Doctorate of Quality

Membres

Publications

Research

Recent presentations of the Research Group in Scientific meetings

3rd Conference of the Polish Society of Plant Experimental Biology,

26-30 August 2007, Warsaw (Poland).

Miquel Ribas-Carbo (Invited lecture) "In vivo activity of the cyanide-resistant respiratory pathway in plants: Regulation and function"

14th Congress of Photosynthesis, 22nd to 27th July 2007, at the SECC in Glasgow.

Jaume Flexas (Invited lecture) Rapid variations of mesophyll conductance in response to changes in CO2 concentration around leaves

Hipólito Medrano (Invited lecture) PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY: Improving plant productivity in semi-arid environmnets

Jeroni Galmés (Poster) A SEARCH FOR PLANT SUPERIOR RUBISCOS: Kinetic variability related to species from extreme environments

Miquel Ribas-Carbo (Poster) Mesophyll conductance to CO2 in Arabidopsis thaliana

XVth International Symposium GESCO 2007, 20th to 23th June 2007, in Porec, Croacia

Maite Moreno and Alicia Pou (Poster) The use of cover crops on Vitis vinifera L. cv Manto Negro under Mediterranean conditions: efffects on physiologiacal and grape quality parameters

Research Projects

Present projects

TITLE: IMPROVEMENT OF NATIVE PERENNIAL FORAGE PLANTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY OF MEDITERRANEAN FARMING SYSTEMS

ORGANIZATION: PERMED PROJECT PL 509140

PERIOD: 2004-2008

Project summary

The amount of water available to agriculture in the Mediterranean is declining because of increasing population pressure and greater incidence of drought. Therefore, the efficiency of the use of water for agricultural production must be maximized, and in this context perennial forage species have a number of advantages in comparison to the predominantly used annuals. They can utilize water throughout the whole year besides being able to halt rangeland degradation, restore soil fertility and enhance forage production, thereby contributing to greater sustainability of rain-fed agricultural systems in the southern European Union and North Africa.
Despite these advantages, the small size of individual national markets has so far worked against the development of a viable forage industry based on perennials. Therefore, by adopting a multi-national approach and targeting the key breeding objectives of superior drought resistance and water use efficiency (WUE), this project aims to produce commercially viable cultivars of a select number of species of broad regional interest and adaptation.
Ten research groups from southern Europe and North Africa will combine to work on species including lucerne, cocksfoot, tall fescue and sulla to enhance cultivar development across environments ranging from the sub-humid to arid. Complementary Workpackages will (i) complete North African forage germplasm collection and evaluation, (ii) assess the use of molecular genetics in breeding of drought resistant lucerne, (iii) evaluate elite forage populations across the region for high WUE and adaptation to drought as bases for new cultivars, (iv) enhance knowledge of physiological traits for drought survival and WUE, and (v) determine optimal use of perennial forages in four representative farming systems. Their results will contribute to the development of technical packages for easy on-farm adoption across the western Mediterranean, thereby ensuring a long-term interest of the seed industry.

TITLE: Effects of drought on photosynthesis and respiration: acclimation and recovery (FORESAR)

ORGANIZATION: CICYT BFU2005-03102/BFI

PERIOD: 2005-2008

The study the combined responses of photosynthesis and respiration to water stress is of significant importance to understand the underlying physiological mechanisms that permit plants to survive under arid and semi-arid conditions, with an important effect on agricultural production and water economy. In the previous project the physiological basis of these processes were determined as a function of the intensity of the stress and its timing. However, it is important not only to know the response of these processes during the imposition of the stress but also its acclimation and its recovery capacity. The present proposal intends to study these aspects rather unknown regardless of its unmistakable relevance.

The core of this proposal is the hypothesis that foresees that the intensity of the stress would affect the recovery of both the photosynthetic and the respiratory metabolism after the stress. It also predicts that the physiological response to both the stress imposition and its recovery will depend on previous acclimation to the stress. Furthermore, the hypothesis suggests that photosynthesis and respiration interact closely during the stress, its acclimation and its recovery, and particularly, the hypothesis gives an important role to the cyanide-resistant alternative respiration during the recovery period. These interactions between intensity, acclimation and recovery and between photosynthesis and respiration should have a clear sign with the specific patterns of gene expression. The specific objectives of this proposal are the following:

1. To confirm that CO2 availability at the chloroplast level is the main limiting factor of photosynthesis under water stress conditions and during plant recovery.
2. To elucidate how the intensity of water stress affects the velocity and the degree of the photosynthetic recovery after re-hydration, as well to find out which physiological mechanisms are the most limiting for each recovery case.
3. To discover the main physiological adjustments contributing to the acclimation of photosynthesis and respiration to water stress.
4. To study the regulation of respiration in different tissues under simulated and its relation with photosynthesis and the total plant carbon balance.
5. To analyse the possible role of the cyanide-resistant respiration on the recovery of photosynthesis after severe water stress.
6. To relate gene expression with the physiological response to different water stress scenarios.

TITLE: OPTIMIZACIÓN DEL USO DEL AGUA EN LA VID: REGULACIÓN Y CONTROL FISIOLÓGICO Y AGRONÓMICO Y EFECTOS EN LA CALIDAD DEL FRUTO. AGUAVID

ORGANIZATION: CICYT AGL 2005-06927-C02-01

PERIOD: 2005-2008

Publications of the Research Group