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A robust, simple, high‐throughput technique for time‐resolved plant volatile analysis in field experiments
Author(s) -
Kallenbach Mario,
Oh Youngjoo,
Eilers Elisabeth J.,
Veit Daniel,
Baldwin Ian T.,
Schuman Meredith C.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.12523
Subject(s) - sorbent , replicate , polydimethylsiloxane , environmental science , silicone , sampling (signal processing) , thermal desorption , humidity , biological system , materials science , process engineering , desorption , computer science , chemistry , nanotechnology , meteorology , adsorption , biology , statistics , mathematics , physics , organic chemistry , filter (signal processing) , engineering , composite material , computer vision
Summary Plant volatiles ( PV s) mediate interactions between plants and arthropods, microbes and other plants, and are involved in responses to abiotic stress. PV emissions are therefore influenced by many environmental factors, including herbivore damage, microbial invasion, and cues from neighboring plants, and also light regime, temperature, humidity and nutrient availability. Thus, an understanding of the physiological and ecological functions of PV s must be based on measurements reflecting PV emissions under natural conditions. However, PV s are usually sampled in the artificial environments of laboratories or climate chambers. Sampling of PV s in natural environments is difficult, being limited by the need to transport, maintain and provide power to instruments, or use expensive sorbent devices in replicate. Ideally, PV s should be measured in natural settings with high replication, spatio‐temporal resolution and sensitivity, and modest costs. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a sorbent commonly used for PV sampling, is available as silicone tubing for as little as 0.60 € m −1 (versus 100–550 € each for standard PDMS sorbent devices). Small pieces of silicone tubing ( ST s) of various lengths from millimeters to centimeters may be added to any experimental setting and used for headspace sampling, with little manipulation of the organism or headspace. ST s have sufficiently fast absorption kinetics and large capacity to sample plant headspaces over a timescale of minutes to hours, and thus can produce biologically meaningful ‘snapshots’ of PV blends. When combined with thermal desorption coupled to GC – MS (a 40‐year‐old widely available technology), use of ST s yields reproducible, sensitive, spatio‐temporally resolved quantitative data from headspace samples taken in natural environments.