Scientists from the Bulgarian Center for Excellence in Plant System Biology and Biotechnology – CPSBB, together with researchers from the University of Potsdam and the “Max Planck” Institute for Plant Molecular Physiology in Germany, have successfully sequenced the genome of Haberlea rhodopensis – an endemic Bulgarian species, a “resurrection plant”, also known as Orpheus flower or Rhodope silyvryak.
The characteristics of the genome of the Orpheus flower are described in the scientific article with free access “The genome of Haberlea rhodopensis provides insights into the mechanisms for tolerance to multiple extreme environments”, published in “Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences”.
The results will help plant biologists around the world, especially those, dealing with the problems of abiotic stress in plants. Interestingly, nearly 24% of the identified 44,306 genes in the plant are unique and specific only to it, with no similar genes in any other studied species. This makes the genome of this “resurrection plant” an extremely valuable resource for future studies.
The Orpheus flower demonstrates enormous potential for future discoveries to benefit agriculture, medicine, pharmacy and the cosmetic industry. Sequencing its genome will facilitate researchers in the search for genes to improve the resilience of economically important crops to adverse environmental conditions, as well as natural molecules that could potentially benefit human health.
A main research direction at CPSBB is the high resilience of Haberlea rhodopensis to drought – even after extreme drought and complete drying, upon subsequent irrigation the plant “resurrects” and recovers completely. Haberlea rhodopensis also demonstrates high tolerance to other extreme conditions such as low temperatures and prolonged darkness. Scientists at the CPSBB study the molecular mechanisms of adaptation in the plant to such types of abiotic stress. The main goal is to apply the results of the studies to economically important crops, with the aim of increasing their resilience to abiotic stresses.
