Oral Presentation International Plant Molecular Biology Conference 2024

Decoding the molecular adaptations in extremophiles under combined water, drought and heat stress conditions (107936)

Silas Wungrampha 1 , Ashwani Pareek 1
  1. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, I AM NOT IN THE U.S. OR CANADA, India

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of diurnal and seasonal (post-monsoon, winter and summer) variations on the coordination between metabolites and ions in Suaeda fruticosa, a plant that thrives well under extreme xerohalophytic environment where extreme of water stress, high temperature and salinity co-exist. To decipher these, we analysed the changes in the morphology, metabolome and ionome in the leaves of S. fruticosa growing in its natural habitat with high salinity (35-65 dSm-1), temperature of 500C and pH (7.5-9.5) during different seasons. We observed dramatic changes in the structure and anatomy of the leaves of S. fruticosa across the three seasons. Additionally, during winter and summer as salinity and pH of the soil increases, Na+ and Cl- ions accumulates abundantly in the leave tissues. However, K+ was maintained at the same physiological limits throughout the seasons. Key metabolites such as sucrose, GABA, glycine and α-linolenic were seen to accumulate abundantly during extreme conditions. In addition, we observed that S. fruticosa accumulate sucrose during the hot seasons (post-monsoon and summer) rather than proline as an osmoprotectant to avoid proline toxicity. Overall, our study reveals novel insights into how S. fruticosa survive under high temperature, salinity and pH. This knowledge will contribute towards raising crop plants having tolerant against multiple stresses.