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September 8, 2026Functional Plant Biology

Contrasting responses of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) accessions to combined water and nutrient stress: integrated morphological, biochemical, and molecular analyses

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Authors

CMChaima MejriNRNour RessaissiLHLoua Haddoudi

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Overview

Comparative study reveals distinct morphological and molecular stress adaptations in alfalfa accessions, suggesting key targets for enhancing crop resilience.

Key Points

  • To identify natural variation and characterize the morphological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms conferring tolerance to combined water and nutrient stress in alfalfa.
  • Screened 14 Tunisian alfalfa (Medicago sativa) accessions under combined drought and nutrient deficiency using multivariate PCA and clustering.
  • Conducted comparative biochemical and gene expression analyses between two contrasting genotypes: Radhouane (tolerant) and Kettana 1 (sensitive).
  • Tolerant genotype Radhouane preserved root biomass and relative water content while increasing phenolic content by ~250% and antioxidant capacity by ~86% without leaf or root hydrogen peroxide accumulation.
  • Radhouane exhibited substantial molecular upregulation of root aquaporin PIP2-1 (~188%), glutathione synthetase (~220%), and ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase (~187%), whereas sensitive Kettana 1 showed severe lipid peroxidation and minimal gene induction.

Cite This Study

Mejri et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd7e758e84d0ff5b46f75https://doi.org/10.1071/fp26207
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Physiological and Transcriptomic Evaluation of Drought Tolerance in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and Identification of Resilient Germplasm2026
  2. 2Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Reveal Adaptive Mechanisms of Medicago sativa Under Water Stress2026
  3. 3Transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes for different root types of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) after water stress induced by PEG-60002024 · 2 citations
  4. 4Physiological and Biochemical Insights into Drought Tolerance of Alfalfa Cultivars with Different Sensitivities2026
  5. 5Study on physiological and ecological responses of alfalfa during the germination stage under drought, bicarbonate, and combined stress conditions2025