Phenotypic and metabolic plasticity shapes life-history strategies under combinations of abiotic stresses

Abstract

1 4 1 5 1 6 Running title: Unique acclimations to abiotic-stress combinations 1 7 1 8 2 Abstract 1Plants developed various reversible and non-reversible acclimation mechanisms to cope with the 2 multifaceted nature of abiotic stress combinations. We hypothesized that in order to endure these 3 stress combinations, plants elicit distinctive acclimation strategies through specific trade-offs 4 between reproduction and defense. To investigate Brachypodium distachyon acclimation 5 strategies to combinations of salinity, drought and heat, we applied a system biology approach, 6 integrating physiological, metabolic and transcriptional analyses. We analyzed the trade-offs 7 among functional and performance traits, and their effects on plant fitness. A combination of 8 drought and heat resulted in escape strategy, while under a combination of salinity and heat, 9 plants exhibited avoidance strategy. On the other hand, under combinations of salinity and 1 0 drought, with or without heat stress, plant fitness (i.e. germination rate of subsequent generation) 1 1 was severely impaired. These results indicate that under combined stresses, plants' life-history 1 2 strategies were shaped by the limits of phenotypic and metabolic plasticity and the trade-offs 1 3 between traits, thereby giving raise to distinct acclimations. Our findings provide a mechanistic 1 4 understanding of plant acclimations to combinations of abiotic stresses and shed light on the 1 5 different life-history strategies that can contribute to grass fitness and possibly to their dispersion 1 6 under changing environments. 1 7 1 8 1 9

High Salinity Stimulates the Adaptive Response to Potassium Deficiency Through the Antioxidant and the NADPH-Generating Systems in the Roots and Leaves of the Halophyte Cakile maritima

“…Moreover, the reduction in photosynthetic rate due to K + deficiency, as suggested by the decrease in chlorophyll content, and the replacement of this ion by organic osmolytes or by sodium for osmotic adjustment purposes could result in a decrease in plant growth (Tsay et al 2011;Tränkner et al 2018). Contradictory to our findings, it has been reported an overall additive effect of many stress combinations (Vile et al 2012;Shaar-Moshe et al 2019;Zandalinas et al 2021). Inhibition of plant growth and the photosynthesis process was previously described under salinity or low K + availability (Zorb et al 2014;Houmani et al 2016Houmani et al , 2022.…”

γ-Aminobutyric acid plays a key role in plant acclimation to a combination of high light and heat stress

“…suggests that this pathway could provide an alternative source of ATP in plants subjected to HL+HS stress combination, to counteract the negative effects of the stress combination on PSII and photosynthetic rates (Fig. 1; , as well as to function as compatible solutes (Krasensky and Jonak, 2012;Shaar-Moshe et al, 2019). Moreover, the levels of glycolysis-derived aromatic amino acids produced through the shikimate pathway, tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine, as well as amino acids synthesized from pyruvate, including alanine, leucine, valine and isoleucine significantly increased during a combination of HL+HS (Fig.…”

Evolutionary and ecological functional genomics, from lab to the wild

“…In particular, GWAS revealed distinct genetic architectures for single and combined stress responses (Davila Olivas et al ., ,; Thoen et al ., ). Furthermore, there is phenotypic plasticity for a plant's response to combinations of stresses (Weston et al ., ; Atkinson et al ., ; Shaar‐Moshe et al ., ).…”