Integrated drought responses of black poplar: how important is phenotypic plasticity?

Climate change is expected to increase drought frequency and intensity which will threaten plant growth and survival. In such fluctuating environments, perennial plants respond with hydraulic and biomass adjustments, resulting in either tolerant or avoidant strategies. Plants' response to stress relies on their phenotypic plasticity. The goal of this study was to explore physiology of young Populus nigra in the context of a time-limited and progressive water deficit in regard to their growth and stress response strategies. Fourteen French 1-year-old black poplar genotypes, geographically contrasted, were subjected to withholding water during 8 days until severe water stress. Water fluxes (i.e. leaf water potentials and stomatal conductance) were analyzed together with growth (i.e. radial and longitudinal branch growth, leaf senescence and leaf production). Phenotypic plasticity was calculated for each trait and response strategies to drought were deciphered for each genotype. Black poplar genotypes permanently were dealing with a continuum of adjusted water fluxes and growth between two extreme strategies, tolerance and avoidance. Branch growth, leaf number and leaf hydraulic potential traits had contrasted plasticities, allowing genotype characterization. The most tolerant genotype to water deficit, which maintained growth, had the lowest global phenotypic plasticity. Conversely, the most sensitive and avoidant genotype ceased growth until the season's end, had the highest plasticity level. All the remaining black poplar genotypes were close to avoidance with average levels of traits plasticity. These results underpinned the role of plasticity in black poplar response to drought and calls for its wider use into research on plants' responses to stress.