Research has identified for the first time the mechanisms that trees use to remember unfavorable environmental situations such as heat waves or periods of drought. According to the scientists from the University of Oviedo who lead the work, this memory allows them to respond better and better in successive unfavorable periods, more and more frequent in the current context of climate change, and transmit this information to their children.
The researchers of the study, which is published in the journals The Plant Journal Y Environmental and Experimental BotanyThey also emphasize that climate change is already a reality, temperatures are rising and periods of drought and high irradiation are becoming more frequent. In this context, it is essential to understand the mechanisms that explain how plants respond and adapt to these unfavorable environmental situations.
They have also observed that the tree longevity and their life anchored to the same place leads them to have to endure many stressful situations throughout their lives. Many of them, droughts, waves of heat or cold, parasites, have to experience them, immobile, several times throughout their lives. On the contrary, animals – also humans – have many resources to deal with these situations, from fleeing to building tools or shelters.
“The animal survival It lies largely in experience, which allows us to better assess, anticipate and respond to a risk, and this experience is based on memory”comment Louis Valledor, Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Oviedo. “Although plants are far removed from animals, in our research we have revealed what strategies pine trees have to remember a stress, and how they can pass this knowledge on to their offspring”Add.
Simple memory versus complex memory trees
Plants do not have a complex memory based on a nervous system like that of animals, but have much simpler systems at the cellular level. When the plant is under stress, the epigenetic machinery activates the genes needed to respond. In addition, it modifies transcription so that the cell can synthesize alternative protein forms, called isoforms, which allow it to better withstand stress. Once the stress period is over, most proteins return to their original state.
“With our work we have shown for the first time how this mechanism, called alternative splicing, is maintained for a small number of genes once the stress ceases. This is one of the bases of plant memory”, highlights Víctor Fernández Roces, a researcher in the area of Plant Physiology at the University of Oviedo. The presence of these alternative forms allows plants to respond more quickly and efficiently when a stress situation is repeated, reducing the damage suffered by the plant.
“Furthermore, we have explained the molecular mechanisms involved in the primacy of seeds, that is, how mothers can transmit part of their knowledge to their offspring so that they can better adapt to the environment from the very moment of germination”, comments Lara García-Campa, a researcher in this same area. These mechanisms allow seedlings, generally weak, to overcome their first setbacks better than other competitors in their environment.
Several years of active study
These results are the product of several years of active study for more than a decade in the area of Plant Physiology at the University of Oviedo. “In our group we combine different frontier analytical and molecular approaches, following a systems biology strategy. This allows us to be able to do a kind of ‘biological zoom‘ to explain the physiology of plants based on changes in the expression of their genes, proteins or metabolites”Valledor comments.
These works represent not only a great advance in basic science, discovering new mechanisms involved in the ability to adaptation to the environment and the resilience of trees, but also in applied science, since many of these molecules can be used as biomarkers.
“The biomarkers They will allow selecting those individuals that can best adapt to specific locations and, in addition, provide relevant information to evaluate the physiological state of our forests in real time. They are a key piece to improve their management and sustainability in the current context of climate change”highlights Monica Meijon, Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Oviedo.
Font: SINC Agency
Reference article: https://www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/Los-arboles-aprenden-a-sobrevivir-en-condiciones-adversas-y-transmiten-esa-sabiduria-a-sus-hijos
