press release.<\/a><\/p>\nBuckeridge says the data could help improve predictive models used to assess the impact of climate change on global agriculture. The research team included specialists in bioinformatics, plant physiology and biochemistry, chemistry, statistics and mathematical modeling.<\/p>\n
The group has previously studied combined stresses in soybean, but this is the first study to estimate the impact of elevated CO\u2082, heat and drought together.<\/p>\n
CO\u2082 Can Help Plants Grow \u2014 But With Trade-Offs<\/p>\n
Buckeridge says the fertilizing effect of increased carbon dioxide on plants is already well documented. \u201cIt causes the plant to grow faster, enabling the production of more seeds. And what about when drought is also present? We discovered that CO\u2082 protects the plant against the effects of drought. Even a moderate drought causes the plant to produce fewer seeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut with high carbon dioxide levels, the leaf stomata close slightly [stomata are crucial microstructures for gas exchange and transpiration found mainly in leaves that open during the day in the presence of light]. In other words, the plant captures the carbon dioxide it needs for its processes but loses less water. That\u2019s the protective effect CO\u2082 has against drought.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same protective effect can also reduce some of the damage caused by high temperatures. In an environment with both higher CO\u2082 and higher temperatures, the plant may continue to grow more strongly than expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cCO\u2082 generally increases the starch content in the leaf because, when it enters the plant and creates positive carbon pressure, the plant can\u2019t always completely process it, since that metabolism is very complex with numerous metabolic pathways. As the flow becomes congested, the plant begins to store carbon as a reserve in the form of leaf starch,\u201d says Buckeridge.<\/p>\n
What Happens When Heat, Drought and CO\u2082 Combine?<\/p>\n
The key question for the research team was what happens when all three effects occur together, in conditions closer to what crops may face in the field. The researchers focused on the soybean seed because it is the crop\u2019s main agricultural product.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very agriculture-focused study. I expected the three stress factors to cancel each other out, resulting in little change in plant growth. I was surprised that it grew more with all three stress factors. This means that temperature and high CO\u2082 are contributing to that effect since drought alone would cause the plant to produce less.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Buckeridge, the lower starch content in the seed suggests that the plant redirected captured carbon toward building cell walls, including cellulose and hemicellulose, resulting in more fiber.<\/p>\n
Buckeridge says, \u201cIn other words, high carbon dioxide causes a deviation from the normal metabolism of the bean. Drought causes a second deviation and temperature a third. When we combine the three, we get deviation number four. That means the process isn\u2019t linear, which is one of the most important findings from our latest published work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pathways of the stress factors are different. Temperature and drought act through distinct stress pathways, metabolically speaking. We already understand that and have published it. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand their effect in combination with high CO\u2082.\u201d<\/p>\n
Testing Climate Stress in Soybeans<\/p>\n
When studied individually, elevated CO\u2082 increased soybean production by up to 142%. High temperatures reduced yield by 91%, while drought reduced yield by 60%.<\/p>\n
The combined triple effect \u2014 elevated CO\u2082, high temperature and drought \u2014 was assessed through predictive modeling based on experimentally validated dual-stress data. These included elevated CO\u2082 plus high temperature, and elevated CO\u2082 plus drought. The specific three-factor combination was not experimentally validated.<\/p>\n
\u201cConducting the experiment with all treatments and controls simultaneously would be a massive undertaking. We\u2019d need to consider control groups for the combinations of high CO\u2082 with temperature and drought, high CO\u2082 with temperature but no drought, high CO\u2082 with drought only without temperature, and I don\u2019t have space in the system. I have chambers that raise the temperature, and I can create drought artificially by removing water from the plants. These experiments have already been tested and have yielded excellent results, allowing us to understand how different stresses affect plants separately and in combination,\u201d Buckeridge explains.<\/p>\n
The experiments used open-top chambers, which are tubes with open tops into which carbon dioxide can be injected. The chambers, which are about 1.60 to 1.70 metres tall, allow researchers to control CO\u2082 levels and temperature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they were built, all the calculations were done with engineers from USP\u2019s Engineering School to determine how long it takes for the CO\u2082 to enter and exit the chamber. In that experiment, we injected carbon dioxide so that the concentration inside would be twice the concentration in the ambient air [an average of 400 parts per million]. We therefore injected it so that there would be 800 ppm left.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chambers can also raise the ambient temperature by up to 5 C. \u201cWe put the plant under maximum stress, at the limit, with a temperature 5 \u00b0C higher and twice the CO\u2082, forcing it to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
To simulate drought, researchers stopped watering the plants. The study used MG\/BR-46 Conquista, a soybean cultivar from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). Buckeridge says it was \u201cstudied exhaustively because it\u2019s necessary to simulate a drought similar to real-world field conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
How AI Helped Predict the Triple Impact<\/p>\n
The plants were exposed to individual and combined stress conditions, including ambient CO\u2082 and temperature, high CO\u2082, high temperature, high CO\u2082 plus high temperature, drought, and high CO\u2082 plus drought. Total biomass measured 60 days after the experiment began was used to predict soybean yield at 125 days.<\/p>\n
To estimate the triple impact, researchers used AI tools trained on the experimental results. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the effects of the different factors, both individually and in combination. With support from USP\u2019s Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, the team also used machine learning approaches, including XGBoost and CatBoost.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI modeling was able to predict the results of two stress factors on the bean, as verified in the experiment. That leads us to believe that we can also rely on the results obtained from the modeling for the triple impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preparing Soybeans for Climate Change<\/p>\n
The next step is to identify the genes responsible for soybean responses to different climate stresses and determine how those stresses affect plant metabolism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that knowledge, we\u2019ll be able to redesign the plant to produce the same amount of protein while losing less starch, for example. Ultimately, it\u2019ll be possible to prepare the seeds for better adaptation to climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers also want to understand how these findings could improve climate impact models for other crops.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s likely that other species will behave similarly. We\u2019ve already conducted the dual-effect experiment on sugarcane. Now, we need to test temperature and run the simulation using AI,\u201d Buckeridge explains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new AI-supported study suggests elevated CO\u2082, heat and drought may increase soybean production, but reduce starch and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,759,1475,60,47577],"class_list":["post-550937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-industry","tag-innovation","tag-ireland","tag-seed-world-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}