ABSTRACT

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the major oilseed crops cultivated world over for its high-quality oil rich in linoleic acid. It also has established applications in pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, mainly through recombinant production of unique oil body (OB) membrane proteins-oleosins, which are used for producing a wide variety of vaccines, food products, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. The present review provides a critical analysis of the progress made in advancing our knowledge in sunflower biology, ranging from mechanisms of pollen-stigma interaction, seed development, physiology of seed germination and seedling growth under salt stress, and finally understanding the signaling routes associated with various biochemical pathways regulating seedling growth. Role of nitric oxide (NO) triggered post-translational modifications (PTMs), discovered in the recent past, have paved way for future research directions leading to further understanding of sunflower developmental physiology. Novel protocols recently developed to monitor temporal and spatial distributions of various biochemicals involved in above-stated developmental events in sunflower, will go a long way for similar applications in plant biology in future.

摘要

向日葵 ( Helianthus annuus )L.) 是世界上主要的油料作物之一，因其富含亚油酸的高品质油料。它还在制药和生物技术行业建立了应用，主要通过重组生产独特的油体 (OB) 膜蛋白 - 油质蛋白，用于生产各种疫苗、食品、化妆品和营养品。本综述对提高我们在向日葵生物学知识方面取得的进展进行了批判性分析，包括花粉-柱头相互作用机制、种子发育、种子萌发生理学和盐胁迫下的幼苗生长，以及最终了解与调节幼苗生长的各种生化途径。一氧化氮 (NO) 触发翻译后修饰 (PTM) 的作用，最近发现的，为进一步了解向日葵发育生理学的未来研究方向铺平了道路。最近开发的用于监测上述向日葵发育事件中涉及的各种生化物质的时间和空间分布的新协议，对于未来在植物生物学中的类似应用将大有帮助。