Open Access
Potencialidades del frijol caupí para la resiliencia al cambio climático en sistemas agrícolas locales
(2022) Santana-Baños, Yoerlandy; González García, Esther; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Carrodeguas Díaz, Sergio; Ciencias; Zientziak
Las evidencias científicas sugieren tres usos fundamentales del frijol caupí, con agro-ecológicas y beneficios productivos, sociales y ambientales en los sistemas agrícolas locales; sin embargo, su rendimiento a nivel mundial y en América no experimenta crecimiento en los últimos años. Los resultados obtenidos en Pinar del Río, Cuba, sugieren la posibilidad de emplearlo como alternativa para la producción de grano pero debe fomentarse, desde la ciencia, la innovación y las instituciones y órganos de decisión a nivel local, la cultura de producción y consumo de esta leguminosa para su aprovechamiento en la sostenibilidad agrícola de los agro-ecosistemas.
Open Access
Plant ammonium sensitivity is associated with external pH adaptation, repertoire of nitrogen transporters, and nitrogen requirement
(Oxford University Press, 2024-03-11) Rivero Marcos, Mikel; Lasa Larrea, Berta; Neves, Tomé; Zamarreño, Ángel M.; García Mina, José M.; García Olaverri, Carmen; Aparicio Tejo, Pedro María; Cruz, Cristina; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Ciencias; Zientziak; Estadística, Informática y Matemáticas; Estatistika, Informatika eta Matematika; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Universidad Publica de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Modern crops exhibit diverse sensitivities to ammonium as the primary nitrogen source, influenced by environmental factors such as external pH and nutrient availability. Despite its significance, there is currently no systematic classification of plant species based on their ammonium sensitivity. We conducted a meta-analysis of 50 plant species and present a new classification method based on the comparison of fresh biomass obtained under ammonium and nitrate nutrition. The classification uses the natural logarithm of the biomass ratio as the size effect indicator of ammonium sensitivity. This numerical parameter is associated with critical factors for nitrogen demand and form preference, such as Ellenberg indicators and the repertoire of nitrogen transporters for ammonium and nitrate uptake. Finally, a comparative analysis of the developmental and metabolic responses, including hormonal balance, is conducted in two species with divergent ammonium sensitivity values in the classification. Results indicate that nitrate has a key role in counteracting ammonium toxicity in species with a higher abundance of genes encoding NRT2-type proteins and fewer of those encoding the AMT2-type proteins. Additionally, the study demonstrates the reliability of the phytohormone balance and methylglyoxal content as indicators for anticipating ammonium toxicity. This study emphasizes the importance of ecophysiological requirements and the repertoire of nitrogen transporters in understanding plant sensitivity to ammonium, and enhances our knowledge of plant nitrogen nutrition.
Open Access
ModulaTransprot: explorando el uso de la nutrición amoniacal para reducir contenidos de nitrato en hortalizas de hoja en sistemas de cultivo sin suelo
(Interempresas Media, 2021) Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Rivero Marcos, Mikel; Cornejo Ibergallartu, Alfonso; García-Mina Freire, Jose María; Cavero, Rita Yolanda; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2
Encontrar alternativas a través del diseño de productos y sistemas sostenibles que aumenten la eficiencia en el uso del nitrógeno y disminuya los contenidos de nitratos en tejidos comestibles es una necesidad científica, social y económica.
Open Access
Learning plant biodiversity in nature: the use of the citizen–science platform iNaturalist as a collaborative tool in secondary education
(MDPI, 2021) Echeverría Obanos, Andrés; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Moreno Echeverría, Judit; Peralta de Andrés, Francisco Javier; González García, Esther; Zientziak; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Ciencias; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua, CENEDUCA3/2019
Biodiversity is a concept of great scientific interest and social value studied in different subjects of the secondary education curriculum. Citizen–science programs may contribute to increasing the engagement of students when studying biodiversity. This work aimed to explore the use of the citizen–science platform iNaturalist as a complement of the elaboration of herbaria in an outdoor activity for 4th course 16-year-old students in the Basaula Reserve. The platform iNaturalist was chosen for its suitability to develop collaborative projects in an educational context. The Basaula project was created and 122 students were trained to record plant species in an outdoor activity. A total of 32 species were recorded, among them the most abundant were beech (Fagus sylvatica) and holm oak (Quercus ilex). The students positively evaluated their experience, highlighting its adequacy to record biodiversity data and make a virtual herbarium. Students valued the innovative character of iNaturalist and its usefulness for research but also the opportunity to integrate mobile devices in school education. We concluded that iNaturalist is a valuable tool to carry out collaborative projects dealing with biodiversity in secondary education.
Open Access
Unlocking nature's drought resilience: a focus on the parsimonious root phenotype and specialised root metabolism in wild Medicago populations
(Springer Nature, 2024-10-28) Calleja Satrustegui, Aitziber; Echeverría Obanos, Andrés; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Peralta de Andrés, Francisco Javier; González García, Esther; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Unviersidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Background and aims: crop wild relatives, exposed to strong natural selection, exhibit effective tolerance traits against stresses. While an aggressive root proliferation phenotype has long been considered advantageous for a range of stresses, it appears to be counterproductive under drought due to its high metabolic cost. Recently, a parsimonious root phenotype, metabolically more efficient, has been suggested to be better adapted to semiarid environments, although it is not clear that this phenotype is a trait exhibited by crop wild relatives. Methods: firstly, we analysed the root phenotype and carbon metabolism in four Medicago crop wild relatives adapted to a semiarid environment and compared them with the cultivated M. truncatula Jemalong (A17). Secondly, we exposed the cultivated (probably the least adapted genotype to aridity) and the wild (the most common one in arid zones) M. truncatula genotypes to water deficit. The carbon metabolism response in different parts of their roots was analysed. Results: a reduced carbon investment per unit of root length was a common trait in the four wild genotypes, indicative of an evolution towards a parsimonious root phenotype. During the water deficit experiment, the wild M. truncatula showed higher tolerance to drought, along with a superior ability of its taproot to partition sucrose and enhanced capacity of its fibrous roots to maintain sugar homeostasis. Conclusion: a parsimonious root phenotype and the spatial specialization of root carbon metabolism represent two important drought tolerance traits. This work provides relevant findings to understand the response of Medicago species roots to water deficit.
Open Access
Can N nutrition lead to "plant diabetes"? The perspective from ammonium nutrition and methylglyoxal accumulation
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Rivero Marcos, Mikel; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Here we introduce a debate about whether plants can be suffering a "diabetes-like syndrome" depending on the N nutrition management. The idea of a plant diabetes is not new and was initially proposed by Saito et al. (2011) when they identified MG as a potent photosystem I-mediated superoxides generator in spinach chloroplasts. Later and along the same lines, Takagi et al. (2014) and Shimakawa et al. (2014) discussed the possible plant diabetes by associating it with the accumulation of MG as a common metabolite of the primary pathways of sugar anabolism and catabolism. Nevertheless, given the increasing relevance of NH+ 4 nutrition for crop production in a context of elevated atmospheric CO2, in addition to being a less polluting alternative to the excessive use of NO- 3 (Subbarao and Searchinger, 2021), we examine here from a new point of view the current knowledge about the glycolytic by-product MG and its link to a possible "NH+ 4 diet"-mediated plant diabetes.
Open Access
Structural role of silicon-mediated cell wall stability for ammonium toxicity alleviation
(Springer International Publishing, 2023-06-23) Rivero Marcos, Mikel; Silva, Gabriel Barbosa Jr.; Ariz Arnedo, Idoia; Ciencias; Zientziak; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB
The use of ammonium-based fertilizers together with nitrification inhibitors could be a possible alternative to limit N losses, currently derived from nitrate enrichment of soil and water, which are detrimental to the environment. However, prolonged application of ammonium as the main N source can result in development disorders in most plants, commonly referred to as 'ammonium syndrome'. Even if the origin of plants' sensitivity to ammonium is not fully understood, important biological components related to this syndrome have been unraveled over the last years. These components could constitute key targets to develop tools to counteract ammonium toxicity in crops. Thus, this chapter describes structural and metabolic components of root cells related to plant sensitivity to ammonium and how they could be key targets to combat ammonium toxicity by the use of fortification elements, such as silicon. Si is a beneficial element for plants as it increases their resistance to several stresses, including ammonium. New experimental evidences show specific role of Si in alleviating ammonium toxicity of several crops.