Descripción del proyecto
ABIOTIC STRESSES SUCH AS DROUGHT, HEAT OR SALINITY ARE MAJOR CAUSES OF YIELD LOSS WORLDWIDE, RECENT STUDIES FROM OUR RESEARCH GROUP HAVE REVEALED THAT THE ACCLIMATION OF PLANTS TO A COMBINATION OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES IS UNIQUE AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE DIRECTLY DEDUCED FROM STUDYING THE RESPONSE OF PLANTS TO EACH OF THE DIFFERENT STRESSES APPLIED INDIVIDUALLY, IN THIS LIGHT, IMPROVING PLANT GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE CONDITIONS PREDICTED WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGES TASKS, BUT NECESSARY TO MEET THE FEED NEEDS OF THE INCREASING WORLD POPULATION IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THERE ARE NUMEROUS PROCESSES THAT STIMULATE THE DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF PLANTS, SUCH PROCESSES ARE CONTINUOUSLY GOVERNED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY PHYTOHORMONES, IN THIS SENSE, ABA PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLES IN MANY CELLULAR PROCESSES INCLUDING SEED DEVELOPMENT, DORMANCY, GERMINATION, VEGETATIVE GROWTH, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS RESPONSES, ALTHOUGH MUCH REMAINS TO BE LEARNED ABOUT ABA REGULATORY MECHANISMS, EVIDENCE THUS FAR INDICATES THAT ABA BIOSYNTHESIS IS SUBJECT TO COMPLEX REGULATION DURING PLANT DEVELOPMENT AND IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES, THE NEW CHALLENGE IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW ITS BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY IS REGULATED AND HOW IT MAY ARTICULATE AND INTERCONNECT WITH OTHER IMPORTANT STRESS-RELATED PATHWAYS UNDER ABIOTIC STRESS COMBINATION, THIS PROJECT AIMS AT GENERATING FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ORIENTED TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN MECHANISMS IMPLIED IN THE PLANT RESPONSE TO ABIOTIC STRESS COMBINATIONS, WITH AND SPECIAL EMPHASIS IN ABA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STRESS-RELATED PATHWAYS, WE WILL FOCUS PRIMARILY ON THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MAIN PHYSIOLOGICAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR CHANGES OBSERVED IN ABA TOMATO MUTANTS SITIENS (SIT) AND FLACCA (FLC), BOTH WITH THE LAST STEP IN ABA SYNTHESIS TRUNCATED, UNDER THE COMBINATION OF SALINITY AND HEAT, WE WILL FOCUS WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS IN THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ABA, ROS AND NITROGEN METABOLISM SIGNALING DURING ABIOTIC STRESS COMBINATION, IN ADDITION, MORE TRANSVERSAL OBJECTIVES WILL BE ADDRESSED, INCLUDING THE MORPHOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DIFFERENT MUTANTS UNDER STRESS COMBINATION, THE GENERATION OF TRANSCRIPTOMIC, METABOLOMICS AND IONOMICS DATA FROM THE TWO ABA MUTANTS, AND ABA EFFECT ON YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY UNDER THE FIELD ENVIRONMENT, MUTANTES DE ABA\COMBINACIÓN DE ESTRESES ABIÓTICOS\TOMATE\ÓMICAS\FISIOLOGÍA VEGETAL\BIOQUÍMICA VEGETAL\BIOLOGÍA MOLECULAR