Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: JOSÉ NIVALDO DE OLIVEIRA SÁTIRO

Use of humic acid for identification and characterization of biotechnological targets involved in plant growth promotion

humic acids, RNA-Seq, plant growth promotion, biotechnology targets.

The availability of bioactive substances in soil may be a determining factor in modulating root system morphology / architecture and profoundly affecting the ability of plants to uptake water and nutrients, as well as to activate specific physiological processes in plants. Several studies have shown the presence of bioactive compounds in the superstructure of humic substances that have strong effects on plant physiology, resulting in plants with higher nutrient uptake capacity and more tolerant to many types of stress. On the other hand, the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the roothumic substances interaction, and the signaling pathways activated by these substances to promote plant growth still need clarification. There is evidence that humic substances have no significant nutritional effect, exerting their effects on plants as elicitor molecules of physiological processes that result in better growing plants under different growing conditions, especially when exposed to environments under stress. Given the above, the present proposal intends to make use of humic substances to identify potential biotechnological targets with effects on promoting plant growth and / or improving plant tolerance to different stress conditions. To this end, we intend to apply the RNA Sequencing tool (RNA-Seq) to evaluate the differential gene expression of rice plants treated or not with humic acids and then to select for characterization, genes with potential for plant growth promotion. Characterization will be performed by using the genome editing technique, CRISPR-Cas9, and / or by traditional gene silencing and overexpression methods. In the obtained plants will be carried out morphophysiological, biochemical and molecular evaluations that will show as unambiguously as possible, how the signaling promoted by humic substances, which result in growth promotion and greater tolerance to drought stress.