Impact of ozone pollution on chemical communication in a highly specialized plant-pollinator interaction
Magali Proffit  1, *@  , Antoine Cavé, Benoit Lapeyre, Virginie Vilalta, Annick Lucas, Pierre Arnal, Bruno Buatois, Fernandez Catherine  2@  , Finn Kjellberg, Martine Hossaert-Mckey, Michael Staudt, Elena Ormeno  3@  
1 : Centre d'écologie fonctionnelle et évolutive  (CEFE)  -  Website
CNRS : UMR5175, Université Montpellier II - Sciences et techniques, Université Montpellier I, Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier III, École Pratique des Hautes Études [EPHE]
Campus CNRS - 1919 route de Mende - 34293 Montpellier cedex 5 -  France
2 : Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale  (IMBE)  -  Website
INEE, Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UMR237, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS : UMR7263, INSB, INSU
Faculté de Saint Charles, Case 4 - Bât. Sciences Naturelles, 3, place Victor Hugo, F-13331 Marseille cedex 03, France -  France
3 : Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale  (IMBE)  -  Website
INEE, Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UMR237, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS : UMR7263, INSB, INSU
Aix Marseille Université, Campus Etoile, Faculté St-Jérôme case 421 Av. . escadrille Normandie-Niemen 13397 MARSEILLE CEDEX 20 -  France
* : Corresponding author

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) play a key role in the relationship between plants and their abiotic and biotic environments. For instance, pollinators usually rely on floral scents to locate their host plants. This chemical communication between plant and pollinator can be disturbed by exposure to pollutants such as ozone (O3), whose levels have increased in the troposphere and are predicted to further increase over the coming decades. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of O3 concentration on different steps of the chemical communication between the dioecious Mediterranean fig, Ficus carica, and its highly specific pollinating wasp, Blastophaga psenes. Firstly, using gas chromatography coupled with electroantennographic recordings and behavioral tests, we found that a particular ratio of three VOC is sufficient to attract B. psenes to the inflorescences of F. carica. Secondly, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, we analyzed the VOC emitted by the inflorescences of F. carica in several localities in the French Mediterranean region. Our results revealed that the concentration of O3 the day of collection affects significantly the VOC emitted by the inflorescences, particularly the VOC used by the pollinator to find its host plant. Finally, using behavioral tests in the laboratory, we observed that the exposure of B. psenes to O3 impairs its attraction towards the attractive mixture of VOC. These results demonstrate that O3 pollution has the potential to alter the chemical communication between plants and pollinators, and therefore the crucial ecosystem services provided by pollinators.


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