Water deficit stress induces different monoterpene and sesquiterpene emission changes in Mediterranean species. Relationship between terpene emissions and plant water potential

The effects of water deficit stress and plant water potential (ψ) on monoterpene and sesquiterpene leaf emissions from Rosmarinus officinalis, Pinus halepensis, Cistus albidus and Quercus coccifera were studied over 11 days of water withholding (from t1 to t11), after substrates had achieved their field capacity (control pots: t0). Volatile compounds were sampled from the same twig per plant all throughout the study, using a dynamic bag enclosure system. Volatiles, collected in Tenax TA, were studied by means of GC-FID and GC-MS. Monoterpene emissions of water stressed plants (t1–t11) were either similar to those of control seedlings (R. officinalis and Q. coccifera) or higher (P. halepensis and C. albidus). By contrast, sesquiterpene emissions were strongly reduced or inhibited after four days of water withholding, particularly for R. officinalis, thus altering terpene emission composition. Despite the positive effect of water stress on leaf monoterpene emissions of P. halepensis and C. albidus, the significant correlation between these emissions and ψ showed a slow decrease of these emissions over long term water deficit periods. This contrasted with the rapid decline of sesquiterpene emissions of R. officinalis according to lower values of ψ. These results provide an overall picture of the different responses of monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions to progressive water loss. They also reveal the utility of using ψ for estimating some emission rates of some species according to drought conditions.