Dr. Fatemeh Soltani

During germination and early seedling establishment, plants mobilize their seed storage compounds to fuel growth and seedling establishment. Lupin seeds are composed of nearly 40% protein. However, how lupin coordinates its metabolic processes to catabolize these storage proteins remains poorly understood. Studying metabolic processes is inherently challenging because metabolism is complex, consisting of interconnected pathways organized within subcellular compartments and specialized cell types, tissues, and functionally distinct organs. Moreover, metabolism exhibits temporal dynamics in response to diel cycles, environmental fluctuations, and developmental stages.

Metabolic models offer a powerful tool to address this complexity. These models comprise known metabolic reactions of an organism and enable the study of metabolism at the network level. By capturing pathway interactions, metabolic models provide an excellent framework for studying plant metabolic rearrangements. Our objective is to leverage metabolic modeling to elucidate metabolic events during lupin seed germination, including tracking the fate of storage resources and their allocation to different metabolic processes.