Germinal, morphological and genetic aspects of Cissus verticillata and its response to water deficiency and chemical control

• Grant number: 23/13479-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Luis da Costa Aguiar Alves
• Grantee: Bruna Ferrari Schedenffeldt
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The incidence of Cissus verticillata in citrus crops is worrying producers in the Northwest region of the state of São Paulo. Therefore, the objectives of the present work are: a) to evaluate the germination response of C. verticillata under different environmental conditions; b) investigate genetic variation in populations and understand the C. verticillata proteomic characteristics that play crucial roles in its adaptation as a weed in citrus crops; c) in addition to studying the best chemical control strategies to mitigate their impact on citrus plantations. The first part will consist of four laboratory experiments. In the first, different temperatures (T1- 5, T2- 10, T3- 15, T4- 20, T5- 25, T6- 30, T7- 35 and T8- 40oC) will be tested for the germination of C. verticillata seeds. In the second, the photoperiod will be varied (T1-T6). In the third, it will evaluate the influence of sowing depth (T1-0.5; T2-1; T3-2; T4-3; T5-4; T6-5; T7-6; T8-7; T9-8; T10 -9; T11-10 cm). Additionally, there will be a fourth experiment that will investigate the influence of light quality ((T1-white (380 to 760nm), T2-red (700nm), T3-far red (760nm), T4-green (500nm), T5-blue (450nm) and T6-absence of light (0nm)). Evaluation criteria include % germination, speed index and seedling characteristics. The second part will consist of collecting C. verticillata plants from different producers in the northwest region of São Paulo, extract DNA from young leaves, amplify DNA fragments with oligonucleotide primers, and analyze the genetic similarity between accessions. The third consists of carrying out anatomical and morphological analyzes on C. verticillata leaves, including histological sections, staining, and microscopic observations , as well as measuring distinctive characteristics such as length, width and angle of insertion of leaves at different stages of development. The fourth part will consist of cultivating the plants from each accession in a greenhouse, imposing water deficiency on half of them and collect leaves on different days after stress, the proteins expressed under these conditions will later be identified. Finally, control evaluation will be carried out in pre-emergence and post-emergence phases, covering different phenological stages. Statistical analyzes relating to all experiments will be carried out using the R software.