Publication details
EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURES ON FLOWERING ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| Citation | |
| Description | In the last decades, the average annual temperatures have increased. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2017), a further increase is anticipated in the frequency and intensity of extreme climate conditions, such as heatwaves, intense precipitations, and drought. High ambient temperatures impair crop production, shortening the life cycle of crops, and reducing the grain yield. The reproductive phase has been suggested to be the most sensitive to high-temperature conditions due to heat-induced sterility and defective female and male gametophyte development. It results in reduced pollen tube growth in the stigma and style, leading to a lower number of fertilised ovules. The auxin and cytokinin plant hormones regulate plant development, including one of seedpods, ovules, seeds, and embryos. Heat stress has shown to alter hormone metabolism. Our project aims to study how high temperatures affect the development of flowering Arabidopsis thaliana, focusing on the development of seeds. Our results show that high temperatures accelerate the inflorescence stem growth, increasing the number of flowers in the primary inflorescence. Nevertheless, the length of siliques and the pollination rate are reduced when temperatures are high. Embryo development is also accelerated, and, in many cases, embryos display developmental defects, similar to what is observed in various auxin mutants. These results suggest that high temperatures alter the proper development of the inflorescence and embryos in a hormone-dependent way. |