Methods:
- Soybean cultivars were grown under ambient and elevated CO(2) conditions.
- Plants were subjected to Japanese beetle damage and artificial damage.
- Concentrations of JA and SA, along with related transcripts, were measured.
Main Results:
- Elevated CO(2) reduced constitutive JA levels and related transcripts in some, but not all, soybean cultivars.
- Constitutive SA levels universally increased across all soybean cultivars grown under elevated CO(2).
- Phytohormone responses to elevated CO(2) showed cultivar-specific variations.
Conclusions:
- Cultivar-specific variations in phytohormone signaling (JA and SA) occur under elevated CO(2).
- The universal increase in SA suggests a consistent impact of elevated CO(2) on this pathway.
- Observed variations in hormonal signaling may explain differential responses of herbivores and pathogens to plants under elevated CO(2).
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