Volatile organic compounds of Acacia longifolia and their effects on germination and early growth of species from invaded habitats

ABSTRACT

Acacia longifolia, a highly invasive species that invades coastal ecosystems in Mediterranean areas, produces significant impacts at different scales. Abundant foliage and thick canopies create a dense atmosphere that led us to hypothesise that the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could play a role in the reduction of biodiversity observed in invaded areas. Therefore, we suggested that VOCs emitted by A. longifolia could exert inhibitory effects on physiological and biochemical parameters of native species. Using glass chamber bioassays, we evaluated the effect of aerial contact between VOCs from different plant parts of A. longifolia material and some native species. Volatile chemical composition was further analysed using GC-MS. Our results indicated that VOCs produced a notably reduction of seed germination. Furthermore, volatiles from leaves and flowers significantly decreased root length, shoot length and biomass for all species. Proline and malondialdehyde content did not significantly increase after contact with VOCs. Finally, chemical profile of VOCs from flowers, leaves and litter was significantly different, both qualitatively and quantitatively. As far as we know, our results constitute the first evidence of phytotoxicity induced by VOCs from A. longifolia, suggesting that flowers and leaves could influence its surrounding environment through VOCs release.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Abbreviations: NBT: nitroblue tetrazolium; EDTA: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid;

KEYWORDS:

• Plant invasion
• phytotoxicity
• volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Acacia flowers
• oxidative stress
• volatile isolates

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Pablo Souza-Alonso, Dr Souza received his PhD in ecophysiology in 2015 from the University of Vigo. Interested in ecology and ecophysiology, his research is currently focused on different aspects of ecophysiology, mainly related to plant–plant relationships, plant–soil and microbial interactions and the environmental impacts of invasive species.

Lus Gonzlez is Head of the laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology (Department of Plant Biology and Soil Science, University of Vigo). The research of Dr. Gonzlez is mainly focused on different aspects of the invasive science as the ecological impacts of invasive plants at different levels, their environmental management and the restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Antonio Nogueira, Antonio Nogueira received his B.S. degree in 2012 by the University of Vigo, Spain. He is currently developing his PhD related with the environmental impact of invasive plant species.

Carlos Cavaleiro, Dr. Cavaleiro has a PhD in Pharmacy, speciality of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He is Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy (Coimbra) and Senior Researcher his research. He is currently committed to the research in domains of Biology and Chemistry of Natural Products with focus on Health Sciences and Drug Discovery.

Nuria Pedrol, Dr Pedrol is a Professor of Plant physiology at the faculty of Biology and Sea Sciences at the University of Vigo, Spain. Her research is currently focused on Plant Ecophysiology and Organic agriculture, exploring a wide range of topic from the field to the laboratory, but mainly dealing with aspects of plant interactions, allelopathy and weed control.