Biology subjects

Lucini, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Lucini, L..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Single and combined effect of salinity, heat, cold, and drought in Arabidopsis at metabolomics and photosynthetic levels

Ensuring food security is one of the main challenges related to a growing global population under climate change conditions. The increasing soil salinity levels, drought, heatwaves, and late chilling severely threaten crops and often co-occur in field conditions. This work aims to provide deeper insight into the impact of single vs combined abiotic stresses at the growth, biochemical and photosynthetic levels in Arabidopsis thaliana L. By studying single and combined stresses, stress interactions and synergic effects have been highlighted. Lower photosynthetic efficiency was recorded from the beginning in all the conditions that included salinity. Consistently, membrane stability and ROS production, combined with a targeted metabolomic quantification of glycine, GABA, proline, and glycine-betaine molecular markers, highlighted the hierarchically stronger impact of salinity and its combinations on plant biochemistry. Untargeted metabolomics coupled with multivariate statistics pointed out distinct metabolic reprogramming triggered by the different stress conditions, either alone or in combination, differentiating the impact of salinity, drought, and their combination with cold and heat. These results contribute to delving into the impact of various stress combinations, hierarchically highlighting the stress-specific effects and pointing out different interactions. HIGHLIGHTSCombined stresses highlighted synergic and stronger impact on Arabidopsis secondary metabolism, redox imbalance and photosynthetic performance compared to individual stresses. Overall, salinity and its combination were the most impactful.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2024

Multi-Omics Exploration of ABA Involvement in Identifying Unique Molecular Markers for Single and Combined Stresses in tomato plants

Over the past decade, our research group has found that plant responses to combined abiotic stresses are unique and cannot be inferred from studying plants exposed to individual stresses. Adaptive mechanisms involve changes in gene expression, ion regulation, hormonal balance, and metabolite biosynthesis or degradation. Understanding how these mechanisms integrate from stress perception to biochemical and physiological adjustments is a major challenge in abiotic stress signaling studies. Today, vast amounts of -omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, phenomics) are readily available. Additonally, each -omic level is regulated and influenced by the others, highlighting the complexity of plant metabolisms response to stress. Considering abscisic acid (ABA) as a key regulator in plant abiotic stress responses, in our study, ABA-deficient plants (flc) exposed to single or combined salinity and heat stresses were evaluated and different -omics analyses were conducted. Significant changes in biomass, photosynthesis, ions, transcripts, and metabolites occurred in mutant plants under single or combined stresses. Exogenous ABA application in flc mutants did not fully recover plant phenotypes or metabolic levels but induced cellular reprogramming with changes in specific markers. Multi-omics analysis aimed to identify ABA-dependent, ABA-independent, or stress-dependent markers in plant responses to single or combined stresses. We demonstrated that studying different -omics together identifies specific markers for each stress condition not detectable individually. Our findings provide insight into specific metabolic markers in plant responses to single and combined stresses, highlighting specific regulation of metabolic pathways, ion absorption, and physiological responses crucial for plant tolerance to climate change. HighlightThe integration of different -omics has enabled the identification of specific ABA-dependent or -independent markers for single or combined abiotic stresses. These markers were not initially detectable when studying the different -omics individually.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

A metabolomics insight into the Cyclic Nucleotide Monophosphate signaling cascade in tomato under non-stress and salinity conditions

Cyclic Nucleotides Monophosphate (cNMP) are key signalling compounds whose role in plant cell signal transduction is till poorly understood. In this work we used sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor used in human, to amplify the signal cascade triggered by cNMP using tomato as model plant. Metabolomics was then used, together with plant growth and root architecture parameters, to unravel the changes elicited by PDE inhibition either under non-stress and 100 mM NaCl salinity conditions. The PDE inhibitor elicited a significant increase in biomass (+62%) and root length (+56%) under no stress conditions, and affected root architecture in terms of distribution over diameter classes. Together with cGMP, others cNMP were modulated by the treatment. Moreover, PDE inhibition triggered a broad metabolic reprogramming involving photosynthesis and secondary metabolism. A complex crosstalk network of phytohormones and other signalling compounds could be observed in treated plants. Nonetheless, metabolites related to redox imbalance processes and NO signalling could be highlighted in tomato following PDE application. Despite salinity damped down the growth-promoting effects of sildenafil, interesting implications in plant mitigation to stress-related detrimental effects could be observed. HIGHLIGHTThe role of Cyclic Nucleotides Monophosphate in plant cell signal transduction involves regulation of plant growth and architecture, together with a broad biochemical reprogramming of metabolism.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The hidden effects of agrochemicals on plant metabolism and root-associated microorganisms

Agrochemicals are commonly used in agriculture to protect crops and ensure yields. Several of them are mobile within the plant and, being perceived as xenobiotics regardless of their protective/curative roles, they induce a reprogramming of secondary metabolism linked to the detoxification processes even in the absence of phenotype symptoms. Moreover, it is well documented that plants, thanks to the root exudation of different metabolites, are able to shape the microbial population at the rhizosphere and to significantly affect the processes occurring therein. Here we show that plant metabolic response to foliarly-applied pesticides is much broader than what previously thought and includes diverse and compound-specific hidden processes. Among others, stress-related metabolism and phytohormones profile underwent a considerable reorganization. Moreover, a distinctive microbial rearrangement of the rhizosphere was recorded following foliar application of pesticides. Such effects have unavoidably energetic and metabolic costs for the plant paving the way to both positive and negative aspects. The understanding of these effects is crucial for an increasingly sustainable use of pesticides in agriculture. HighlightThe foliar application of pesticides induces a broad metabolic reprogramming in plant and shapes the microbial population of the rhizosphere.

plant biology↗