Page 137 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

embedded within the embryonic programs could lead to the development of new propagation techniques
and crop varieties with improved stress resilience.

*[O71] ADAPTIVE ROOT MORPHOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE AS A DROUGHT RESPONSE IN
BROMUS INERMIS. Nora Kroeger and Rafael Otfinowski . Department of Biology, University of
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Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3B 2E9
Correspondence to: nora_eszter@yahoo.ca

Grassland ecosystems across the globe are increasingly threatened by climate change, which is
predicted to exert different pressures on native and invasive plants. Plant responses to changing
environmental conditions are often measured or predicted using their morphological and anatomical traits,
however, few studies account for the intraspecific trait plasticity that plants exhibit in response to
environmental stressors, including drought. In this study, we examined whether six years of
experimentally induced extreme drought altered plant species composition and diversity in a grassland in
western Manitoba, Canada, and whether smooth brome (Bromus inermis), an invasive perennial grass,
exhibited differential root morphology and architecture as a result of drought. We conducted a plant
inventory, harvested aboveground biomass, and collected, washed, and scanned roots of twenty smooth
brome individuals sampled from five drought frames and five frames exposed to ambient precipitation.
Long-term drought increased the alpha diversity but not the beta diversity of experimental grasslands. For
smooth brome, drought increased the number of crown buds that produced rhizomes, and the total length
and surface area of roots. Focal plants also increased their allocation of root length and surface area to
very fine roots under drought, indicating a phenotypically plastic strategy of water acquisition in smooth
brome. Understanding how smooth brome responds to drought is critical to predicting how the structure,
composition, and function of grasslands across North America will be shaped by climate change and will
help to control the spread of invasive species both now and in the future.

*[O72] QUANTIFICATION OF BIO-STIMULANTS (MICROBES AND BACILLIN-20) AND THEIR
INTERACTIONS FOR ENHANCED CANNABIS GROWTH AND QUALITY IN TERMS OF SECONDARY
METABOLITE COMPOSITION. Ambreen , A. Geitmann , and D. L. Smith. Department of Plant Science,
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Macdonald Campus, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Corresponding author: donald.smith@mcgill.ca

Cannabis has proven to be a promising medicinal plant, effective in relieving pain, relaxing muscles, and
treating neurological disorders. With its potential benefits becoming better documented, it has earned a
place of interest in the scientific community and several governments have legalized it because of its wide
range of uses, such as fiber, oil, medicinal treatments, and recreational use. CBD (cannabidiol) and THC
(tetrahydrocannabinol) are the most important secondary metabolites, involved in controlling pain and
recreational use, respectively. Small fluctuations in growth conditions can change the production of these
metabolites and hence the medicinal value and quality of the plant. This study investigates the potential of
bio-stimulants, microbes, and a microbe-to-plant peptide signal molecule, Bacillin-20, to affect cannabis
growth, cannabinoid, and terpene levels by augmenting nutrient uptake or enhancing resistance against
biotic and abiotic factors by triggering plant stress/defence responses. The study also addresses the
effects of bio-stimulants at the proteomic level. Scanning electron microscopy was used to document root
colonization by bacterial strains (U35, U49, U50) on the surface and inside roots. Image analysis with
winRhizo showed increased root length, root diameter, and root volume in plants inoculated with strains
U35, U47, U48, U50 whereas, U49 resulted in a decrease in these parameters. The 5 microbial strains
are also being tested for their bio control activity against Botrytis sp. and Fusarium sp. Cannabis plants in
the flowering stage are going to be tested for cannabinoids and terpene levels using LC-UV, LC-MS, and
GC-FID-MS to determine the effect of microbial treatment. The results will facilitate a switch to biological
inputs to reduce the use of synthetic chemicals and pesticides, for more sustainable crop-plant growth.
Keywords: Cannabinoids, Terpenes, Bio-stimulants, Root colonization, Quantification

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