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Combining extracellular matrix proteome and phosphoproteome of chickpea and meta-analysis reveal novel proteoforms and evolutionary significance of clade-specific wall-associated events in plant Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-03-18 Kanika Narula, Arunima Sinha, Pooja Choudhary, Sudip Ghosh, Eman Elagamey, Archana Sharma, Atreyee Sengupta, Niranjan Chakraborty, Subhra Chakraborty
Extracellular matrix (ECM) plays central roles in cell architecture, innate defense and cell wall integrity (CWI) signaling. During transition to multicellularity, modular domain structures of ECM proteins and proteoforms have evolved due to continuous adaptation across taxonomic clades under different ecological niche. Although this incredible diversity has to some extent been investigated at protein
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Effects of melatonin, proline, and salicylic acid on seedling growth, photosynthetic activity, and leaf nutrients of sorghum under salt stress Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Mehmet Sait Kiremit, Elif Öztürk, Hakan Arslan, Bhaskara Anggarda Gathot Subrata, Hasan Akay, Aigerim Bakirova
Soil salinization poses a significant challenge to the sustainability and productivity of agriculture worldwide. This issue continues to hinder plant growth, requiring innovative solutions to alleviate salt stress. Moreover, climate change accelerates soil salinization, which may soon spread to previously unaffected agricultural areas. Therefore, the present study evaluated the potential role of different
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Chromosome‐scale genome assembly of Poa trivialis and population genomics reveal widespread gene flow in a cool‐season grass seed production system Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Caio A. C. G. Brunharo, Christopher W. Benson, David R. Huff, Jesse R. Lasky
Poa trivialis (L.) is a cool‐season grass species found in various environments worldwide. In addition to being a desired turfgrass species, it is a common weed of agricultural systems and natural areas. As a weed, it is an important contaminant of commercial cool‐season grass seed lots, resulting in widespread gene flow facilitated by human activities and causing significant economic losses to farmers
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Light quality‐dependent roles of REVEILLE proteins in the circadian system Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Cassandra L. Hughes, Yuyan An, Julin N. Maloof, Stacey L. Harmer
Several closely related Myb‐like activator proteins are known to have partially redundant functions within the plant circadian clock, but their specific roles are not well understood. To clarify the function of the REVEILLE 4, REVEILLE 6, and REVEILLE 8 transcriptional activators, we characterized the growth and clock phenotypes of CRISPR‐Cas9‐generated single, double, and triple rve mutants. We found
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Non‐destructive, whole‐plant phenotyping reveals dynamic changes in water use efficiency, photosynthesis, and rhizosphere acidification of sorghum accessions under osmotic stress Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-03-07 Daniel N. Ginzburg, Jack A. Cox, Seung Y. Rhee
Noninvasive phenotyping can quantify dynamic plant growth processes at higher temporal resolution than destructive phenotyping and can reveal phenomena that would be missed by end‐point analysis alone. Additionally, whole‐plant phenotyping can identify growth conditions that are optimal for both above‐ and below‐ground tissues. However, noninvasive, whole‐plant phenotyping approaches available today
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Identification and expression of strigolactone biosynthesis and signaling genes and the in vitro effects of strigolactones in olive (Olea europaea L.) Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-02-26 Aslıhan Özbilen, Fatih Sezer, Kemal Melih Taşkin
Strigolactones (SLs), synthesized in plant roots, play a dual role in modulating plant growth and development, and in inducing the germination of parasitic plant seeds and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere. As phytohormones, SLs are crucial in regulating branching and shaping plant architecture. Despite the significant impact of branching strategies on the yield performance of fruit crops
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A fibrous scaffold for in vitro culture and experimental studies of Physcomitrium patens Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-02-20 Ryan Calcutt, Yasaman Aghli, Treena Arinzeh, Ram Dixit
The model moss, Physcomitrium patens, is routinely cultured on cellophane placed over a solid nutrient medium. While this culture method is convenient for moss propagation, it is not suitable for studying how topographical features and mechanical cues from the environment influence the growth and development of moss. Here, we show that P. patens can be grown on fibrous scaffolds consisting of nanoscale
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The maize striate leaves2 (sr2) gene encodes a conserved DUF3732 domain and is homologous to the rice yss1 gene Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-02-13 Meghan J. Brady, Maya Cheam, Jonathan I. Gent, R. Kelly Dawe
Maize striate leaves2 (sr2) is a mutant that causes white stripes on leaves that has been used in mapping studies for decades though the underlying gene has not been identified. The sr2 locus has been previously mapped to small regions of normal chromosome 10 (N10) and a rearranged variant called abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10). A comparison of assembled genomes carrying N10 and Ab10 revealed only five
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The melon Fom-1–Prv resistance gene pair: Correlated spatial expression and interaction with a viral protein Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-02-14 Michael Normantovich, Arie Amitzur, Sharon Offri, Ekaterina Pashkovsky, Yula Shnaider, Shahar Nizan, Ohad Yogev, Avi Jacob, Christopher G. Taylor, Cécile Desbiez, Steven A. Whitham, Amalia Bar-Ziv, Rafael Perl-Treves
The head-to-head oriented pair of melon resistance genes, Fom-1 and Prv, control resistance to Fusarium oxysporum races 0 and 2 and papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), respectively. They encode, via several RNA splice variants, TIR-NBS-LRR proteins, and Prv has a C-terminal extra domain with a second NBS homologous sequence. In other systems, paired R-proteins were shown to operate by “labor division,” with
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Salinity inhibits seed germination and embryo growth by reducing starch mobilization efficiency in barley Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-02-02 Min Xiong, Jian Xu, Zhou Zhou, Bin Peng, Yuxiang Shen, Huiquan Shen, Xiao Xu, Changya Li, Lina Deng, Gongneng Feng
Barley is one of the world's earliest domesticated crops, which is widely used for beer production, animal feeding, and health care. Barley seed germination, particularly in increasingly saline soils, is key to ensure the safety of crop production. However, the mechanism of salt-affected seed germination in barley remains elusive. Here, two different colored barley varieties were used to independently
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Enhanced metabolic detoxification is associated with fluroxypyr resistance in Bassia scoparia Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Olivia E. Todd, Eric L. Patterson, Eric P. Westra, Scott J. Nissen, André Lucas Simões Araujo, William B. Kramer, Franck E. Dayan, Todd A. Gaines
Auxin-mimic herbicides chemically mimic the phytohormone indole-3-acetic-acid (IAA). Within the auxin-mimic herbicide class, the herbicide fluroxypyr has been extensively used to control kochia (Bassia scoparia). A 2014 field survey for herbicide resistance in kochia populations across Colorado identified a putative fluroxypyr-resistant (Flur-R) population that was assessed for response to fluroxypyr
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A phosphorylation-deficient ribosomal protein eS6 is largely functional in Arabidopsis thaliana, rescuing mutant defects from global translation and gene expression to photosynthesis and growth Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-19 Anwesha Dasgupta, Ricardo A. Urquidi Camacho, Ramya Enganti, Sung Ki Cho, Lindsey L. Tucker, John S. Torreverde, Paul E. Abraham, Albrecht G. von Arnim
The eukaryote-specific ribosomal protein of the small subunit eS6 is phosphorylated through the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase pathway. Although this phosphorylation event responds dynamically to environmental conditions and has been studied for over 50 years, its biochemical and physiological significance remains controversial and poorly understood. Here, we report data from Arabidopsis thaliana
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Creating saponin-free yellow pea seeds by CRISPR/Cas9-enabled mutagenesis on β-amyrin synthase Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Connor L. Hodgins, Eman M. Salama, Rahul Kumar, Yang Zhao, Susan A. Roth, Irene Z. Cheung, Jieyu Chen, Gene C. Arganosa, Thomas D. Warkentin, Pankaj Bhowmik, Byung-Kook Ham, Dae-Kyun Ro
Dry pea (Pisum sativum) seeds are valuable sources of plant protein, dietary fiber, and starch, but their uses in food products are restricted to some extent due to several off-flavor compounds. Saponins are glycosylated triterpenoids and are a major source of bitter, astringent, and metallic off-flavors in pea products. β-amyrin synthase (BAS) is the entry point enzyme for saponin biosynthesis in
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Insights into the function of the chloroplastic ribosome-associated GTPase high frequency of lysogenization X in Arabidopsis thaliana Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Marwa Mehrez, Cécile Lecampion, Hang Ke, Faten Gorsane, Ben Field
Ribosome-associated GTPases are conserved enzymes that participate in ribosome biogenesis and ribosome function. In bacteria, recent studies have identified HflX as a ribosome-associated GTPase that is involved in both ribosome biogenesis and recycling under stress conditions. Plants possess a chloroplastic HflX homolog, but its function remains unknown. Here, we characterized the role of HflX in the
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Characteristics of turion development in two aquatic carnivorous plants: Hormonal profiles, gas exchange and mineral nutrient content Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Lubomír Adamec, Lenka Plačková, Karel Doležal
Turions are vegetative, dormant, and storage overwintering organs formed in perennial aquatic plants in response to unfavorable ecological conditions and originate by extreme condensation of apical shoot segments. The contents of cytokinins, auxins, and abscisic acid were estimated in shoot apices of summer growing, rootless aquatic carnivorous plants, Aldrovanda vesiculosa and Utricularia australis
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Cadmium accumulation dynamics in the rice endosperm during grain filling revealed by autoradiography Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Atsushi Hirose, Keitaro Tanoi, Tomoko M. Nakanishi, Natsuko I. Kobayashi
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the environmental pollutants contaminated in our food. Several previous reports showed that rice polishing cannot be efficient to reduce Cd content in white rice, implying the characteristic Cd distribution in rice grain. However, Cd distribution has not been fully elucidated so far. Herein, 109Cd radiotracer experiment was performed using the rice seedlings at various time points
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Microsporogenesis and the biosynthesis of floral small interfering RNAs in coffee have a unique pattern among eudicots, suggesting a sensitivity to climate changes Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2024-01-07 Kellen Kauanne Pimenta de Oliveira, Raphael Ricon de Oliveira, Gabriel de Campos Rume, Thales Henrique Cherubino Ribeiro, Christiane Noronha Fernandes-Brum, Laurence Rodrigues do Amaral, Atul Kakrana, Sandra Mathioni, Blake C. Meyers, Matheus de Souza Gomes, Antonio Chalfun-Junior
Recently, the siRNAs pathways, and especially reproductive phasiRNAs, have attracted attention in eudicots since their biological roles are still unknown and their biogenesis took different evolutionary pathways compared to monocots. In this work, we used Coffea arabica L., a recent allotetraploid formed from the hybridization of Coffea canephora and C. eugenioides unreduced gametes, to explore microsporogenesis
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STOP1-regulated SMALL AUXIN UP RNA55 (SAUR55) is involved in proton/malate co-secretion for Al tolerance in Arabidopsis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-29 Raj Kishan Agrahari, Yuriko Kobayashi, Takuo Enomoto, Tasuku Miyachi, Marie Sakuma, Miki Fujita, Takuya Ogata, Yasunari Fujita, Satoshi Iuchi, Masatomo Kobayashi, Yoshiharu Y. Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Koyama
Proton (H+) release is linked to aluminum (Al)-enhanced organic acids (OAs) excretion from the roots under Al rhizotoxicity in plants. It is well-reported that the Al-enhanced organic acid excretion mechanism is regulated by SENSITIVE TO PROTON RHIZOTOXICITY1 (STOP1), a zinc-finger TF that regulates major Al tolerance genes. However, the mechanism of H+ release linked to OAs excretion under Al stress
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PELOTA and HBS1 suppress co-translational messenger RNA decay in Arabidopsis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-26 Rong Guo, Brian D. Gregory
Various messenger RNA (mRNA) decay mechanisms play major roles in controlling mRNA quality and quantity in eukaryotic organisms under different conditions. While it is known that the recently discovered co-translational mRNA decay (CTRD), the mechanism that allows mRNAs to be degraded while still being actively translated, is prevalent in yeast, humans, and various angiosperms, the regulation of this
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PhosBoost: Improved phosphorylation prediction recall using gradient boosting and protein language models Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-20 Elly Poretsky, Carson M. Andorf, Taner Z. Sen
Protein phosphorylation is a dynamic and reversible post-translational modification that regulates a variety of essential biological processes. The regulatory role of phosphorylation in cellular signaling pathways, protein–protein interactions, and enzymatic activities has motivated extensive research efforts to understand its functional implications. Experimental protein phosphorylation data in plants
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Differential expansion and retention patterns of LRR-RLK genes across plant evolution Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-21 Zachary Kileeg, Aparna Haldar, Hasna Khan, Arooj Qamar, G. Adam Mott
To maximize overall fitness, plants must accurately respond to a host of growth, developmental, and environmental signals throughout their life. Many of these internal and external signals are perceived by the leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases, which play roles in regulating growth, development, and immunity. This largest family of receptor kinases in plants can be divided into subfamilies
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Analysis of temperature effects on the protein accumulation of the FT–FD module using newly generated Arabidopsis transgenic plants Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Kyung-Ho Park, Sol-Bi Kim, Jae-Hoon Jung
Arabidopsis flowering is dependent on interactions between a component of the florigens FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor FD. These proteins form a complex that activates the genes required for flowering competence and integrates environmental cues, such as photoperiod and temperature. However, it remains largely unknown how FT and FD are regulated at the
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TurboID-mediated proximity labeling for screening interacting proteins of FIP37 in Arabidopsis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Xiaofang Li, Yanping Wei, Qili Fei, Guilin Fu, Yu Gan, Chuanlin Shi
Proximity labeling was recently developed to detect protein–protein interactions and members of subcellular multiprotein structures in living cells. Proximity labeling is conducted by fusing an engineered enzyme with catalytic activity, such as biotin ligase, to a protein of interest (bait protein) to biotinylate adjacent proteins. The biotinylated protein can be purified by streptavidin beads, and
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α-Tomatine gradient across artificial roots recreates the recruitment of tomato root-associated Sphingobium Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Kyoko Takamatsu, Miwako Toyofuku, Fuki Okutani, Shinichi Yamazaki, Masaru Nakayasu, Yuichi Aoki, Masaru Kobayashi, Kentaro Ifuku, Kazufumi Yazaki, Akifumi Sugiyama
α-Tomatine is a major saponin that accumulates in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). We previously reported that α-tomatine secreted from tomato roots modulates root-associated bacterial communities, particularly by enriching the abundance of Sphingobium belonging to the family Sphingomonadaceae. To further characterize the α-tomatine-mediated interactions between tomato plants and soil bacterial microbiota
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Microbial community and chemical composition of cigar tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) leaves altered by tobacco wildfire disease Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Hongyang Si, Bing Cui, Fang Liu, Mingqin Zhao
Tobacco wildfire disease caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci is one of the most destructive foliar bacterial diseases occurring worldwide. However, the effect of wildfire disease on cigar tobacco leaves has not been clarified in detail. In this study, the differences in microbiota and chemical factors between wildfire disease-infected leaves and healthy leaves were characterized using high-throughput
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Regulatory mechanisms of the LBD40 transcription factor in Arabidopsis thaliana somatic embryogenesis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-06 Sanjay Joshi, Kristine Hill, Manohar Chakrabarti, Sharyn E. Perry
Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a process by which an embryo is derived from somatic tissue. Transcription factors (TFs) have been identified that control this process. One such TF that promotes SE is AGAMOUS-like 15 (AGL15). Prior work has shown that AGL15 can both induce and repress gene expression. One way this type of dual function TF works is via protein interactions, so a yeast 2-hybrid (Y2H) screen
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Conserved cellular patterning in the mesophyll of rice leaves Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-04 Jen Sloan, Saranrat Wang, Qi Yang Ngai, Yi Xiao, Jodie Armand, Matthew J. Wilson, Xin-Guang Zhu, Andrew J. Fleming
The mesophyll cells of grass leaves, such as rice, are traditionally viewed as displaying a relatively uniform pattern, in contrast to the clear distinctions of palisade and spongy layers in typical eudicot leaves. This quantitative analysis of mesophyll cell size and shape in rice leaves reveals that there is an inherent pattern in which cells in the middle layer of the mesophyll are larger and less
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Identification and preliminary characterization of conserved uncharacterized proteins from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Setaria viridis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Eric P. Knoshaug, Peipei Sun, Ambarish Nag, Huong Nguyen, Erin M. Mattoon, Ningning Zhang, Jian Liu, Chen Chen, Jianlin Cheng, Ru Zhang, Peter St. John, James Umen
The rapid accumulation of sequenced plant genomes in the past decade has outpaced the still difficult problem of genome-wide protein-coding gene annotation. A substantial fraction of protein-coding genes in all plant genomes are poorly annotated or unannotated and remain functionally uncharacterized. We identified unannotated proteins in three model organisms representing distinct branches of the green
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Photosynthetically active radiation is required for seedling growth promotion by volcanic dacitic tuff breccia (Azomite) Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Kent F. McCue, Elijah Mehlferber, Robert Reed, Alexis Ortiz, Jon Ferrel, Rajnish Khanna
A plant's growth and development are shaped by its genome and the capacity to negotiate its environment for access to light, water, and nutrients. There is a vital need to understand the interactions between the plant, its physical environment, and the fertilizers used in agriculture. In this study, a commercially available volcanic ash fertilizer, Azomite®, characterized as dacitic (rhyolitic) tuff
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Dissecting genomic regions and underlying sheath blight resistance traits in rice (Oryza sativa L.) using a genome-wide association study Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-23 R Naveenkumar, Annamalai Anandan, Seenichamy Rathinam Prabhukarthikeyan, Anumalla Mahender, Ganesan Sangeetha, Shyam Saran Vaish, Pawan Kumar Singh, Waseem Hussain, Jauhar Ali
The productivity of rice is greatly affected by the infection of the plant pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani, which causes a significant grain yield reduction globally. There exist a limited number of rice accessions that are available to develop sheath blight resistance (ShB). Our objective was to identify a good source of the ShB resistance, understand the heritability, and trait interactions
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Interactions with microbial consortia have variable effects in organic carbon and production of exometabolites among genotypes of Populus trichocarpa Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Alyssa A. Carrell, Miranda Clark, Sara Jawdy, Wellington Muchero, Gladys Alexandre, Jesse L. Labbé, Tomás A. Rush
Poplar is a short-rotation woody crop frequently studied for its significance as a sustainable bioenergy source. The successful establishment of a poplar plantation partially depends on its rhizosphere—a dynamic zone governed by complex interactions between plant roots and a plethora of commensal, mutualistic, symbiotic, or pathogenic microbes that shape plant fitness. In an exploratory endeavor, we
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Effect of ethylene pretreatment on tomato plant responses to salt, drought, and waterlogging stress Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-17 Petar Mohorović, Batist Geldhof, Kristof Holsteens, Marilien Rinia, Johan Ceusters, Bram Van de Poel
Salinity, drought, and waterlogging are common environmental stresses that negatively impact plant growth, development, and productivity. One of the responses to abiotic stresses is the production of the phytohormone ethylene, which induces different coping mechanisms that help plants resist or tolerate stress. In this study, we investigated if an ethylene pretreatment can aid plants in activating
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Functional analysis of Salix purpurea genes support roles for ARR17 and GATA15 as master regulators of sex determination Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Brennan Hyden, Dana L. Carper, Paul E. Abraham, Guoliang Yuan, Tao Yao, Leo Baumgart, Yu Zhang, Cindy Chen, Ronan O'Malley, Jin-Gui Chen, Xiaohan Yang, Robert L. Hettich, Gerald A. Tuskan, Lawrence B. Smart
The Salicaceae family is of growing interest in the study of dioecy in plants because the sex determination region (SDR) has been shown to be highly dynamic, with differing locations and heterogametic systems between species. Without the ability to transform and regenerate Salix in tissue culture, previous studies investigating the mechanisms regulating sex in the genus Salix have been limited to genome
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CBSX2 is required for the efficient oxidation of chloroplast redox-regulated enzymes in darkness Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-13 Yonghong Li, Lin Zhang, Yurou Shen, Lianwei Peng, Fudan Gao
Thiol/disulfide-based redox regulation in plant chloroplasts is essential for controlling the activity of target proteins in response to light signals. One of the examples of such a role in chloroplasts is the activity of the chloroplast ATP synthase (CFoCF1), which is regulated by the redox state of the CF1γ subunit and involves two cysteines in its central domain. To investigate the mechanism underlying
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Differential gene expression during floral transition in pineapple Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-14 Robert E. Paull, Najla Ksouri, Michael Kantar, Dessireé Zerpa-Catanho, Nancy Jung Chen, Gail Uruu, Jingjing Yue, Shiyong Guo, Yun Zheng, Ching Man Jennifer Wai, Ray Ming
Pineapple (Ananas comosus var. comosus) and ornamental bromeliads are commercially induced to flower by treatment with ethylene or its analogs. The apex is transformed from a vegetative to a floral meristem and shows morphological changes in 8 to 10 days, with flowers developing 8 to 10 weeks later. During eight sampling stages ranging from 6 h to 8 days after treatment, 7961 genes were found to exhibit
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Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of Na+/H+ antiporter (NHX) genes in tomato under salt stress Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-13 Erman Cavusoglu, Ugur Sari, Iskender Tiryaki
Plant Na+/H+ antiporter (NHX) genes enhance salt tolerance by preventing excessive Na+ accumulation in the cytosol through partitioning of Na+ ions into vacuoles or extracellular transport across the plasma membrane. However, there is limited detailed information regarding the salt stress responsive SlNHXs in the most recent tomato genome. We investigated the role of this gene family's expression patterns
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Metabolomic, photoprotective, and photosynthetic acclimatory responses to post-flowering drought in sorghum Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-13 Christopher R. Baker, Dhruv Patel-Tupper, Benjamin J. Cole, Lindsey G. Ching, Oliver Dautermann, Armen C. Kelikian, Cayci Allison, Julie Pedraza, Julie Sievert, Aivett Bilbao, Joon-Yong Lee, Young-Mo Kim, Jennifer E. Kyle, Kent J. Bloodsworth, Vanessa Paurus, Kim K. Hixson, Robert Hutmacher, Jeffery Dahlberg, Peggy G. Lemaux, Krishna K. Niyogi
Climate change is globally affecting rainfall patterns, necessitating the improvement of drought tolerance in crops. Sorghum bicolor is a relatively drought-tolerant cereal. Functional stay-green sorghum genotypes can maintain green leaf area and efficient grain filling during terminal post-flowering water deprivation, a period of ~10 weeks. To obtain molecular insights into these characteristics,
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The rice annexin gene OsAnn5 is involved in cold stress tolerance at the seedling stage Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-11-06 Zhiqun Que, Qineng Lu, Qixiu Li, Chunxiu Shen
Annexins exist widely in plants as multigene families and play critical roles in stress responses and a range of cellular processes. This study provides a comprehensive account of the cloning and functional characterization of the rice annexin gene OsAnn5. The findings reveal that a cold stress treatment at the seedling stage of rice induced OsAnn5 expression. GUS staining assay indicated that the
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The halotolerant rizhobacterium Glutamicibacter sp. alleviates salt impact on Phragmites australis by producing exopolysaccharides and limiting plant sodium uptake Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-26 Rabaa Hidri, Ouissal Metoui-Ben Mahmoud, Walid Zorrig, Rozario Azcon, Chedly Abdelly, Ahmed Debez
Salinity is a widespread abiotic stress, which has strong adverse effects on plant growth and crop productivity. Exopolysaccharides (EPS) play a crucial role in plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)-mediated improvement of plant stress tolerance. This study aimed to assess whether Glutamicibacter sp. strain producing large amounts of EPS may promote tolerance of common reed, Phragmites australis
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Photosynthetic and transcriptome responses to fluctuating light in Arabidopsis thylakoid ion transport triple mutant Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Peter J. Gollan, Steffen Grebe, Lena Roling, Bernhard Grimm, Cornelia Spetea, Eva-Mari Aro
Fluctuating light intensity challenges fluent photosynthetic electron transport in plants, inducing photoprotection while diminishing carbon assimilation and growth, and also influencing photosynthetic signaling for regulation of gene expression. Here, we employed in vivo chlorophyll-a fluorescence and P700 difference absorption measurements to demonstrate the enhancement of photoprotective energy
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Chitin and laminarin additively trigger wheat reactive oxygen species but not resistance to Fusarium head blight Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-17 Guixia Hao, Nicholas A. Rhoades, Susan McCormick
Plants respond to fungal infections by activating defense genes including producing reactive oxygen species (ROS). The fungus Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight (FHB), a serious disease of wheat and barley. FHB results in crop yield loss and contaminates grain with mycotoxins. In a prior study, we discovered that chitin induces tissue-specific ROS burst in wheat. However, it is unknown
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Reducing nitrate and tobacco-specific nitrosamine level in burley tobacco leaves through grafting on flue-cured tobacco rootstock Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-12 Yuqing Feng, Yuanyuan Zhao, Geng Li, Hongzhi Shi
Nitrosation of pyridine alkaloids in tobacco generates tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), which are notable toxicants in tobacco products and smoke. Burley tobacco, a chloroplast- and nitrogen (N)-deficient phenotype that accumulates high levels of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in its leaves, is particularly susceptible to TSNAs formation. In this study, reciprocal pot and field grafting experiments
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Myb-like transcription factors have epistatic effects on circadian clock function but additive effects on plant growth Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Cassandra L. Hughes, Stacey L. Harmer
The functions of closely related Myb-like repressor and Myb-like activator proteins within the plant circadian oscillator have been well-studied as separate groups, but the genetic interactions between them are less clear. We hypothesized that these repressors and activators would interact additively to regulate both circadian and growth phenotypes. We used CRISPR-Cas9 to generate new mutant alleles
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Identification of genes associated with abiotic stress tolerance in sweetpotato using weighted gene co-expression network analysis Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-10-03 Mercy Kitavi, Dorcus C. Gemenet, Joshua C. Wood, John P. Hamilton, Shan Wu, Zhangjun Fei, Awais Khan, C. Robin Buell
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L.), a key food security crop, is negatively impacted by heat, drought, and salinity stress. The orange-fleshed sweetpotato cultivar “Beauregard” was exposed to heat, salt, and drought treatments for 24 and 48 h to identify genes responding to each stress condition in leaves. Analysis revealed both common (35 up regulated, 259 down regulated genes in the three stress conditions)
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NAC domain transcription factors VNI2 and ATAF2 form protein complexes and regulate leaf senescence Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-18 Isura Sumeda Priyadarshana Nagahage, Kohei Matsuda, Kyoko Miyashita, Sumire Fujiwara, Chanaka Mannapperuma, Takuya Yamada, Shingo Sakamoto, Toshiki Ishikawa, Minoru Nagano, Misato Ohtani, Ko Kato, Hirofumi Uchimiya, Nobutaka Mitsuda, Maki Kawai-Yamada, Taku Demura, Masatoshi Yamaguchi
The NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2 (NAC) domain transcription factor VND-INTERACTING2 (VNI2) negatively regulates xylem vessel formation by interacting with another NAC domain transcription factor, VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN7 (VND7), a master regulator of xylem vessel formation. Here, we screened interacting proteins with VNI2 using yeast two-hybrid assay and isolated two NAC domain transcription factors
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Blue-green fluorescence during hypersensitive cell death arises from phenylpropanoid deydrodimers Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-12 Basem Kanawati, Marko Bertic, Franco Moritz, Felix Habermann, Ina Zimmer, David Mackey, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, Jörg-Peter Schnitzler, Jörg Durner, Frank Gaupels
Infection of Arabidopsis with avirulent Pseudomonas syringae and exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) both trigger hypersensitive cell death (HCD) that is characterized by the emission of bright blue-green (BG) autofluorescence under UV illumination. The aim of our current work was to identify the BG fluorescent molecules and scrutinize their biosynthesis, localization, and functions during the HCD.
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Simultaneous CAS9 editing of cpSRP43, LHCA6, and LHCA7 in Picochlorum celeri lowers chlorophyll levels and improves biomass productivity Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-12 Anagha Krishnan, Melissa Cano, Devin A. Karns, Tyson A. Burch, Maria Likhogrud, Moena Aqui, Shaun Bailey, John Verruto, William Lambert, Fedor Kuzminov, Mahva Naghipor, Yingjun Wang, Christopher C. Ebmeier, Joseph C. Weissman, Matthew C. Posewitz
High cellular pigment levels in dense microalgal cultures contribute to excess light absorption. To improve photosynthetic yields in the marine microalga Picochlorum celeri, CAS9 gene editing was used to target the molecular chaperone cpSRP43. Depigmented strains (>50% lower chlorophyll) were generated, with proteomics showing attenuated levels of most light harvesting complex (LHC) proteins. Gene
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Hormonal and proteomic analyses of southern blight disease caused by Athelia rolfsii and root chitosan priming on Cannabis sativa in an in vitro hydroponic system Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-08 Pipob Suwanchaikasem, Shuai Nie, Jamie Selby-Pham, Robert Walker, Berin A. Boughton, Alexander Idnurm
Southern blight disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Athelia rolfsii, suppresses plant growth and reduces product yield in Cannabis sativa agriculture. Mechanisms of pathology of this soil-borne disease remain poorly understood, with disease management strategies reliant upon broad-spectrum antifungal use. Exposure to chitosan, a natural elicitor, has been proposed as an alternative method to control
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Transformation and regeneration of DNA polymerase Θ mutant rice plants Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-05 Ayako Nishizawa-Yokoi, Stanton B. Gelvin
Agrobacterium T-DNA integration into the plant genome is essential for the process of transgenesis and is widely used for genome engineering. The importance of the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) protein DNA polymerase Θ, encoded by the PolQ gene, for T-DNA integration is controversial, with some groups claiming it is essential whereas others claim T-DNA integration in Arabidopsis and rice polQ mutant
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Effect of graphene on soybean root colonization by Bradyrhizobium strains Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-09-03 Athira Sethu Madhavan, Lilia Ernestina Montanez Hernandez, Zheng Rong Gu, Senthil Subramanian
Legume crops such as soybean obtain a large portion of their nitrogen nutrition through symbiotic nitrogen fixation by diazotrophic rhizobia bacteria in root nodules. However, nodule occupancy by low-capacity nitrogen-fixing rhizobia can lead to lower-than-optimal levels of nitrogen fixation. Seed/root coating with engineered materials such as graphene-carrying biomolecules that may promote specific
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Heritable induced resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana: Tips and tools to improve effect size and reproducibility Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-25 L. Furci, D. Pascual-Pardo, L. Tirot, P. Zhang, A. Hannan Parker, J. Ton
Over a decade ago, three independent studies reported that pathogen- and herbivore-exposed Arabidopsis thaliana produces primed progeny with increased resistance. Since then, heritable induced resistance (h-IR) has been reported across numerous plant-biotic interactions, revealing a regulatory function of DNA (de)methylation dynamics. However, the identity of the epi-alleles controlling h-IR and the
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Correction to “NDH-1L with a truncated NdhM subunit is unstable under stress conditions in cyanobacteria” Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-25
Che, L., Guo, Y., Huang, Y., Peng, L., & Gao, F. (2023). NDH-1L with a truncated NdhM subunit is unstable under stress conditions in cyanobacteria. Plant Direct, 7(6), e502. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.502 Parts of Figures 2, 4 and 6 captions were inadvertently omitted and placed as part of the main text. The correct figure captions are as follows: FIGURE 2 Immunoblot analyses of NDH-1L and its degradation
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The brassinosteroid-responsive protein OCTOPUS is a novel regulator of Arabidopsis thaliana immune signaling Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-23 Kaitlyn N. Greenwood, Courtney L. King, Isabella Melena, Katherine A. Stegemann, Maura Donnelly, Anna Childers, Raegan Mozal, Carina A. Collins, Benjamin J. Spears
Phloem is a critical tissue for transport of photosynthates and extracellular signals in vascular plants. However, it also represents an ideal environment for pathogens seeking access to valuable host nutrients. Although many vascular pathogens induce economically relevant crop damage, there is still little known about the mechanisms by which immune signaling operates through the phloem. An existing
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Plasticity of root hair and rhizosheath traits and their relationship to phosphorus uptake in sorghum Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-23 Michael O. Adu, Nathaniel Zigah, David O. Yawson, Kwadwo K. Amoah, Emmanuel Afutu, Kofi Atiah, Alfred A. Darkwa, Paul A. Asare
Sorghum is an essential crop for resilient and adaptive responses to climate change. The root systems of crop plants significantly contribute to the tolerance of abiotic stresses. There is little information on sorghum genotypes' root systems and plasticity to external P supply. In this paper, we investigated the variations in root systems, as well as the responses, trait relationships, and plasticity
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Exome-based new allele-specific PCR markers and transferability for sodicity tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-18 Roopali Bhoite, Rosemary Smith, Urmil Bansal, Mirza Dowla, Harbans Bariana, Darshan Sharma
Targeted exome-based genotype by sequencing (t-GBS), a sequencing technology that tags SNPs and haplotypes in gene-rich regions was used in previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for sodicity tolerance in bread wheat. Thirty-nine novel SNPs including 18 haplotypes for yield and yield-components were identified. The present study aimed at developing SNP-derived markers by precisely locating
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Differences in mucilage properties and stomatal sensitivity of locally adapted Zea mays in relation with precipitation seasonality and vapour pressure deficit regime of their native environment Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-17 Bernd J. Berauer, Asegidew Akale, Andreas H. Schweiger, Mathilde Knott, Dörte Diehl, Marc-Philip Wolf, Ruairidh J. H. Sawers, Mutez A. Ahmed
With ongoing climate change and the increase in extreme weather events, especially droughts, the challenge of maintaining food security is becoming ever greater. Locally adapted landraces of crops represent a valuable source of adaptation to stressful environments. In the light of future droughts—both by altered soil water supply and increasing atmospheric water demand (vapor pressure deficit [VPD])—plants
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Transcriptional analysis in multiple barley varieties identifies signatures of waterlogging response Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-12 Alexandra Miricescu, Ailbhe Jane Brazel, Joseph Beegan, Frank Wellmer, Emmanuelle Graciet
Waterlogging leads to major crop losses globally, particularly for waterlogging-sensitive crops such as barley. Waterlogging reduces oxygen availability and results in additional stresses, leading to the activation of hypoxia and stress response pathways that promote plant survival. Although certain barley varieties have been shown to be more tolerant to waterlogging than others and some tolerance-related
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Transcriptome analyses of leaf architecture in Sansevieria support a common genetic toolkit in the parallel evolution of unifacial leaves in monocots Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-07 Edward M. Golenberg, Aleksandar Popadić, Weilong Hao
Planar structures dramatically increase the surface-area-to-volume ratio, which is critically important for multicellular organisms. In this study, we utilize naturally occurring phenotypic variation among three Sansivieria species (Asperagaceae) to investigate leaf margin expression patterns that are associated with mediolateral and adaxial/abaxial development. We identified differentially expressed
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Mechanosensitive ion channels MSL8, MSL9, and MSL10 have environmentally sensitive intrinsically disordered regions with distinct biophysical characteristics in vitro Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-03 Aidan J. Flynn, Kari Miller, Jennette M. Codjoe, Matthew R. King, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs) are highly dynamic sequences that rapidly sample a collection of conformations over time. In the past several decades, IDRs have emerged as a major component of many proteomes, comprising ~30% of all eukaryotic protein sequences. Proteins with IDRs function in a wide range of biological pathways and are notably enriched in signaling cascades that respond
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Overexpression of AHL proteins enhances root hair production by altering the transcription of RHD6-downstream genes Plant Direct (IF 3.0) Pub Date : 2023-08-02 Qike Zeng, Li Song, Mingzhe Xia, Zai Zheng, Ziang Chen, Ximing Che, Dong Liu
AT-HOOK MOTIF NUCLEAR LOCALIZED (AHL) proteins occur in all sequenced plant species. They bind to the AT-rich DNA sequences in chromosomes and regulate gene transcription related to diverse biological processes. However, the molecular mechanism underlying how AHL proteins regulate gene transcription is poorly understood. In this research, we used root hair production as a readout to study the function