Interaction between the flowering pathway and strigolactone in the stomatal dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana

• Grant number: 24/06721-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Grantee: Alan César Faustinoni Fernandes
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Global warming and climate change broadly impact society, including agriculture. Events such as floods, extreme heat, and prolonged droughts are becoming more common and directly affect agricultural production. To mitigate losses caused by water stress in crops, it is relevant to understand how plants control water loss through transpiration via stomata. Genes from the flowering pathway such as GIGANTEA (GI), and phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), and strigolactones (SLs) regulate this mechanism by controlling stomatal opening and closure. The effect of ABA on stomatal dynamics at the molecular level is well-documented in the literature, including its interaction with GI. As SLs regulate stomatal dynamics through ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways, it remains unclear whether SLs rely on the GI function in this mechanism. Therefore, this work aims to identify a possible genetic and molecular interaction between GI and SLs in stomatal dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana, under optimal and deficient water conditions.