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Hymenoglossum cruentum (Hymenophyllaceae) is a poikilohydric, homoiochlorophyllous desiccation-tolerant (DT) epiphyte fern. It can undergo fast and frequent dehydration-rehydration cycles. This fern is highly abundant at high-humidity/low-light microenvironments within the canopy, although rapid changes in humidity and light intensity are frequent. The objective of this research is to identify genes associated to desiccation-rehydration cycle in the transcriptome of H. cruentum to better understand the genetic dynamics behind its desiccation tolerance mechanism. H. cruentum plants were subjected to a 7 days long desiccation-rehydration process and then used to identify key expressed genes associated to its capacity to dehydrate and rehydrate. The relative water content (RWC) and maximum quantum efficiency ( F v / F m ) of H. cruentum fronds decayed to 6% and 0.04, respectively, at the end of the desiccation stage. After re-watering, the fern showed a rapid recovery of RWC and F v / F m (ca. 73% and 0.8, respectively). Based on clustering and network analysis, our results reveal key genes, such as UBA/TS-N , DYNLL , and LHC , orchestrating intracellular motility and photosynthetic metabolism; strong balance between avoiding cell death and defense ( CAT3 , AP2/ERF ) when dehydrated, and detoxifying pathways and stabilization of photosystems ( GST , CAB2 , and ELIP9 ) during rehydration. Here we provide novel insights into the genetic dynamics behind the desiccation tolerance mechanism of H. cruentum ., (Copyright © 2020 Ostria-Gallardo, Larama, Berríos, Fallard, Gutiérrez-Moraga, Ensminger, Manque, Bascuñán-Godoy and Bravo.)

Although positive effects on growth and reproduction of Antarctic vascular plants have been reported under warmer temperatures, it could also increase the vulnerability of these plants to freezing. Thus, we assessed in situ whether warming decreases the freezing resistance of Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica , and we compared the level and mechanism of freezing resistance of these species in the field with previous reports conducted in lab conditions. We assessed the freezing resistance of C. quitensis and D. antarctica by determining their low temperature damage (LT 50 ), ice nucleation temperature (NT) and freezing point (FP) in three sites of the King George Island. Plants were exposed during two growing seasons to a passive increase in the air temperature (+W). +W increased by 1K the mean air temperatures, but had smaller effects on freezing temperatures. Leaf temperature of both species was on average 1.7K warmer inside +W. Overall, warming decreased the freezing resistance of Antarctic species. The LT 50 increased on average 2K for C. quitensis and 2.8K for D. antarctica. In contrast, NT and FP decreased on average c. 1K in leaves of warmed plants of both species. Our results showed an averaged LT 50 of -15.3°C for C. quitensis , and of -22.8°C for D. antarctica , with freezing tolerance being the freezing resistance mechanism for both species. These results were partially consistent with previous reports, and likely explanations for such discrepancies were related with methodological differences among studies. Our work is the first study reporting the level and mechanisms of freezing resistance of Antarctic vascular plants measured in situ , and we demonstrated that although both plant species exhibited a great ability to cope with freezing temperatures during the growing season, their vulnerability to suffer freezing damage under a warming scenario increase although the magnitude of this response varied across sites and species. Hence, freezing damage should be considered when predicting changes in plant responses of C. quitensis and D. antarctica under future climate conditions of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Drought during senescence has become more common in Mediterranean climates in recent years. Chenopodium quinoa Willd has been identified as tolerant to poor soil conditions and drought. Previous observations have found that sufficient nitrogen (N) supply mitigates yield losses under terminal drought conditions. However, there is no understanding of the mechanisms behind this effect. We hypothesized that N up-regulates both photosynthetic and photoprotective elements during drought-induced senescence, alleviating the negative impact of drought on yield. The role of N supply and terminal drought on photoprotection was tested using three Chilean quinoa genotypes from different climatic zones: Faro, UdeC9, and BO78. Plants were grown under high nitrogen (HN) or low nitrogen (LN) conditions and subjected to terminal drought at the onset of senescence. Photosynthetic and photochemical and non-photochemical processes were evaluated at both the onset of drought and after 15 days of drought conditions. N supplementation modified most of the physiological parameters related to photochemical dissipation of energy, photosynthesis, and yield in quinoa. In contrast, water restriction did not affect photosynthesis in quinoa, and its effect on yield was dependent on the genotype. A significant interaction N × G was observed in photosynthesis, relative water content, protein content, Fv/Fm, and chlorophylls. In general, Faro was able to maintain higher levels of these attributes under LN conditions than UdeC9 and BO78. In addition, the interacting effects of N × W regulated the level of most pigments in quinoa as well as the photoprotective induction of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) during senescence. During terminal drought at LN conditions, Faro presented a larger NPQ induction under drought conditions than UdeC9 and BO78, which was supported by a larger zeaxanthin content and de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll pool. Interestingly, BO78 did not induce NPQ in response to drought-induced senescence but instead enhanced the content of betacyanins. This response needs to be researched in future works. Finally, we observed that LN supply reduced the correlationship between the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle and NPQ. This could be an indication that N supply not only compromised the capacity for photosynthetic performance in quinoa plants, but also affected the plasticity of thermal dissipation, restricting further changes during drought-induced senescence.