Resumo:
Every year, plants suffer various damages caused by climatic conditions, such as drought and high temperatures, which considerably reduce crop yields worldwide. In arid and semi-arid regions, some cultivars are exposed to these two adverse conditions, causing a series of damages, mainly in seed germination, of extreme importance in the life cycle of plants. Glycine max L. Merrill (soybean) is one of the most important crops in the world due to its application in the fuel, chemical, food and agroindustry industries. Soybean plants are highly sensitive to thermal stress, especially in the reproductive phase. Ricinus communis is a plant native to Africa and Asia, belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family. It is a very productive and resistant culture, being easily cultivated in drier and hotter regions. Unlike cultures like soybeans that are sensitive to high temperatures, Ricinus communis manages to present good production results even under thermal stress. The main objective of this study is to characterize the GDSL esterase/lipase gene from Ricinus communis (RcGELP) and to evaluate the effect of its overexpression and silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana against abiotic stresses, and to evaluate the metabolome of soybean seeds against stress thermal. To achieve this objective, the germination of A. thaliana seeds that overexpress and silence the RcGELP gene against water and heat stress will be evaluated, as well as to identify and quantify primary metabolites in the seeds. Seed germination and establishment of soybean seedlings will also be evaluated at high temperature, followed by metabolomics analysis. As one of the main results, it is expected to relate the metabolomic analyzes with the behavior of seeds during germination under abiotic stress and the function that the GDSL esterase/lipase gene confers on A. thaliana seeds. Studies like this one can contribute to the understanding of the molecular and biochemical aspects of the mechanisms related to germination and establishment of seedlings in the face of abiotic stresses.
