BENGALURU: Western Ghats, India’s biodiversity hotspot, is home to 62 Desiccation-Tolerant (DT) Vascular plant species — able to withstand extreme dehydration, losing up to 95% of their water content, and they revive themselves once water is available again — which could have applications in agriculture, particularly in areas with scarcity of water, the department of science (DST) has said.
This unique ability (to handle extreme dehydration) allows them to survive in harsh, arid environments that would be uninhabitable for most other plants. DT plants have been studied for their possible applications in agriculture, particularly in areas with limited water resources.
“…In tropical regions, they are the predominant occupants of rock outcrops. In India, DT plants have been relatively understudied. Although rock outcrops are common landscapes in Western Ghats (WG), knowledge of DT plants in the region is poor,” DST said.
A recent study by scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) Pune, an autonomous institute of the DST, has identified 62 DT species in Western Ghats, many more than the earlier known nine species. They have time-lapse video that records the hydration process of this species.
“The team led by Mandar Datar and involving Smrithy Vijayan, Aboli Kulkarni, and Bhushan Shigwan collaborated with Dr. Stefan Porembski from Rostock University Germany, who is recognised as an expert of tropical rock outcrops,” DST said.
It added that the findings of the study can provide valuable insights into the biodiversity and ecology of Western Ghats and aid in the conservation of DT plant species. Besides, understanding the mechanisms by which DT plants can tolerate dehydration could lead to the development of crops that are more drought-resistant and require less water.
The research published in the Nordic Journal of Botany provides an overview of Indian DT plants, with a special focus on the WG, and includes an inventory of species with their habitat preferences, DST said, adding that of the inventory of 62 species, 16 are Indian endemic and 12 are exclusive to the WG outcrops, highlighting the ghat’s importance as a global DT hotspot.
In addition to rock outcrops, tree trunks in the partially shaded forests were also found to be crucial habitats for DT species, as per the study. Researchers scrutinised outcrop species for their DT properties by seasonal field observations, followed by relative water content estimation protocols.
Nine genera of DT plants are reported as new, also in a global perspective, with Tripogon capillatus (native range of this species is Southern Arabian Peninsula, India to Myanmar) representing the first record of an epiphytic (plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant) DT angiosperm, DST said.
This unique ability (to handle extreme dehydration) allows them to survive in harsh, arid environments that would be uninhabitable for most other plants. DT plants have been studied for their possible applications in agriculture, particularly in areas with limited water resources.
“…In tropical regions, they are the predominant occupants of rock outcrops. In India, DT plants have been relatively understudied. Although rock outcrops are common landscapes in Western Ghats (WG), knowledge of DT plants in the region is poor,” DST said.
A recent study by scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) Pune, an autonomous institute of the DST, has identified 62 DT species in Western Ghats, many more than the earlier known nine species. They have time-lapse video that records the hydration process of this species.
“The team led by Mandar Datar and involving Smrithy Vijayan, Aboli Kulkarni, and Bhushan Shigwan collaborated with Dr. Stefan Porembski from Rostock University Germany, who is recognised as an expert of tropical rock outcrops,” DST said.
It added that the findings of the study can provide valuable insights into the biodiversity and ecology of Western Ghats and aid in the conservation of DT plant species. Besides, understanding the mechanisms by which DT plants can tolerate dehydration could lead to the development of crops that are more drought-resistant and require less water.
The research published in the Nordic Journal of Botany provides an overview of Indian DT plants, with a special focus on the WG, and includes an inventory of species with their habitat preferences, DST said, adding that of the inventory of 62 species, 16 are Indian endemic and 12 are exclusive to the WG outcrops, highlighting the ghat’s importance as a global DT hotspot.
In addition to rock outcrops, tree trunks in the partially shaded forests were also found to be crucial habitats for DT species, as per the study. Researchers scrutinised outcrop species for their DT properties by seasonal field observations, followed by relative water content estimation protocols.
Nine genera of DT plants are reported as new, also in a global perspective, with Tripogon capillatus (native range of this species is Southern Arabian Peninsula, India to Myanmar) representing the first record of an epiphytic (plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant) DT angiosperm, DST said.