Medicago truncatula response to water-deficit stress: whole plant perspectives

Abstract

Medicago truncatula is a forage legume with agricultural but also scientifical interest, being used as a model plant for the study of legumes’ biology. Within a climate change context, it is of great importance to maintain/increase plant yield in stressful growth conditions to meet the requirements of the increasing world population. In order to achieve this, it is mandatory to further understand the adaptive response of plants to water-deficit stress, for which the use of this model plant results of great utility. In the present study, the simultaneous study of various plant organs with particular focus on the root system allows us a more integrative understanding of water-deficit response mechanisms from a whole-plant perspective. The root tissue was studied in Chapter 1, distinguishing between the thick taproot and the much thinner fibrous root. The different behaviour of both root types under well-watered as well as under water-deficit conditions was studied from a physiological and metabolic perspec-tive. This study highlighted the active role of the taproot rather than being considered a mere nutrient storage organ. The taproot showed a more resilient nature towards water-deficit stress than the fibrous root, while sucrose cleavage modulation, together with proline metabolism sug-gested a crucial role of these pathways in the root adaptation to water-deficit stress. In Chapter 2 we aimed to address different water-deficit conditions that can affect plant water status, using iso-osmotical conditions of salinity (NaCl and KCl), lack of irrigation and an osmoticum (PEG). This approach allows us to identify the similarities and differences in the mechanisms involved in the response to each stress at the whole-plant level. While PEG was dismissed as a reliable drought-stress mimicker, NaCl and KCl led to similar responses, with a slightly higher negative effect of KCl on plant metabolism. On the other hand, an emphasis on the shoot and root protection was observed for NaCl and no-irrigation stress, respectively. The study of the phloem sap allowed us to better understand the responses to the different water-deficit conditions at a whole-plant level. In summary, this study provides further insight into the response at the whole-plant level of M. truncatula to water-deficit conditions from a biochemical, metabolic and physiological point of view.

The Cooperation Regulation of Antioxidative System and Hormone Contents on Physiological Responses of Wedelia trilobata and Wedelia chinensis under Simulated Drought Environment

“…PEG 6000 simulated drought stress closest to the soil drought level. When plants cope with drought stress, their growth were negatively affected, while their different physiological and photosynthesis factors as well as chlorophyll fluorescence were suppressed obviously [ 24 ]. different physiological factors and photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence decreased Insufficient soil water directly leads to slow plant growth and reduced plant height and leaf area, which leads to significantly reduced photosynthesis in plants and a sharp decrease in plant biomass under natural drought stress [ 25 ].…”