Biology subjects

Panzarova, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Panzarova, K..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Beyond Averaging: Pleiotropic effects of Dry2.2 expose the evolution of growth bet-hedging in barley

RationaleDeveloping climate-resilient crops requires understanding the developmental and physiological mechanisms governing responses to unpredictable environmental stresses. While agricultural selection historically favored phenotypic uniformity, highly volatile conditions can favor risk-spreading "bet-hedging". However, because standard genetic mapping relies on shifting plot-level averages, loci controlling population-level variance remain cryptic. MethodsWe investigated the pleiotropic effects of the Dry2.2 quantitative trait locus (candidate gene HvCEN) using an allelic series of wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) introgressions housed in distinct cultivated backgrounds, evaluated via high-resolution single-plant physiological phenotyping and mini-plot field trials. ResultsSpecific wild alleles confer robust developmental canalization under water limitation, maintain harvest traits, stabilize vascular lignification, and drive a uniform senescence escape strategy. Conversely, carriers of cultivated alleles deploy a bet-hedging strategy under stress, more than doubling inter-plant developmental variation (volume, maturity timing). This variance-driven strategy relies on epistatic interactions, rendering Dry2.2 invisible to traditional mean-centric GWAS plots. ConclusionImproving crop resilience in volatile climates requires expanding selection focus beyond static, plot-level averages to include the active genetic design of population-level variance strategies.

Plant Biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Prediction of harvest-related traits in barley using high-throughput phenotyping data and machine learning

Developing crop varieties that maintain productivity under drought is essential for future food security. Here, we investigated the potential of time-resolved high-throughput phenotyping to predict harvest-related traits and identify drought-stressed plants. Six barley lines (Hordeum vulgare) were grown in a greenhouse environment with well-watered and drought treatments, and phenotyped using RGB, thermal infrared, chlorophyll fluorescence and hyperspectral imaging sensors. Temporal phenomic classification model accurately distinguished between drought-treated and control plants, achieving high accuracy (R2 [≥] 0.97) even when exclusively using predictors only from the early phase after drought induction. Canopy temperature depression at the early stage and RGB-derived plant size estimates at the late stage were identified as key classification features. Temporal phenomic prediction model of harvest-related traits achieved particularly high mean R2 values for total biomass dry weight (0.97) and total spike weight (0.93), with RGB plant size estimators emerging as important predictors. Prediction accuracy for these traits remained high (R2 [≥] 0.84) when using only predictors from the first half of the experiment. Models trained on pooled drought and control data outperformed single-treatment models and retained high accuracy when applied across treatments. These findings support the integration of high-throughput phenotyping and temporal modelling to enable timely and more cost-effective selection of drought-resilient genotypes, and illustrate the broader potential of phenomics-driven approaches in accelerating crop improvement under stress-prone conditions.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Integration of multi-omics and deep phenotyping provides novel insights into multiple abiotic stress responses in potato

Potato is highly water and space efficient but susceptible to abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, or flooding, which are severely exacerbated by climate change. Understanding of crop acclimation to abiotic stress, however, remains limited. Here, we present a comprehensive molecular and physiological high-throughput profiling of potato (Solanum tuberosum, cv. Desiree) under heat, drought and waterlogging applied as single stresses or in combinations designed to mimic realistic future scenarios. Stress-responses were monitored via daily phenotyping and multi-omics analyses of leaf samples comprising transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and hormonomics at several timepoints during and after stress treatments. Additionally, critical metabolites of tuber samples were analysed at the end of the stress period. Integrative analysis of multi-omics data was performed using a bioinformatic pipeline, which was established here, based on machine learning and knowledge networks. Overall, waterlogging had the most immediate and dramatic effects on potato plants, interestingly activating ABA-responses similar to drought stress. In addition, we observed distinct stress signatures at multiple molecular levels in response to heat or drought and to a combination of both. In response to all treatments, we found a downregulation of photosynthesis at different molecular levels, an accumulation of minor amino acids and diverse stress induced hormones. Our integrative multi-omics analysis provides global insights into plant stress responses, facilitating improved breeding strategies towards climate-adapted potato varieties. One Sentence SummaryIntegrated multi-omics analysis of high-throughput phenotyping in potato reveals distinct molecular signatures of acclimation to single and combined abiotic stresses related to climate change.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Primary multistep phosphorelay activation comprises both cytokinin and abiotic stress responses in Brassicaceae

Multistep phosphorelay (MSP) signaling integrates hormonal and environmental signals to control plant development and adaptive responses. The type-A RESPONSE REGULATORs (RRAs), the downstream members of the MSP cascade and cytokinin primary response genes, are supposed to mediate primarily the negative feedback regulation of (cytokinin-induced) MSP signaling. However, the transcriptional data suggest the involvement of RRAs in stress-related responses as well. By employing evolutionary conservation with the well-characterized Arabidopsis thaliana RRAs, we identified 5 and 38 novel putative RRAs in Brassica oleracea and Brassica napus, respectively. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests the existence of gene-specific selective pressure, maintaining the homologs of ARR3, ARR6, and ARR16 as singletons during the evolution of Brassica oleracea and Brassica rapa. We categorized RRAs based on the kinetics of their cytokinin-mediated upregulation and observed both similarities and specificities in this type of response across Brassicaceae. Using bioinformatic analysis and experimental data demonstrating the cytokinin responsiveness of Arabidopsis-derived TCSv2 reporter, we unveil the mechanistic conservation of cytokinin-mediated upregulation of RRAs in Brassica rapa and Brassica napus. Notably, we identify partial cytokinin dependency of cold stress-induced RRA transcription, thus corroborating the role of cytokinin signaling in the crop adaptive responses. HighlightsWe identified Brassica homologs of Arabidopsis type-A response regulators (RRAs), demonstrate existence of selective pressure preventing several RRAs multiplication during Brassicaceae evolution and describe cytokinin dependency of cold-induced RRAs upregulation.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Genetic mapping of the early responses to salt stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Salt stress decreases plant growth prior to significant ion accumulation in the shoot. However, the processes underlying this rapid reduction in growth are still unknown. To understand the changes in salt stress responses through time and at multiple physiological levels, examining different plant processes within a single setup is required. Recent advances in phenotyping has allowed the image-based estimation of plant growth, morphology, colour and photosynthetic activity. In this study, we examined the salt stress-induced responses of 191 Arabidopsis accessions from one hour to seven days after treatment using high-throughput phenotyping. Multivariate analyses and machine learning algorithms identified that quantum yield measured in the light-adapted state (Fv'/Fm') greatly affected growth maintenance in the early phase of salt stress, while maximum quantum yield (QY max) was crucial at a later stage. In addition, our genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 770 loci that were specific to salt stress, in which two loci associated with QY max and Fv'/Fm' were selected for validation using T-DNA insertion lines. We characterised an unknown protein kinase found in the QY max locus, which reduced photosynthetic efficiency and growth maintenance under salt stress. Understanding the molecular context of the identified candidate genes will provide valuable insights into the early plant responses to salt stress. Furthermore, our work incorporates high-throughput phenotyping, multivariate analyses and GWAS, uncovering details of temporal stress responses, while identifying associations across different traits and time points, which likely constitute the genetic components of salinity tolerance.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Increased expression of mitochondrial dysfunction stimulon genes affects chloroplast redox status and photosynthetic electron transfer in Arabidopsis

Mitochondrial retrograde signals control expression of nuclear mitochondrial dysfunction stimulon (MDS) genes. Although MDS gene products mostly affect mitochondrial functions, they also influence production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox status of chloroplasts. To study this inter-organellar interaction, we analysed the response of the Arabidopsis MDS-overexpressor mutant rcd1 to methyl viologen (MV), which catalyses electron transfer from Photosystem I (PSI) to molecular oxygen, generating ROS in Mehlers reaction. The response of plants to MV was investigated by imaging chlorophyll fluorescence in aerobic and hypoxic environments, and by membrane inlet mass spectrometry. Hypoxic treatment abolished the effect of MV on photosynthetic electron transfer in rcd1, but not in wild type. A similar reaction to hypoxia was observed in other MDS-activating lines and treatments. This suggests that MDS gene products contribute to oxygen depletion at the PSI electron-acceptor side. In unstressed growth conditions this MDS-related effect is likely masked by endogenous oxygen evolution and gas exchange with the atmosphere. In rcd1, altered Mehlers reaction coincided with more reduced state of the chloroplast NADPH-thioredoxin oxidoreductase C (NTRC) and its targets, suggesting that NTRC performs feedback control of photosynthesis. This regulation may represent a novel mechanism whereby mitochondrial retrograde signalling affects chloroplast functions.

plant biology↗