Dr Paula Carolina Pires Bueno

Integrated omics for the micromolecular study of soybean genetically modified for water stress tolerance

Our current food system is based on a finite number of domesticated species, which were selected over the centuries. Although this approach allowed the selection of the most interesting varieties in terms of yield, the productivity, nutritional quality, or biological activities of many plant species have already been negatively impacted by both the unpredictable and dynamic nature of global climatic conditions. The understanding about how and in which extension plant species adapt to stresses and to different environments is critical to develop improved cultivars. This knowledge can be accomplished by the study of their micromolecular chemical profiles, combined with the phenotypic study of wild relatives conserved either in nature or in germplasm banks. The identification and annotation of molecular traits that vary in response to stress events provide an advantage because they integrate over many genes and environmental effects.

Therefore, this project is based on the identification of such molecular markers, especially secondary metabolites using metabolomics and transcriptomics. It includes target and non-target sample preparation and analysis, application and integration of multi-dimensional data and multivariate data analysis of wild and genetically modified soybean subjected to water stress.

This project is funded by The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP # 17/19702-6 and 19/08477-7).