PlantStressLab

Stress limits growth and yield in crop plants worldwide. Environmental stress is very commonly experienced by crop plants, and its intensity and frequency is increasing due to competition for fertile land with other uses, and to global climate change. Wild plants have a strong ability to react to stress, while most crop plants have lost these characteristics upon breeding. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie resistance to stress is pivotal to identify traits that can be inserted into crop plants to increase their resilience in a stressful environment. Our mission is to contribute to this endeavour, with the ultimate goal to provide knowledge and tools that may integrate in solutions for farmers and professionals.

Strigolactones as regulators of development and stress acclimation - Plant development and stress acclimation are interlinked processes, and recent results show that strigolactones are major players in this field. Their role on shoot branching is well established while their effects on reproductive development are still little explored. Strigolactones also regulate physiological aspects of tolerance to osmotic stress, such as stomatal conductance, osmoregulation, and oxidative responses.. I focus my research on understanding the role of strigolactones in acclimation to osmotic stress and in fruit development. We apply tools of plant and cellular physiology, supported by molecular analysis, targeting crop species such as tomato and grapevine. We work with lines altered in strigolactone biosynthesis and use treatments with artificial strigolactones. We assess morphological, physiological, and molecular phenotypes, by targeted and non-targeted gene expression analysis and by metabolite analysis. We extend our experiments to prototype plant growing systems such as commercial greenhouse and field to provide the information required to develop practical solutions for crop improvement and adaptation to climate change.

contact: Andrea Schubert

Strigolactone signalling and stress - Strigolactones are carotenoid-derived plant metabolites with a multitude of functions, both in the plant and in the biotic surrounding environment. They have a prominent role as hormones, influencing whole-plant morphology and development also in response to environmental stress. Understanding their biology may help to improve plant yield and resilience in stressful environments.

1. We want to understand what the local and systemic changes of strigolactone levels - observed in different organs of plants undergoing osmotic stress - mean for whole-plant hormonal balance, physiology and water relations. To this purpose, the development of a genetically-encoded strigolactone sensor is being developed.2. We are elucidating the molecular underpinnings of strigolactone effects in stress resilience, focusing on cross-talk with other hormones (abscisic acid, gibberellins...), miRNAs and peptides.3. We feed our knowledge into crop management tools such as biostimulants, that may improve plant performances and yield under environmental stress.
contact: Francesca Cardinale

Drought stress responses in grapevine - Adaptation of grapevines to water deficit is a wide and complex biological process that implies global changes in plant hydraulics, carbon distribution within the plant, signaling among plant organs, gene expression and primary and secondary metabolite biosynthesis and accumulation.

Our research aims to understand how plant signals drive grapevine adaptation to water availability with consequences on growth and fruit quality. In grapevine, the rootstock and the scion concur to whole-plant resistance to drought. These plant components interact through a complex of hydraulic, hormonal (especially abscisic acid, ABA) and molecular (miRNAs) signal exchange. We are interested to discover how xylem development, whole plant hydraulic conductance, and carbon allocation are affected under stress and in different grapevine genotypes.
contact: Claudio Lovisolo

Molecular processes behind osmotic stress memory - Plant responses to stress can be amplified by exposure to a previous stress episode. This “memory of stress” can be induced also by priming treatments. Understanding osmotic memory would potentially greatly benefit crop plants growing in temperate climates where irrigation and rainfall are spaced by increasingly severe drought episodes.

We focus on the roles of strigolactones in controlling osmotic memory, in particular as concerns stomatal closure and re-opening during the recovery phase from stress. We follow 'omic' and targeted research approaches in Arabidopsis and in tomato, addressing the interaction of hormone networks and epigenetic mark deposition on target genes.

Contact: Ivan Visentin

Xylem recovery from water stress - Recent episodes of anomalous drought and heat have caused tree mortality and crop failure, raising interest into processes underlying plant resistance and resilience to water stress. Reduction of plant hydraulic efficiency, due to presence of embolisms, is a major cause of drought-induced plant death. It has been demonstrated that many plant species can counter embolism formation with a fast refilling process; however a full understanding of the biology behind embolism recovery is currently lacking.

Our research aims to elucidate the biological mechanisms at the base of xylem repair adopting a multidisciplinary approach, which integrates molecular, biophysical, chemical and physiological techniques.
Contact: Francesca Secchi

Selected publications 2018-2025

Roeder AHK, Bent A, Lovell JT, McKay JK, Bravo A, Medina Jimenez K, Morimoto KW, Brady SM, Hua L, Hibberd JM, Zhong S, Cardinale F, Visentin I, Lovisolo C, Hannah MA, Webb AAR (2025) Lost in Translation: what we have learned from attributes that do not translate from Arabidopsis to other plants. The Plant Cell, in press
Visentin I, Campo E, Davydenko D, Korwin Krukowski P, Russo G, Lovisolo C, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2025) Strigolactones affect the stomatal and transcriptomic memory of repeated drought stress in tomato. Plant Stress 15:100740
Sánchez Martín-Fontecha E, Cardinale F, Bürger M, Prandi C, Cubas P (2024) Novel mechanisms of strigolactone-induced DWARF14 degradation in Arabidopsis thaliana. J Exp Bot 75(22):7145-7159
Visentin I, Frizzo Ferigolo L, Russo G, Korwin Krukowski P, Capezzali C, Tarkowská D, Gresta F, Deva E, Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira F, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2024) Strigolactones promote flowering by inducing the miR319-LA-SFT module in tomato. PNAS 121(19):e2316371121
Russo G, Capitanio S, Trasoletti M, Morabito C, Korwin Krukowski P, Visentin I, Genre A, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2023) Strigolactones promote the localisation of the ABA exporter ABCG25 at the plasma membrane in root epidermal cells of Arabidopsis thaliana. J Exp Bot 74(18):5881–5895
Patono DL, Eloi Alcatrāo L, Dicembrini E, Ivaldi G, Ricauda Aimonino D, Lovisolo C (2023) Technical advances for measurement of gas exchange at the whole plant level: Design solutions and prototype tests to carry out shoot and rootzone analyses in plants of different sizes. Plant Sci 326(1): 111505
Zhang D, Zhu K, Shen X, Meng J, Huang X, Tan Y, Cardinale F, Liu J, Li G, Liu J (2023) Two interacting ethylene response factors negatively regulate peach resistance to Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Plant Physiol 192(4):3134-3151
Trasoletti M, Visentin I, Campo E, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2022) Strigolactones as a hormonal hub for the acclimation and priming to environmental stress in plants. Plant Cell Environ 45:3611–3630
Patono DL, Said-Pullicino D, Eloi Alcatrāo L, Firbus A, Ivaldi G, Chitarra W, Ferrandino A, Ricauda Aimonino D, Celi L, Gambino G, Perrone I, Lovisolo C (2022) Photosynthetic recovery in drought-rehydrated grapevines is associated with high demand from the sinks, maximizing the fruit-oriented performance. Plant J 112:1098-1111
Korwin Krukowski P, Visentin I, Russo G, Minerdi D, Bendahmane A, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2022) Transcriptome analysis points to BES1 as a transducer of strigolactone effects on drought memory in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell Physiol 63(12):1873–1889
Santoro V, Schiavon M, Visentin I, Martin M, Said-Pullicino D, Cardinale F, Celi L (2022) Tomato plant responses induced by sparingly available inorganic and organic phosphorus forms are modulated by strigolactones. Plant Soil 474:355–372
Fiorilli V, Forgia M, de Saint Germain A, D'Arrigo G, Cornu D, Le Bris P, Al-Babili S, Cardinale F, Prandi C, Spyrakis F, Boyer F-D, Turina M, Lanfranco L (2022) A structural homologue of the plant receptor D14 mediates responses to strigolactones in the fungal phytopathogen Cryphonectria parasitica. New Phytol 234(3):1003-1017
Zhang D, Shen X, Zhang H, Huang X, He H, Ye J, Cardinale F, Liu J, Liu J, Li G (2022) Integrated transcriptomic and metabolic analyses reveal that ethylene enhances peach susceptibility to Lasiodiplodia theobromae-induced gummosis. Hortic Res 9: uhab019
Cardinale F, Prandi C (2021) Strigolactones. Book series: Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Science editions, NY, USA
Morabito C, Orozco J, Tonel G, C, Meloni GR, Schubert A., Gullino ML, Zwieniecki MA, Secchi F (2021) Do the ends justify the means? Impact of drought progression rate on stress response and recovery in Vitis vinifera. Physiol Plant 174(1):e13590
Sánchez Martín-Fontecha E, Cubas P, Cardinale F, Visentin I (2021) Evaluation of the Bioactivity of Strigolactone-Related Molecules by a Quantitative Luminometer Bioassay. In: Strigolactones (Cardinale F, Prandi C eds). Book series: Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Science editions, NY, USA
Morabito C, Secchi F, Schubert A (2021) Grapevine TPS (trehalose-6-phosphate synthase) family genes are differentially regulated during development, upon sugar treatment and drought stress. Plant Physiol Biochem 164:54-62
Secchi F, Pagliarani C, Cavalletto S, Petruzzelis F, Tonel G, Savi T, Tromba G, Obertino MM, Lovisolo C, Nardini A, Zwiniecki MA (2021) Chemical inhibition of xylem cellular activity impedes the removal of drought-induced embolisms in poplar stems - new insights from micro-CT analysis. New Phytol 229:820-830
Ripamonti M, Pegoraro M, Morabito C, Gribaudo I, Schubert A, Bosco D, Marzachì C (2021) Susceptibility to Flavescence dorée of different Vitis vinifera genotypes from north-western Italy. Plant Pathol 70:511-520
Santoro V, Schiavon M, Visentin I, Constán-Aguilar C, Cardinale F, Celi L (2021) Strigolactones affect phosphorus acquisition strategies in tomato plants. Plant Cell Environ 44(11):3628-3642
Sedaghat M, Emam Y, Mokhtassi-Bidgoli A, Hazrati S, Lovisolo C, Visentin I, Cardinale F, Tahmasebi-Sarvestani Z (2021) The potential of the synthetic strigolactone analogue GR24 for the maintenance of photosynthesis and yield in winter wheat under drought: investigations on the mechanisms of action and delivery modes. Plants 10(6): 1223
Pagliarani C, Gambino G, Ferrandino A, Chitarra W, Vrhovsek U, Cantù D, Palmano S, Marzachì C, Schubert A (2020) Molecular memory of Flavescence dorée phytoplasma in recovering grapevines. Hort Res 7:126
Korwin Krukowski P, Ellenberger J, Röhlen-Schmittgen S, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2020) Phenotyping in Arabidopsis and crops—are we addressing the same traits? A case study in tomato. Genes 11(9):1011
Santoro V, Schiavon M, Gresta F, Ertani A, Cardinale F, Sturrock CJ, Celi L, Schubert A (2020) Strigolactones control root system architecture and tip anatomy in Solanum lycopersicum L. plants under P starvation. Plants 9(5):612
Visentin I, Pagliarani C, Deva E, Caracci A, Turecková V, Novak O, Lovisolo C, Schubert A, Cardinale F (2020) A novel strigolactone-miR156 module controls stomatal behaviour during drought recovery. Plant Cell Environ 43:1613-1624
Pagliarani C, Casolo V, Ashofteh Beiragi M, Cavalletto S, Siciliano I, Schubert A, Gullino ML, Zwieniecki MA, Secchi F (2019). Priming xylem for stress recovery depends on coordinated activity of sugar metabolic pathways and changes in xylem sap. Plant Cell Environ 42:1775-1787
Caser M, Chitarra W, D'Angiolillo F, Perrone I, Demasi S, Lovisolo C, Pistelli L, Pistelli L, Scariot V (2019) Drought stress adaptation modulates plant secondary metabolite production in Salvia dolomitica Codd. Ind Crops Prod 129:85-96
Rameau C, Goormachtig S, Cardinale F, Bennett T, Cubas P (2019) Strigolactones as Plant Hormones. In: Strigolactones - Biology and Applications. H. Koltai, Prandi C eds. Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019, pp. 47-88. ISBN 978-3-030-12152-5 ISBN 978-3-030-12153-2 (eBook)
Ferrero M, Pagliarani C, Novák O, FerrandinoA, Cardinale F, Visentin I, Schubert A (2018) Exogenous strigolactone interacts with abscisic acid mediated accumulation of anthocyanins in grapevine berries. J Exp Bot 69(9):2391-2401
Sánchez E, Artuso E, Lombardi C, Visentin I, Lace B, Saeed W, Lolli ML, Kobauri P, Ali Z, Spyrakis F, Cubas P, Cardinale F, Prandi C (2018) New insights into Structure-Activity Relationship of strigolactones via a novel, quantitative in planta bioassay. J Exp Bot 69(9):2333-2343
Carlsson GH, Hasse D, Cardinale F, Prandi C, Andersson I (2018) The elusive ligand complexes of the DWARF14 strigolactone receptor. J Exp Bot 69(9):2345-2354

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