Format: ORAL

Mohamed Kouhen, Anastazija Dimitrova, Gabriella Stefania Scippa, Dalila Trupiano

Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone, Pesche, IS 86090, Italy

Plants are exposed to a variety of mechanical stresses including wind, herbivory, gravity, and belowground physical obstacles. These factors can have major economic impacts on crops, forests, and urban trees. Revealing the plant molecular responses to mechanical stress is crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying their adaptive strategies. A lack of knowledge persists regarding the early root responses to mechanical impedance, especially in woody roots. We opted for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to investigate the early genetic response in the woody roots of Populus nigra. Mechanical stress over a temporal scale ranging from 1 to 6 hours was applied, adopting plant-adapted root bending approaches, after which root tissues were manually sectioned into concave (compressed zone) and convex (stretched zone) sides to discern spatially distinct gene expression patterns. The study constitutes the first characterization and comprehensive view of the early transcriptomic landscape in woody roots, emphasizing the role of spatial considerations in the plant responses to mechanical stress and the way in which the asymmetrical sensing is integrated into global root responses. The results provide new insights into the early molecular events associated with mechanical stress in woody roots reflecting the dynamic of time-dependent and side-specific transcriptomic shift. Key genes and pathways involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the activation of defense mechanisms were identified. These genes and pathways could be perspective targets for further functional characterizations and enhancing plant resilience to mechanical perturbations and thus growth in forestry, urban and farming context.