Plant Science

Biography

Biography: Petronia Carillo

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Plant responses to salinity and drought stresses have been extensively studied to provide new metabolic targets and improving the tolerance to adverse environments. Most of these studies have been performed in growth chambers under the minimum requirement of light sufficient for the maximum photosynthetic efficiency and growth (300–350 μmol m^–2 s^–1 PAR), despite in nature plants face frequently fluctuations of light intensities exceeding their photosynthetic capacity. High light and salinity can be potentially dangerous for the impairment of the plants antioxidant defense mechanisms causing a strong increase of intracellular ROS and oxidative stress. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: In this study durum wheat seedlings were used as experimental model to investigate the plant response to salinity (100 mM NaCl), high light (900 μmol m^–2 s^–1) or both stresses simultaneously, focusing on the physiological and metabolic changes potentially involved in osmotic adjustment and antioxidant defense. Conclusion & Significance: Simultaneous high light and salinity did not cause many specific changes in durum wheat plants, which anyway maintained their viability and photosynthetic efficiency. They fine-tuned relatively few selected metabolites, in particular GABA, amides, minor amino acids, hexoses and proline, which were probably the main responsible for the osmotic adjustment, the biochemical pH-stat, the assimilation of the excess of ammonium, the scavenging of ROS and the signaling under the two stresses. However, even if this study concerns responses of seedlings rather than grain, the simultaneous several fold increase in the concentration of asparagine and hexoses if maintained until grain maturation, could be prone to acrylamide formation during baking and have possible serious food safety implication