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Laboratory for Sustainable Land Use and Ecosystem Services
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Intelligent Data-Driven Decision Support for Agricultural Systems-ID3SAS
Publication . Araújo, Sara Oleiro; Peres, Ricardo Silva; Filipe, Leandro; Manta-Costa, Alexandre; Lidon, Fernando; Ramalho, José Cochicho; Barata, José; CTS - Centro de Tecnologia e Sistemas; DCT - Departamento de Ciências da Terra; UNINOVA-Instituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias; DEE - Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
The agricultural sector worldwide faces serious problems regarding water scarcity, which demands innovative management methods to optimise water use. In response, we propose the Intelligent Data-Driven Decision Support for Agricultural Systems (ID3SAS) methodology, which offers a scalable, flexible, and cloud-based decision support system for real-time supervision and control in agricultural environments. Aligned with the prevailing trends of Agriculture 4.0, ID3SAS integrates data acquisition, cloud-based storage, machine learning, predictive analysis, and run-time reasoning to facilitate decision-making processes, thereby assisting users in making more informed and sustainable decisions. In a case study with tomato plants, ID3SAS-irrigated plants showed 20.9% reduction in water consumption and 26.4% increase in crop production compared to traditional methods, which despite the controlled laboratory environment setting, highlights the methodology's promising potential in addressing water scarcity and enhancing agricultural productivity.
Soil Arsenic Toxicity Impact on the Growth and C-Assimilation of Eucalyptus nitens
Publication . Ramalho, José C.; Pelica, João; Lidon, Fernando C.; Silva, Maria M. A.; Simões, Maria M.; Guerra, Mauro; Reboredo, Fernando H.; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias; DCT - Departamento de Ciências da Terra; LIBPhys-UNL; DF – Departamento de Física; Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
The selection of adequate plants that can cope with species that can live in contaminated/degraded and abandoned mining areas is of utmost importance, especially for environmental management and policymakers. In this framework, the use of a fast-growing forestry species, such as Eucalyptus nitens, in the recovery of arsenic (As) from artificially contaminated soils during a long-term experiment was studied. Roots can accumulate to levels ranging between 69.8 and 133 μg g−1 for plants treated with 100 and 200 µg As mL−1, respectively, while leaves between 9.48 μg g−1 (200 As) and 15.9 μg g−1 (100 As) without apparent morphological damage and toxicity symptoms. The C-assimilation machinery performance revealed a gradual impact, as evaluated through some gas exchange parameters such as the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance to H2O (gs), and transpiration rate (E), usually with the greater impacts at the highest As concentration (200 As), although without significantly impacting the PSII performance. The As effects on the uptake and translocation of Ca, Fe, K, and Zn revealed two contrasting interferences. The first one was associated with Zn, where a moderate antagonism was detected, whereas the second one was related to Fe, where a particular enrichment in leaves was noted under both As treatments. Thus, it seems to exist a synergistic action with an impact on the levels of the photosynthetic pigments in As-treated plant leaves, compared with control plants. E. nitens must be considered as an alternative when phytoremediation processes are put into practice in our country, particularly in areas with cool climatic conditions.
Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal That Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora Have More Complex Responses under Combined Heat and Drought than under Individual Stressors
Publication . Marques, Isabel; Fernandes, Isabel; Paulo, Octávio S.; Batista, Dora; Lidon, Fernando C.; Rodrigues, Ana P.; Partelli, Fábio L.; DaMatta, Fábio M.; Ribeiro-Barros, Ana I.; Ramalho, José C.; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias; MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Increasing exposure to unfavorable temperatures and water deficit imposes major constraints on most crops worldwide. Despite several studies regarding coffee responses to abiotic stresses, transcriptome modulation due to simultaneous stresses remains poorly understood. This study unravels transcriptomic responses under the combined action of drought and temperature in leaves from the two most traded species: Coffea canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153) and C. arabica cv. Icatu. Substantial transcriptomic changes were found, especially in response to the combination of stresses that cannot be explained by an additive effect. A large number of genes were involved in stress responses, with photosynthesis and other physiologically related genes usually being negatively affected. In both genotypes, genes encoding for protective proteins, such as dehydrins and heat shock proteins, were positively regulated. Transcription factors (TFs), including MADS-box genes, were down-regulated, although responses were genotype-dependent. In contrast to Icatu, only a few drought- and heat-responsive DEGs were recorded in CL153, which also reacted more significantly in terms of the number of DEGs and enriched GO terms, suggesting a high ability to cope with stresses. This research provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying leaf Coffea responses to drought and heat, revealing their influence on gene expression.
Uncovering the wide protective responses in Coffea spp. leaves to single and superimposed exposure of warming and severe water deficit
Publication . Rodrigues, Ana P.; Pais, Isabel P.; Leitão, António E.; Dubberstein, Danielly; Lidon, Fernando C.; Marques, Isabel; Semedo, José N.; Rakocevic, Miroslava; Scotti-Campos, Paula; Campostrini, Eliemar; Rodrigues, Weverton P.; Simões-Costa, Maria Cristina; Reboredo, Fernando H.; Partelli, Fábio L.; DaMatta, Fábio M.; Ribeiro-Barros, Ana I.; Ramalho, José C.; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias; Frontiers Media
Climate changes boosted the frequency and severity of drought and heat events, with aggravated when these stresses occur simultaneously, turning crucial to unveil the plant response mechanisms to such harsh conditions. Therefore, plant responses/resilience to single and combined exposure to severe water deficit (SWD) and heat were assessed in two cultivars of the main coffee-producing species: Coffea arabica cv. Icatu and C. canephora cv. Conilon Clone 153 (CL153). Well-watered plants (WW) were exposed to SWD under an adequate temperature of 25/20°C (day/night), and thereafter submitted to a gradual increase up to 42/30°C, and a 14-d recovery period (Rec14). Greater protective response was found to single SWD than to single 37/28°C and/or 42/30°C (except for HSP70) in both cultivars, but CL153-SWD plants showed the larger variations of leaf thermal imaging crop water stress index (CWSI, 85% rise at 37/28°C) and stomatal conductance index (IG, 66% decline at 25/20°C). Both cultivars revealed great resilience to SWD and/or 37/28°C, but a tolerance limit was surpassed at 42/30°C. Under stress combination, Icatu usually displayed lower impacts on membrane permeability, and PSII function, likely associated with various responses, usually mostly driven by drought (but often kept or even strengthened under SWD and 42/30°C). These included the photoprotective zeaxanthin and lutein, antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, Cu,Zn-SOD; ascorbate peroxidase, APX), HSP70, arabinose and mannitol (involving de novo sugar synthesis), contributing to constrain lipoperoxidation. Also, only Icatu showed a strong reinforcement of glutathione reductase activity under stress combination. In general, the activities of antioxidative enzymes declined at 42/30°C (except Cu,Zn-SOD in Icatu and CAT in CL153), but HSP70 and raffinose were maintained higher in Icatu, whereas mannitol and arabinose markedly increased in CL153. Overall, a great leaf plasticity was found, especially in Icatu that revealed greater responsiveness of coordinated protection under all experimental conditions, justifying low PIChr and absence of lipoperoxidation increase at 42/30°C. Despite a clear recovery by Rec14, some aftereffects persisted especially in SWD plants (e.g., membranes), relevant in terms of repeated stress exposure and full plant recovery to stresses.
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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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6817 - DCRRNI ID
Número da atribuição
LA/P/0092/2020