Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Leaf metabolic traits reveal hidden dimensions of plant form and function

  • Tom W. N. Walker
  • , Franziska Schrodt
  • , Pierre-Marie Allard
  • , Emmanuel Defossez
  • , Vincent E. J. Jassey
  • , Meredith C. Schuman
  • , Jake M. Alexander
  • , Oliver Baines
  • , Virginie Baldy
  • , Richard Bardgett
  • , Pol Capdevila
  • , Phyllis D. Coley
  • , Nicole M. van dam
  • , Bruno David
  • , Patrice Descombes
  • , María-José Endara
  • , Catherine Fernandez
  • , Dale Forrister
  • , Albert Gargallo-Garriga
  • , Gaëtan Glauser
  • Sue Marr, Steffen Neumann, Loïc Pellissier, Kristian Peters, Sergio Rasmann, Ute Roessner, Roberto Salguero-gómez, Jordi Sardans, Wolfram Weckwerth, Jean-Luc Wolfender, Josep Peñuelas
  • ETH Zurich (Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich)
  • University of Nottingham
  • Universite de Geneve (University of Geneva)
  • Universite de Neuchatel
  • Université de Toulouse
  • University of Zurich
  • University of Aarhus
  • Universite d'Avignon
  • Universitat de Barcelona
  • University of Utah
  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
  • Institut de Recherche Pierre Fabre
  • Musée et Jardins botaniques cantonaux, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Universidad de Las Américas
  • Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  • Martin-Luther University Halle Wittenberg
  • Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemisty
  • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Landscape and Snow Research
  • Australian National University
  • Oxford University
  • CREAF
  • University of Vienna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

207 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The metabolome is the biochemical basis of plant form and function, but we know little about its macroecological variation across the plant kingdom. Here, we used the plant functional trait concept to interpret leaf metabolome variation among 457 tropical and 339 temperate plant species. Distilling metabolite chemistry into five metabolic functional traits reveals that plants vary on two major axes of leaf metabolic specialization—a leaf chemical defense spectrum and an expression of leaf longevity. Axes are similar for tropical and temperate species, with many trait combinations being viable. However, metabolic traits vary orthogonally to life-history strategies described by widely used functional traits. The metabolome thus expands the functional trait concept by providing additional axes of metabolic specialization for examining plant form and function.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadi4029
JournalScience Advances
Volume9
Issue number35
Early online date30 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2023

Keywords

  • Longevity
  • Metabolome
  • Phenotype
  • Plant Leaves

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Leaf metabolic traits reveal hidden dimensions of plant form and function'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this