Assessing the near infrared spectroscopy tool to explore phytochemical profile of N. antartica (ñire)leaves

MARIA GABRIELA MATTERA; MARIANELA BATISTELLI; PABLO PERI ; ALEJANDRO MARTINEZ MEIER

Mendoza

Congreso; VIII Congreso Forestal Latinoamericano V Congreso Forestal Argentino; 2023

Gobierno de Mendoza INTA Conicet Consejo Federal de Inversiones AFoA UNCUYO

Plants have evolved to detect adverse environmental conditions and generate diverse biochemical, morphological and physiological responses in order to grow and survive at a specific environment (Ahanger et al. 2017; Hossain et al. 2018). Plant tolerance to severe abiotic stresses (e.g., heat and drought) involves different strategies ranging from avoidance mechanisms to active protecting actions against damage (Estravis-Barcala et al. 2020). Signaling pathways that involve the reactive oxygen molecules (ROS) production and the activation of antioxidant response are recognized as protective mechanisms. In this regard, several studies have shown how the plant secondary metabolisms evolved in order to play a specific physiological and ecological role for adapting to the growing environment (reviewed by Holopainen et al. 2018). Understanding how plants modulate their responses to different stress factors could help to elucidate and predict if plants can cope with heat and drought, the two major abiotic stressors agents in the context of global climate change. Species that currently grow in areas with ecologicalconditions similar to the changes forecasted (e.g., species that grow at the most xeric end of its distribution) could hold the adaptive capacity to survive and even colonize new areas in future scenarios (Krutovsky 2012). Nothofagus antarctica, a native species of Patagonian template forest, could represent a clear example of this, since it shows the greatest ecological range of the South American Nothofagus genus (Donoso et al. 2006), growing from valley bottoms, steep slopes with shallow soils , floodplain environments and post-fire scrub towards the most xeric limit of the Patagonian forests (Veblen et al. 1996).In addition, this species develops different morphological variants as the result of locally adapted ecotypes (Vidal et al. 2004), an expression of plasticity or a combination of both factors (Steinke et al. 2008). This study aimed at assessing the ability of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRs) tools to distinguish the phytochemical profile (including antioxidant compounds) of two N. antarctica populations.