Stabilization of thylakoid membranes in isoprene-emitting plants reduces formation of reactive oxygen species.

Isoprene is emitted by a significant fraction of the world's vegetation. Isoprene makes leaves more thermotolerant, yet we do not fully understand how. We have recently shown that isoprene stabilizes thylakoid membranes under heat stress. Here we show that heat-stressed, isoprene-emitting transgenic Arabidopsis plants also produce a lower pool of reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species, and that this was especially due to a lower accumulation of H2O2 in isoprene emitting plants. It remains difficult to disentangle whether in heat stressed plants isoprene also directly reacts with and quenches reactive oxygen species (ROS), or reduces ROS formation by stabilizing thylakoids. We present considerations that make the latter a more likely mechanism, under our experimental circumstances.