Ozone induced emissions of biogenic VOC from tobacco : relationships between ozone uptake and emission of LOX products

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. var. Bel W3) plants exposed to ozone (O3) were investigated using proton-transfer-reaction mass-spectrometry (PTR-MS) and gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) to find a quantitative reference for plants' responses to O3 stress. O3 exposures to illuminated plants induced post-exposure VOC emission bursts. The lag time for the onset of volatile C6 emissions produced within the octadecanoid pathway was found to be inversely proportional to O3 uptake, or more precisely, to the O3 flux density into the plants. In cases of short O3 pulses of identical duration the total amount of these emitted C6 VOC was related to the O3 flux density into the plants, and not to ozone concentrations or dose-response relationships such as AOT 40 values. Approximately one C6 product was emitted per five O3 molecules taken up by the plant. A threshold flux density of O3 inducing emissions of C6 products was found to be (1.6 ± 0.7) ×10-8 mol m-2 s-1.