Thermo-priming increases heat-stress tolerance in seedlings of the Mediterranean seagrass P. oceanica

Seawater warming and increased incidence of marine heatwaves (MHW) are threatening the integrity of coastal marine habitats including seagrasses, which are particularly vulnerable to climate changes. Novel stress tolerance-enhancing strategies, including thermo-priming, have been extensively applied...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2022-01, Vol.174, p.113164-113164, Article 113164
Main Authors: Pazzaglia, Jessica, Badalamenti, Fabio, Bernardeau-Esteller, Jaime, Ruiz, Juan M., Giacalone, Vincenzo Maximiliano, Procaccini, Gabriele, Marín-Guirao, Lazaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alismatales
Aquatic habitats
Climate Change
Coastal ecology
Environmental changes
Epigenetics
Gene expression
Genes
Heat stress
Heat-Shock Response
Heatwaves
Hot Temperature
Mediterranean Sea
Photosynthesis
Priming
Respiration
Restoration
Sea grasses
Seagrass
Seagrasses
Seawater
Seedling
Seedlings
Stress response
Terrestrial environments
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Seawater warming and increased incidence of marine heatwaves (MHW) are threatening the integrity of coastal marine habitats including seagrasses, which are particularly vulnerable to climate changes. Novel stress tolerance-enhancing strategies, including thermo-priming, have been extensively applied in terrestrial plants for enhancing resilience capacity under the re-occurrence of a stress event. We applied, for the first time in seedlings of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, a thermo-priming treatment through the exposure to a simulated warming event. We analyzed the photo-physiological and growth performance of primed and non-primed seedlings, and the gene expression responses of selected genes (i.e. stress-, photosynthesis- and epigenetic-related genes). Results revealed that during the re-occurring stress event, primed seedlings performed better than unprimed showing unaltered photo-physiology supported by high expression levels of genes related to stress response, photosynthesis, and epigenetic modifications. These findings offer new opportunities to improve conservation and restoration efforts in a future scenario of environmental changes. •Priming stimulus induced stress tolerance under the re-occurring thermal stress.•Primed seedlings performed better than unprimed seedlings.•Primed seedlings showed enhanced photo-physiology and grow rates.•High expression levels of genes related to stress, photosynthesis and epigenetics
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113164