Unravelling the Intraspecific Variation in Drought Responses in Seedlings of European Black Pine (Pinus Nigra J.F. Arnold)
13 affiliations
- 1Austrian Research Centre for Forests, Institute of Forest Growth Silviculture & Genetics Vienna Austria
- 2Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) Pretoria Gauteng South Africa
- 3Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Division of Molecular Systems Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- 4University of Vienna, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Vienna Austria
- 5Curtin University School of Molecular and Life Sciences Perth Australia
- 6BOKU University Vienna, Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Entomology Forest Pathology and Forest Protection Vienna Austria
- 7The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Institute of Forest Sciences (ICIFOR‐INIA) Madrid Spain
- 8Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- 9Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities GmbH Plant Sciences Facility Vienna Austria
- 10Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3 Townsville Queensland Australia
- 11Universitat Politècnica de València Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMCP) Valencia Spain
- 12Department of Botany University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria
- 13AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH Center for Health and Bioresources, Bioresources Unit Tulln Austria
Abstract
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.
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BibTeX
@article{ahmad2026unravelling,
title = {{Unravelling the Intraspecific Variation in Drought Responses in Seedlings of European Black Pine (Pinus Nigra J.F. Arnold)}},
author = {Muhammad Ahmad and Almuth Hammerbacher and Clara Priemer and Albert Ciceu and Marta Karolak and Sonja Mader and Sanna Olsson and Johann Schinnerl and Sebastian Seitner and Selina Schöndorfer and Paula Helfenbein and Jakub Jez and Michaela Breuer and Ana Espinosa‐Ruiz and Teresa Caballero and Andrea Ganthaler and Stefan Mayr and Dominik K. Großkinsky and Stefanie Wienkoop and Silvio Schueler and Carlos Trujillo‐Moya and Marcela van Loo},
journal = {Plant, Cell \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1111/pce.70819},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70819},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Unravelling the Intraspecific Variation in Drought Responses in Seedlings of European Black Pine (Pinus Nigra J.F. Arnold)
AU - Muhammad Ahmad
AU - Almuth Hammerbacher
AU - Clara Priemer
AU - Albert Ciceu
AU - Marta Karolak
AU - Sonja Mader
AU - Sanna Olsson
AU - Johann Schinnerl
AU - Sebastian Seitner
AU - Selina Schöndorfer
AU - Paula Helfenbein
AU - Jakub Jez
AU - Michaela Breuer
AU - Ana Espinosa‐Ruiz
AU - Teresa Caballero
AU - Andrea Ganthaler
AU - Stefan Mayr
AU - Dominik K. Großkinsky
AU - Stefanie Wienkoop
AU - Silvio Schueler
AU - Carlos Trujillo‐Moya
AU - Marcela van Loo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/26
JO - Plant, Cell & Environment
DO - 10.1111/pce.70819
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70819
AB - 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.
SN - 0140-7791
SN - 1365-3040
ER -