Cargando…

Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus

Molecular mechanisms that are the base of the strategies adopted by Mediterranean plants to cope with the challenges imposed by limited or excessive solar radiation during the summer season have received limited attention. In our study, conducted on C. incanus plants growing in the shade or in full...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sebastiani, Federico, Torre, Sara, Gori, Antonella, Brunetti, Cecilia, Centritto, Mauro, Ferrini, Francesco, Tattini, Massimiliano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6678608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31340536
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms20143599
_version_ 1783441141196128256
author Sebastiani, Federico
Torre, Sara
Gori, Antonella
Brunetti, Cecilia
Centritto, Mauro
Ferrini, Francesco
Tattini, Massimiliano
author_facet Sebastiani, Federico
Torre, Sara
Gori, Antonella
Brunetti, Cecilia
Centritto, Mauro
Ferrini, Francesco
Tattini, Massimiliano
author_sort Sebastiani, Federico
collection PubMed
description Molecular mechanisms that are the base of the strategies adopted by Mediterranean plants to cope with the challenges imposed by limited or excessive solar radiation during the summer season have received limited attention. In our study, conducted on C. incanus plants growing in the shade or in full sunlight, we performed measurements of relevant physiological traits, such as leaf water potential, gas exchange and PSII photochemistry, RNA-Seq with de-novo assembly, and the analysis of differentially expressed genes. We also identified and quantified photosynthetic pigments, abscisic acid, and flavonoids. Here, we show major mechanisms regulating light perception and signaling which, in turn, sustain the shade avoidance syndrome displayed by the ‘sun loving’ C. incanus. We offer clear evidence of the detrimental effects of excessive light on both the assembly and the stability of PSII, and the activation of a suite of both repair and effective antioxidant mechanisms in sun-adapted leaves. For instance, our study supports the view of major antioxidant functions of zeaxanthin in sunny plants concomitantly challenged by severe drought stress. Finally, our study confirms the multiple functions served by flavonoids, both flavonols and flavanols, in the adaptive mechanisms of plants to the environmental pressures associated to Mediterranean climate.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6678608
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-66786082019-08-19 Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus Sebastiani, Federico Torre, Sara Gori, Antonella Brunetti, Cecilia Centritto, Mauro Ferrini, Francesco Tattini, Massimiliano Int J Mol Sci Article Molecular mechanisms that are the base of the strategies adopted by Mediterranean plants to cope with the challenges imposed by limited or excessive solar radiation during the summer season have received limited attention. In our study, conducted on C. incanus plants growing in the shade or in full sunlight, we performed measurements of relevant physiological traits, such as leaf water potential, gas exchange and PSII photochemistry, RNA-Seq with de-novo assembly, and the analysis of differentially expressed genes. We also identified and quantified photosynthetic pigments, abscisic acid, and flavonoids. Here, we show major mechanisms regulating light perception and signaling which, in turn, sustain the shade avoidance syndrome displayed by the ‘sun loving’ C. incanus. We offer clear evidence of the detrimental effects of excessive light on both the assembly and the stability of PSII, and the activation of a suite of both repair and effective antioxidant mechanisms in sun-adapted leaves. For instance, our study supports the view of major antioxidant functions of zeaxanthin in sunny plants concomitantly challenged by severe drought stress. Finally, our study confirms the multiple functions served by flavonoids, both flavonols and flavanols, in the adaptive mechanisms of plants to the environmental pressures associated to Mediterranean climate. MDPI 2019-07-23 /pmc/articles/PMC6678608/ /pubmed/31340536 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms20143599 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Sebastiani, Federico
Torre, Sara
Gori, Antonella
Brunetti, Cecilia
Centritto, Mauro
Ferrini, Francesco
Tattini, Massimiliano
Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title_full Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title_fullStr Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title_full_unstemmed Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title_short Dissecting Adaptation Mechanisms to Contrasting Solar Irradiance in the Mediterranean Shrub Cistus incanus
title_sort dissecting adaptation mechanisms to contrasting solar irradiance in the mediterranean shrub cistus incanus
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6678608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31340536
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms20143599
work_keys_str_mv AT sebastianifederico dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT torresara dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT goriantonella dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT brunetticecilia dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT centrittomauro dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT ferrinifrancesco dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus
AT tattinimassimiliano dissectingadaptationmechanismstocontrastingsolarirradianceinthemediterraneanshrubcistusincanus