Plant Gene最新文献

Salt stress poses a serious hazard to plant growth by altering osmotic and ionic homeostasis, producing too many oxidants and radicals, and harming vital metabolic processes like photosynthesis. Plants use mechanistic cascades of biochemical and physiological processes to battle salt stress and prevent ion toxicity; nevertheless, repeated exposure can overwhelm the defence system, leading to plant death. The Salt-Overly Sensitive (SOS) pathway, which predominantly relies on Na⁺ exclusion from the cytosol, makes a significant contribution to salinity tolerance in plants. Although silicon (Si) is known to reduce salt stress in a variety of crops and to raise plant stress tolerance, its impact on Na⁺ transport is little understood. In this review, we emphasise recent research on the interaction between Si treatment and important Na⁺ and K⁺ transporters involved in ion homeostasis under salt stress. The following aspects will receive special consideration: (1) The effects of salinity on membrane stability and ion homeostasis and the involvement of Na⁺ and K⁺ transporters in ion homeostasis (2) The uptake, storage, and transport of Si in higher plants, as well as the discovered Si transporters in many plant species (3) Modulation of the expression of the Na⁺, K⁺, and Si transporters to affect the absorption, transport, and homeostasis of ions by Si. Finally, this review also highlights the necessity for further investigation into the function of Si in salt stress in plants and the discovery of knowledge gaps in the broader area of this process.

Serine/arginine protein kinases (SRPKs) are members of the serine-threonine kinase family that phosphorylate the Serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins involved in alternate splicing. They are reported in various eukaryotes including mammals, and in a few plants, but seldom explored in important crop species. Herein, we identified a total of nine TaSRPK genes from all three subgenomes (A, B, and D) of a staple crop Triticum aestivum, and phylogenetically classified them into two groups. The TaSRPKs have conserved gene architecture with four exons. Each TaSRPK protein consists of a characteristic protein kinase domain having an active site and ATP binding region. The occurrence of diverse cis-regulatory elements in the promoter region, and interaction with assorted groups of transcription factors and miRNAs exhibited their divergent functions. Differential expression of certain TaSRPKs in vegetative and reproductive tissues and in the presence of fungal pathogens and various abiotic stress conditions further assured their association during development processes and stress response. Our study highlighted the importance of TaSRPKs, which might be useful for their detailed characterization in future research.

Plants being sessile constantly phase encountered stresses throughout their life both abiotic and biotic stresses. Due to these stresses, plants need to possess some memory and currently there is need to correlate ecological constraints and importance of stress memory. Stress priming deals with the plant's capacity to memorize stress onslaught and adapt to recurring stress. Oxidative stress is one such abiotic stress which disturbs the cell homeostasis and redox balance inside the cell which is thereby countered by plant's antioxidant machinery. Thus, plants need to have some kind of memory to encounter future oxidative stress. Redoxins such as glutaredoxin (GRX), thioredoxin (TRX), peroxiredoxin (PRX), nucleoredoxin (NRX) etc. are enzymatic antioxidants which plays vital role in the plant growth and development. NRXs have been lesser characterized in plants as per existing literature and scientometric analysis in present work sheds light on the importance of plant NRXs. Nucleoredoxin, possessing antioxidant properties and the ability to scavenge ROS, may play a crucial role in molecular priming mechanisms. The citation network analysis using VOSviewer server also showed the importance of current research and relation of NRXs with terms like ROS, gene expression regulation, plant gene, phytohormones and plant immunity. Later the Cicer arietinum NRX sequence was bioinformatically characterized using several tools for better understanding. Currently, there is growing evidence and research on this ‘stress memory concept’ and how different molecular players are related to it.

Heat stress poses a significant challenge to global rice production, affecting yield and grain quality. Elevated temperatures during the flowering and grain-filling stages, both day and night, lead to reduced yield and compromised grain quality. This impact is more pronounced during nighttime high-temperature stress, seriously threatening rice productivity. With global temperatures rising, there is a looming threat to rice production. Aromatic rice, prized for superior aroma and grain quality, is particularly vulnerable to heat. Therefore, the present work has been carried out to investigate how high temperature affects the aromatic metabolites in rice grains among the 15 rice genotypes (fourteen aromatic and one non-aromatic rice i.e., Nagina 22). Results from the present study indicated that the inactive (mutated) BADH2 gene expression was down-regulated under high-temperature stress conditions and no 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) accumulation was detected in the selected rice genotypes. However, the increase in levels of L-proline (precursor molecule for 2-AP) was detected, and due to the down-regulation of inactive BADH2, the oxidation of L-proline into 2-AP was affected. Proline amino acid significantly increased under high temperatures, impacting aroma quality. Metabolome studies revealed variations in compound detection among scented rice genotypes. Understanding these metabolites aids in addressing the loss of aroma in fragrant rice genotypes, offering insights into developing stable aromatic rice varieties under elevated temperature conditions. The study aims to identify metabolites causing aroma loss in aromatic rice. Results will aid in understanding aroma depletion mechanisms in scented rice under high-temperature stress, guiding the development of a stable aromatic rice variety in elevated temperatures.

Drought impacts global food production, prompting extensive research to understand drought tolerance in millet. However, knowledge regarding the extent of tolerance achievable through acclimation remains limited. The objective of the study is to assess the effect of drought acclimation (hardening) on drought tolerance in millet and to investigate the physiological, biochemical, and transcriptional changes associated with starch metabolism in millet. To achieve this aim, two millet genotypes (‘PI 689680’ and ‘PI 662292’), exhibiting differential responses to drought stress, were subjected to various treatments: control (unstressed), drought acclimation (DA; two stress episodes with recovery), and non-acclimation (NA; a single stress episode with no recovery).. The study revealed that drought-induced oxidative stress, manifested by increased amylose, amylopectin, and total starch accumulation in NA plants compared to DA counterparts. Additionally, NA plants experienced a notable reduction in growth and photosynthetic activity. Expression patterns of starch-related transcripts were relatively elevated in NA compared to DA plants. These findings highlighted that acclimation to drought conferred tolerance to subsequent stress events by mitigating oxidative damage induced by drought stress. DA plants exhibited improved tolerance, characterized by enhanced growth, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal activity, osmotic adjustment, starch accumulation, enzyme activity, and the regulated expression of related genes. The study advocates for adopting acclimation as a strategic approach to mitigate the adverse effects of metabolic disruptions induced by drought in millet.

Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) are a superfamily of chaperones that have been characterized in different organisms. In plants, HSPs promote protein folding and deaggregation during abiotic stress or developmental changes. The aim of this work was to integrate several omic-data to identify chaperone and putative interactors in Solanum lycopersicum domesticated cultivar Caimanta (C) and in the latinoamerican wild Solanum pimpinellifolium (P) genotypes during fruit ripening (FR), which are the parental lines of different breeding populations obtained by our research group. We were able to identify newly putative interactors and simultaneously induced HSP members at the transcription and proteomic levels. This integrative approach also revealed gene/protein families related to chlorophyll content, photosynthesis and HSP70 chaperones in C. Furthermore, P was enriched with chaperones, including HSP20, ATPase families, (characteristic of HSP90 and HSP100) and other protein families involved in oxidoreductase activity, supporting the hypothesis of the existence of a relationship between HSPs and developmental processes as FR. Finally, we found that some of these up-regulated chaperones show the presence of heat shock element motifs in their promoters. Proteomic coupled with transcriptomics and interactomics facilitated the exploration of a good new gene-context at the tomato development.

In Japan, Lithospermum erythrorhizon grows in the wild, and its roots are traditionally used for dyeing and medicinal purposes. However, due to excessive harvesting and changes in the natural environment, the population of this species has significantly declined over the past decades. To conserve the domestic varieties, it is important to obtain genomic information that accurately represents their pure lineage. The objective of this study was to characterize the chloroplast genome, which serves as a valuable phylogenetic marker, using next-generation sequencing. The results revealed that the DNA has a typical quadripartite structure, spanning 150,478 bp with a GC content of 35.5%. A total of 113 unique genes are encoded, including 80 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA genes, and 29 transfer RNA genes. Comparative plastome analyses involving 13 Boraginaceae species, including L. erythrorhizon, showed high similarities in the gene order and codon usage, while an accelerated substitution rate was observed in matK. Phylogenetic analyses using this gene and 71 common protein-coding genes indicated a close evolutional relationship between L. erythrorhizon and Glandora prostrata. Furthermore, when comparing the chloroplast genome assembly data of a Chinese variety, a total of 44 structural variants were identified. Most of these variants were mononucleotide or dinucleotide in size, but a 70 bp insertion/deletion was identified in the intergenic region flanked by the accD and psaI genes. The presence of this relatively substantial structural variant indicates that the maternal lineages of the Japanese and Chinese varieties examined in this study are distinctly different.

Anthocyanin biosynthesis, a process regulated by distinct MYB and MYC transcription factors, plays a crucial role in determining pigmentation in various tissue of plants. This study aimed to investigate the impact of overexpressing the OsC1 gene from black rice, encoding a MYB transcription factor, on anthocyanin pigmentation in red indica rice cv. Kasalath. Anthocyanin pigmentation was readily observed as purple spots in calli and as purple shoot tips and purple leaf sheath in transgenic seedlings. We confirmed the presence of the transgene using GUS assay and PCR analysis, and the pigmentation segregated following a 3:1 Mendelian ratio. T₀ and T₁ transgenic plants exhibits anthocyanin accumulation in various tissues including leaf sheaths, auricles, nodes, stigma, apiculus and awns, excluding the pericarp. Notably, the pigmentation in node tissues has not been previously reported for the OsC1 gene, and this gene does not involve in pericarp pigmentation. RT-PCR analysis of transgenic seedlings demonstrated that the overexpression of the OsC1 gene upregulated anthocyanin structural genes, particularly OsDFR, leading to anthocyanin accumulation. Intriguingly, the absence of OsB2 expression, encoding a MYC transcription factor, in transgenic seedlings suggests the involvement of alternative MYC factors in purple leaf sheaths. This study not only expands our understanding of OsC1's role in tissue specific anthocyanin pigmentation but also proposes OsC1 as a potential visible marker in rice transformation. Utilizing OsC1 as a marker provides an alternative approach to address concerns related to antibiotic-resistant genes while providing visually striking pigmentation.

Nitrogen (N) is an indispensable macronutrient for crop growth and yield. The N can be acquired and assimilated from a variety of sources such as nitrate (NO₃⁻), ammonium (NH₄⁺), and urea [CO(NH₂)₂]. Due to its low cost, urea is a popular N source in pastures. The urea transporter DUR3 gene, which can mediate direct urea uptake by roots, has received little attention in grasses. The purpose of the current study was to identify and characterize in silico the DUR3 gene in 29 grass species in comparison to Arabidopsis thaliana. Physicochemical properties, gene structure, motifs, and phylogenetic tree relationships were predicted. Furthermore, the relative expression patterns of the DUR3 gene were evaluated in two commercial cultivars (Mombaça and Aruana) of Megathyrsus maximus. Plants were grown in a nutritive solution containing 2 mM of N supplied as NO₃⁻, NH₄⁺, or [CO(NH₂)₂]. To investigate the relative expression of the DUR3 gene in leaves and roots we used the 2^-ΔΔCt method. The in silico characterization revealed that the DUR3 gene is highly conserved among grasses. Plants were submitted to 3 days of N starvation and the tissue was harvested 3 h after transfer to ammonium or urea solution. In general, the DUR3 gene was down-regulated in leaves and up-regulated in roots for both cultivars. Twenty-four hours after transfer, only the Mombaça cultivar showed a significant decrease of DUR3 mRNA levels in leaves and an increase in roots under urea, demonstrating that the DUR3 gene expression pattern is variable between cultivars of M. maximus. Characterizing of the DUR3 gene in grasses is the first step toward biotechnological approaches aiming to improve urea uptake in pastures.

Sugarcane smut, caused by Sporisorium scitamineum, is a major disease worldwide. Breeding resistant cultivars is the main management strategy. However, occasional failure to detect susceptible clones due to unfavorable environmental conditions, inconsistency in disease ratings between experiments, and continued clone losses due to pathogen adaptability are some of the challenges for this strategy. The development and use of molecular markers associated with smut resistance may overcome these limitations allowing more accurate identification of resistant parents and progeny. A genetic analysis was conducted using an inoculated population of 162 F₁ progeny from a biparental cross between susceptible/female and resistant/male parents to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with resistance. A total of 1574 single dose (SD) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) markers used to construct a genetic map resulted in 253 linkage groups (LGs) of which 150 LGs were assigned to the female parent and 204 LG to the male parent with a genome coverage of 24,580 cM. (Composite) interval mapping with selective sub-populations identified six consistent QTLs that cumulatively explained 25.74% of the phenotypic variance with LOD scores ranging from 3.17 to 23.7. Four out of 12 SNP markers closest to the QTL peaks had effect >10 for resistance in the heterozygous condition. Genes known to be involved in disease resistance, such as cellulose synthase, expansin, protein degradation, and receptor-kinase were linked to the genomic regions associated with smut resistance. The markers upon validation in different populations can be utilized for marker-assisted selection.