Overflow Metabolomics in European Spartina hybrids, their parents, and genome-duplicated descendants

• Applicant: Dr. Dirk Granse
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 572383400

Climate change factors, such as drought and rising temperatures, influence terrestrial net primary production and force plant species and communities to adapt. Hybridization and whole genome duplication (WGD) are mechanisms through which plants adapt to changing environments. Metabolomics, the comprehensive analysis of chemical compounds in biological samples, can help identify chemotypes in hybrids and polyploids, providing insights into their ecological and adaptive roles. Plants employ overflow metabolism to manage excess energy, utilizing mechanisms like non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) storage, rhizosphere deposition, and dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) production. The proposed study aims to investigate whether plants exhibit altered metabolomic profiles in conjunction with overflow metabolism, opening up the field of overflow metabolomics. While overflow metabolomics remains an undefined concept in the literature, it has the potential to significantly contribute to understanding plant-environment interactions. The suggested study aims to explore the variations in chemotype among plants belonging to a group of closely related hybrid taxa, including their parents and genome-duplicated descendants. Specifically, the project seeks to determine the chemotypes of Spartina taxa found in European coastal marshes along a geographic gradient from the temperate climate of the Wadden Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, the project investigates overflow metabolism (NSC, DMSP) in these plants under controlled conditions in common garden experiments. These experiments will be conducted in both Mediterranean (Sevilla, Spain) and temperate (Hamburg, Germany) climate conditions, with treatments that simulate moderate nutrient shortages (in nitrogen and/or phosphorus) and hydrology (water-logged vs. well-watered) while providing excess light availability. These objectives are to be accomplished through three work packages. The first package aims to inventory the plants’ chemotypes. The second package analyzes the chemical metabolite diversity of the plants in relation to their niche preferences. The third package investigates overflow metabolomes under controlled conditions in common garden experiments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants