Studying combined climate change effects on crop plants – a collaborative approach.

Research focused on the impact of the climate changes has gained importance in the field of plant science in the recent years. Elevated CO2 as the direct consequence of human activity greatly contributes to modified environmental conditions. Together with the drought stress, that is often related to primary or secondary salt stress, represent the major abiotic stresses that are responsible for decreased crop productivity worldwide. Silicon was found to decrease the harmful effect of various stresses on plants. However, its complex interaction with elevated CO2, drought and salinity has never been studied. This project is based on unique collaborative approach of two complementary teams interested in the study of combined climate change effects on important agricultural crops.
The main objective is to understand the applicability of silica in alleviating crop stress under multiple climate change scenarios. To fulfill the main aim of the project, the following partial aims have been selected:
-To assess the effect of drought and increasing soil salinization on growth and development of various crop species;
-To investigate the application of silicon and/or other soil/foliar biostimulants on alleviation of negative effects of climate change-related stress factors on growth of plants;
-To address the role of selected stress factors on uptake, translocation and distribution of selected mineral elements in plants;
-To describe the differences in the root and shoot anatomy of experimental plants exposed to changed environmental condition;
-To find out effect of stress factors on photosynthetic activity and chloroplast ultrastructure of plant cells;
-To analyse of stress-related genes and relative amount of RNA transcripts;
-To establish a successful collaboration and support the exchange of ideas and students to obtain new skills;