Abstract: The research line is devoted to the study of the interaction between peanuts and beneficial microorganisms. The use of beneficial microorganisms is a very important eco-friendly biotechnological tool for crops of agronomic interest. Through these interactions, plants obtain nutrients or protection from environmental stress, improving their growth and yield. Among the adverse conditions for peanut growth, one of the most severe is drought. In particular, the response of redox metabolism and the participation of the antioxidant system as defense strategies of plants and microorganisms to abiotic stress conditions are studied. Under these conditions, both plants and microorganisms suffer imbalances in their cellular redox homeostasis, producing reactive oxygen species (ROS), which generate oxidative damage to biomolecules (oxidative stress). Consequently, antioxidant defense mechanisms formed by a group of compounds and enzymes that reduce the accumulation of ROS are activated. We also evaluate other physiological, biochemical, molecular and yield responses of crops challenged by stress and the application of various biotechnological strategies to counteract it. The tests are carried out at different scales (in vitro, in the greenhouse and in the field) to understand both the mechanisms that explain the responses of plants and microorganisms to abiotic stress and their potential application and transfer to the productive sector. These studies are carried out in collaboration with other UNRC working groups, with institutions and groups from the private sector (companies and producers) and national and foreign universities. This vision allows us to request state and private subsidies that finance the activities of the projects that we have in execution.

Biography: I´m Ana Laura Furlan (she/her) from Argentina. I´m a biologist graduated in 2009 when I started my studies on PhD, Post-Doc and nowadays as a researcher and teacher from CONICET and the National University of Río Cuarto (Córdoba, Argentina) on the interaction between cultivated peanut and beneficial microorganisms, N-fixers in particular.

https://iniab.conicet.gov.ar/laboratorio-de-interacciones-planta-ambiente-lipa/