EvoPlant-The biochemical and diffusive optimisation of photosynthesis: evolutionary implications for the development of climate resilient productive plants (DBA.AD002.498)
Thematic area
Biology, agriculture and food sciences
Project area
Ottimizzazione dell'uso delle risorse naturali negli ecosistemi agricoli e forestali (DBA.AD002)Structure responsible for the research project
Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP)
Project manager
DUNCANMATTHEW HAWORTH
Phone number: 0555225578
Email: matthew.haworth@ipsp.cnr.it
Abstract
EvoPlant will use the evolution of stomata, photosynthesis and gas exchange to provide a basis for the development of climate resilient ideotype plants. Plant evolution has been shaped by the strong selective pressures exerted by the atmospheric [CO2], water availability and temperature. This has resulted in clear evolutionary patterns in leaf traits: stomatal and mesophyll conductance to CO2, anatomy (the number / size of stomata, kidney vs dumb-bell stomata, distribution of stomata over one or both leaf surfaces, and mesophyll structure), hydraulic conductivity and the biochemical efficiency of CO2 assimilation. Analysis of these evolutionary trajectories not only informs our understanding of the origins of contemporary vegetation, but also the impacts of rising [CO2] and temperature on the traits conducive to crop enhanced productivity and stress tolerance. EvoPlant will utilize evolutionary phylogenetics to ascertain the stomatal physiological/morphological, mesophyll biochemical/anatomical, photosynthetic, stress signalling, and genetic patterns present in evolutionary groups and to identify leaf traits to be used in developing productive and climate resilient C3 crops.
Goals
- Evolutionary trajectories of the allocation of the epidermis to stomata, physiological stomatal control & the development of amphystomaty.
- evolution and functional consequences of kidney versus dumb-bell stomatal complexes.
- Optimization and coordination of hydraulic, diffusive and biochemical limits to photosynthesis: from anatomy to physiology.
- assess diffusive and biochemical photosynthetic traits across an evolutionary range of species in relation to leaf hydraulic conductance and safety.
- Assess how the domestication and breeding of durum wheat acted on stomatal anatomy/physiology and leaf hydraulics has affected climate resilience? Relationships between genome size, stomatal size, and stomatal
function.
Start date of activity
07/05/2022
Keywords
evolutionary biology,, ecophysiology,phylogeny, climate change,plant breeding
Last update: 20/04/2024