Fire-adapted seed traits in Cerrado species

由RHUL(英国)和Unesp(巴西)合作的NERC-FAPESP种子基金合作项目“Cerrado物种的火适应种子特性”是一种全球现象，与气候一起塑造了自然和农业用地的植被。我们与火的互动对人类既有积极的一面，也有消极的一面。长期以来，人类一直使用火，包括用于景观和杂草管理，以及作为改善耕地上作物生长的工具。控制火灾对于保护健康和刺激荒地生态系统的复兴是必要的，例如巴西的塞拉多、地中海以及英国的泥炭地和沼泽地。在这些容易起火的地区，植物再生在很大程度上是通过储存在土壤中的植物种子实现的。根据物种、环境、季节和种子特性的不同，储存在土壤中的种子的萌发可能会受到烟雾产生的化合物或火灾产生的热震的刺激。该项目的目的是对适应火灾易发地区的物种的种子进行比较研究，以确定支持火灾产生的热震和烟雾作为萌发线索的新机制。这些衍生的机制将作为杂草管理和作物种子改良的工具进行测试。用烟和各种烟衍生化合物处理可以刺激某些杂草种子的萌发。这可以用作杂草管理工具，在作物播种前清除土壤中的杂草。然而，我们不知道为什么这不适用于所有杂草种类，在所有环境条件下(温度、季节)，也不知道什么种子结构和种皮属性决定了处理的有效性。烟、各种烟衍生化合物以及热激处理也能提高某些蔬菜作物的种子质量和育苗性能。同样，我们不知道是什么种子结构、种皮属性和基因导致了这些效应，也不知道为什么它只对某些作物物种起作用。为了促进我们对这一主题的了解，伦敦皇家霍洛威大学(RHUK，英国)领先的种子科学实验室将与圣保罗州立大学(Unesp，巴西)火灾植被管理和巴西Cerrado物种特性方面的专家合作。FAPESP-NERC计划特别适合于支持这一基于两个资助机构的协议的合作。在该项目中，我们将研究不同火灾适应物种的种子，以确定控制火灾产生的烟雾和热震如何影响其萌发、耐贮性和幼苗建立的新机制。这项工作将使用来自不同科学和工程领域(包括分子生物学、显微镜/成像、生物力学工程、生理学)的方法，通过跨学科合作，与许多适应火的物种进行比较。例如，这种方法将确定某些种皮属性或与适应火源线索相关的某些基因。然后，具有相似特性/基因的杂草和作物物种的种子将被用来测试已确定的新机制是否具有控制杂草或改善作物种子质量的潜力。该联盟在这些应用方面拥有坚实的森林植被管理和农业技术专业知识，为应对气候变化、健康环境和粮食安全方面的这一全球挑战提供解决方案。

NERC-FAPESP Seedcorn Fund Collaboration Project "Fire-adapted seed traits in Cerrado species" between RHUL (UK) and UNESP (Brazil)Fire is a global phenomenon which together with climate shapes the vegetation of natural and agricultural land. Our interaction with fire is characterised by both positive and negative aspects for mankind. Humans have long used fire including for landscape and weed management, and as tool to improve crop growth on arable land. Controlled fire is necessary to preserve the health and stimulate rejuvenation of wildland ecosystems such as the Brazilian Cerrado, the Mediterranean, as well as UK peatland and moorland. In these fire-prone regions plant regeneration is achieved to a large extent from soil-stored plant seeds. Depending on the species, environment, season and seed properties, the germination of the soil-stored seeds may be stimulated by compounds derived from the smoke or by the fire-generated heat-shock. The aim of the project is to comparatively investigate seeds from species adapted to fire-prone regions to identify novel mechanisms underpinning fire-generated heat-shock and smoke as germination cues. The derived mechanisms will be tested as tools for weed management and crop seed enhancement. Treatment with smoke and various smoke-derived compounds can stimulate the germination of certain weed seeds. This can be used as a weed management tool to deprive the soil from weeds prior to crop seed sowing. We however do not know why this does not work with all weed species, at all ambient conditions (temperature, seasons), and what seed structures and seed coat properties determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Smoke, various smoke-derived compounds, as well as heat-shock treatment can also improve the seed quality and performance of seedling establishment of certain vegetable crops. Again, we do not know what seed structures, seed coat properties and genes are responsible for these effects and why it only works with certain crop species. To advance our knowledge in this topic the leading seed science lab of Royal Holloway University of London (RHUK, United Kingdom) will collaborate with experts for fire vegetation management and Brazilian Cerrado species properties of Sao Paulo State University (UNESP, Brazil). The FAPESP-NERC programme is especially suited to support this collaboration based on the agreement of the two funding agencies.In the project we will investigate seeds of different fire-adapted species to identify novel mechanisms controlling how fire-derived smoke and heat-shock affect their germination, storability, and seedling establishment. This work will be conducted using methods from different science and engineering fields (including molecular biology, microscopy/imaging, biomechanical engineering, physiology) through interdisciplinary collaboration in a comparative approach with many fire-adapted species. This approach will for example identify certain seed coat properties or certain genes associated with the adaptation to fire-derived cues. Seeds of weed and crop species with similar properties/genes will then be used to test if the identified novel mechanism has potential for weed control or improving crop seed quality. The consortium has solid fire vegetation management and agri-technological expertise in these applications to provide solutions for this global challenge in climate change, healthy environment and food security.