Extreme physiology: Biomass and transcriptional profiling of three abandoned Agave cultivars

Author(s):Show less -

Raya, Fabio Trigo ^[1] ; Marone, Marina Pupke ^[1] ; Carvalho, Lucas Miguel ^[1] ; Rabelo, Sarita Candida ^[2] ; de Paula, Maiki Soares ^[1] ; Campanari, Maria Fernanda Zaneli ^[1] ; Freschi, Luciano ^[3] ; Mayer, Juliana Lischka Sampaio ^[4] ; Silva, Odilon Reny Ribeiro Ferreira ^[5] ; Mieczkowski, Piotr ^[6] ; Carazzolle, Marcelo Falsarella ^{[1, 7]} ; Pereira, Goncalo Amarante Guimaraes ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Genet Evolucao Microbiol & Imunol, Lab Genom & BioEnergia, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Bioproc & Biotecnol, Fac Ciencias & Agron, Campus Botucatu, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Bot, Inst Biociencias, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Vegetal, Lab Anat Vegetal, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[5] EMBRAPA, Empresa Brasileira Pesquisa Agropecuaria Algodao, BR-58428095 Campina Grande, Paraiba - Brazil

^[6] UNC, Sch Med, High Throughput Sequencing Facil, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 - USA

^[7] Univ Estadual Campinas, Ctr Computacao Engn & Ciencias, BR-13083861 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS; v. 172, NOV 15 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Agaves have been used for centuries as a feedstock in dryland areas for fibers, food, and beverages, and have enormous potential for biofuel production. Brazil is the world's largest producer of Agave fiber (sisal). However, since the development of synthetic fibers, the national investment in Agave research has decreased drastically, leading to the cessation of the country's breeding programs. What is left of the Brazilian elite cultivars were planted at a germplasm bank in the middle of the semiarid. Surprisingly, after 7 years of abandonment, the plants were still healthy and did not show any clear signs of stress. Here, we aimed to investigate how these plants managed to cope with this environment and the molecular basis of their biomass traits. We assembled the transcriptomic atlas of Agave sisalana, Agave fourcroydes, and Agave hybrid 11648 ((A. amaniensis x A. angustifolia) x A. amaniensis). We observed that the cultivars activated a highly overlapping set of stress response genes, which were the most expressed transcripts. Also, raffinose was detected at high concentrations, possibly acting as an osmolyte, though differences at its biosynthesis have been found depending on cultivar. Finally, we observed differences in recalcitrance that could be attributed to lignin composition and its biosynthetic pathway. Our data contribute new insights that can help molecular breeders to correspond to emerging expectations for Agave as biorenewables feedstocks for dryland areas. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/05396-8 - Gene expression of Agave spp. for bioenergy: exploiting the potential of CAM plants
• Grantee: Fábio Trigo Raya
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 17/04900-7 - Transcriptome analysis of Agave spp
• Grantee: Fábio Trigo Raya
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• FAPESP's process: 13/08293-7 - CCES - Center for Computational Engineering and Sciences
• Grantee: Munir Salomao Skaf
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC