Structural and metabolic alterations in root systems under limited water conditions in forage grasses of Lolium-Festuca complex.

Drought resistance is a crucial attribute of plants and to properly decipher its mechanisms, a valuable plant model is required. Lolium multiflorum is a forage grass characterized by a low level of abiotic stress resistance, whereas Festuca arundinacea is recognized as a species with drought resistance, including both stress avoidance and tolerance strategies. These two species can be crossed with each other.

Salt stress and senescence: identification of cross-talk regulatory components.

Leaf senescence is an active process with a pivotal impact on plant productivity. It results from extensive signalling cross-talk coordinating environmental factors with intrinsic age-related mechanisms. Although many studies have shown that leaf senescence is affected by a range of external parameters, knowledge about the regulatory systems that govern the interplay between developmental programmes and environmental stress is still vague.