We initiated the study by retrieval of the climate data from various public simulation platforms available at the World Climate Research Programme database. Based on these models, we experimentally simulated the climate regimes for two regional coordinates, i.e. Central Europe (coordinates near Berlin, Germany) and North Africa (coordinates near Rabat, Morocco). We then examined the effect of the simulated present (year 2020) and future (year 2050) climate regimes on the morphology, physiology, gene expression of Arabidopsis plants originating from Central Europe and North Africa.
The predicted future Central Europe climate will be more favorable for plant growth in terms of biomass and fruit production, while the North African climate will be more stressful (mainly owing to the increased drought) (Figure-1). We also found changes in the life cycle length and temporal shifts in flowering time and fruit ripening. For example, the vegetative growth was prolonged and flowering time was delayed under the simulated 2050 Central Europe conditions, while the plants showed early flowering under 2050 North Africa conditions. These differences correlated with the early developmental adjustments of the plant photosynthetic processes. To obtain an unbiased view of the ongoing molecular processes, we performed whole-genome expression analysis using state-of-the-art technology. This revealed hundreds of differentially expressed genes, many of which pointed towards cell cycle (microtubule movement, cell division, and cell wall organization) changes in response to the simulated 2050 climate. This analysis predicted a shift towards early cell differentiation in Central Europe 2050 conditions, which was confirmed using an independent method. Cultivation under simulated North African conditions (2020 and 2050) showed higher expression from genes associated with the production of flavonoids, which function as antioxidants and shield plants from UV-induced damages. The accumulation of flavonoids was validated also using metabolomics approach, which revealed hyper-accumulation of protective compounds such as kaempferol and cyanidin.
This provides one of the first insights into the molecular and phenotypic changes associated with climate change and sets the stage for innovative routes for sustainable crop production under fluctuating climatic conditions. Importance of this work has been acknowledged by two awards at the international conferences organized by the Society of Experimental Biology (SEB) and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). The experimental results will be published in a peer-reviewed paper and the primary data will be made available through public repositories.
