Climate change threatens worldwide grapevine production, especially in Mediterranean areas. To assume this challenge, the replacement of plant material to choose one more adapted to the new environmental conditions has been proposed as one of the possible solutions. Thus, the study of genetic variability in water-use efficiency (WUE) is needed to guarantee the survival of viticulture in those critical areas. In this study, the variability of WUE in 23 Tempranillo clones growth in pots and submitted to well-watered conditions and moderate water stress was studied along two consecutive years. Leaf net photosynthesis (AN), stomatal conductance (gs), and plant growth parameters were measured, in addition the instrisic WUE (AN/gs), biomass production, and water consumed were calculated. Results show a clear genotype effect for most of the studied parameters, but, with an important year by year variability. We identified different clonal behavior in response to soil water availability, that permits to classify them as water-savers vs water-spenders. In general, there was no found relationship between leaf and plant WUE, even some genotypes as 232 or 1048 were coincident in higher leaf WUE showed highly productive in terms of biomass accumulation per unit of water applied.
One way to face the consequences of climate change and the expected increase in water availability in agriculture is to find genotypes that can sustain production at a lower water cost. This theoretically can be achieved by using genetic material with an increased water use efficiency. We compared the leaf Water Use Efficiency (WUEi) under realistic field conditions in 14 vine genotypes of the Tempranillo cultivar (clones), in two sites of Northern Spain for three and five years each to evaluate (1) if a clonal diversity exists for this traits among those selected clones and (2) the stability of those differences over several years. The ranking of the different clones showed significant differences in WUEi that were maintained over years in most of the cases. Different statistical analyses gave coincident information and allowed the identification of some clones systematically that had a higher WUEi or a lower WUEi. These methods also allowed the identification of the underlying physiological process that caused those differences and showed that clones with a higher WUEi are likely to have an increased photosynthetic capacity (rather than a different stomatal control). Those differences could be useful to orientate the decision for vines selection programs in the near future.
Respiration is an oxidative process controlled by three pathways: glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Respiratory metabolism is ubiquitous in all organisms, but with differences among each other. For example in plants, because their high plasticity, respiration involves metabolic pathways with unique characteristics. In this way, in order to avoid states of low energy availability, plants exhibit great flexibility to bypass conventional steps of glycolysis, TCA cycle, and OXPHOS. To understand the energetic link between these alternative pathways, it is important to know the growth, maintenance, and ion uptake components of the respiration in plants. Changes in these components have been reported when plants are subjected to stress, such as oxygen deficiency. This review analyzes the current knowledge on the metabolic and functional aspects of plant respiration, its components and its response to environmental changes.
Plants are permanently facing challenges imposed by the environment which, in the context of the current scenario of global climate change, implies a constant process of adaptation to survive and even, in the case of crops, at least maintain yield. O2 deficiency at the rhizosphere level, i.e., root hypoxia, is one of the factors with the greatest impact at whole-plant level. At cellular level, this O2 deficiency provokes a disturbance in the energy metabolism which has notable consequences on the yield of plant crops. In this sense, although several physiological studies describe processes involved in plant adaptation to root hypoxia in woody fruit trees, with emphasis on the negative impacts on photosynthetic rate, there are very few studies that include -omics strategies for specifically understanding these processes in the roots of such species. Through a de novo assembly approach, a comparative transcriptome study of waterlogged Prunus spp. genotypes contrasting in their tolerance to root hypoxia was revisited in order to gain a deeper insight into the reconfiguration of pivotal pathways involved in energy metabolism. This re-analysis describes the classically altered pathways seen in the roots of woody fruit trees under hypoxia, but also routes that link them to pathways involved with nitrogen assimilation and the maintenance of cytoplasmic pH and glycolytic flow. In addition, the effects of root hypoxia on the transcription of genes related to the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system, responsible for providing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to the cell, are discussed in terms of their roles in the energy balance, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism and aerenchyma formation. This review compiles key findings that help to explain the trait of tolerance to root hypoxia in woody fruit species, giving special attention to their strategies for managing the energy crisis. Finally, research challenges addressing less-explored topics in recovery and stress memory in woody fruit trees are pointed out.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.