Do plants remember drought? Hints towards a drought-memory in grasses

The frequency of extreme drought events is projected to increase under global climate change, causing damage to plants and crop yield despite potential acclimation. We investigated whether grasses remain acclimated to drought even after a harvest and remember early summer drought exposure over a whole vegetation period. For this, we compared the response of Arrhenatherum elatius plants under a second, late, drought (they were pre-exposed to an early drought before), to plants exposed to a single, only late, extreme drought. Surprisingly, the percentage of living biomass after a late drought increased for plants that were exposed to drought earlier in the growing season compared to single-stressed plants, even after harvest and resprouting after the first drought. Relative leaf water content did not differ between the two treatments. Net photosynthesis was non-significantly reduced by 25% in recurrent drought treatment. Maximum quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm) and maximum fluorescence (Fm) were reduced in plants that were exposed to recurrent drought. These findings indicated improved photoprotection in double-stressed plants. Our results provide first hints towards a “drought memory” over an entire vegetation period, even after harvest and resprouting. However, the advantage of improved photoprotection might also cause reductions in photosynthesis that could have adverse effects on crop yield under more severe or longer droughts.

Graphical abstractDownload full-size imageResearch highlights▶ Grasses react differently to recurrent drought when compared to a single drought. ▶ Results indicate improved photoprotection of recurrently droughted plants. ▶ “Stress imprints” after stress preexposure can lead to improved performance under recurrent stress exposure. ▶ Differences in reaction to a recurrent drought are obtained after several weeks and harvest.