Genetic and molecular basis of chlorophyll retention in seeds: a step forward to improve soybean adaptability to climate change

• Grant number: 20/12405-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2020
• End date: July 21, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Agreement: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
• Principal Investigator: Edvaldo Aparecido Amaral da Silva
• Grantee: João Paulo Ribeiro de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/50211-9 - Genetic and molecular basis of chlorophyll in seeds: a step forward to improve soybean adaptability to climate change, AP.TEM

Abstract

Since the dawn of Agriculture, seeds have formed the basis of human civilisation. They provide over 60% of the energy intake of the world's population and guarantee food security by conservation of genetic diversity. Due to global climate change, agricultural areas in the world are increasingly prone to climatic extremes. For most species, extreme temperatures and drought stress drastically affects seed quality. This is particularly problematic in oilseeds, such as soybean and canola, and often results in what is known as the "green seed problem". This is when chlorophyll is retained in ripening seeds, resulting in lower oil and seed quality. Despite its considerable importance for seed quality and food security, the mechanisms underlying chlorophyll degradation in oilseeds are poorly understood, which is a major limiting factor in research into applied solutions to the green seed problem. Over the past years, our groups have accumulated fundamental and applied knowledge on chlorophyll retention in seeds and a solid and fruitful collaboration between Wageningen University and Research and Brazilian research institutes Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) and Embrapa-Soja, both responsible for the transfer of fundamental knowledge into crops. Now we aim to use this knowledge to identify the main regulators of chlorophyll degradation in seeds, to understand the biological significance of chlorophyll in seeds and identify loci responsible for chlorophyll degradation in soybean seeds. For this we propose to use a combination of physiological, genetic and molecular approaches using a model plant to shed light on the molecular regulatory networks of chlorophyll degradation in seeds, concomitantly with a GBS-GWAS approach that will be used in soybean to allow the association between fundamental and applied research. The identification of genetic and molecular markers will greatly aid plant breeders in selecting varieties with desired oil, protein and seed quality traits, together with a low susceptibility to green seed formation. Knowledge obtained from fundamental research can be applied to a range of crops. This may also be applicable not only to soybean but also to other important oil or horticulture species suffering from the green seed problem, such as Brassica spp. (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)

AJALA-LUCCAS, DAIANI; RIBEIRO-OLIVEIRA, JOAO PAULO; TEIXEIRA, RENAKE N.; DUCATTI, KARINA RENOSTRO; FRANCA-NETO, J. B.; HILHORST, HENK W. M.; DA SILVA, EDVALDO APARECIDO AMARAL. The Seed-Seedling Transition in Commercial Soybean Cultivars with the Presence of Greenish Seeds in the Sample: A Perspective from Classical Genetic Parameters. AGRONOMY-BASEL, v. 13, n. 8, p. 20-pg., 2023-08-01. (20/12405-9, 17/50211-9)

RIBEIRO-OLIVEIRA, JOAO PAULO; SILVEIRA, LILIAN E. D.; PINTO, LILIAN V. A.; SILVA, EDVALDO A. A.; HILHORST, HENK W. M.. Clues on an intraspecific communication system in seed-seedling transition. PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, v. 172, n. 3, p. 1609-1618, JUL 2021. (17/50211-9, 20/12405-9)