Stabilizing CROP yield under unfavourable conditions by molecular PRIM(E)ing

Project Information

CropPrime

Grant agreement ID: 101086366

DOI

10.3030/101086366

EC signature date 27 September 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2026

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 1 002 800,00

Coordinated by

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CropPrime (Stabilizing CROP yield under unfavourable conditions by molecular PRIM(E)ing)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Healthy food and environmental protection have become top priorities in modern agriculture that is to provide increasing amounts of food and feed under uncertain climate scenarios. Major threats to food security are the associated abiotic and biotic stresses that cause significant reductions in yield and marketable quality leading to considerable economic losses.
„Plant biostimulants“ are novel agricultural inputs that can refine and improve crop productivity and protection against (a)biotic stresses upon foliar application or when added to the soil. These formulations offer a non-GMO alternative that is easy-to-use, economical, sustainable and applicable to a wide range of plant species.
Plants that have experienced a mild stress episode react differently to subsequent harsher stress than naïve plants. Their response is faster and stronger and has a lesser negative impact on plant physiology and growth. This concept is often referred to as priming or acclimation. Plants can also be chemically primed upon exposure to natural and synthetic small molecules ultimately leading to improved stress performance. It is believed that the stress-protective properties of biostimulants are imparted by their priming effects. Epigenetic and chromatin-based mechanisms are likely at the core of the priming process that can be maintained from a few days to weeks.
In this context, the main objective of the project is to advance our knowledge on crop priming in order to foster the development of innovative and environmentally friendly tools to protect plants from abiotic and biotic stresses. Our research will provide novel insights on the modes of action of seaweed-based biostimulants; study the possible synergistic effects between various bioactive molecules; and identify key stress memory genes and epigenetic mechanisms controlling tolerance to diverse stress stimuli.
CropPrime will have a positive impact on food security by enhancing the productivity of agricultural systems in stressful conditions in this era of climate change. This is of critical importance, since global population constantly rises and this is coupled to increased challenges to agriculture caused by the consequences of climate changes and anthropogenic factors. Moreover, the effective use of improved biostimulants will lower irrigation requirements, thus also reducing the ecological footprint for food production.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the initial phase of the project, we prepared a series of phytophthora extracts to evaluate their bioactivity and stress-protective effects. Three Phytophthora species that represent habitats from both temperate and tropical regions were used in a Soxhlet extraction to prepare different fractions. Subsequently, their impact on viral infection (Tobacco Necrotic Virus A) in Nicotiana tabacum and heat stress alleviating effect on Arabidopsis were explored. Interestingly, all of them showed similar effects and one representative extract was prioritized for further experiments. We observed a decreased viral infection on tobacco plants primed with phytophthora extracts. Arabidopsis plants leaf treated with phytophthora extract did not display any morphological changes under control conditions. Similarly, no differences were observed when the pretreated plants were exposed to heat stress. In contrast, when the phytophthora extracts were applied to the soil, this led to more pronounced heat stress-induced morphological changes. To evaluate the impact of phytophthora extracts on stress signalling pathways, we subjected prom:LUC lines carrying stress-responsive promoter sequence implicated in redox signalling and observed induction of their activation.
To assess the bioactivity of rosemary extracts, we obtained three different extractions by CO2, Soxhlet, and steam distillation. We tested their effect on Arabidopsis plants exposed to heat stress and observed a more pronounced effect of heat stress on pretreated plants.
As an alternative way to enhance plant resistance to pathogens, we explored the activity of extracts of seaweed against various pathosystems (TNVA-Nicotiana tabacum, soybean-TNVA and citrus-Xanthomonas citri). We have observed a protective effect against both viral and bacterial pathogens which is in contrast to the commercially available laminarin which protects only against bacterial pathogens.
To understand the molecular mechanisms behind the action of the commercially available product SuperFifty, we are currently exploring the activation of prom:LUC lines carrying stress-responsive promoter sequences and optimizing a method to quantify changes in histone post-translational modifications that are likely to underlie its priming effect.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The promising positive results obtained with seaweed-based extracts against pathogen infection will be instrumental in developing a product that can be used in various practical scenarios and environmental conditions. Further understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the protective effects will be important to fine-tune the application dose and timing and ensure optimal results. The efficacy of this formulation can be enhanced by combining it with a dsRNA bio fungicide which is developed in parallel. The first steps in identifying promising targets against the economically important fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea have been undertaken. Ten lead candidate genes have been selected using bioinformatics approaches and synthesis of dsRNA is underway.