IMPACT OF HEAT WAVES ON SEED DEVELOPMENT IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA AND BRASSICA NAPUS
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | In recent decades, we have witnessed the global effects of climate change with increases in average ambient temperatures and the frequency of heat waves. As a result, crop yields in temperate regions have declined and are expected to decline further in the coming years. In flowering plants, the reproductive phase is a developmental stage sensitive to high temperatures. The response to high temperature involves transcription factors such as phytochrome interacting factors or heat shock factors, chaperone proteins, and phytohormone production, creating a complex response with multiple levels of regulation. Using the tools available at the CEITEC Plant Sciences and Cellular Imaging Core Facilities, we investigated seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus plants under different high temperature scenarios. Our results provide new data on long-term adaptation to high temperatures during the seed production phase. Reduced fertility leads to reduced seed production and seed quality in both species. In Brassica napus, high temperatures above the optimum growth temperature resulted in the production of seeds with ruptured seed coat, a phenotype associated with accelerated embryo development. While the relationships between high temperature, embryo growth rate, and seed coat rupture remain unclear, our data provide novel observations to address the issues linking high temperature responses to seed biomechanical properties. Our work provides insight into the effects of high temperature on seed production and opens the door to a more detailed analysis of the molecular mechanisms responsible for these effects. |
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