Unravelling the Intraspecific Variation in Drought Responses in Seedlings of European Black Pine ( Pinus Nigra J.F. Arnold)
Understanding intraspecific variation in drought tolerance is essential for predicting the adaptive capacity of forest species under climate change. Yet, the molecular basis of this variation remains poorly understood in ecologically and economically important conifers. We integrated high-throughput phenotyping with metabolomics and transcriptomics under standardised soil drying to investigate drought responses across nine climatically distinct provenances of the conifer Pinus nigra. We tested whether drought tolerance-measured as decline in maximum quantum yield of the photosystem II (Fv/Fm)-varies among provenances, follows a climatic cline, and involves trade-off with growth. To identify the underlying molecular basis, we performed metabolomics and transcriptomics in four provenances representing contrasting drought tolerance. Drought tolerance varied significantly among provenances and was decoupled from growth, yet showed no differentiation along the climatic cline. Drought-tolerant provenances differed from sensitive ones in both constitutive abundance and drought-induced accumulation of the flavonoid pinostrobin and the diterpene hydroxydehydroabietic acid. Transcriptomic profiles further highlighted provenance-specific differences in gene expression related to flavonoids. Overall, these findings link phenotypic drought responses to molecular variation among provenances, providing insight into the molecular basis of drought responses in an important conifer species.
Authors
- Almuth Hammerbacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0262-2634)
- Albert Ciceu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4090-8705)
- Johann Schinnerl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4494-8736)
- Andrea Ganthaler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8670-6199)
- Marcela van Loo
- Jakub Jeż (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6481-4383)
- Stefanie Wienkoop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3575-813X)
- Ana Espinosa‐Ruíz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7508-4518)
- Dominik K. Großkinsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8976-1057)
- Sanna Olsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1199-4499)
- Sebastian Seitner
- Carlos Trujillo-Moya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9300-0226)
- Silvio Schueler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0155-5692)
- Marta Karolak
- Stefan G. Mayr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0969-8738)
- Muhammad Bilal Ahmad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0866-8108)
- M. Breuer
- Clara Priemer
- Teresa Caballero
- Selina Schöndorfer
- Paula Helfenbein
Institutions
- University of Vienna (AT)
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AT)
- Australian Institute of Marine Science (AU)
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (AT)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- Curtin University (AU)
- Institute for Biodiversity (DE)
- Institute of Botany (AZ)
- National Research Council (LK)
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (AU)
- Vienna Biocenter (AT)
- Austrian Research Centre for Forests (AT)
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (ES)
- Universitat Politècnica de València (ES)
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Plant Cell & Environment
- Published
- 2026-08-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70819
- Primary Topic
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft
- Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico