On April 27 – May 22, Yaqoob Sultan, a doctoral student at the Department of Grass Breeding of the Institute of Agriculture, LAMMC, conducted a short-term scientific mission (STSM) at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, focused on the integrated assessment of salt-induced phenolic accumulation and gene expression in birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) cultivars.
The mission was carried out under the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) action CA22144 “Sustainable Use of Salt-Affected Lands” (SUSTAIN). This COST Action aims to build a global transdisciplinary network of scientific experts and engaged stakeholders in the field of salinity research in the context of food security, sustainability and the intensifying climate crisis.
Salt stress is one of the major environmental challenges affecting crop productivity worldwide. When plants are exposed to elevated salinity, they activate complex biochemical and molecular defence mechanisms, including the accumulation of protective phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and isoflavonoids. Understanding how different cultivars respond at both the metabolic and gene expression levels is essential for identifying salt-tolerant varieties and informing future breeding programmes.
During the mission, Yaqoob Sultan performed advanced biochemical profiling of phenolic compounds using HPLC-DAD and LC-MS techniques and conducted quantitative PCR analysis to evaluate the expression of key phenolic biosynthesis genes – PAL, CHS, and FLS – in three L. corniculatus cultivars ‘Gelsvis’, ‘Baco’, and ‘Izis’ subjected to increasing NaCl concentrations. The results revealed cultivar-specific accumulation patterns and consistent gene upregulation under salinity, confirming coordinated activation of the phenylpropanoid pathway as a key adaptive response. The mission also fostered knowledge exchange with the Slovakian host team, and a joint manuscript is currently being prepared for submission.
Participation in the STSM was directly relevant to Yaqoob Sultan’s doctoral research, which focuses on the physiological and molecular responses of forage legumes to abiotic stress, with the aim of developing scientifically grounded tools for identifying and selecting stress-tolerant cultivars in plant breeding.
