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Virus‐induced differences in the response of oat plants to elevated carbon dioxide
Author(s) -
MALMSTRÖM C. M.,
FIELD C. B.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3040.1997.d01-63.x
Subject(s) - barley yellow dwarf , biology , carbon dioxide , agronomy , virus , photosynthesis , pathogen , biomass (ecology) , avena , luteovirus , host (biology) , botany , plant virus , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology , virology
Disease is an integral element of agricultural and natural systems, but the roles pathogens play in determining ecosystem response to elevated CO 2 have rarely been examined. To investigate whether disease can alter the response of plants to CO 2 , we examined the effects of doubled CO 2 (∼700 μmol mol −1 ) on Avena sativa infected with barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), a common pathogen of cereals and grasses. Oats infected with BYDV showed a significantly greater biomass response to CO 2 enrichment than did healthy plants. Root mass of diseased plants increased by 37–60% with CO 2 enrichment, but was largely unaffected in healthy plants. CO 2 enrichment increased midday leaf‐level photosynthesis and instantaneous water use efficiency by 34 and 93% in healthy plants and by 48 and 174% in infected plants. Foliar carbohydrates increased with both CO 2 enrichment and BYDV infection, but the two factors affected individual pools dissimilarly. CO 2 enrichment may alter the epidemiology of BYDV by increasing the persistence of infected plants.