Pseudocrossidium replicatum (Taylor) R.H. Zander is a fully desiccation-tolerant moss that expresses an inducible molecular mechanism in response to severe abiotic stress

Abstract

Key message The moss Pseudocrossidium replicatum is a desiccation-tolerant species that uses an inducible system to withstand severe abiotic stress in both protonemal and gametophore tissues. Abstract Desiccation tolerance (DT) is the ability of cells to recover from an air-dried state. Here, the moss Pseudocrossidium replicatum was identified as a fully desiccation-tolerant (FDT) species. Its gametophores rapidly lost more than 90% of their water content when exposed to a low-humidity atmosphere [23% relative humidity (RH)], but abscisic acid (ABA) pretreatment diminished the final water loss after equilibrium was reached. P. replicatum gametophores maintained good maximum photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (Fv/Fm) for up to two hours during slow dehydration; however, ABA pretreatment induced a faster decrease in the Fv/Fm. ABA also induced a faster recovery of the Fv/Fm after rehydration. Protein synthesis inhibitor treatment before dehydration hampered the recovery of the Fv/Fm when the gametophores were rehydrated after desiccation, suggesting the presence of an inducible protective mechanism that is activated in response to abiotic stress. This observation was also supported by accumulation of soluble sugars in gametophores exposed to ABA or NaCl. Exogenous ABA treatment delayed the germination of P. replicatum spores and induced morphological changes in protonemal cells that resembled brachycytes. Transcriptome analyses revealed the presence of an inducible molecular mechanism in P. replicatum protonemata that was activated in response to dehydration. This study is the first RNA-Seq study of the protonemal tissues of an FDT moss. Our results suggest that P. replicatum is an FDT moss equipped with an inducible molecular response that prepares this species for severe abiotic stress and that ABA plays an important role in this response.

Acclimation of liverwort Marchantia polymorpha to physiological drought reveals important roles of antioxidant enzymes, proline and abscisic acid in land plant adaptation to osmotic stress

“…Proline accumulation was also found to be greatly enhanced in angiosperm rice following its exposure to drought and osmotic stresses ( Mishra et al, 2018 ; Saha, Begum & Nasrin, 2019 ; Saddique et al, 2020 ). Along with angiosperms, the enhanced level of proline accumulation was reported in mosses A. undulatum and Pseudocrossidium replicatum in response to drought stress ( Liang et al, 2013 ; Hu et al, 2016 ; Ríos-Meléndez et al, 2021 ). In our observation, enhanced accumulation of proline in liverwort under physiological drought conditions ( Fig.…”

“…During acclimation to drought stress, land plants undergo numerous changes at their cellular levels, leading to the alteration of morphology and physiology to support their survival against water-scarcity. For instance, mosses concealed their surface area, reorganized their structures and formed unique features like brachycytes in responses to drought and ABA ( Bhyan et al, 2012 ; Takezawa et al, 2015 ; Arif et al, 2019 ; Ríos-Meléndez et al, 2021 ). The moss Sanionia uncinata reduced volume of phyllids and cauloids during their adaptation to dry conditions ( Pizarro et al, 2019 ).…”

A classification method of stress in plants using unsupervised learning algorithm and chlorophyll fluorescence technology

“…The 8°C and 14°C-treated cucumber seedlings F v / F m reached 82.5% and 91.8% of their pre-low temperature treatment levels after 5 days of recovery. It has been suggested that PSII recovery system in the plants was not damaged and chilling injury had little effect on it when F v / F m reached above 0.8 or 95% of their pre-low temperature treatment level ( Ríos-Meléndez et al., 2021 ; Takeuchi et al., 2022 ). Thus, the chilling injury was reversible in this case and could be regarded as slight.…”

Biotechnological Advances to Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops

“…The use of model plants such as Arabidopsis, maize [ 383 ], bryophytes such as Physcomitrium patens (formerly Physcomitrella patens ) [ 384 ], halophytes such as Mesembryanthemum cristallinum [ 385 ], Thellungiella halophila , Aeluropus littoralis [ 386 ], resurrection plants such as Craterostigma plantagineum [ 387 ], Selaginella lepidophylla [ 388 ], and Pseudocrossidium replicatum [ 389 ], as well as important crops including barley, potato, soybean, common bean [ 390 ], tomato [ 391 ], among others, have established the bases of plant abiotic stress biochemical, genetic, molecular, and physiological responses. Genome sequencing, gene annotation, functional Omics, and validation of stress tolerance identified genes from model plants as well as from major crops have been vital.…”