ROOT METABOLIC ADJUSTMENTS IN ILEX PARAGUARIENSIS IN RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

AVICO E,; RODRIGUEZ SALVADOR, A.; DUARTE M.J.; NUNES NESI, A.; RUIZ, OSCAR A.; SANSBERRO P

BUENOS AIRES

Congreso; REUNION CONJUNTA DE SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS; 2017

SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS (AD HOC)

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensisA. St.-Hil) is a subtropical tree species of great economic importance for the Northeastof Argentine. It has been determined that an important factor in theproductivity of this crop is its ability to acclimate to the processes of waterscarcity. With the aim to dilucidated the biochemical mechanisms involved inplant root response to dehydration, three plants from a drought tolerantcultivar were subjected to progressive soil water deficit until Ψsoil= -2MPa, under controlled environmental conditions. Three well-watered plantswere included as controls. Metabolites were extracted from lyophilized roottissue, 16 compounds were determined using enzymatic and colorimetric assays,whereas 44 by GC-MS. The data were coupled to RNA-Seq information (IlluminaHiSeq 1500) obtained from another assay performed under the same experimentalconditions. The metabolites that behaved differentially (t test, p<0.05)between control and stressed plants mainly corresponded to compounds belongingto the family of carbohydrates, amino acids and organic acids (malate, 2-oxoglutaricacid). Even more, several transcripts related to the metabolic pathwaysinvolved were identified and analyzed. Adequate evaluation of metabolomic datain combination with transcriptomic data may contribute to the identification ofbiological markers of tolerance to dehydration in Ilex paraguariensis and selection of candidate genes to transfersuperior characters to this or another crop. Key words: Ilex paraguariensis, metabolome, transcriptome, roots, drought