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Description
The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the oldest and driest deserts on earth and harbors over 500 endemic plant species. Among those are the two rather ancient Loasaceae lineages Prosa fruticosa and Huidobria chilensis, which appear to differ in their water requirements. While populations of P. fruticosa are found north of the 10 mm/year isohyet, receiving less than 10 mm rainfall per year, populations of H. chilensis mainly grow to the south of the 10 mm/year isohyet in regions with a somewhat higher annual precipitation. Their contrasting habitat preferences make them ideal study systems to identify genes and gene families involved in drought adaptation through comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses. We further included the Namib Desert endemic Kissenia capensis (Loasaceae) that shows a similar growth habit, but requires more precipitation than its relatives from Chile. The Atacama and the Namib share a similar history and both are located on the west-coast of a continent with cold ocean currents, which makes K. capensis a comparative reference to help identify genes and gene families related to extreme aridity in the Chilean species and to distinguish lineage effects from true adaptation.
We assembled and annotated high-quality genomes of P. fruticosa, H. chilensis, and K. capensis using PacBio long-read sequences and analyzed the evolution of gene families related to osmotic stress. Additionally, we are interested in genes controlling nutrient element uptake. Nutrients such as potassium and silicon enhance drought tolerance in plants and our preliminary results from strontium isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr) indicate distinct nutrient uptake strategies in P. fruticosa and H. chilensis.
Studying plants’ adaptation strategies to aridity is increasingly important as many regions of our planet are experiencing extended periods of drought due to climate change. Our results will provide valuable insights to help us face future challenges.
| Status Group | Doctoral Researcher |
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