TuMV infection in Arabidopsis: Impact on root development and function

CÁCERES, PABLO DANIEL; MANACORDA, CARLOS AUGUSTO; SUTKA, MOIRA ROMINA; ASURMENDI, SEBASTIÁN; AMODEO, GABRIELA; BAROLI, IRENE

Congreso; XXXIII Argentinian meeting of Plant Physiology (RAFV2021); 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

Characterization of the morphological and physiological outcomes of viral infections is important to objectively quantify the damage caused by them, as well as to envision control strategies that can subsequently be objectively assessed. Due to the importance of water homeostasis and balance during stress, we focused on water management in Arabidopsis under viral infection, a topic that is still poorly understood. Taking into account the interconnectedness of plant tissues, and the spread of virus throughout the entire plant, we studied TuMV impact both at the rosette and root levels. A hydroponic-based system was optimized to gain access to intact root tissue. In this part of our work we show the main results that were found at the root level. Time-course analysis of root length showed that TuMV infection has a strong impact on root length, abruptly arresting growth and inducing curling of the root tissue, mimicking to some extent the phenotypes previously reported in aerial parts. Besides anatomical parameters, root functionality was assessed by measuring hydraulic conductivity (Lp), which was found to increase significantly under TuMV infection. Root hydraulic conductance (Lo) was also normalized by projected rosette area to estimate the capacity of the roots to provide water to leaves. Aquaporin expression was assessed by qPCR and clustering analysis revealed groups with different expression patterns in both root and rosette under TuMV infection. Finally, we show integrated results from rosette and root tissues obtained by means of multivariate analyses.