title: Sexual Dimorphism in the Response of Mercurialis annua to Stress.
abstract: The research presented stemmed from the observations that female plants of the annual dioecious Mercurialis annua outlive male plants. This led to the hypothesis that female plants of M. annua would be more tolerant to stress than male plants. This hypothesis was addressed in a comprehensive way, by comparing morphological, biochemical and metabolomics changes in female and male plants during their development and under salinity. There were practically no differences between the genders in vegetative development and physiological parameters. However, under salinity conditions, female plants produced significantly more new reproductive nodes. Gender-linked differences in peroxidase (POD) and glutathione transferases (GSTs) were involved in anti-oxidation, detoxification and developmental processes in M. annua. ¹H NMR metabolite profiling of female and male M. annua plants showed that under salinity the activity of the TCA cycle increased. There was also an increase in betaine in both genders, which may be explainable by its osmo-compatible function under salinity. The concentration of ten metabolites changed in both genders, while 'Female-only-response' to salinity was detected for five metabolites. In conclusion, dimorphic responses of M. annua plant genders to stress may be attributed to female plants' capacity to survive and complete the reproductive life cycle.
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel. orlofsky@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ezra M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Orlofsky
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel. kozhoridze@gmx.com.
authors.forename: Giorgi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kozhoridze
authors.affiliation: Environmental Genomics Research Unit, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Neuherberg 85764, Germany. lyudmila.lyubenova@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lyudmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lyubenova
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Biochemie, Technische Universität München, Garching 85748, Germany. elena.ostrozhenkova@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ostrozhenkova
authors.affiliation: Environmental Simulation Research Unit, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Neuherberg 85764, Germany. bwinkler@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: J Barbro
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: Environmental Genomics Research Unit, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Neuherberg 85764, Germany. peter.schroeder@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Biochemie, Technische Universität München, Garching 85748, Germany. adelbert.bacher@t-online.de.
authors.forename: Adelbert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bacher
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Biochemie, Technische Universität München, Garching 85748, Germany. wolfgang.eisenreich@mytum.de.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eisenreich
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel. michagu@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Micha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.affiliation: French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel. avigolan@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Golan-Goldhirsh
keywords: anti-oxidation; dioecious; metabolism; salinity; senescence; stress