Volume: 3, 2024
3rd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland:
ENVIRONMENT – PLANT – ANIMAL – PRODUCT
Abstract number: P009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL3.P009
Published online: 24 April 2024
ICDSUPL, 3, P009 (2024)
A history of how plants survive the darkness. Plant stress memory in barley
Julia Maciorowska1*, Magda Grabsztunowicz1, Ewa Sobieszczuk-Nowicka
1 Plant Physiology Department, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
* Corresponding author: julia.maciorowska@amu.edu.pl
Abstract
Nowadays, plants are exposed to stress conditions due to climate changes. Plant stress memory is based on the phenomenon that plants can remember past environmental events and use these memories to aid responses when these events recur. In this study, we aimed to unfold some aspects of the intragenerational memory that helps plants respond swiftly to immediate stressors within the same generation and intergenerational memory that ensures the offspring inherit a degree of resilience, enhancing their chances of survival. Barley plants were exposed to darkness, following the Dark-Induced-Leaf-Senescence (DILS) model [Sobieszczuk-Nowicka et al. 2018], and then followed by a recovery phase. To study intragenerational memory, plants were exposed to secondary dark stress and then re-exposed to light. For the analysis of intergenerationally inherited stress memory, plants exposed to dark stress were grown until seed production. Subsequently, the response to DILS in the F0 and F1 generation was studied. High-throughput phenotyping analyses were performed to detect early stress in barley plants. To do so, the maximum quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm) was determined. The secondary dark stress caused a more pronounced decrease in the Fv/Fm parameter compared to the primary stress. During the regeneration phase, the plants returned to optimal conditions. The more pronounced decrease in values after the secondary stress does not exclude the occurrence of plant memory observed during the regeneration phase. The general pattern of response was similar in F0 and F1 plants. However, the effect of stress was more pronounced in the F1 generation. The occurrence of plant memory is determined by several factors. The lower values of the Fv/Fm parameter in the F1 generation may be due to the degradation of chloroplast proteins resulting from the intensive remobilization of some plants. Preliminary observations suggest a similar response to primary and secondary stress. The decline in the Fv/Fm parameter is deeper in the F1 generation, indicating the occurrence of stress conditions. The results of this study will allow the analysis of transgenerational memory in more than two generations, which contributes to the long-term evolution of stress resistance in crop populations. Furthermore, the results will allow the analysis of epigenetic mechanisms of plant stress memory.
This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (project number 2018/30/E/NZ9/00827).
Keywords: plant memory, barley, senescence, dark stress
How to cite
J. Maciorowska, M. Grabsztunowicz, E. Sobieszczuk-Nowicka, 2024. A history of how plants survive the darkness. Plant stress memory in barley. In: 3rd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland: Environment – Plant – Animal – Product. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL3.P009