Biomarkers of Plants with Different Types of Ecological Strategies

Adaptive changes driven by ecological stresses can be investigated at various hierarchical levels – from molecular up to coenotic. Of particular interest is adaptation directed at altering key plant physiological processes in response to negative and unusual ecological factors. Patterns of physiological adaptation can be classified within the framework of ecological strategy. One of the most widely used classifications has been proposed by Ramensky and Grime (1971, 1988). Adaptation to stress in plants is regulated by a complex of molecular and genetic mechanisms that activate stress responses to prevent protein degradation and cellular component destruction and restore homeostasis. Since protein biosynthesis is a key link in the metabolic chain and because phytohormones regulate and coordinate such fundamental processes as growth, development, photoand biosynthesis and respiration, their expression profiles are likely to vary between plants that adopt different stress response strategies. In this study, we investigated the utility of proteins, especially members of stress protein families, and of phytohormones as biomarkers for different ecological adaptation strategies.