Nicotiana tabacum, a prominent crop within the Solanaceae family, possesses specialized hair-like structures known as trichomes on the surface of its aerial parts. These trichomes can be long non-glandular, long glandular, or short glandular. Among those, glandular trichomes serve as a production platform for secondary metabolites of agricultural, pharmacological, and biotechnological interest.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant species with well-studied non-glandular unicellular trichomes, trichomes undergo multiple rounds of endoreduplication, leading to a significant increase in their ploidy level (potentially up to 32C). It is currently not known whether endoreduplication might also play a role in the development of glandular trichomes in N. tabacum.
Our main goals are, firstly, to ascertain the extent of endoreduplication's involvement in the terminal differentiation of long glandular trichomes in tobacco, and secondly, to elucidate the potential impact of this process on the production of secondary metabolites and plant resistance to pests.
To explore the involvement of endoreduplication in N. tabacum long glandular trichomes, we utilized confocal cell imaging to measure the nuclear volume across different cell types and correlate it to ploidy levels. We also are performing fluorescent in situ hybridization experiments to accurately determine the endoreduplication levels within the targeted cells. Moreover, we are creating transgenic tobacco lines featuring altered endoreduplication within their trichomes and correlate it to changes in their secondary metabolite production. Our research aims to uncover the degree and manner in which endoreduplication contributes to trichome development and the production of secondary metabolites, offering potential insights for agricultural and biotechnological applications.