Temperature effects on pollen performance and their consequences for seed reproduction in wild plants
Developmental Biology
Plant Physiology
Final Report Abstract
The intimate connection between environmental conditions and the success of plant sexual reproduction has long been recognized but has become particularly significant over the last two decades due to climate change's detrimental effects on crops. These effects include immediate crop failures and a gradual decline in seed yield, influencing plant biology and ecology. Our project specifically investigates how temperature variations affect pollen – the most temperature-sensitive component of plant reproduction – and its quality, quantity, and performance under temperature stress. Pollen performance is critical as it directly correlates with a plant's ability to reproduce successfully. Stress from elevated temperatures often results in the production of less, and lower quality, pollen due to its direct exposure to harsh conditions. While plants have evolved various strategies to manage this stress and ensure fertilization, the extent of the male gametophyte's adaptability to temperature changes, particularly in wild plants, remains understudied. Our project deals with the temperature effects on pollen performance, examining ten pollen characteristics that are crucial for successful fertilization across individual plants and within and between species. Our objectives include measuring how adaptable pollen performance is to yearly weather fluctuations, assessing its variability within species in wild populations, evaluating its resilience to high-temperature stress, and defining its upper temperature thresholds across different climates. The findings from this project will enhance our understanding of how temperature impacts pollen functionality and its overall susceptibility to rising temperatures due to ongoing climate change. This knowledge is essential for predicting future plant distributions and the persistence of biodiversity in changing climates, offering insights critical for ecological research, conservation strategies, and agricultural practices.
Publications
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A Compendium of in vitro Germination Media for Pollen Research. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12.
Tushabe, Donam & Rosbakh, Sergey
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Negative effects of high-temperature stress on gametophyte performance and their consequences for seed reproduction in wild plants. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 216, 105532.
Tushabe, Donam; Altmann, Franziska; Koehler, Erik; Woods, Sebastian & Rosbakh, Sergey
