Datasets for article Effect of disease prevalence and growth stage on symptoms severity in the Turnip mosaic virus - Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem

Plants generate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in response to biotic and abiotic stimuli that provide information about the physiological status of emitters to other individuals in the community.  Nearby receivers adjust their own defenses in response to these chemical cues.  The majority of studies to date has concentrated on the communication of abiotic stressors (e.g. salinity or drought) or herbivory.  Less attention had received the role of VOCs during microbial infections and almost nothing has been done for viruses.  Here we investigated the function of VOCs during turnip mosaic virus infection of Arabidopsis thaliana.  First, we looked at the influence of two factors on the kinetics of symptoms progression in receivers, namely the prevalence of infection in the population and the growth stage of the receiver plants at inoculation.  We found that young plants were more sensitive to the protective effect of VOCs than older ones, and that high infection prevalence results in a slower disease progression in receivers.  Second, we looked into the possibility that jasmonates could be VOC candidates.  To do this, we examined the kinetics of symptoms progression in jasmonate-insensitive and wild-type plants, and the results showed that the protective effect vanished in the mutant plants.  Third, we investigated the possibility that root communication would be also relevant.  Our findings showed that the kinetics of symptom progression across receivers was further slowed down when plants were housed in the same pot.  Together, our preliminary findings point to a potential function for disease prevalence in plant communities in regulating the severity of symptoms, this effect being mediated by VOCs.

植物会在受到生物或非生物胁迫时产生挥发性有机化合物（volatile organic compounds, VOCs），这类物质可向植物群落中的其他个体传递释放体的生理状态信息。邻近的接收植株会响应这些化学信号，调整自身的防御体系。迄今为止，绝大多数已有研究均聚焦于非生物胁迫因子（如盐胁迫或干旱）或植食性相关的VOC通讯。针对微生物侵染过程中VOC的作用，相关研究仍较为匮乏，而针对病毒介导过程的相关研究则几乎空白。本研究以拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）受芜菁花叶病毒（turnip mosaic virus）侵染为模型，探究了该过程中VOC的功能。
首先，我们考察了两个因素对接收植株症状进展动力学的影响：一是种群中的感染率，二是接收植株接种时的生长阶段。研究结果显示，幼龄植株较老龄植株对VOC的保护效应更为敏感，且较高的种群感染率会减缓接收植株的病害进展速度。
其次，我们探究了茉莉素类物质（jasmonates）作为潜在VOC信号分子的可能性。为此，我们检测了茉莉素不敏感型突变体与野生型植株的症状进展动力学，结果表明，突变体植株中VOC的保护效应完全消失。
第三，我们探究了根系通讯是否参与该调控过程。研究结果发现，当植株被种植于同一盆中时，接收植株的症状进展动力学会进一步减缓。
综上，本研究的初步结果表明，植物群落中的病害流行率具备调控症状严重程度的潜在功能，该效应由VOCs介导。