Xavier Serrat Gurrera
@ub.edu
Postdoctoral investigatior at Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals Department, Biology faculty
Universitat de Barcelona
EDUCATION
Titulació universitària
1. Biologia
2. Màster de Biotecnologia Molecular
Centre
1. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
2. Facultat de Farmàcia UB
Data d’obtenció
1. 15-01-2001
2. 16-07-2011
Doctorat
1. Biotecnologia
2.
Centre
1. Facultat de Biologia UB
2.
Data d’obtenció
1. 01-09-2016
2.
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Salvador Aljazairi, Brigen Manikan, Xavier Serrat, and Salvador Nogués
Elsevier BV
Alfred Palma‐Guillén, Miquel Salicrú, Ariadna Nadal, Xavier Serrat, and Salvador Nogués
Wiley
AbstractWeed control is one of the major challenges in rice cultivation, and the use of agrochemicals for this crop is severely restricted under the new European agricultural policy. Therefore, new effective non‐chemical weed control techniques are the key to sustain European rice production. We investigated four non‐chemical weed management strategies in the Ebro Delta in north‐eastern Spain, two in dry‐seeded rice fields and two in water‐seeded rice fields. In addition, two controls per sowing condition were included: a positive control consisting of chemical herbicides treatment and a negative control consisting of no weeding and no seeding. Mechanical weeding using a rotary harrow placed in front of the seeder was the best weeding technique for dry seeding, while ‘stale seed bed’ and transplanting was the best performing technique for wet seeding. Both techniques were as effective as the chemical weeding control, reducing the density of weeds and the supplementary manual weeding time needed for those weed species more abundant in Ebro Delta rice fields (i.e., Echinochloa oryzoides, Echinochloa crus‐galli, Bolboschoenus maritimus and Heteranthera reniformis). Thus, non‐chemical weeding alternatives have been proven effective for both, transplanting and dry seeding field management strategies.
Caterina Marè, Elisa Zampieri, Viviana Cavallaro, Julien Frouin, Cécile Grenier, Brigitte Courtois, Laurent Brottier, Gianni Tacconi, Franca Finocchiaro, Xavier Serrat,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Abstract Background Rice is one of the most salt sensitive crops at seedling, early vegetative and reproductive stages. Varieties with salinity tolerance at seedling stage promote an efficient growth at early stages in salt affected soils, leading to healthy vegetative growth that protects crop yield. Saltol major QTL confers capacity to young rice plants growing under salt condition by maintaining a low Na+/K+ molar ratio in the shoots. Results Marker-assisted backcross (MABC) procedure was adopted to transfer Saltol locus conferring salt tolerance at seedling stage from donor indica IR64-Saltol to two temperate japonica varieties, Vialone Nano and Onice. Forward and background selections were accomplished using polymorphic KASP markers and a final evaluation of genetic background recovery of the selected lines was conducted using 15,580 SNP markers obtained from Genotyping by Sequencing. Three MABC generations followed by two selfing, allowed the identification of introgression lines achieving a recovery of the recurrent parent (RP) genome up to 100% (based on KASP markers) or 98.97% (based on GBS). Lines with highest RP genome recovery (RPGR) were evaluated for agronomical-phenological traits in field under non-salinized conditions. VN1, VN4, O1 lines were selected considering the agronomic evaluations and the RPGR% results as the most interesting for commercial exploitation. A physiological characterization was conducted by evaluating salt tolerance under hydroponic conditions. The selected lines showed lower standard evaluation system (SES) scores: 62% of VN4, and 57% of O1 plants reaching SES 3 or SES 5 respectively, while only 40% of Vialone Nano and 25% of Onice plants recorded scores from 3 to 5, respectively. VN1, VN4 and O1 showed a reduced electrolyte leakage values, and limited negative effects on relative water content and shoot/root fresh weight ratio. Conclusion The Saltol locus was successfully transferred to two elite varieties by MABC in a time frame of three years. The application of background selection until BC3F3 allowed the selection of lines with a RPGR up to 98.97%. Physiological evaluations for the selected lines indicate an improved salinity tolerance at seedling stage. The results supported the effectiveness of the Saltol locus in temperate japonica and of the MABC procedure for recovering of the RP favorable traits.
Claudia Arias, Gladys Lino, Elena Sánchez, Salvador Nogués, and Xavier Serrat
MDPI AG
The selection of non-food crops for bioenergy production in limiting environments is a priority for energy security and climate change mitigation. Therefore, more studies are needed on the interactions between species and environmental factors in specific sites which allows their selection for biomass production. The objective of this work is to study the impact of drought on the morpho-physiological parameters of perennial rhizomatous grasses Panicum virgatum L., Miscanthus × giganteus, and Arundo donax L. in the Mediterranean environment. Plants were grown on field and trials were carried out under support-irrigation and rainfed conditions during two consecutive years. Morpho-physiological parameters were measured in May, June and August, and dry biomass at the end of the experiment. Under rainfed conditions, A. donax presented the highest photosynthesis rate (25, 15 and 10 CO2 m−2 s−1), relative water content (85–90%), and dry biomass (~4500 g plant−1) compared with P. virgatum (20, 5 and 5 CO2 m−2 s−1, 65–85% RWC and ~1400 g plant−1) and Miscanthus (18, 4 and 0 CO2 m−2 s−1, 80–10% RWC and ~260 g plant−1). It is concluded that A. donax would be the best perennial rhizomatous grass to be used as bioenergy crop under Mediterranean conditions.
Gladys Lino, Paula Espigul, Salvador Nogués, and Xavier Serrat
Elsevier BV
Xavier Serrat, Luisa Moysset, Irene Ferreres, and Salvador Nogués
MDPI AG
Rice holds an important sociocultural meaning in Europe, and especially in the gastronomy of its Mediterranean regions, as it is used for world-famous recipes such as Risotto in Italy and Paella in Spain. Paella is prepared with highly appreciated pearled (white-core) rice cultivars such as Bomba or Montsianell, while Risotto is prepared with white-belly Carnaroli cultivar among others. Pearled rice grains have a limited and enclosed translucent zone which is physicochemically different from stress-induced chalky grains present in any rice cultivar at a low rate, and whose opaque area covers at least three quarters of the grain surface. We have studied for the first time the physicochemical aspects of grains from pearled white-belly, white-core and crystalline rice grains of Mediterranean japonica rice cultivars in comparison with their defective stress-induced chalky grains in order to shed some light on their differences. Spanish Bomba and Montsianell white-core (pearled) cultivars have similar physicochemical behaviours but are clearly different from white-belly Carnaroli cultivar. Furthermore, their pearled fractions differ in some traits from stress-induced chalkiness, especially in terms of amyloplastic integrity, relative amylose content and relative storage protein content. This study establishes some physicochemical differences between white-belly, white-core and stress-induced defective chalky grains and will guide future studies to unravel this much-appreciated pearl character in the Mediterranean gastronomy.
Mireia Bundó, Héctor Martín-Cardoso, Michele Pesenti, Jorge Gómez-Ariza, Laia Castillo, Julien Frouin, Xavier Serrat, Salvador Nogués, Brigitte Courtois, Cécile Grenier,et al.
Frontiers Media SA
Rice is the most salt sensitive cereal crop and its cultivation is particularly threatened by salt stress, which is currently worsened due to climate change. This study reports the development of salt tolerant introgression lines (ILs) derived from crosses between the salt tolerant indica rice variety FL478, which harbors the Saltol quantitative trait loci (QTL), and the salt-sensitive japonica elite cultivar OLESA. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASPar) genotyping, in combination with step-wise phenotypic selection in hydroponic culture, were used for the identification of salt-tolerant ILs. Transcriptome-based genotyping allowed the fine mapping of indica genetic introgressions in the best performing IL (IL22). A total of 1,595 genes were identified in indica regions of IL22, which mainly located in large introgressions at Chromosomes 1 and 3. In addition to OsHKT1;5, an important number of genes were identified in the introgressed indica segments of IL22 whose expression was confirmed [e.g., genes involved in ion transport, callose synthesis, transcriptional regulation of gene expression, hormone signaling and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation]. These genes might well contribute to salt stress tolerance in IL22 plants. Furthermore, comparative transcript profiling revealed that indica introgressions caused important alterations in the background gene expression of IL22 plants (japonica cultivar) compared with its salt-sensitive parent, both under non-stress and salt-stress conditions. In response to salt treatment, only 8.6% of the salt-responsive genes were found to be commonly up- or down-regulated in IL22 and OLESA plants, supporting massive transcriptional reprogramming of gene expression caused by indica introgressions into the recipient genome. Interactions among indica and japonica genes might provide novel regulatory networks contributing to salt stress tolerance in introgression rice lines. Collectively, this study illustrates the usefulness of transcriptomics in the characterization of new rice lines obtained in breeding programs in rice.
Camilo López-Cristoffanini, Mireia Bundó, Xavier Serrat, Blanca San Segundo, Marta López-Carbonell, and Salvador Nogués
Elsevier BV
Abstract Rice, a major staple, is the most salt-sensitive cereal. High salinity triggers several adaptive responses in rice to cope with osmotic and ionic stress at the physiological, cellular, and molecular levels. A major QTL for salinity tolerance, named Saltol, is present on chromosome 1 of Indian landraces such as Pokkali and Nona Bokra. The early proteomic and physiological responses to salinity in roots and shoots of FL478, an inbred rice line harboring the Saltol QTL, were characterized. Plantlets were cultured in hydroponic cultures with 100 mmol L−1 NaCl and evaluated at 6, 24, and 48 h. At the physiological level, root length significantly increased at 48 h, whereas shoot length was reduced. The Na+/K+ ratio was maintained at lower levels in shoots than in roots, suggesting that roots play a protective role. More than 2000 proteins were detected in both tissues. Roots showed a faster and more coordinated proteomic response than shoots, evident after only 6 h of treatment. These responses showed clear correspondence with those of proteins involved in transcription and translation. Maintenance of mitochondrial activity and amino acid metabolism in roots, and activation of stress-responsive proteins such as dehydrins and PLAT in shoots, may play a key role during the response of the plant to salinity stress. Proteomic and physiological responses showed that roots respond in a more highly adaptive manner than shoots to salinity stress, suggesting that this tissue is critical to the tolerance observed in cultivars harboring Saltol.
Elena Sánchez, Gladys Lino, Xavier Serrat, and Salvador Nogués
MDPI AG
The present study assessed the behavior of four clones of Arundo donax L. (giant reed) as a perennial rhizomatous grass of increasing interest due to its high biomass production and great adaptability to stress conditions. In this study, a molecular, physiological, and biomass characterization was performed in greenhouse conditions on four Mediterranean clones. The majority of physiological and biomass parameters were not significantly different between clones. However, it was possible to observe large differences in the chromosome count for the four clones. In this way, we detected different numbers of chromosomes for each clone (98 to 122), but surprisingly, no correlation was observed between their chromosome numbers and their physiological and biomass responses.
Elena Sánchez, Pablo Rivera-Vargas, Xavier Serrat, and Salvador Nogués
MDPI AG
Arundo donax L. (giant reed) is a perennial rhizomatous grass and has been identified as an important non-food biomass crop with capacity for cultivation in marginal and degraded lands where water scarcity conditions frequently occur due to climate change. This review analyzes the effect of water stress on photosynthetic capacity and biomass production in multiple giant reed ecotypes grown in different regions around the world. Furthermore, this review will attempt to explain the reason for the high photosynthetic capacity of giant reed even under changing environmental conditions as well as indicate other morphological reasons that could contribute to maintaining this high photosynthetic rate. Finally, future research in favor of selecting ecotypes with drought tolerance is proposed.
Camilo López-Cristoffanini, Xavier Serrat, Olga Jáuregui, Salvador Nogués, and Marta López-Carbonell
Frontiers Media SA
Gibberellins (GAs) are a very important group of phytohormones involved in seed germination, vegetative growth, flowering, and fruit development, being only 4 of the 136 known bioactives: GA1, GA3, GA4, and GA7. It has been evidenced that mutations in the OsGA20ox-2 gene produce rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf varieties, which were one of the main pillars of the green revolution. In this work two main objectives were proposed: (i) develop a rapid and broad phytohormone profiling method and (ii) to study the effects on the GA content of the GA20ox-2 mutation in several rice developmental stages using three varieties (tall variety, elite variety, mutated variety). A phytohormone extraction using an SPE step and HPLC-MS/MS detection using a QqQ instrument was determined which resulted in limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) for GAs that varied between 0.1–0.7 and 0.3–2.3 pg ⋅ g-1 (f.w.) of rice sample, respectively, allowing highly sensitive phytohormones detection in samples. Moreover, a good reproducibility was obtained for the GAs as relative standard deviations (RSD) for a 40 ng ⋅ mL-1 pattern varied between 0.3 and 0.9%. Notoriously, GA1 was absent in the coleoptile and GA4 was the GA with higher content in the majority of developmental stages. We also observed a large content increase of the four bioactive GAs in the internode of the flag leaf of the mutated variety allowing to reach same height as the elite variety. Therefore, we provide a rapid and broad phytohormonal profiling method and evidence that the GA20ox-2 mutation is not the only factor generating dwarf varieties. To our knowledge, this is the first study that it has been reported such a high number of simultaneously analyzed gibberellins in rice samples (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) in different tissues of different growth stages.
Irene Ferreres, Mirari Ortega, Camilo López-Cristoffanini, Salvador Nogués, and Xavier Serrat
Japanese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology
Anther culture is a fast tool to obtain double haploid plant lines for breeding purposes. In rice, this procedure is commonly performed in two steps: i) induction of calli from anthers and ii) regeneration of plantlets from calli. It has been stated that genotype highly influences the anther culture efficiency, so the media used in each step should be optimized for each variety. In this study, we tested different media modifications of an efficient protocol optimized for a medium sized grain temperate japonica NRVC980385, used as a control, in a long grain temperate japonica rice variety (NRVC20120346), and two long grain tropical japonica varieties (303012 and 303013). We found that the addition of 150 mg l-1 colchicine to the induction medium worked best for all genotypes except for NRVC20120346, whose best induction was obtained with the colchicine-free medium. Referring to regeneration, increased gelling agent in the medium provided the best rates in NRVC980385, improving our former NRVC980385-optimized anther culture protocol. Sorbitol fortified regeneration medium worked the best in the case of the long grain varieties. The presence of colchicine in the induction medium was also related to a higher obtention of double haploid plantlets. This study highlights that genotype is a key factor in the performance of rice anther culture. It has set a first anther culture study on long grain japonica varieties and optimizes the anther culture protocol for temperate japonica medium grain NRVC980385 with the use of colchicine and other additives that increase osmotic stress.
Claudia Arias, Xavier Serrat, Lluïsa Moysset, Patricia Perissé, and Salvador Nogués
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a warm perennial grass with valuable characteristics as a biofuel crop. To avoid competition with food crops, biofuel crops will be likely relegated to less productive soils such as marginal lands. Consequently, the salinity and water scarcity problems that commonly affect marginal lands compromise biofuel crop germination, emergence, and seedling establishment. The aims of this study were to study the germination and seedling growth of switchgrass under salinity and water stress and to describe the morpho-anatomical responses of the roots and leaves in the seedlings to these stress conditions. The effect of salt and water stress was assessed using sodium chloride (NaCl) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 8000 at the same water potentials of − 0.8, − 1.0, and − 1.2 MPa. Seeds were moist prechilled for 7 days at 5 °C and germinated at 30/15 °C (8 h light/16 h dark). NaCl treatments (− 0.8 and − 1.0 MPa) delayed germination rates but did not reduce the final germination percentage, whereas at a lower potential (− 1.2 MPa), the final germination percentage was diminished. The effects of PEG (− 1.0 and − 1.2 MPa) on the germination rate and final percentage were more detrimental than those induced by isosmotic concentrations of NaCl. PEG and NaCl reduced significantly the vigor index of − 0.8 to − 1.2 MPa. The morpho-anatomical changes such as the reduction in the root cross-sectional area and the thickening of the endodermis walls for both stress conditions and aerenchyma formation in the cortex under salinity could significantly contribute in the survival and tolerance during the early seedling stages.
Isidre Hooghvorst, Eduardo Ramos-Fuentes, Camilo López-Cristofannini, Mirari Ortega, Raimon Vidal, Xavier Serrat, and Salvador Nogués
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Rice double haploid (DH) plants are produced mainly through anther culture. In order to improve the anther culture protocol, microspores of two japonica rice genotypes (NRVC980385 and H28) were subjected to three growth regulator combinations and four colchicine treatments on induction medium. In addition, a post anther culture procedure using colchicine or oryzalin was tested to induce double haploid plantlets from haploid plantlets. A cold pre-treatment of microspores for 9 days at 10 °C increased callus induction 50-fold in the NRCV980385 genotype. For both genotypes, 2 mg L−1 2,4-D and 1 mg L−1 kinetin on colchicine-free induction medium gave the best culture responses. The culturability of both genotypes changed on colchicine-supplemented induction media. A high genotype dependency was recorded for callus induction, callus regenerating green plantlets and regeneration of green double haploid plantlets. Colchicine at 300 mg L−1 for 48 h enhanced callus induction 100-fold in H28. Colchicine-supplemented media clearly improved green double haploid plantlet regeneration. We showed that the post-anther culture treatment of haploid plantlets at 500 mg L−1 of colchicine permitted fertile double haploid plantlets to be generated. Finally, an enhanced medium-throughput flow cytometry protocol for rice was tested to analyse all the plantlets from anther and post anther culture.
Camilo López-Cristoffanini, Xavier Serrat, Eduardo Ramos-Fuentes, Isidre Hooghvorst, Roser Llaó, Marta López-Carbonell, and Salvador Nogués
Japanese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology
Rice is one of the greatest calorie supply for the world population, especially since its production is almost entirely destined to direct human consumption and its demand will increase along with the world population. There are efforts worldwide to increase rice yields by obtaining new improved and stabilized rice lines. The rice anther culture, a fast and cheap technique, allows to obtain double haploid lines in less than one year. We report its application with an improved protocol in four Mediterranean japonica rice genotypes at F2 generation. We performed a screening test for cold-pretreatment at 5.0±0.1°C and concluded that the optimum duration was 9 days as it produced the higher rate of anther-derived callus induction. This revised protocol was successfully applied to the four genotypes, obtaining good results in all the procedure's steps. At the end, more than 100 of double haploid green plants were generated. Moreover, 9 lines obtained from the anther culture procedure showed good qualities for the Spanish market at the growing, farming and grain production level during the field assays. Therefore, we report an improved anther culture procedure for obtaining double haploid lines from temperate japonica rice genotypes showing high commercialization expectance.
Xavier Serrat, Roger Esteban, Nathalie Guibourt, Luisa Moysset, Salvador Nogués, and Eric Lalanne
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
BackgroundTILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a reverse genetic method that combines chemical mutagenesis with high-throughput genome-wide screening for point mutation detection in genes of interest. However, this mutation discovery approach faces a particular problem which is how to obtain a mutant population with a sufficiently high mutation density. Furthermore, plant mutagenesis protocols require two successive generations (M1, M2) for mutation fixation to occur before the analysis of the genotype can begin.ResultsHere, we describe a new TILLING approach for rice based on ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis of mature seed-derived calli and direct screening of in vitro regenerated plants. A high mutagenesis rate was obtained (i.e. one mutation in every 451 Kb) when plants were screened for two senescence-related genes. Screening was carried out in 2400 individuals from a mutant population of 6912. Seven sense change mutations out of 15 point mutations were identified.ConclusionsThis new strategy represents a significant advantage in terms of time-savings (i.e. more than eight months), greenhouse space and work during the generation of mutant plant populations. Furthermore, this effective chemical mutagenesis protocol ensures high mutagenesis rates thereby saving in waste removal costs and the total amount of mutagen needed thanks to the mutagenesis volume reduction.
X. Serrat, M. Cardona, J. Gil, A. M. Brito, L. Moysset, S. Nogués, and E. Lalanne
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Certified seed producers systematically select and propagate registered varieties year after year in order to maintain their uniformity and the original registered cultivar traits. However, natural mutations, spontaneous breeding between varieties and alien grain contamination can introduce undesirable variability. NRVC 980385 is a temperate japonica rice cultivar (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) first registered in Spain in 2002. In 2005 certification tests detected a plot differing from the original traits in terms of uniformity and height suggesting the presence of a certain heterozygosis. This material was therefore seen as an opportunity to obtain newly stabilized doubled haploid (DH) lines which could compete in the Spanish short grain seed market. In this study, an in vitro anther culture protocol is defined which also covers the field tests selection to obtain four new, improved and stabilized DH derived lines ready to be registered for commercial proposes. This took just 4 years from the initial anther collection until new lines were grown in large scale field trials. Consequently, this protocol reduces the time for obtaining field assessed DH lines thereby having considerable advantages over other techniques by both maintaining the original registered cultivars and/or generating new derived varieties.
X. Serrat, R. Esteban, G. Penas, M. M. Catala, E. Mele, and J. Messeguer
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Several studies have reported transgenic rice transferring transgenes to red rice weed. However, gene flow also occurs in the opposite direction resulting in transgenic seeds that have incorporated the traits of wild red rice. We quantified this reverse flow being higher than the direct gene flow, nevertheless transgenic seeds carrying wild genes would remain in the spike and therefore most of it would be removed at harvesting. This phenomenon must be considered in fields used for elite seed production and in developing countries where there is a higher risk of GM red rice weed infestation increasing from year to year.