PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR BASES OF DROUGHT MEMORY IN SUGARCANE PLANTS

• Grant number: 19/06161-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: June 01, 2019 - May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Vasconcelos Ribeiro
• Grantee: Rafael Vasconcelos Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Adilson Pereira Domingues Júnior ; Alisdair R Fernie ; Eduardo Caruso Machado ; Leonardo Perez de Souza
• Associated grant(s): 20/04652-6 - Impacts of air pollution on productivity of natural and cultivated tropical C4 grasses: implications in the face of land use change in Brazil, AP.R; 19/08047-2 - A multi-platform data integration approach for characterizing drought memory in sugarcane, AP.R SPRINT

Abstract

A recent study of our group has shown that sugarcane plants previously exposed to cycles of water deficit and rehydration or those originated from material that faced water deficit had their photosynthetic performance and growth enhanced when exposed to a new drought event. Plant memory refers to the capacity of a previous exposure to stressful events triggers changes in gene expression patterns that regulate all plant development, allowing a more efficient and rapid response to recurrent stresses. This project aims to identify the molecular, metabolic and physiological markers that would be associated with memory to drought in sugarcane plants and to evaluate its inheritance and persistence in vegetatively propagated plants. For this purpose, untargeted large-scale metabolome and transcriptome analyses will be carried out on leaf, buds and root samples from plants exposed to cycles of drought and rehydration. We will also analyse the physiological and molecular responses of these plants, associating them with memory to drought and their inheritance in propagules. Based on the obtained data, we aim to propose new management practices for pre-sprouted sugarcane plants produced under nursery conditions. In addition, we aim to establish a platform for transcriptomic analysis in sugarcane, which will serve as a basis for the identification and understanding of the molecular mechanisms that allow memory inheritance to environmental stresses. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GALVIZ, YUTCELIA C. F.; RIBEIRO, V, RAFAEL; SOUZA, GUSTAVO M.. Yes, plants do have memory. THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, v. 32, n. 3, AUG 2020. (19/08047-2, 19/06161-2)

RIBEIRO, V, RAFAEL; VITTI, KARINE A.; MARCOS, FERNANDA C. C.; SOUZA, GUSTAVO M.; PISSOLATO, MARIA D.; ALMEIDA, LUIZ FERNANDO R.; MACHADO, EDUARDO C.. Proposal of an index of stability for evaluating plant drought memory: A case study in sugarcane. Journal of Plant Physiology, v. 260, MAY 2021. (19/27106-0, 18/21194-1, 19/06161-2, 19/08047-2)