Analysis of the metabolomic profile of Anthoceros hispidus Steph. (Anthocerotaceae)

• Grant number: 21/06227-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2022
• End date: May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Principal Investigator: Cláudia Maria Furlan
• Grantee: Ivan Hurtado Caceres
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

From the appearance of the first embryophytes to the present, an evolutionary process has occurred that supposes an enormous adaptive feat in the face of the metabolic consequences of environmental stress, hence the establishment of optimal and comfortable plant life, despite a sessile condition, it was achieved mainly by innovation of chemical mechanisms in various terrestrial spaces. For this reason, the chemical profiles and biosynthetic mechanisms of embryophytes have been widely studied, but based on model angiosperm systems, which has limited the understanding of the origins and evolution of their biosynthetic pathways. Therefore, questions arise such as: When did the chemical mechanisms emerge? What do representatives closest to an ancestral condition tell us about evolutionary success in the face of abrupt concentrations of solar radiation or other stressors? Are chemical mechanisms yet to be discovered? Given this, bryophytes have emerged as key model systems, since they represent an ancestral condition for embryophytes; however, within the three bryophyte lineages, hornworts have been the least studied and most intriguing group to date, despite having very few species and unique physiological characteristics. Consequently, this pioneering metabolomic research in Anthoceros hispidus is based on obtaining unpublished data that favor the chemical characterization of hornworts, especially in the understanding of flavonoid biosynthesis, and provide the basis for understanding the metabolic variation as a function of the phylogenetic position, seasonal change and development.