Nucleic Acids Res , IF:16.971 , 2023 Jan doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac1275
Cold-induced inhibition of photosynthesis-related genes integrated by a TOP6 complex in rice mesophyll cells.
Guangzhou City Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biology, Genetics and Breeding, Pazhou Dadao Rd 17-19, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510000, China.; Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of Ministry of Education/Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, China.; Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environment, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.; Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya 572025, China.
Photosynthesis is the most temperature-sensitive process in the plant kingdom, but how the photosynthetic pathway responds during low-temperature exposure remains unclear. Herein, cold stress (4 degrees C) induced widespread damage in the form DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in the mesophyll cells of rice (Oryza sativa), subsequently causing a global inhibition of photosynthetic carbon metabolism (PCM) gene expression. Topoisomerase genes TOP6A3 and TOP6B were induced at 4 degrees C and their encoded proteins formed a complex in the nucleus. TOP6A3 directly interacted with KU70 to inhibit its binding to cold-induced DSBs, which was facilitated by TOP6B, finally blocking the loading of LIG4, a component of the classic non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ) pathway. The repression of c-NHEJ repair imposed by cold extended DSB damage signaling, thus prolonging the inhibition of photosynthesis in leaves. Furthermore, the TOP6 complex negatively regulated 13 crucial PCM genes by directly binding to their proximal promoter regions. Phenotypically, TOP6A3 overexpression exacerbated the gamma-irradiation-triggered suppression of PCM genes and led to the hypersensitivity of photosynthesis parameters to cold stress, dependent on the DSB signal transducer ATM. Globally, the TOP6 complex acts as a signal integrator to control PCM gene expression and synchronize cold-induced photosynthesis inhibition, which modulates carbon assimilation rates immediately in response to changes in ambient temperature.
PMID: 36660855
Nat Plants , IF:15.793 , 2023 Jan , V9 (1) : P9-10 doi: 10.1038/s41477-022-01330-8
Chilling stress and loss of an exonuclease lead to biparental inheritance of plastids.
PMID: 36650221
Nat Plants , IF:15.793 , 2023 Jan , V9 (1) : P68-80 doi: 10.1038/s41477-022-01323-7
Control of plastid inheritance by environmental and genetic factors.
Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.; Universitat Hamburg, Institut fur Pflanzenwissenschaften und Mikrobiologie, Hamburg, Germany.; Max-Planck-Institut fur Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Potsdam-Golm, Germany. rbock@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
The genomes of cytoplasmic organelles (mitochondria and plastids) are maternally inherited in most eukaryotes, thus excluding organellar genomes from the benefits of sexual reproduction and recombination. The mechanisms underlying maternal inheritance are largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that two independently acting mechanisms ensure maternal inheritance of the plastid (chloroplast) genome. Conducting large-scale genetic screens for paternal plastid transmission, we discovered that mild chilling stress during male gametogenesis leads to increased entry of paternal plastids into sperm cells and strongly increased paternal plastid transmission. We further show that the inheritance of paternal plastid genomes is controlled by the activity of a genome-degrading exonuclease during pollen maturation. Our data reveal that (1) maternal inheritance breaks down under specific environmental conditions, (2) an organelle exclusion mechanism and a genome degradation mechanism act in concert to prevent paternal transmission of plastid genes and (3) plastid inheritance is determined by complex gene-environment interactions.
PMID: 36646831
Sci Adv , IF:14.136 , 2023 Jan , V9 (1) : Peabq5506 doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5506
Natural variation of codon repeats in COLD11 endows rice with chilling resilience.
Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.; School of Mathematics and Statistics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100181, China.; State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.; State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.; LSC, NCMIS, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Abnormal temperature caused by global climate change threatens the rice production. Defense signaling network for chilling has been uncovered in plants. However, less is known about repairing DNA damage produced from overwhelmed defense and its evolution during domestication. Here, we genetically identified a major QTL, COLD11, using the data-merging genome-wide association study based on an algorithm combining polarized data from two subspecies, indica and japonica, into one system. Rice loss-of-function mutations of COLD11 caused reduced chilling tolerance. Genome evolution analysis of representative rice germplasms suggested that numbers of GCG sequence repeats in the first exon of COLD11 were subjected to strong domestication selection during the northern expansion of rice planting. The repeat numbers affected the biochemical activity of DNA repair protein COLD11/RAD51A1 in renovating DNA damage under chilling stress. Our findings highlight a potential way to finely manipulate key genes in rice genome and effectively improve chilling tolerance through molecular designing.
PMID: 36608134
Plant Biotechnol J , IF:9.803 , 2023 Jan doi: 10.1111/pbi.14016
A natural promoter variation of SlBBX31 confers enhanced cold tolerance during tomato domestication.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China.; Sanya Institute of Henan University, Sanya, Hainan, China.; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Potato Biology, The AGISCAAS-YNNU Joint Academy of Potato Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China.; College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.; School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China.; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.; Institute of Advanced Biotechnology and School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.; Center for Advanced Bioindustry Technologies, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Cold stress affects crop growth and productivity worldwide. Understanding the genetic basis of cold tolerance in germplasms is critical for crop improvement. Plants can coordinate environmental stimuli of light and temperature to regulate cold tolerance. However, it remains unknown which gene in germplasms could have such function. Here, we utilized genome-wide association study (GWAS) to investigate the cold tolerance of wild and cultivated tomato accessions and discovered that increased cold tolerance is accompanied with tomato domestication. We further identified a 27-bp InDel in the promoter of the CONSTANS-like transcription factor (TF) SlBBX31 is significantly linked with cold tolerance. Coincidentally, a key regulator of light signalling, SlHY5, can directly bind to the SlBBX31 promoter to activate SlBBX31 transcription while the 27-bp InDel can prevent S1HY5 from transactivating SlBBX31. Parallel to these findings, we observed that the loss of function of SlBBX31 results in impaired tomato cold tolerance. SlBBX31 can also modulate the cold-induced expression of several ERF TFs including CBF2 and DREBs. Therefore, our study has uncovered that SlBBX31 is possibly selected during tomato domestication for cold tolerance regulation, providing valuable insights for the development of hardy tomato varieties.
PMID: 36704926
Plant Physiol , IF:8.34 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad121
Kiwifruit bZIP transcription factor AcePosF21 elicits ascorbic acid biosynthesis during cold stress.
Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiufeng 1 Road, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China.; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China.; The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, 120 Mt Albert Road, Mt Albert, Auckland 1025, New Zealand.; The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, 412 No 1 Rd, RD2, Te Puke 3182, New Zealand.
Cold stress seriously affects plant development, resulting in heavy agricultural losses. L-ascorbic acid (AsA, vitamin C) is an antioxidant implicated in abiotic stress tolerance and metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Understanding whether and how cold stress elicits AsA biosynthesis to reduce oxidative damage is important for developing cold-resistant plants. Here, we show that the accumulation of AsA in response to cold stress is a common mechanism conserved across the plant kingdom, from single-cell algae to angiosperms. We identified a basic leucine zipper domain (bZIP) transcription factor (TF) of kiwifruit (Actinidia eriantha Benth.), AcePosF21, which was triggered by cold and is involved in the regulation of kiwifruit AsA biosynthesis and defense responses against cold stress. AcePosF21 interacted with the R2R3-MYB TF AceMYB102 and directly bound to the promoter of the gene encoding GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase 3 (AceGGP3), a key conduit for regulating AsA biosynthesis, to upregulate AceGGP3 expression and produce more AsA, which neutralized the excess ROS induced by cold stress. On the contrary, VIGS or CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing of AcePosF21 decreased AsA content and increased the generation of ROS in kiwifruit under cold stress. Taken together, we illustrated a model for the regulatory mechanism of AcePosF21-mediated regulation of AceGGP3 expression and AsA biosynthesis to reduce oxidative damage by cold stress, which provides valuable clues for manipulating the cold resistance of kiwifruit.
PMID: 36823691
Plant Physiol , IF:8.34 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad112
m6A mRNA modification promotes chilling tolerance and modulates gene translation efficiency in Arabidopsis.
State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Bioinformatics Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210000, Jiangsu, China.; Jiangbei New Area Biopharmaceutical Public Service Platform Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210000, Jiangsu, China.; Plant Biology Section, School of Integrated Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca 14850, NY, USA.
N 6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most prevalent mRNA modification in eukaryotes, is an emerging player of gene regulation at transcriptional and translational levels. Here we explored the role of m6A modification in response to low temperature in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Knocking down mRNA adenosine methylase A (MTA), a key component of the modification complex, by RNA interference (RNAi) led to drastically reduced growth at low temperature, indicating a critical role of m6A modification in the chilling response. Cold treatment reduced the overall m6A modification level of mRNAs especially at the 3' untranslated region. Joint analysis of the m6A methylome, transcriptome and translatome of the wild type and the MTA RNAi line revealed that m6A-containing mRNAs generally had higher abundance and translation efficiency than non-m6A-containing mRNAs under normal and low temperatures. In addition, reduction of m6A modification by MTA RNAi only moderately altered the gene expression response to low temperature but led to dysregulation of translation efficiencies of one third of the genes of the genome in response to cold. We tested the function of the m6A-modified cold-responsive gene ACYL-COA:DIACYLGLYCEROL ACYLTRANSFERASE 1 (DGAT1) whose translation efficiency but not transcript level was reduced in the chilling-susceptible MTA RNAi plant. The dgat1 loss-of-function mutant exhibited reduced growth under cold stress. These results reveal a critical role of m6A modification in regulating growth under low temperature and suggest an involvement of translational control in chilling responses in Arabidopsis.
PMID: 36810961
Plant Physiol , IF:8.34 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad092
Advances in understanding cold tolerance in grapevine.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Grape Sciences and Enology, Key Laboratory of Plant Resource, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, PR China.; China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, PR China.
Grapevine (Vitis ssp.) is a deciduous perennial fruit crop, and the canes and buds of grapevine should withstand low temperatures annually during winter. However, the widely cultivated Vitis vinifera is cold-sensitive and cannot survive the severe winter in regions with extremely low temperatures, such as viticulture regions in northern China. By contrast, a few wild Vitis species like V. amurensis and V. riparia exhibit excellent freezing tolerance. However, the mechanisms underlying grapevine cold tolerance remain largely unknown. In recent years, much progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms, owing to the advances in sequencing and molecular biotechnology. Assembly of grapevine genomes together with resequencing and transcriptome data enable researchers to conduct genomic and transcriptomic analyses in various grapevine genotypes and populations to explore genetic variations involved in cold tolerance. In addition, a number of pivotal genes have been identified and functionally characterized. In this review, we summarize recent major advances in physiological and molecular analyses of cold tolerance in grapevine and put forward questions in this field. We also discuss the strategies for improving the tolerance of grapevine to cold stress. Understanding grapevine cold tolerance will facilitate the development of grapevines for adaption to global climate change.
PMID: 36789447
Plant Physiol , IF:8.34 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiad085
Tetratricopeptide repeat protein SlREC2 positively regulates cold tolerance in tomato.
College of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.; College of Land and Environment, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.; College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China.; Henan International Joint Laboratory of Stress Resistance Regulation and Safe Production of Protected Vegetables, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, China.; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Northern Horticultural Facilities Design & Application Technology (Liaoning), Shenyang 110866, China.; Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture, Ministry of Education, Shenyang 110866, China.
Cold stress is a key environmental constraint that dramatically affects the growth, productivity, and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum); however, the underlying molecular mechanisms of cold tolerance remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified REDUCED CHLOROPLAST COVERAGE 2 (SlREC2) encoding a tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) protein that positively regulates tomato cold tolerance. Disruption of SlREC2 largely reduced abscisic acid (ABA) levels, photoprotection and the expression of C-REPEAT BINDING FACTOR (CBF) pathway genes in tomato plants under cold stress. ABA deficiency in the notabilis (not) mutant, which carries a mutation in 9-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE 1 (SlNCED1), strongly inhibited the cold tolerance of SlREC2-silenced plants and empty vector control plants and resulted in a similar phenotype. In addition, foliar application of ABA rescued the cold tolerance of SlREC2-silenced plants, which confirms that SlNCED1-mediated ABA accumulation is required for SlREC2-regulated cold tolerance. Strikingly, SlREC2 physically interacted with beta-RING CAROTENE HYDROXYLASE 1b (SlBCH1b), a key regulatory enzyme in the xanthophyll cycle. Disruption of SlBCH1b severely impaired photoprotection, ABA accumulation and CBF-pathway gene expression in tomato plants under cold stress. Taken together, this study reveals that SlREC2 interacts with SlBCH1b to enhance cold tolerance in tomato via integration of SlNCED1-mediated ABA accumulation, photoprotection, and the CBF-pathway, thus providing further genetic knowledge for breeding cold-resistant tomato varieties.
PMID: 36760172
Plant Physiol , IF:8.34 , 2023 Feb , V191 (2) : P1138-1152 doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiac533
FER and LecRK show haplotype-dependent cold-responsiveness and mediate freezing tolerance in Lotus japonicus.
Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark.; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, 890 Oval Drive, 3114 Engineering Building II, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA.
Many plant species have succeeded in colonizing a wide range of diverse climates through local adaptation, but the underlying molecular genetics remain obscure. We previously found that winter survival was a direct target of selection during colonization of Japan by the perennial legume Lotus japonicus and identified associated candidate genes. Here, we show that two of these, FERONIA-receptor like kinase (LjFER) and a S-receptor-like kinase gene (LjLecRK), are required for non-acclimated freezing tolerance and show haplotype-dependent cold-responsive expression. Our work suggests that recruiting a conserved growth regulator gene, FER, and a receptor-like kinase gene, LecRK, into the set of cold-responsive genes has contributed to freezing tolerance and local climate adaptation in L. japonicus, offering functional genetic insight into perennial herb evolution.
PMID: 36448631
Food Chem , IF:7.514 , 2023 Mar , V405 (Pt B) : P134957 doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134957
MaMYB13 is involved in response to chilling stress via activating expression of VLCFAs and phenylpropanoids biosynthesis-related genes in postharvest banana fruit.
Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: lizhiwei@scbg.ac.cn.; Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: zhouyijie123@scbg.ac.cn.; Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: lianghanzhi@scbg.ac.cn.; Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy Sciences, Wenzhou 325027, China. Electronic address: liqing@wiucas.ac.cn.; Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: ymjiang@scbg.ac.cn.; Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: xwduan@scbg.ac.cn.; Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou 510650, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: gxjiang@scbg.ac.cn.
Fruit chilling injury is the result of physiological dysfunction due to membrane lipid phase change, oxidative damage of biomacromolecules and respiratory metabolism abnormality. However, the involvement of transcription factors in response to fruits chilling tolerance remains largely unclear. Here, MaMYB13 was identified to participate in banana fruit response to chilling stress. MaMYB13 has transcriptional activation activity. When exposed to low temperature, expression of MaMYB13 was enormously induced. Moreover, MaMYB13 promoter was activated by chilling stress. MaMYB13 bound to the promoters of several important very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) and phenylpropanoids biosynthesis-related genes, including MaKCS11, Ma4CL6 and MaAAE1, and activated their transcription. Furthermore, MaKIN10 X1/3 interacted with MaMYB13 and enhanced MaMYB13-mediated transcriptional activation possibly via phosphorylation. Altogether, our results unravel the mechanism of MaMYB13-MaKIN10 X1/3 interaction regulating banana fruit chilling tolerance through activating the expression of MaKCS11, Ma4CL6 and MaAAE1, providing new insights into the regulatory network of MYB transcription factor.
PMID: 36417802
Free Radic Biol Med , IF:7.376 , 2023 Feb , V199 : P2-16 doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2023.02.008
OsLPXC negatively regulates tolerance to cold stress via modulating oxidative stress, antioxidant defense and JA accumulation in rice.
International Genome Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China.; Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.; International Genome Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China. Electronic address: jianchen@ujs.edu.cn.
Exposure of crops to low temperature (LT) during emerging and reproductive stages influences their growth and development. In this study, we have isolated a cold induced, nucleus-localized lipid A gene from rice named OsLPXC, which encodes a protein of 321 amino acids. Knockout of OsLPXC resulted in enhance sensitivity to LT stress in rice, with increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage, while expression and activities of antioxidant enzymes were significantly suppressed. The accumulation of chlorophyll content and net photosynthetic rate of knockout plants were also decreased compared with WT under LT stress. The functional analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), showed that numerous genes associated with antioxidant defense, photosynthesis, cold signaling were solely expressed and downregulated in oslpxc plants compared with WT under LT. The accumulation of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in leave and several DEGs related to the jasmonate biosynthesis pathway were significantly downregulated in OsLPXC knockout plants, which showed differential levels of MeJA regulation in WT and knockout plants in response to cold stress. These results indicated that OsLPXC positively regulates cold tolerance in rice via stabilizing the expression and activities of ROS scavenging enzymes, photosynthetic apparatus, cold signaling genes, and jasmonate biosynthesis.
PMID: 36775108
Plant Cell Environ , IF:7.228 , 2023 Feb , V46 (2) : P464-478 doi: 10.1111/pce.14483
Limitation of sucrose biosynthesis shapes carbon partitioning during plant cold acclimation.
Plant Evolutionary Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.; Theoretical Biophysics, Institute of Biology, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.; Institute for Biosciences, Physiology of Plant Metabolism, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
Cold acclimation is a multigenic process by which many plant species increase their freezing tolerance. Stabilization of photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism plays a crucial role in cold acclimation. To study regulation of primary and secondary metabolism during cold acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana, metabolic mutants with deficiencies in either starch or flavonoid metabolism were exposed to 4 degrees C. Photosynthesis was determined together with amounts of carbohydrates, anthocyanins, organic acids and enzyme activities of the central carbohydrate metabolism. Starch deficiency was found to significantly delay soluble sugar accumulation during cold acclimation, while starch overaccumulation did not affect accumulation dynamics but resulted in lower total amounts of \sucrose and glucose. Anthocyanin amounts were lowered in both starch deficient and overaccumulating mutants. Vice versa, flavonoid deficiency did not result in a changed starch amount, which suggested a unidirectional signalling link between starch and flavonoid metabolism. Mathematical modelling of carbon metabolism indicated kinetics of sucrose biosynthesis to be limiting for carbon partitioning in leaf tissue during cold exposure. Together with cold-induced dynamics of citrate, fumarate and malate amounts, this provided evidence for a central role of sucrose phosphate synthase activity in carbon partitioning between biosynthetic and dissimilatory pathways which stabilizes photosynthesis and metabolism at low temperature.
PMID: 36329607
J Integr Plant Biol , IF:7.061 , 2023 Jan , V65 (1) : P10-24 doi: 10.1111/jipb.13356
Brassinosteroid signaling positively regulates abscisic acid biosynthesis in response to chilling stress in tomato.
Department of Horticulture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.; Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya, 572025, China.; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plants Growth, Development and Quality Improvement, Agricultural Ministry of China, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Brassinosteroids (BRs) and abscisic acid (ABA) are essential regulators of plant growth and stress tolerance. Although the antagonistic interaction of BRs and ABA is proposed to ensure the balance between growth and defense in model plants, the crosstalk between BRs and ABA in response to chilling in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), a warm-climate horticultural crop, is unclear. Here, we determined that overexpression of the BR biosynthesis gene DWARF (DWF) or the key BR signaling gene BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1 (BZR1) increases ABA levels in response to chilling stress via positively regulating the expression of the ABA biosynthesis gene 9-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE1 (NCED1). BR-induced chilling tolerance was mostly dependent on ABA biosynthesis. Chilling stress or high BR levels decreased the abundance of BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE2 (BIN2), a negative regulator of BR signaling. Moreover, we observed that chilling stress increases BR levels and results in the accumulation of BZR1. BIN2 negatively regulated both the accumulation of BZR1 protein and chilling tolerance by suppressing ABA biosynthesis. Our results demonstrate that BR signaling positively regulates chilling tolerance via ABA biosynthesis in tomato. The study has implications in production of warm-climate crops in horticulture.
PMID: 36053143
J Exp Bot , IF:6.992 , 2023 Jan doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad027
Integration of chromatin accessibility and gene expression reveals new regulators of cold hardening to enhance freezing tolerance in Prunus mume.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Ornamental Plants Germplasm Innovation & Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Engineering Research Center of Landscape Environment of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants of Ministry of Education, School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.; College of Landscape and Tourism, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China.; Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration for Orchid Conservation and Utilization at College of Landscape Architecture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
Low temperature is one of the most important abiotic factors limiting the growth, development and geographical distribution of plants. Prunus mume is a special woody ornamental plant that blooms in early spring in Beijing. However, the molecular mechanism underlying cold hardening to enhance freezing tolerance in Prunus genus remains elusive. This study examined the dynamic physiological responses induced by cold hardening, and identified freezing-tolerance genes by RNA-seq and ATAC-seq analyses. Cold hardening elevated the content of soluble substances and enhanced the freezing-resistance in P. mume. Transcriptome analysis that the important differentially expressed genes (DEGs) enriched in Ca2+ signaling, MAPK cascade, ABA signaling, and ICE-CBF signaling pathways. The openness of gene chromatin was positively correlated with the expression level of these genes. Thirteen motifs were identified in the open chromatin regions in the freezing after cold hardening treatment group. The chromatin opening of transcription start site (TSS) at proximal -177 region of PmCSL was markedly increased, meanwhile the expression level of PmCSL was significantly upregulated. Overexpression of PmCSL in Arabidopsis significantly improved the freezing tolerance of transgenic plants. These findings provide new insights into the regulatory mechanism of freezing tolerance for improving the freezing tolerance breeding in P. mume.
PMID: 36655907
Int J Biol Macromol , IF:6.953 , 2023 Jan , V225 : P1394-1404 doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.11.197
VaBAM1 weakens cold tolerance by interacting with the negative regulator VaSR1 to suppress beta-amylase expression.
College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China.; College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China; State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China. Electronic address: maojuan@gsau.edu.cn.; College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China; State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China. Electronic address: bhch@gsau.edu.cn.
Cold stress is a key climatic factor that limits grape productivity and quality. Although beta-amylase (BAM) is known to play an important role as a mediator of starch degradation under conditions of cold stress, the mechanism by which BAM regulates cold tolerance in grape remains unclear. Here, we identified VaBAM1 from Vitis amurensis and characterized its interactive regulating mechanism under cold stress in Arabidopsis thaliana and grape. VaBAM1-overexpressing A. thaliana plants (OEs) exhibited high freezing tolerance. Soluble sugar content and amylase activity were increased in OEs and VaBAM1-overexpressing grape calli (VaBAM1-OEs) under cold stress; however, they were decreased in grape calli in which VaBAM1 was edited using CRISPR/Cas9. The results of yeast two-hybrid, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and pull-down experiments showed that serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 1 (VaSR1) interacted with VaBAM1. Furthermore, the expression of VaSR1 was opposite that of VaBAM1 in phloem tissue of Vitis amurensis during winter dormancy. In VaSR1-overexpressing grape calli (VaSR1-OEs), BAM activity and the expression levels of C-repeat binding transcription factor and cold response genes were all significantly lower than that in untransformed calli subjected to cold stress. Moreover, VvBAM1 was downregulated in VaSR1-OEs under cold stress. Overall, we identified that VaSR1 interacts with VaBAM1, negatively regulating BAM activity and resulting in decreased plant cold tolerance.
PMID: 36436609
Hortic Res , IF:6.793 , 2023 Feb , V10 (2) : Puhac256 doi: 10.1093/hr/uhac256
Thioredoxin h2 inhibits the MPKK5-MPK3 cascade to regulate the CBF-COR signaling pathway in Citrullus lanatus suffering chilling stress.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.; Department of Horticulture, College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Thioredoxins (TRXs) are ubiquitous oxidoreductases and present as a multigenic family. TRXs determine the thiol redox balance, which is crucial for plants in the response to cold stress. However, limited knowledge is available about the role of TRXs in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), which is highly sensitive to chilling stress in agricultural practice. Here, we identified 18 genes encoding 14 typical and 4 atypical TRXs from the watermelon genome, and found that ClTRX h2 localized at the plasma membrane was largely induced by chilling. Virus-induced gene silencing of ClTRX h2 resulted in watermelon plants that were more sensitive to chilling stress. We further found that ClTRX h2 physically interacted with mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 5 (ClMPKK5), which was confirmed to phosphorylate and activate ClMPK3 in vitro, and the activation of ClMPK3 by ClMPKK5 was blocked by a point mutation of the Cys-229 residue to Ser in ClMPKK5. Additionally, ClTRX h2 inhibited the chilling-induced activation of ClMPK3, suggesting that the ClMPKK5-ClMPK3 cascade is regulated in a redox-dependent manner. We showed that ClMPK3-silenced plants had increased tolerance to chilling, as well as enhanced transcript abundances of the C-repeat/DREB binding factor (ClCBF) and cold-responsive (ClCOR) genes. Taken together, our results indicate that redox status mediated by ClTRX h2 inhibits ClMPK3 phosphorylation through the interaction between ClTRX h2 and ClMPKK5, which subsequently regulates the CBF-COR signaling pathway when submitted to chilling stress. Hence, our results provide a link between thiol redox balance and MAPK cascade signaling, revealing a conceptual framework to understand how TRX regulates chilling stress tolerance in watermelon.
PMID: 36778181
Hortic Res , IF:6.793 , 2023 , V10 (1) : Puhac227 doi: 10.1093/hr/uhac227
The essential role of jasmonate signaling in Solanum habrochaites rootstock-mediated cold tolerance in tomato grafts.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is among the most important vegetables across the world, but cold stress usually affects its yield and quality. The wild tomato species Solanum habrochaites is commonly utilized as rootstock for enhancing resistance against abiotic stresses in cultivated tomato, especially cold resistance. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this research, we confirmed that S. habrochaites rootstock can improve the cold tolerance of cultivated tomato scions, as revealed by growth, physiological, and biochemical indicators. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling indicated significant differences in the scion of homo- and heterografted seedlings, including substantial changes in jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis and signaling, which were validated by RT-qPCR analysis. S. habrochaites plants had a high basal level of jasmonate, and cold stress caused a greater amount of active JA-isoleucine in S. habrochaites heterografts. Moreover, exogenous JA enhanced while JA inhibitor decreased the cold tolerance of tomato grafts. The JA biosynthesis-defective mutant spr8 also showed increased sensitivity to cold stress. All of these results demonstrated the significance of JA in the cold tolerance of grafted tomato seedlings with S. habrochaites rootstock, suggesting a future direction for the characterization of the natural variation involved in S. habrochaites rootstock-mediated cold tolerance.
PMID: 36643752
Front Nutr , IF:6.576 , 2022 , V9 : P1038748 doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1038748
Effects of dietary nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) seed meals on growth, non-specific immune indices, antioxidant status, gene expression analysis, and cold stress tolerance in zebrafish (Danio rerio).
Department of Fisheries, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran.; Fisheries Department, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Someh Sara, Gilan, Iran.; Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.; Food, Drug and Natural Products Health Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.; Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, University of Idaho, Hagerman, ID, United States.; CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixoes, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal.; Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandarabbas, Iran.
INTRODUCTION: A medicinal plant, Myristica fragrans seed meal (nutmeg), was utilized to evaluate its impact on the growth, immunity, and antioxidant defense of zebrafish (Danio rerio). METHODS: In this regard, zebrafish (0.47 +/- 0.04 g) (mean +/- S.D.) were fed with 0% (control), 1% (T1-nutmeg), 2% (T2-nutmeg), and 3% (T3-nutmeg) of powdered nutmeg for 70 days. At the end of the feeding trial, growth performance, survival rate of fish, and temperature-challenge effects were recorded. Immune and antioxidant parameters were also assessed through the collection of serum and skin mucus samples. RESULTS: The results indicated that nutmeg supplementation did not significantly influence the growth of zebrafish (P > 0.05); however, the survival rate of fish fed with 2 and 3% of nutmeg supplementation significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The skin mucus and serum total protein, total immunoglobulin (Ig), and lysozyme activity were significantly increased in T3-nutmeg treatment in comparison to the control (P < 0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were also enhanced in the T3-nutmeg group (P < 0.05). Nutmeg supplementation significantly upregulated the mRNA expression of growth hormone (gh) and insulin growth factor-1 (igf-1). Moreover, the nutmeg inclusion upregulated the expression of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), lysozyme, sod, and cat. The dietary supplementation of nutmeg significantly increased the resistance of zebrafish against cold-water shock and survivability afterward (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: In conclusion, the supplementation of 3% powdered nutmeg in zebrafish diets could be suggested as an effective immune stimulator that improves antioxidant defense and stress tolerance.
PMID: 36778969
Plant J , IF:6.417 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1111/tpj.16132
Mdm-miR160-MdARF17-MdWRKY33 module mediates freezing tolerance in apple.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas/Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Apple, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.; Ningxia Engineering and Technology Research Center of Grape and Wine, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750021, Ningxia, China.
Apple (Malus domestica) trees are vulnerable to freezing temperatures. Cold resistance in woody perennial plants can be improved through biotechnological approaches. However, genetic engineering requires a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the tree's response to cold. In this study, we demonstrated that the Mdm-miR160-MdARF17-MdWRKY33 module is crucial for apple freezing tolerance. Mdm-miR160 plays a negative role in apple freezing tolerance, whereas MdARF17, one of the targets of Mdm-miR160, is a positive regulator of apple freezing tolerance. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that in apple, MdARF17 mediates the cold response by influencing the expression of cold-responsive genes. EMSA and ChIP-qPCR assays demonstrated that MdARF17 can bind to the promoter of MdWRKY33 and promotes its expression. Overexpression of MdWRKY33 enhanced the cold tolerance of the apple calli. In addition, we found that the Mdm-miR160-MdARF17-MdWRKY33 module regulates cold tolerance in apple by regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, as revealed by (i) increased H(2) O(2) levels and decreased peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities in Mdm-miR160e OE plants and MdARF17 RNAi plants and (ii) decreased H(2) O(2) levels and increased POD and CAT activities in MdmARF17 OE plants and MdWRKY33 OE calli. Taken together, our study uncovered the molecular roles of the Mdm-miR160-MdARF17-MdWRKY33 module in freezing tolerance in apple, thus providing support for breeding of cold-tolerant apple cultivars.
PMID: 36738108
Antioxidants (Basel) , IF:6.312 , 2023 Jan , V12 (1) doi: 10.3390/antiox12010211
Postharvest Treatment with Abscisic Acid Alleviates Chilling Injury in Zucchini Fruit by Regulating Phenolic Metabolism and Non-Enzymatic Antioxidant System.
Department of Plant Physiology, Facultad de Ciencias, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.; Department of Nutrition and Bromatology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.; Department of Biology and Geology, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (CeiA3), University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain.
Reports show that phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in reducing zucchini postharvest chilling injury. During the storage of harvested fruit at low temperatures, chilling injury symptoms were associated with cell damage through the production of reactive oxygen species. In this work, we have studied the importance of different non-enzymatic antioxidants on tolerance to cold stress in zucchini fruit treated with ABA. The application of ABA increases the antioxidant capacity of zucchini fruit during storage through the accumulation of ascorbate, carotenoids and polyphenolic compounds. The quantification of specific phenols was performed by UPLC/MS-MS, observing that exogenous ABA mainly activated the production of flavonoids. The rise in all these non-enzymatic antioxidants due to ABA correlates with a reduction in oxidative stress in treated fruit during cold stress. The results showed that the ABA mainly induces antioxidant metabolism during the first day of exposure to low temperatures, and this response is key to avoiding the occurrence of chilling injury. This work suggests an important protective role of non-enzymatic antioxidants and polyphenolic metabolism in the prevention of chilling injury in zucchini fruit.
PMID: 36671073
Antioxidants (Basel) , IF:6.312 , 2022 Dec , V12 (1) doi: 10.3390/antiox12010079
Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins Confer Cold Tolerance in Rice through Maintaining Energy Homeostasis.
Agronomy College, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.; National Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 310006, China.; Zhejiang Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Hangzhou 310020, China.
Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) are abundant polyphenols found in foods and botanicals that benefit human health, but our understanding of the functions of OPCs in rice plants is limited, particularly under cold stress. Two rice genotypes, named Zhongzao39 (ZZ39) and its recombinant inbred line RIL82, were subjected to cold stress. More damage was caused to RIL82 by cold stress than to ZZ39 plants. Transcriptome analysis suggested that OPCs were involved in regulating cold tolerance in the two genotypes. A greater increase in OPCs content was detected in ZZ39 than in RIL82 plants under cold stress compared to their respective controls. Exogenous OPCs alleviated cold damage of rice plants by increasing antioxidant capacity. ATPase activity was higher and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activity was lower under cold stress in ZZ39 than in RIL82 plants. Importantly, improvements in cold tolerance were observed in plants treated with the OPCs and 3-aminobenzamide (PARP inhibitor, 3ab) combination compared to the seedling plants treated with H(2)O, OPCs, or 3ab alone. Therefore, OPCs increased ATPase activity and inhibited PARP activity to provide sufficient energy for rice seedling plants to develop antioxidant capacity against cold stress.
PMID: 36670941
Mol Ecol , IF:6.185 , 2023 Feb , V32 (4) : P772-785 doi: 10.1111/mec.16794
Testing the chilling- before drought-tolerance hypothesis in Pooideae grasses.
Department of Plant Biology, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.; Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway.
Temperate Pooideae are a large clade of economically important grasses distributed in some of the Earth's coldest and driest terrestrial environments. Previous studies have inferred that Pooideae diversified from their tropical ancestors in a cold montane habitat, suggesting that above-freezing cold (chilling) tolerance evolved early in the subfamily. By contrast, drought tolerance is hypothesized to have evolved multiple times independently in response to global aridification that occurred after the split of Pooideae tribes. To independently test predictions of the chilling-before-drought hypothesis in Pooideae, we assessed conservation of whole plant and gene expression traits in response to chilling vs. drought. We demonstrated that both trait responses are more similar across tribes in cold as compared to drought, suggesting that chilling responses evolved before, and drought responses after, tribe diversification. Moreover, we found significantly more overlap between drought and chilling responsive genes within a species than between drought responsive genes across species, providing evidence that chilling tolerance genes acted as precursors for the novel acquisition of increased drought tolerance multiple times independently, partially through the cooption of chilling responsive genes.
PMID: 36420966
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Feb , V24 (4) doi: 10.3390/ijms24044078
Genome-Wide Identification, Classification, and Expression Analyses of the CsDGAT Gene Family in Cannabis sativa L. and Their Response to Cold Treatment.
Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences Postdoctoral Programme, Institute of Industrial Crops, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China.; Harbin Academy of Agricultural Science, Harbin 150028, China.; Remote Sensing Technique Center, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China.
Hempseed is a nutrient-rich natural resource, and high levels of hempseed oil accumulate within hemp seeds, consisting primarily of different triglycerides. Members of the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) enzyme family play critical roles in catalyzing triacylglycerol biosynthesis in plants, often governing the rate-limiting step in this process. As such, this study was designed to characterize the Cannabis sativa DGAT (CsDGAT) gene family in detail. Genomic analyses of the C. sativa revealed 10 candidate DGAT genes that were classified into four families (DGAT1, DGAT2, DGAT3, WS/DGAT) based on the features of different isoforms. Members of the CsDGAT family were found to be associated with large numbers of cis-acting promoter elements, including plant response elements, plant hormone response elements, light response elements, and stress response elements, suggesting roles for these genes in key processes such as development, environmental adaptation, and abiotic stress responses. Profiling of these genes in various tissues and varieties revealed varying spatial patterns of CsDGAT expression dynamics and differences in expression among C. sativa varieties, suggesting that the members of this gene family likely play distinct functional regulatory functions CsDGAT genes were upregulated in response to cold stress, and significant differences in the mode of regulation were observed when comparing roots and leaves, indicating that CsDGAT genes may play positive roles as regulators of cold responses in hemp while also playing distinct roles in shaping the responses of different parts of hemp seedlings to cold exposure. These data provide a robust basis for further functional studies of this gene family, supporting future efforts to screen the significance of CsDGAT candidate genes to validate their functions to improve hempseed oil composition.
PMID: 36835488
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Feb , V24 (4) doi: 10.3390/ijms24043878
Alternative Splicing in the Regulatory Circuit of Plant Temperature Response.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Xi'an 712100, China.; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Institute of Future Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Xi'an 712100, China.
As sessile organisms, plants have evolved complex mechanisms to rapidly respond to ever-changing ambient temperatures. Temperature response in plants is modulated by a multilayer regulatory network, including transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulations. Alternative splicing (AS) is an essential post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism. Extensive studies have confirmed its key role in plant temperature response, from adjustment to diurnal and seasonal temperature changes to response to extreme temperatures, which has been well documented by previous reviews. As a key node in the temperature response regulatory network, AS can be modulated by various upstream regulations, such as chromatin modification, transcription rate, RNA binding proteins, RNA structure and RNA modifications. Meanwhile, a number of downstream mechanisms are affected by AS, such as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway, translation efficiency and production of different protein variants. In this review, we focus on the links between splicing regulation and other mechanisms in plant temperature response. Recent advances regarding how AS is regulated and the following consequences in gene functional modulation in plant temperature response will be discussed. Substantial evidence suggests that a multilayer regulatory network integrating AS in plant temperature response has been unveiled.
PMID: 36835290
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Feb , V24 (4) doi: 10.3390/ijms24043858
Evolutionary Analysis of Respiratory Burst Oxidase Homolog (RBOH) Genes in Plants and Characterization of ZmRBOHs.
College of Agriculture, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing 163319, China.; College of Engineering, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing 163319, China.; Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, No. 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China.
The respiratory burst oxidase homolog (RBOH), as the key producer of reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays an essential role in plant development. In this study, a bioinformatic analysis was performed on 22 plant species, and 181 RBOH homologues were identified. A typical RBOH family was identified only in terrestrial plants, and the number of RBOHs increased from non-angiosperms to angiosperms. Whole genome duplication (WGD)/segmental duplication played a key role in RBOH gene family expansion. Amino acid numbers of 181 RBOHs ranged from 98 to 1461, and the encoded proteins had molecular weights from 11.1 to 163.6 kDa, respectively. All plant RBOHs contained a conserved NADPH_Ox domain, while some of them lacked the FAD_binding_8 domain. Plant RBOHs were classified into five main subgroups by phylogenetic analysis. Most RBOH members in the same subgroup showed conservation in both motif distribution and gene structure composition. Fifteen ZmRBOHs were identified in maize genome and were positioned in eight maize chromosomes. A total of three pairs of orthologous genes were found in maize, including ZmRBOH6/ZmRBOH8, ZmRBOH4/ZmRBOH10 and ZmRBOH15/ZmRBOH2. A Ka/Ks calculation confirmed that purifying selection was the main driving force in their evolution. ZmRBOHs had typical conserved domains and similar protein structures. cis-element analyses together with the expression profiles of the ZmRBOH genes in various tissues and stages of development suggested that ZmRBOH was involved in distinct biological processes and stress responses. Based on the RNA-Seq data and qRT-PCR analysis, the transcriptional response of ZmRBOH genes was examined under various abiotic stresses, and most of ZmRBOH genes were up-regulated by cold stress. These findings provide valuable information for further revealing the biological roles of ZmRBOH genes in plant development and abiotic stress responses.
PMID: 36835269
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Feb , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24033030
Functional Characterization of Lobularia maritima LmTrxh2 Gene Involved in Cold Tolerance in Tobacco through Alleviation of ROS Damage to the Plasma Membrane.
Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, Biotechnology and Plant Improvement Laboratory, University of Sfax, B.P "1177", Sfax 3018, Tunisia.; Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.; Biology Department, College of Sciences and Arts Muhayil Assir, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Arts in Balgarn, University of Bisha, Bisha 61922, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Environmental Sciences and Nutrition, Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology of Mahdia, University of Monastir, Mahdia 5100, Tunisia.; Faculty of Horticulture, Institute of Horticulture, Slovak University of Agriculture, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia.; Department of Bioenergy, Food Technology and Microbiology, Institute of Food Technology and Nutrition, University of Rzeszow, 4 Zelwerowicza St, 35601 Rzeszow, Poland.
Cold stress is a key environmental factor affecting plant growth and development, crop productivity, and geographic distribution. Thioredoxins (Trxs) are small proteins that are ubiquitously expressed in all organisms and implicated in several cellular processes, including redox reactions. However, their role in the regulation of cold stress in the halophyte plant Lobularia maritima remains unknown. We recently showed that overexpression of LmTrxh2, which is the gene that encodes the h-type Trx protein previously isolated from L. maritima, led to an enhanced tolerance to salt and osmotic stress in transgenic tobacco. This study functionally characterized the LmTrxh2 gene via its overexpression in tobacco and explored its cold tolerance mechanisms. Results of the RT-qPCR and western blot analyses indicated differential temporal and spatial regulation of LmTrxh2 in L. maritima under cold stress at 4 degrees C. LmTrxh2 overexpression enhanced the cold tolerance of transgenic tobacco, as evidenced by increased germination rate, fresh weight and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities; reduced malondialdehyde levels, membrane leakage, superoxide anion (O(2)(-)), and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) levels; and higher retention of chlorophyll than in non-transgenic plants (NT). Furthermore, the transcript levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related genes (NtSOD and NtCAT1), stress-responsive late embryogenis abundant protein 5 (NtLEA5), early response to dehydration 10C (NtERD10C), DRE-binding proteins 1A (NtDREB1A), and cold-responsive (COR) genes (NtCOR15A, NtCOR47, and NtKIN1) were upregulated in transgenic lines compared with those in NT plants under cold stress, indicating that LmTrxh2 conferred cold stress tolerance by enhancing the ROS scavenging ability of plants, thus enabling them to maintain membrane integrity. These results suggest that LmTrxh2 promotes cold tolerance in tobacco and provide new insight into the improvement of cold-stress resistance to cold stress in non-halophyte plants and crops.
PMID: 36769352
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24032209
Genome-Wide Analyses of Thaumatin-like Protein Family Genes Reveal the Involvement in the Response to Low-Temperature Stress in Ammopiptanthus nanus.
Key Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Metabolomics, Minzu University of China, National Ethnic Affairs Commission, Beijing 100081, China.; Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environment in Minority Areas, Minzu University of China, National Ethnic Affairs Commission, Beijing 100081, China.; College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China.
Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs), a family of proteins with high sequence similarity to thaumatin, are shown to be involved in plant defense, and are thus classified into the pathogenesis related protein family 5. Ammopiptanthus nanus is a rare evergreen broad-leaved shrub distributed in the temperate zone of Central Asia, which has a high tolerance to low-temperature stress. To characterize A. nanus TLPs and understand their roles in low-temperature response in A. nanus, a comprehensive analysis of the structure, evolution, and expression of TLP family proteins was performed. A total of 31 TLP genes were detected in the A. nanus genome, and they were divided into four groups based on their phylogenetic positions. The majority of the AnTLPs contained the conserved cysteine residues and were predicted to have the typical three-dimensional structure of plant TLPs. The primary modes of gene duplication of the AnTLP family genes were segmental duplication. The promoter regions of most AnTLP genes contain multiple cis-acting elements related to environmental stress response. Gene expression analysis based on transcriptome data and fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis revealed that several AnTLP genes were involved in cold-stress response. We further showed that a cold-induced AnTLP gene, AnTLP13, was localized in apoplast, and heterologous expression of the AnTLP13 in Escherichia coli and yeast cells and tobacco leaves enhanced low-temperature stress tolerance when compared with the control cells or seedlings. Our study provided important data for understanding the roles of TLPs in plant response to abiotic stress.
PMID: 36768531
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24032088
Identification and Analysis of the CBF Gene Family in Three Species of Acer under Cold Stress.
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.; Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Tree and Grass Genetics and Breeding, College of Forestry and Grassland Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
The C-Repeat Binding Factor (CBF) gene family has been identified and characterized in multiple plant species, and it plays a crucial role in responding to low temperatures. Presently, only a few studies on tree species demonstrate the mechanisms and potential functions of CBFs associated with cold resistance, while our study is a novel report on the multi-aspect differences of CBFs among three tree species, compared to previous studies. In this study, genome-wide identification and analysis of the CBF gene family in Acer truncatum, Acer pseudosieboldianum, and Acer yangbiense were performed. The results revealed that 16 CBF genes (five ApseCBFs, four AcyanCBFs, and seven AtruCBFs) were unevenly distributed across the chromosomes, and most CBF genes were mapped on chromosome 2 (Chr2) and chromosome 11 (Chr11). The analysis of phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, and conserved motif showed that 16 CBF genes could be clustered into three subgroups; they all contained Motif 1 and Motif 5, and most of them only spanned one exon. The cis-acting elements analysis showed that some CBF genes might be involved in hormone and abiotic stress responsiveness. In addition, CBF genes exhibited tissue expression specificity. High expressions of ApseCBF1, ApseCBF3, AtruCBF1, AtruCBF4, AtruCBF6, AtruCBF7, and ApseCBF3, ApseCBF4, ApseCBF5 were detected on exposure to low temperature for 3 h and 24 h. Low expressions of AtruCBF2, AtruCBF6, AtruCBF7 were detected under cold stress for 24 h, and AtruCBF3 and AtruCBF5 were always down-regulated under cold conditions. Taken together, comprehensive analysis will enhance our understanding of the potential functions of the CBF genes on cold resistance, thereby providing a reference for the introduction of Acer species in our country.
PMID: 36768411
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24031914
Transcriptome Analysis Revealed the Dynamic and Rapid Transcriptional Reprogramming Involved in Cold Stress and Related Core Genes in the Rice Seedling Stage.
Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hubei Key Laboratory of Food Crop Germplasm and Genetic Improvement, Food Crops Institute, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430070, China.; Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China.; College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.; National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Cold damage is one of the most important environmental factors influencing crop growth, development, and production. In this study, we generated a pair of near-isogenic lines (NILs), Towada and ZL31, and Towada showed more cold sensitivity than ZL31 in the rice seedling stage. To explore the transcriptional regulation mechanism and the reason for phenotypic divergence of the two lines in response to cold stress, an in-depth comparative transcriptome study under cold stress was carried out. Our analysis uncovered that rapid and high-amplitude transcriptional reprogramming occurred in the early stage of cold treatment. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that genes of the response to stress, environmental adaptation, signal transduction, metabolism, photosynthesis, and the MAPK signaling pathway might form the main part of the engine for transcriptional reprogramming in response to cold stress. Furthermore, we identified four core genes, OsWRKY24, OsCAT2, OsJAZ9, and OsRR6, that were potential candidates affecting the cold sensitivity of Towada and ZL31. Genome re-sequencing analysis between the two lines revealed that only OsWRKY24 contained sequence variations which may change its transcript abundance. Our study not only provides novel insights into the cold-related transcriptional reprogramming process, but also highlights the potential candidates involved in cold stress.
PMID: 36768236
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24031907
Integrated Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals That Amino Acid Biosynthesis May Determine Differences in Cold-Tolerant and Cold-Sensitive Tea Cultivars.
State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea & Food Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.; School of Horticulture, Henan Agriculture University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
Cold stress is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting tea production. The planting of cold-resistant tea cultivars is one of the most effective measures to prevent chilling injury. However, the differences in cold resistance between tea cultivars remain unclear. In the present study, we perform a transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of Camellia sinensis var. "Shuchazao" (cold-tolerant, SCZ) and C. sinensis var. assamica "Yinghong 9" (cold-sensitive, YH9) during cold acclimation and analyze the correlation between gene expression and metabolite biosynthesis. Our results show that there were 51 differentially accumulated metabolites only up-regulated in SCZ in cold-acclimation (CA) and de-acclimation (DA) stages, of which amino acids accounted for 18%. The accumulation of L-arginine and lysine in SCZ in the CA stage was higher than that in YH9. A comparative transcriptomic analysis showed an enrichment of the amino acid biosynthesis pathway in SCZ in the CA stage, especially "arginine biosynthesis" pathways. In combining transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, it was found that genes and metabolites associated with amino acid biosynthesis were significantly enriched in the CA stage of SCZ compared to CA stage of YH9. Under cold stress, arginine may improve the cold resistance of tea plants by activating the polyamine synthesis pathway and CBF (C-repeat-binding factor)-COR (cold-regulated genes) regulation pathway. Our results show that amino acid biosynthesis may play a positive regulatory role in the cold resistance of tea plants and assist in understanding the cold resistance mechanism differences among tea varieties.
PMID: 36768228
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24031883
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of UBiA Family Genes Associated with Abiotic Stress in Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.).
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, China.; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Science, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China.
The UBiA genes encode a large class of isopentenyltransferases, which are involved in the synthesis of secondary metabolites such as chlorophyll and vitamin E. They performed important functions in the whole plant's growth and development. Current studies on UBiA genes were not comprehensive enough, especially for sunflower UBiA genes. In this study, 10 HaUBiAs were identified by domain analysis these HaUBiAs had five major conserved domains and were unevenly distributed on six chromosomes. By constructing phylogenetic trees, 119 UBiA genes were found in 12 species with different evolutionary levels and divided into five major groups, which contained seven conserved motifs and eight UBiA subsuper family domains. Tissue expression analysis showed that HaUBiAs were highly expressed in the roots, leaves, and seeds. By using promoter analysis, the cis-elements of UBiA genes were mainly in hormone signaling and stress responses. The qRT-PCR results showed that HaUBiA1 and HaUBiA5 responded strongly to abiotic stresses. Under ABA and MeJA treatments, HaUBiA1 significantly upregulated, while HaUBiA5 significantly decreased. Under cold stress, the expression of UBiA1 was significantly upregulated in the roots and stems, while UBiA5 expression was increased only in the leaves. Under anaerobic induction, UBiA1 and UBiA5 were both upregulated in the roots, stems and leaves. In summary, this study systematically classified the UBiA family and identified two abiotic stress candidate genes in the sunflower. It expands the understanding of the UBiA family and provides a theoretical basis for future abiotic stress studies in sunflowers.
PMID: 36768207
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (2) doi: 10.3390/ijms24021478
Evolutionary Landscape of Tea Circular RNAs and Its Contribution to Chilling Tolerance of Tea Plant.
State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.; Institute of Sericultural Research, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.; Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.; Federal Research Centre the Subtropical Scientific Centre, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Sochi 354002, Russia.
Chilling stress threatens the yield and distribution pattern of global crops, including the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), one of the most important cash crops around the world. Circular RNA (circRNA) plays roles in regulating plant growth and biotic/abiotic stress responses. Understanding the evolutionary characteristics of circRNA and its feedbacks to chilling stress in the tea plant will help to elucidate the vital roles of circRNAs. In the current report, we systematically identified 2702 high-confidence circRNAs under chilling stress in the tea plant, and interestingly found that the generation of tea plant circRNAs was associated with the length of their flanking introns. Repetitive sequences annotation and DNA methylation analysis revealed that the longer flanking introns of circRNAs present more repetitive sequences and higher methylation levels, which suggested that repeat-elements-mediated DNA methylation might promote the circRNAs biogenesis in the tea plant. We further detected 250 differentially expressed circRNAs under chilling stress, which were functionally enriched in GO terms related to cold/stress responses. Constructing a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction network discovered 139 differentially expressed circRNAs harboring potential miRNA binding sites, which further identified 14 circRNAs that might contribute to tea plant chilling responses. We further characterized a key circRNA, CSS-circFAB1, which was significantly induced under chilling stress. FISH and silencing experiments revealed that CSS-circFAB1 was potentially involved in chilling tolerance of the tea plant. Our study emphasizes the importance of circRNA and its preliminary role against low-temperature stress, providing new insights for tea plant cold tolerance breeding.
PMID: 36674993
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (2) doi: 10.3390/ijms24021265
Molecular Mechanism of Cold Tolerance of Centipedegrass Based on the Transcriptome.
College of Grassland Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.; Sichuan Academy of Grassland Science, Chengdu 610097, China.
Low temperature is an important limiting factor in the environment that affects the distribution, growth and development of warm-season grasses. Transcriptome sequencing has been widely used to mine candidate genes under low-temperature stress and other abiotic stresses. However, the molecular mechanism of centipedegrass in response to low-temperature stress was rarely reported. To understand the molecular mechanism of centipedegrass in response to low-temperature stress, we measured physiological indicators and sequenced the transcriptome of centipedegrass under different stress durations. Under cold stress, the SS content and APX activity of centipedegrass increased while the SOD activity decreased; the CAT activity, POD activity and flavonoid content first increased and then decreased; and the GSH-Px activity first decreased and then increased. Using full-length transcriptome and second-generation sequencing, we obtained 38.76 G subreads. These reads were integrated into 177,178 isoforms, and 885 differentially expressed transcripts were obtained. The expression of AUX_IAA and WRKY transcription factors and HSF transcription-influencing factors increased during cold stress. Through KEGG enrichment analysis, we determined that arginine and proline metabolism, plant circadian rhythm, plant hormone signal transduction and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathways played important roles in the cold stress resistance of centipedegrass. In addition, by using weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA), we determined that the turquoise module was significantly correlated with SS content and APX activity, while the blue module was significantly negatively correlated with POD and CAT activity. This paper is the first to report the response of centipedegrass to cold stress at the transcriptome level. Our results help to clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the cold tolerance of warm-season grasses.
PMID: 36674780
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2022 Dec , V24 (1) doi: 10.3390/ijms24010525
Comprehensive Analyses of the Histone Deacetylases Tuin (HDT) Gene Family in Brassicaceae Reveals Their Roles in Stress Response.
Southern Regional Collaborative Innovation Center for Grain and Oil Crops in China, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.; College of Landscape Architecture and Art Design, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.; Oil Crops Research Institute, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.; Hunan Branch of National Oilseed Crops Improvement Center, Changsha 410128, China.
Histone deacetylases tuin (HDT) is a plant-specific protein subfamily of histone deacetylation enzymes (HDAC) which has a variety of functions in plant development, hormone signaling and stress response. Although the HDT family's genes have been studied in many plant species, they have not been characterized in Brassicaceae. In this study, 14, 8 and 10 HDT genes were identified in Brassica napus, Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea, respectively. According to phylogenetic analysis, the HDTs were divided into four groups: HDT1(HD2A), HDT2(HD2B), HDT3(HD2C) and HDT4(HD2D). There was an expansion of HDT2 orthologous genes in Brassicaceae. Most of the HDT genes were intron-rich and conserved in gene structure, and they coded for proteins with a nucleoplasmin-like (NPL) domain. Expression analysis showed that B. napus, B. rapa, and B. oleracea HDT genes were expressed in different organs at different developmental stages, while different HDT subgroups were specifically expressed in specific organs and tissues. Interestingly, most of the Bna/Br/BoHDT2 members were expressed in flowers, buds and siliques, suggesting they have an important role in the development of reproductive organs in Brassicaceae. Expression of BnaHDT was induced by various hormones, such as ABA and ethylene treatment, and some subgroups of genes were responsive to heat treatment. The expression of most HDT members was strongly induced by cold stress and freezing stress after non-cold acclimation, while it was slightly induced after cold acclimation. In this study, the HDT gene family of Brassicaceae was analyzed for the first time, which helps in understanding the function of BnaHDT in regulating plant responses to abiotic stresses, especially freezing stresses.
PMID: 36613968
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2023 Jan , V24 (3) doi: 10.3390/ijms24032130
Genome-Wide Identification and Functional Characterization of Stress Related Glyoxalase Genes in Brassica napus L.
The Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the PRC, Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430062, China.
Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is not only one of the most important oil crops in the world, but it is also an important vegetable crop with a high value nutrients and metabolites. However, rapeseed is often severely damaged by adverse stresses, such as low temperature, pathogen infection and so on. Glyoxalase I (GLYI) and glyoxalase II (GLYII) are two enzymes responsible for the detoxification of a cytotoxic metabolite methylglyoxal (MG) into the nontoxic S-D-lactoylglutathione, which plays crucial roles in stress tolerance in plants. Considering the important roles of glyoxalases, the GLY gene families have been analyzed in higher plans, such as rice, soybean and Chinese cabbage; however, little is known about the presence, distribution, localizations and expression of glyoxalase genes in rapeseed, a young allotetraploid. In this study, a total of 35 BnaGLYI and 30 BnaGLYII genes were identified in the B. napus genome and were clustered into six and eight subfamilies, respectively. The classification, chromosomal distribution, gene structure and conserved motif were identified or predicted. BnaGLYI and BnaGLYII proteins were mainly localized in chloroplast and cytoplasm. By using publicly available RNA-seq data and a quantitative real-time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR), the expression profiling of these genes of different tissues was demonstrated in different developmental stages as well as under stresses. The results indicated that their expression profiles varied among different tissues. Some members are highly expressed in specific tissues, BnaGLYI11 and BnaGLYI27 expressed in flowers and germinating seed. At the same time, the two genes were significantly up-regulated under heat, cold and freezing stresses. Notably, a number of BnaGLY genes showed responses to Plasmodiophora brassicae infection. Overexpression of BnGLYI11 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings confirmed that this gene conferred freezing tolerance. This study provides insight of the BnaGLYI and BnaGLYII gene families in allotetraploid B. napus and their roles in stress resistance, and important information and gene resources for developing stress resistant vegetable and rapeseed oil.
PMID: 36768459
Int J Mol Sci , IF:5.923 , 2022 Dec , V24 (1) doi: 10.3390/ijms24010609
Salicylic Acid Improves the Constitutive Freezing Tolerance of Potato as Revealed by Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analyses.
Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Tuber and Root Crop, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.; Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Modern Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (South China), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.; Key Laboratory of Potato Biology and Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Horticulture and Forestry Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Freezing severely impacts potato production. Deciphering the pathways and metabolites that regulate the freezing tolerance of potato is useful in cultivation and breeding for hardiness. In the present study, Solanum acaule was identified to be more freezing tolerant than S. tuberosum. Furthermore, the two genotypes before/after exposure to 4 degrees C for 7 d with additional -1 degrees C for 12 h were analysed by RNA-seq and metabolomics, and the results were compared with the previous -1 degrees C for 12 h. The results showed that S. acaule activated numerous genes that differed from those of S. tuberosum. Among the genes, five pathways, such as the hormone signalling pathway, which includes salicylic acid, were enriched. Further metabolomics analysis showed that the content of salicylic acid was improved in S. acaule in response to -1 degrees C for 12 h. Moreover, exogenous application of 0.1 mM salicylic acid to potato was shown to improve constitutive freezing tolerance and increase the expression of HSFC1. Following transcriptome and metabolome analyses, it was documented that the content of SA that increased in freezing-tolerant S. acaule after exposure to cold condition, associated with the SA signalling pathway, enhanced potato freezing tolerance, probably through HSFC1.
PMID: 36614052
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2023 , V14 : P1046719 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1046719
Alterations of phenotype, physiology, and functional substances reveal the chilling-tolerant mechanism in two common Olea Europaea cultivars.
Institute of Sericulture and Tea, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.; Institute of Crops and Nuclear Technology Utilization, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Olive suffers from cold damage when introduced to high-latitude regions from its native warm climes. Therefore, this study aims to improve the adaption of olive to climates in which it is cold for part of the year. The phenotype, physiological performance, nutrient content, and gene expression of olive leaves (from two widely planted cultivars) were examined after cultivation in normal and cold stress conditions. The results showed that the cold-tolerant cultivar possessed stronger photosynthesis efficiency and higher anti-oxidase activity after cold treatment than the cold-sensitive cultivar. Alteration of gene expression and metabolites in the amino acid metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, diterpenoid biosynthesis, and oleuropein metabolism pathways played an important role in the cold responses of olive. Furthermore, the construction of the network of genes for ubiquitination and metabolites suggested that polyubiquitination contributes most to the stable physiology of olive under cold stress. Altogether, the results of this study can play an important role in helping us to understand the cold hardiness of olive and screen cold-resistant varieties for excellent quality and yield.
PMID: 36818865
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2023 , V14 : P1120183 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1120183
Flower transcriptional response to long term hot and cold environments in Antirrhinum majus.
Genetica Molecular, Instituto de Biotecnologia Vegetal, Edificio I+D+I, Plaza del Hospital s/n, Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain.; Department of Informatics and Systems, Campus de Espinardo, Universidad de Murcia, Instituto Murciano de Investigaciones Biomedicas (IMIB)-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.; R&D Department, Bionet Engineering, Av/Azul, Parque Tecnologico Fuente Alamo, Murcia, Spain.
Short term experiments have identified heat shock and cold response elements in many biological systems. However, the effect of long-term low or high temperatures is not well documented. To address this gap, we grew Antirrhinum majus plants from two-weeks old until maturity under control (normal) (22/16 degrees C), cold (15/5 degrees C), and hot (30/23 degrees C) conditions for a period of two years. Flower size, petal anthocyanin content and pollen viability obtained higher values in cold conditions, decreasing in middle and high temperatures. Leaf chlorophyll content was higher in cold conditions and stable in control and hot temperatures, while pedicel length increased under hot conditions. The control conditions were optimal for scent emission and seed production. Scent complexity was low in cold temperatures. The transcriptomic analysis of mature flowers, followed by gene enrichment analysis and CNET plot visualization, showed two groups of genes. One group comprised genes controlling the affected traits, and a second group appeared as long-term adaptation to non-optimal temperatures. These included hypoxia, unsaturated fatty acid metabolism, ribosomal proteins, carboxylic acid, sugar and organic ion transport, or protein folding. We found a differential expression of floral organ identity functions, supporting the flower size data. Pollinator-related traits such as scent and color followed opposite trends, indicating an equilibrium for rendering the organs for pollination attractive under changing climate conditions. Prolonged heat or cold cause structural adaptations in protein synthesis and folding, membrane composition, and transport. Thus, adaptations to cope with non-optimal temperatures occur in basic cellular processes.
PMID: 36778675
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2023 , V14 : P1045917 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1045917
Heterologous overexpression of the cyanobacterial alcohol dehydrogenase sysr1 confers cold tolerance to the oleaginous alga Nannochloropsis salina.
Cell Factory Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.; Department of Biological Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Temperature is an important regulator of growth in algae and other photosynthetic organisms. Temperatures above or below the optimal growth temperature could cause oxidative stress to algae through accumulation of oxidizing compounds such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, algal temperature stress tolerance could be attained by enhancing oxidative stress resistance. In plants, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) has been implicated in cold stress tolerance, eliciting a signal for the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes that counteract oxidative damage associated with several abiotic stresses. Little is known whether temperature stress could be alleviated by ADH in algae. Here, we generated transgenic lines of the unicellular oleaginous alga Nannochloropsis salina that heterologously expressed sysr1, which encodes ADH in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6906. To drive sysr1 expression, the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) promoter isolated from N. salina was used, as its transcript levels were significantly increased under either cold or heat stress growth conditions. When subjected to cold stress, transgenic N. salina cells were more cold-tolerant than wild-type cells, showing less ROS production but increased activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase. Thus, we suggest that reinforcement of alcohol metabolism could be a target for genetic manipulation to endow algae with cold temperature stress tolerance.
PMID: 36760652
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P947312 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.947312
Overexpression of a DUF740 family gene (LOC_Os04g59420) imparts enhanced climate resilience through multiple stress tolerance in rice.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, India.; Department of Botany, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.; Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, India.
Functional characterization of stress-responsive genes through the analysis of transgenic plants is a standard approach to comprehend their role in climate resilience and subsequently exploit them for sustainable crop improvement. In this study, we investigated the function of LOC_Os04g59420, a gene of DUF740 family (OsSRDP-Oryza sativa Stress Responsive DUF740 Protein) from rice, which showed upregulation in response to abiotic stress in the available global expression data, but is yet to be functionally characterized. Transgenic plants of the rice OsSRDP gene, driven by a stress-inducible promoter AtRd29A, were developed in the background of cv. Pusa Sugandh 2 (PS2) and their transgene integration and copy number were confirmed by molecular analysis. The three independent homozygous transgenic plants (AtRd29A::OsSRDP rice transformants) showed better resilience to drought, salinity, and cold stresses, but not heat stress, as compared to the non-transformed PS2, which corresponded with their respective relative transcript abundance for OsSRDP. Transgenic plants maintained higher RWC, photosynthetic pigments, and proline accumulation under drought and salinity stresses. Furthermore, they exhibited less accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than PS2 under drought stress, as seen from the transcript abundance studies of the ROS genes. Under cold stress, OsSRDP transgenic lines illustrated minimal cell membrane injury compared to PS2. Additionally, the transgenic plants showed resistance to a virulent strain of rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae). The promoter analysis of the gene in N22 and PS2 revealed the presence of multiple abiotic and biotic stress-specific motif elements supporting our observation on multiple stress tolerance. Based on bioinformatics studies, we identified four potential candidate interaction partners for LOC_Os04g59420, of which two genes (LOC_Os05g09640 and LOC_Os06g50370) showed co-expression under biotic and drought stress along with OsSRDP. Altogether, our findings established that stress-inducible expression of OsSRDP can significantly enhance tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses and a biotic stress.
PMID: 36743581
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P1094462 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1094462
Identification of multiple novel genetic mechanisms that regulate chilling tolerance in Arabidopsis.
Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.
INTRODUCTION: Cold stress adversely affects the growth and development of plants and limits the geographical distribution of many plant species. Accumulation of spontaneous mutations shapes the adaptation of plant species to diverse climatic conditions. METHODS: The genome-wide association study of the phenotypic variation gathered by a newly designed phenomic platform with the over six millions single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) loci distributed across the genomes of 417 Arabidopsis natural variants collected from various geographical regions revealed 33 candidate cold responsive genes. RESULTS: Investigation of at least two independent insertion mutants for 29 genes identified 16 chilling tolerance genes governing diverse genetic mechanisms. Five of these genes encode novel leucine-rich repeat domain-containing proteins including three nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins. Among the 16 identified chilling tolerance genes, ADS2 and ACD6 are the only two chilling tolerance genes identified earlier. DISCUSSION: The 12.5% overlap between the genes identified in this genome-wide association study (GWAS) of natural variants with those discovered previously through forward and reverse genetic approaches suggests that chilling tolerance is a complex physiological process governed by a large number of genetic mechanisms.
PMID: 36714785
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P1110724 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1110724
Multi-omics approach reveals the contribution of OsSEH1 to rice cold tolerance.
Rice Research Institute/Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetic Improvement and High Quality and Efficiency Production of Northeast Japonica Rice in China, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China.
As low environmental temperature adversely affects the growth, development and geographical distribution, plants have evolved multiple mechanisms involving changing physiological and metabolic processes to adapt to cold stress. In this study, we revealed that nucleoporin-coding gene OsSEH1 was a positive regulator of cold stress in rice. Physiological assays showed that the activity of antioxidant enzymes showed a significant difference between osseh1 knock-out lines and wild type under cold stress. Metabolome analysis revealed that the contents of large-scale flavonoids serving as ROS scavengers were lower in osseh1 mutants compared with wild type under cold stress. Transcriptome analysis indicated that the DEGs between osseh1 knock-out lines and wild type plants were enriched in defense response, regulation of hormone levels and oxidation-reduction process. Integration of transcriptomic and metabolic profiling revealed that OsSEH1 plays a role in the oxidation-reduction process by coordinately regulating genes expression and metabolite accumulation involved in phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. In addition, Exogenous ABA application assays indicated that osseh1 lines had hypersensitive phenotypes compared with wild type plants, suggesting that OsSEH1 may mediate cold tolerance by regulating ABA levels.
PMID: 36714747
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P1091907 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1091907
Genome-wide identification of the B3 gene family in soybean and the response to melatonin under cold stress.
College of Agriculture, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing, Heilongjiang, China.; College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Daqing, Heilongjiang, China.
INTRODUCTION: Melatonin is a multipotent molecule that exists widely in animals and plants and plays an active regulatory role in abiotic stresses. The B3 superfamily is a ubiquitous transcription factor with a B3 functional domain in plants, which can respond temporally to abiotic stresses by activating defense compounds and plant hormones. Despite the fact that the B3 genes have been studied in a variety of plants, their role in soybean is still unknown. METHODS: The regulation of melatonin on cold resistance of soybean and the response of B3 genes to cold stress were investigated by measuring biochemical indexes of soybean. Meanwhile, the genome-wide identification of B3 gene family was conducted in soybean, and B3 genes were analyzed based on phylogeny, motifs, gene structure, collinearity, and cis-regulatory elements analysis. RESULTS: We found that cold stress-induced oxidative stress in soybean by producing excessive reactive oxygen species. However, exogenous melatonin treatment could increase the content of endogenous melatonin and other hormones, including IAA and ABA, and enhance the antioxidative system, such as POD activity, CAT activity, and GSH/GSSG, to scavenge ROS. Furthermore, the present study first revealed that melatonin could alleviate the response of soybean to cold stress by inducing the expression of B3 genes. In addition, we first identified 145 B3 genes in soybean that were unevenly distributed on 20 chromosomes. The B3 gene family was divided into 4 subgroups based on the phylogeny tree constructed with protein sequence and a variety of plant hormones and stress response cis-elements were discovered in the promoter region of the B3 genes, indicating that the B3 genes were involved in several aspects of the soybean stress response. Transcriptome analysis and results of qRT-PCR revealed that most GmB3 genes could be induced by cold, the expression of which was also regulated by melatonin. We also found that B3 genes responded to cold stress in plants by interacting with other transcription factors. DISCUSSION: We found that melatonin regulates the response of soybean to cold stress by regulating the expression of the transcription factor B3 gene, and we identified 145 B3 genes in soybean. These findings further elucidate the potential role of the B3 gene family in soybean to resist low-temperature stress and provide valuable information for soybean functional genomics study.
PMID: 36714689
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P1095335 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1095335
Comparative analysis of physiological variations and genetic architecture for cold stress response in soybean germplasm.
Sanya Nanfan Research Institute of Hainan University, Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya, China.; College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, China.; College of Life Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Soybean (Glycine max L.) is susceptible to low temperatures. Increasing lines of evidence indicate that abiotic stress-responsive genes are involved in plant low-temperature stress response. However, the involvement of photosynthesis, antioxidants and metabolites genes in low temperature response is largely unexplored in Soybean. In the current study, a genetic panel of diverse soybean varieties was analyzed for photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf injury parameters under cold stress and control conditions. This helps us to identify cold tolerant (V100) and cold sensitive (V45) varieties. The V100 variety outperformed for antioxidant enzymes activities and relative expression of photosynthesis (Glyma.08G204800.1, Glyma.12G232000.1), GmSOD (GmSOD01, GmSOD08), GmPOD (GmPOD29, GmPOD47), trehalose (GmTPS01, GmTPS13) and cold marker genes (DREB1E, DREB1D, SCOF1) than V45 under cold stress. Upon cold stress, the V100 variety showed reduced accumulation of H(2)O(2) and MDA levels and subsequently showed lower leaf injury compared to V45. Together, our results uncovered new avenues for identifying cold tolerant soybean varieties from a large panel. Additionally, we identified the role of antioxidants, osmo-protectants and their posttranscriptional regulators miRNAs such as miR319, miR394, miR397, and miR398 in Soybean cold stress tolerance.
PMID: 36684715
Front Plant Sci , IF:5.753 , 2022 , V13 : P1099677 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1099677
Transcriptomic profiling of wheat stem during meiosis in response to freezing stress.
National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.; College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China.; College of Agronomy, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, China.; College of Landscape and Ecological Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, Hebei, China.
Low temperature injury in spring has seriously destabilized the production and grain quality of common wheat. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying spring frost tolerance remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the response of a frost-tolerant wheat variety Zhongmai8444 to freezing stress at the meiotic stage. Transcriptome profiles over a time course were subsequently generated by high-throughput sequencing. Our results revealed that the prolonged freezing temperature led to the significant reductions in plant height and seed setting rate. Cell wall thickening in the vascular tissue was also observed in the stems. RNA-seq analyses demonstrated the identification of 1010 up-regulated and 230 down-regulated genes shared by all time points of freezing treatment. Enrichment analysis revealed that gene activity related to hormone signal transduction and cell wall biosynthesis was significantly modulated under freezing. In addition, among the identified differentially expressed genes, 111 transcription factors belonging to multiple gene families exhibited dynamic expression pattern. This study provided valuable gene resources beneficial for the breeding of wheat varieties with improved spring frost tolerance.
PMID: 36714719
Theor Appl Genet , IF:5.699 , 2023 Jan , V136 (1) : P19 doi: 10.1007/s00122-023-04261-w
COG2 negatively regulates chilling tolerance through cell wall components altered in rice.
The Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Co-Innovation Centre for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China.; The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.; The Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. chongk@ibcas.ac.cn.; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. chongk@ibcas.ac.cn.; The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. chongk@ibcas.ac.cn.
Chilling-tolerant QTL gene COG2 encoded an extensin and repressed chilling tolerance by affecting the compositions of cell wall. Rice as a major crop is susceptible to chilling stress. Chilling tolerance is a complex trait controlled by multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Here, we identify a QTL gene, COG2, that negatively regulates cold tolerance at seedling stage in rice. COG2 overexpression transgenic plants are sensitive to cold, whereas knockout transgenic lines enhance chilling tolerance. Natural variation analysis shows that Hap1 is a specific haplotype in japonica/Geng rice and correlates with chilling tolerance. The SNP1 in COG2 promoter is a specific divergency and leads to the difference in the expression level of COG2 between japonica/Geng and indica/Xian cultivars. COG2 encodes a cell wall-localized extensin and affects the compositions of cell wall, including pectin and cellulose, to defense the chilling stress. The results extend the understanding of the adaptation to the environment and provide an editing target for molecular design breeding of cold tolerance in rice.
PMID: 36680595
Biology (Basel) , IF:5.079 , 2023 Jan , V12 (1) doi: 10.3390/biology12010107
Gesneriads, a Source of Resurrection and Double-Tolerant Species: Proposal of New Desiccation- and Freezing-Tolerant Plants and Their Physiological Adaptations.
Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain.
Gesneriaceae is a pantropical family of plants that, thanks to their lithophytic and epiphytic growth forms, have developed different strategies for overcoming water scarcity. Desiccation tolerance or "resurrection" ability is one of them: a rare phenomenon among angiosperms that involves surviving with very little relative water content in their tissues until water is again available. Physiological responses of desiccation tolerance are also activated during freezing temperatures, a stress that many of the resurrection gesneriads suffer due to their mountainous habitat. Therefore, research on desiccation- and freezing-tolerant gesneriads is a great opportunity for crop improvement, and some of them have become reference resurrection angiosperms (Dorcoceras hygrometrica, Haberlea rhodopensis and Ramonda myconi). However, their difficult indoor cultivation and outdoor accessibility are major obstacles for their study. Therefore, this review aims to identify phylogenetic, geoclimatic, habitat, and morphological features in order to propose new tentative resurrection gesneriads as a way of making them more reachable to the scientific community. Additionally, shared and species-specific physiological responses to desiccation and freezing stress have been gathered as a stress response metabolic basis of the family.
PMID: 36671798
Plant Sci , IF:4.729 , 2023 Apr , V329 : P111621 doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2023.111621
JA-induced TaMPK6 enhanced the freeze tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana through regulation of ICE-CBF-COR module and antioxidant enzyme system.
College of Life Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, China.; Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China. Electronic address: wangyuying@ibcas.ac.cn.; College of Life Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, China. Electronic address: zhangda@neau.edu.cn.
Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play important roles in the stress response of plants. However, the function of MPK proteins in freeze-resistance in wheat remains unclear. Dongnongdongmai No.1 (Dn1) is a winter wheat variety with a strong freezing resistance at extremely low temperature. In this study, we demonstrated that TaMPK6 is induced by JA signaling and is involved in the modulation of Dn1 freeze resistance. Overexpression of TaMPK6 in Arabidopsis increased the survival rate of plant at -10 ℃. The scavenging ability of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expression of cold-responsive genes CBFs and CORs were significantly enhanced in TaMPK6-overexpressed Arabidopsis, suggesting a role of TaMPK6 in activating the ICE-CBF-COR module and antioxidant enzyme system to resist freezing stress. Furthermore, TaMPK6 is localized in the nucleus and TaMPK6 interacts with TaICE41, TaCBF14, and TaMYC2 proteins, the key components in JA signaling and the ICE-CBF-COR pathway. These results suggest that JA-induced TaMPK6 may regulate freezing-resistance in wheat by interacting with the TaICE41, TaCBF14, and TaMYC2 proteins, which in turn enhances the ICE-CBF-COR pathway. Our study revealed the molecular mechanism of TaMPK6 involvement in the cold resistance pathway in winter wheat under cold stress, which provides a basis for enriching the theory of wheat cold resistance.
PMID: 36736462
Plant Sci , IF:4.729 , 2023 Apr , V329 : P111604 doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2023.111604
Overexpression of major latex protein 423 (NtMLP423) enhances the chilling stress tolerance in Nicotiana tabacum.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271018, PR China; Linyi University, Linyi 276005, Shandong, PR China.; State Key Laboratories of Agrobiotechnology, Department of Pomology, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, PR China.; State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271018, PR China.; Linyi University, Linyi 276005, Shandong, PR China. Electronic address: chengnn2002@163.com.; State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271018, PR China. Electronic address: yyhzhang@sdau.edu.cn.
Chilling stress impedes plant growth and hinders crop development and productivity. In this study, we identified the major latex protein (MLP) in tobacco (NtMLP423) and examined its roles in chilling resistance. NtMLP423 expression was considerably upregulated in response to chilling stress. NtMLP423 function was assessed and compared in plants with overexpression and antisense characteristics. Under chilling stress, plants with overexpression characteristics grew better than wild-type and antisense plants. NtMLP423 overexpression reduced membrane lipid damage, increased antioxidant enzyme activity, and reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation under chilling stress. Here, we screened for the first time the upstream transcription factor NtMYB108, which regulates NtMLP423 expression under chilling stress. The NtMYB108 transcription factor directly binds to the NtMLP423 promoter and improves NtMLP423 resistance to chilling stress. Subjecting NtMYB018 to virus-induced gene silencing reduced chilling stress tolerance. Overall, NtMLP423 overexpression enhances chilling stress tolerance, while its suppression has the opposite effect.
PMID: 36709884
Plant Cell Rep , IF:4.57 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1007/s00299-023-02984-0
Comparative transcriptomics and co-expression networks reveal cultivar-specific molecular signatures associated with reproductive-stage cold stress in rice.
School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an, 223003, China.; Huaiyin Institute of Agricultural Science in Xuhuai Region of Jiangsu Province, Huai'an, 223001, China. bs_cheng1981@163.com.; Shanghai Bioelectronica Limited Liability Company, Shanghai, 200131, China.; School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an, 223003, China. hgzgl@sina.com.; State Key Laboratory of Soil and Agricultural Sustainable Development, Nanjing, 210008, China. hgzgl@sina.com.; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Attapulgite Clay Resource Utilization, Huai'an, 223003, China. hgzgl@sina.com.
The resistance of Huaidao5 results from the high constitutive expression of tolerance genes, while that of Huaidao9 is due to the cold-induced resistance in flag leaves and panicles. The regulation mechanism of rice seedlings' cold tolerance is relatively clear, and knowledge of its underlying mechanisms at the reproductive stage is limited. We performed differential expression and co-expression network analyses to transcriptomes from panicle and flag leaf tissues of a cold-tolerant cultivar (Huaidao5), and a sensitive cultivar (Huaidao9), under reproductive-stage cold stress. The results revealed that the expression levels of genes in stress-related pathways such as MAPK signaling pathway, diterpenoid biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, plant-pathogen interaction and plant hormone signal transduction were constitutively highly expressed in Huaidao5, especially in panicles. Moreover, the Hudaidao5's panicle sample-specific (under cold) module contained some genes related to rice yield, such as GW5L, GGC2, SG1 and CTPS1. However, the resistance of Huaidao9 was derived from the induced resistance to cold in flag leaves and panicles. In the flag leaves, the responses included a series of stress response and signal transduction, while in the panicles nitrogen metabolism was severely affected, especially 66 endosperm-specific genes. Through integrating differential expression with co-expression networks, we predicted 161 candidate genes (79 cold-responsive genes common to both cultivars and 82 cold-tolerance genes associated with differences in cold tolerance between cultivars) potentially affecting cold response/tolerance, among which 85 (52.80%) were known to be cold-related genes. Moreover, 52 (65.82%) cold-responsive genes (e.g., TIFY11C, LSK1 and LPA) could be confirmed by previous transcriptome studies and 72 (87.80%) cold-tolerance genes (e.g., APX5, OsFbox17 and OsSTA109) were located within QTLs associated with cold tolerance. This study provides an efficient strategy for further discovery of mechanisms of cold tolerance in rice.
PMID: 36723676
Plant Cell Rep , IF:4.57 , 2023 Jan doi: 10.1007/s00299-022-02972-w
VaSUS2 confers cold tolerance in transgenic tomato and Arabidopsis by regulation of sucrose metabolism and ROS homeostasis.
College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.; College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China. maojuan@gsau.edu.cn.; College of Horticulture, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China. bhch@gsau.edu.cn.
VaSUS2 enhances cold tolerance of transgenic tomato and Arabidopsis by regulating sucrose metabolism and improving antioxidant enzymes activity. Sucrose synthetase (SUS) is a key enzyme of sugar metabolism, and plays an important role in response to abiotic stress in plant. However, the function of VaSUS2 remains unknown in cold tolerance. Here, the cloning and functional characterization of the plasma membrane-localized VaSUS2 gene isolated from Vitis amurensis was studied. The transcript level of VaSUS2 was up-regulated under cold stress in Vitis amurensis. Heterologous expression of VaSUS2 in tomato increased SUS activity, which promoted the accumulation of glucose and fructose under cold treatment. The transgenic tomato and Arabidopsis exhibited higher levels of antioxidant enzymes activity, lower relative electrolyte leakage (REL), malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) content compared to wild type under cold stress. Importantly, the ability of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) in transgenic plants was significantly improved. Moreover, yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) indicated that VaSnRK1 might be a potential interaction protein of VaSUS2. qRT-PCR showed that sucrose metabolism-related genes SlSUS, SlSPS and SlINV were significantly up-regulated in transgenic tomatoes. Meanwhile, the expression levels of antioxidant enzyme genes and cold-related genes CBF1, COR47 and ICE1 were up-regulated in transgenic plants. Taken together, these results suggested that VaSUS2 was involved in cold tolerance by increasing the levels of soluble sugars, improving the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and up-regulating the expression of cold-related genes in transgenic tomatoes and Arabidopsis.
PMID: 36645437
Physiol Plant , IF:4.5 , 2023 Jan , V175 (1) : Pe13837 doi: 10.1111/ppl.13837
Temporal cell wall changes during cold acclimation and deacclimation and their potential involvement in freezing tolerance and growth.
Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan.
Plants adapt to freezing stress through cold acclimation, which is induced by nonfreezing low temperatures and accompanied by growth arrest. A later increase in temperature after cold acclimation leads to rapid loss of freezing tolerance and growth resumption, a process called deacclimation. Appropriate regulation of the trade-off between freezing tolerance and growth is necessary for efficient plant development in a changing environment. The cell wall, which mainly consists of polysaccharide polymers, is involved in both freezing tolerance and growth. Still, it is unclear how the balance between freezing tolerance and growth is affected during cold acclimation and deacclimation by the changes in cell wall structure and what role is played by its monosaccharide composition. Therefore, to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms controlling freezing tolerance and growth during cold acclimation and deacclimation, we investigated cell wall changes in detail by sequential fractionation and monosaccharide composition analysis in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, for which a plethora of information and mutant lines are available. We found that arabinogalactan proteins and pectic galactan changed in close coordination with changes in freezing tolerance and growth during cold acclimation and deacclimation. On the other hand, arabinan and xyloglucan did not return to nonacclimation levels after deacclimation but stabilized at cold acclimation levels. This indicates that deacclimation does not completely restore cell wall composition to the nonacclimated state but rather changes it to a specific novel composition that is probably a consequence of the loss of freezing tolerance and provides conditions for growth resumption.
PMID: 36461890
Physiol Plant , IF:4.5 , 2023 Jan , V175 (1) : Pe13846 doi: 10.1111/ppl.13846
Mechanisms of cold-induced immunity in plants.
Genome-Edited Crop Development Group, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Ibaraki, Japan.; Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Overwintering plants acquire substantial levels of freezing tolerance through cold acclimation or winter hardening. This process is essential for the plants survival to harsh winter conditions. In the areas where persistent snow cover lasts several months, plants are protected from freezing but are, however, exposed to other harsh conditions, such as dark, cold, and high humidity. These conditions facilitate the infection of psychrophilic pathogens, which are termed "snow molds." To fight against infection of snow molds, overwintering plants develop disease resistance via the process of cold acclimation. Compared with pathogen-induced disease resistance, the molecular mechanisms of cold-induced disease resistance have yet to be fully elucidated. In this review, we outline the recent progress in our understanding of disease resistance acquired through cold acclimation.
PMID: 36546699
Sci Rep , IF:4.379 , 2023 Feb , V13 (1) : P2799 doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29910-4
Phytohormones regulate the non-redundant response of omega-3 fatty acid desaturases to low temperatures in Chorispora bungeana.
Extreme Stress Resistance and Biotechnology Laboratory, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China. sylbaby15@lzb.ac.cn.; State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.; School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.; School of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
To explore the contributions of omega-3 fatty acid desaturases (FADs) to cold stress response in a special cryophyte, Chorispora bungeana, two plastidial omega-3 desaturase genes (CbFAD7, CbFAD8) were cloned and verified in an Arabidopsis fad7fad8 mutant, before being compared with the microsomal omega-3 desaturase gene (CbFAD3). Though these genes were expressed in all tested tissues of C. bungeana, CbFAD7 and CbFAD8 have the highest expression in leaves, while CbFAD3 was mostly expressed in suspension-cultured cells. Low temperatures resulted in significant increases in trienoic fatty acids (TAs), corresponding to the cooperation of CbFAD3 and CbFAD8 in cultured cells, and the coordination of CbFAD7 and CbFAD8 in leaves. Furthermore, the cold induction of CbFAD8 in the two systems were increased with decreasing temperature and independently contributed to TAs accumulation at subfreezing temperature. A series of experiments revealed that jasmonie acid and brassinosteroids participated in the cold-responsive expression of omega-3 CbFAD genes in both C. bungeana cells and leaves, while the phytohormone regulation in leaves was complex with the participation of abscisic acid and gibberellin. These results point to the hormone-regulated non-redundant contributions of omega-3 CbFADs to maintain appropriate level of TAs under low temperatures, which help C. bungeana survive in cold environments.
PMID: 36797352
Sci Rep , IF:4.379 , 2023 Jan , V13 (1) : P1555 doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28311-x
Screening and validating of endogenous reference genes in Chlorella sp. TLD 6B under abiotic stress.
College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, 832000, People's Republic of China.; College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, 832000, People's Republic of China. jianfengg@shzu.edu.cn.; College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, 832000, People's Republic of China. fulongch@shzu.edu.cn.
Chlorella sp. TLD 6B, a microalgae growing in the Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang of China, is a good model material for studying the physiological and environmental adaptation mechanisms of plants in their arid habitats, as its adaptation to the harsh desert environment has led to its strong resistance. However, when using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to analyze the gene expression of this algae under abiotic stress, it is essential to find the suitable endogenous reference genes so to obtain reliable results. This study assessed the expression stability of 9 endogenous reference genes of Chlorella sp. TLD 6B under four abiotic stresses (drought, salt, cold and heat). These genes were selected based on the analysis results calculated by the three algorithmic procedures of geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper, which were ranked by refinder. Our research showed that 18S and GTP under drought stress, 18S and IDH under salt stress, CYP and 18S under cold stress, GTP and IDH under heat stress were the most stable endogenous reference genes. Moreover, UBC and 18S were the most suitable endogenous reference gene combinations for all samples. In contrast, GAPDH and alpha-TUB were the two least stable endogenous reference genes in all experimental samples. Additionally, the selected genes have been verified to be durable and reliable by detecting POD and PXG3 genes using above endogenous reference genes. The identification of reliable endogenous reference genes guarantees more accurate RT-qPCR quantification for Chlorella sp. TLD 6B, facilitating functional genomics studies of deserts Chlorella as well as the mining of resistance genes.
PMID: 36707665
Plant Physiol Biochem , IF:4.27 , 2023 Feb , V196 : P484-496 doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2023.01.055
CgMYB1, an R2R3-MYB transcription factor, can alleviate abiotic stress in an annual halophyte Chenopodium glaucum.
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China.; Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830017, China. Electronic address: lanhaiyan@xju.edu.cn.
MYB transcription factors (TFs) are important regulators of the stress response in plants. In the present study, we characterized the CgMYB1 gene in Chenopodium glaucum, a member of the R2R3-MYB TF family. CgMYB1 was located in the nucleus with an activating domain at the C terminus. The CgMYB1 gene could be induced by salt and cold stress in C. glaucum. Overexpressing CgMYB1 in Arabidopsis significantly enhanced salt and cold tolerance, probably by improving physiological performance and stress-related gene expression. Further analysis suggests that the positive response of CgMYB1 to abiotic stress may partially be attributed to the interaction between CgMYB1 and the CgbHLH001 promoter followed by activation of downstream stress-responsive genes, which mediates stress tolerance. Our findings should contribute to further understanding of the function of R2R3 MYB TF in response to abiotic stress.
PMID: 36764264
Plant Physiol Biochem , IF:4.27 , 2023 Jan , V196 : P270-280 doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2023.01.048
Isolation and preliminary functional analysis of FvICE1, involved in cold and drought tolerance in Fragaria vesca through overexpression and CRISPR/Cas9 technologies.
Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions, College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China.; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions, College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China. Electronic address: zlh15008205209@163.com.; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Development and Utilization of Small Fruits in Cold Regions, College of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China. Electronic address: deguohan@neau.edu.cn.
Cold and drought stresses are serious problems of strawberry cultivation in temperate and subtropical regions. In the molecular regulation system of cold and drought stresses, ICE transcription factors (TFs) are crucial. In this research, the FvICE1 was isolated from Fragaria vesca 'Hawaii 4', a bioinformatics analysis was conducted, overexpression vector and CRISPR/cas9 vector were constructed. The results showed that FvICE1 was a member of the bHLH TF family, with a length of 1608 bp, encoding 535 amino acids, and its molecular formula was C(2504)H(3987)N(745)O(811)S(22). By observing the fusion protein 35S-FvICE1-GFP, it was found that FvICE1 was a nuclear protein. The qRT-PCR results demonstrated that FvICE1 was significantly upregulated in different tissues of Fragaria vesca after cold, drought, salt and heat treatments. The wild type (WT) strawberry was selected as the control group, FvICE1-overexpression strawberries showed high tolerance to cold and drought treatments at the phenotypic and physiological levels. On the contrary, fvice1 mutant strawberries obtained by CRISPR/cas9 editing technology had lower tolerance to cold and drought treatments. Moreover, the expression of FvCBF1, FvCBF2, FvCBF3, FvCOR413, FvRD22 and FvKIN1 was positively regulated in the FvICE1-overexpression strawberries and inhibited in fvice1 mutant strawberries. Overall, the current results suggested that FvICE1 functioned as a positively regulator of cold and drought resistances.
PMID: 36736009
Plant Physiol Biochem , IF:4.27 , 2023 Jan , V194 : P418-439 doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.11.034
Drought priming triggers diverse metabolic adjustments and induces chilling tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).
Centre for Biosciences, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151401, India.; Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, 141004, India.; Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India.; Centre for Biosciences, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151401, India; Department of Botany, School of Basic Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151401, India. Electronic address: sanjeevpuchd@gmail.com.
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) suffers from chilling stress at the reproductive stage (<15 degrees C) which leads to significant yield loss. This study presents a comprehensive plant response to drought priming and its effect on chilling tolerance during the reproductive stage in two chickpea cultivars PBG1 and PBG5. Lipidome profiling (Fatty acid methyl esters analysis), metabolome profiling (GC-MS based untargeted analysis), fatty acid desaturases and antioxidative gene expression (qRT-PCR) were analyzed to monitor physiological and biochemical events after priming during flowering, podding and seed filling stages. Drought priming alleviated membrane damage and chlorophyll degradation by increasing membrane unsaturated fatty acids (18:3) along with up-regulation of various fatty acid desaturases (CaFADs) genes and antioxidative machinery during flowering and improved seed yield in PBG5. PCA, HCA, and KEGG pathway analysis of 87 identified metabolites showed that metabolites were regulated differently in both cultivars under non-primed and primed conditions. The plant response was more apparent at flowering and podding stages which coincided with chilling temperature (<15 degrees C). Drought priming stimulated many important genes, especially FADs, antioxidative proteins and accumulation of key metabolites (proline and TCA intermediates) required for defense especially in PBG5. This explains that plant's response to drought priming not only depends on developmental stage, and temperature regime (<15 degrees C) but also on the genotypic-specificity.
PMID: 36493590
Plant Physiol Biochem , IF:4.27 , 2023 Jan , V194 : P52-59 doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.10.032
Terahertz spectroscopic monitoring and analysis of citrus leaf water status under low temperature stress.
College of Instrumentation and Electrical Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130061, China; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing, 400714, China.; Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400712, China.; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing, 400714, China; Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.; College of Instrumentation and Electrical Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130061, China; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing, 400714, China. Electronic address: hcui@jlu.edu.cn.; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing, 400714, China; Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China. Electronic address: yanshihan@cigit.ac.cn.
Low temperature stress, in the form of chilling and freezing, is one of the major environmental factors impacting on citrus yield, which changes plant's water state and results in the crops' sub-health or injury. The innovative terahertz (THz) spectroscopy and imaging based sensing technology has been shown to be a suitable tool for plant leaf water status determination, due to THz radiation's innate sensitivity to hydrogen bond vibration in aqueous solutions, which is usually related to plant phenotype change. We demonstrate experimentally that the THz absorption coefficient of leaf could be used for distinguishing plant's physiological stress status, exhibiting clear decreasing or increasing trend under chilling or freezing stress respectively. The underlying rationale might be that membrane damage shows a diverse pattern, changing the intra- or extra-cellular liquid environments, likely being linked to the various THz spectral characteristics. There were different adaptations in leaf morphology, leading to different leaf density, which in turn affects the water volume fraction. Moreover, different patterns of the dynamic equilibrium state of free water and bound water under chilling and freezing treatment were revealed by THz spectroscopy. Here, THz spectroscopic monitoring has shown unique potential for judging citrus's low temperature stress state through bio-water detection and discrimination.
PMID: 36375327
BMC Plant Biol , IF:4.215 , 2023 Feb , V23 (1) : P85 doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04094-1
Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis reveals key regulatory network that response to cold stress in common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).
Horticulture Department, College of Advanced Agriculture and Ecological Environment, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150000, China.; Horticulture Department, College of Life Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150000, China.; Horticulture Department, College of Advanced Agriculture and Ecological Environment, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150000, China. feng998@126.com.; Horticulture Department, College of Advanced Agriculture and Ecological Environment, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150000, China. jianlongedu@163.com.
Cold temperatures can be detrimental to crop survival and productivity. Breeding progress can be improved by understanding the molecular basis of low temperature tolerance. We investigated the key routes and critical metabolites related to low temperature resistance in cold-tolerant and -sensitive common bean cultivars 120 and 093, respectively. Many potential genes and metabolites implicated in major metabolic pathways during the chilling stress response were identified through transcriptomics and metabolomics research. Under chilling stress, the expression of many genes involved in lipid, amino acid, and flavonoid metabolism, as well as metabolite accumulation increased in the two bean types. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was lower in 120 than in 093. Regarding amino acid metabolism, 120 had a higher concentration of acidic amino acids than 093, whereas 093 had a higher concentration of basic amino acids. Methionine accumulation was clearly higher in 120 than in 093. In addition, 120 had a higher concentration of many types of flavonoids than 093. Flavonoids, methionine and malondialdehyde could be used as biomarkers of plant chilling injury. Transcriptome analysis of hormone metabolism revealed considerably greater, expression of abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin (GA), and jasmonic acid (JA) in 093 than in 120 during chilling stress, indicating that hormone regulation modes in 093 and 120 were different. Thus, chilling stress tolerance is different between 093 and 120 possibly due to transcriptional and metabolic regulation.
PMID: 36759761
BMC Plant Biol , IF:4.215 , 2023 Jan , V23 (1) : P36 doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04053-w
The multifaceted roles of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in peanut responses to salt, drought, and cold stress.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Dryland Farming Technology,College of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.; Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS), Jinan, 250100, China.; Shandong Peanut Research Institute, Qingdao, 266199, China.; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Dryland Farming Technology,College of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. tongsi@qau.edu.cn.
BACKGROUND: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) are beneficial microorganisms in soil-plant interactions; however, the underlying mechanisms regarding their roles in legumes environmental stress remain elusive. Present trials were undertaken to study the effect of AMF on the ameliorating of salt, drought, and cold stress in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants. A new product of AMF combined with Rhizophagus irregularis SA, Rhizophagus clarus BEG142, Glomus lamellosum ON393, and Funneliformis mosseae BEG95 (1: 1: 1: 1, w/w/w/w) was inoculated with peanut and the physiological and metabolomic responses of the AMF-inoculated and non-inoculated peanut plants to salt, drought, and cold stress were comprehensively characterized, respectively. RESULTS: AMF-inoculated plants exhibited higher plant growth, leaf relative water content (RWC), net photosynthetic rate, maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm), activities of antioxidant enzymes, and K(+): Na(+) ratio while lower leaf relative electrolyte conductivity (REC), concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under stressful conditions. Moreover, the structures of chloroplast thylakoids and mitochondria in AMF-inoculated plants were less damaged by these stresses. Non-targeted metabolomics indicated that AMF altered numerous pathways associated with organic acids and amino acid metabolisms in peanut roots under both normal-growth and stressful conditions, which were further improved by the osmolytes accumulation data. CONCLUSION: This study provides a promising AMF product and demonstrates that this AMF combination could enhance peanut salt, drought, and cold stress tolerance through improving plant growth, protecting photosystem, enhancing antioxidant system, and regulating osmotic adjustment.
PMID: 36642709
BMC Genomics , IF:3.969 , 2023 Feb , V24 (1) : P82 doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09176-w
Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals the regulatory mechanisms of two tropical water lilies in response to cold stress.
College of Horticulture, Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Key Laboratory of Flower Biology, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Creation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing Agricultural University, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, 210095, Nanjing, China.; College of Agriculture, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832000, China.; College of Forestry and Horticulture, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China.; Hainan University Sanya Nanfan Research Institute, Sanya, 572000, China.; College of Horticulture, Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Key Laboratory of Flower Biology, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Creation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing Agricultural University, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, 210095, Nanjing, China. xyc@njau.edu.cn.
BACKGROUND: Tropical water lily is an aquatic plant with high ornamental value, but it cannot overwinter naturally at high latitudes. The temperature drop has become a key factor restricting the development and promotion of the industry. RESULTS: The responses of Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea rubra to cold stress were analyzed from the perspective of physiology and transcriptomics. Under the cold stress, Nymphaea rubra had obvious leaf edge curling and chlorosis. The degree of peroxidation of its membrane was higher than that of Nymphaea lotus, and the content of photosynthetic pigments also decreased more than that of Nymphaea lotus. The soluble sugar content, SOD enzyme activity and CAT enzyme activity of Nymphaea lotus were higher than those of Nymphaea rubra. This indicated that there were significant differences in the cold sensitivity of the two varieties. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis showed that many stress response genes and pathways were affected and enriched to varying degrees under the cold stress, especially plant hormone signal transduction, metabolic pathways and some transcription factor genes were from ZAT gene family or WKRY gene family. The key transcription factor ZAT12 protein in the cold stress response process has a C(2)H(2) conserved domain, and the protein is localized in the nucleus. Under the cold stress, overexpression of the NlZAT12 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana increased the expression of some cold-responsive protein genes. The content of reactive oxygen species and MDA in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana was lower, and the content of soluble sugar was higher, indicating that overexpression of NlZAT12 can improve the cold tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that ethylene signalling and reactive oxygen species signalling play critical roles in the response of the two cultivars to cold stress. The key gene NlZAT12 for improving cold tolerance was identified. Our study provides a theoretical basis for revealing the molecular mechanism of tropical water lily in response to cold stress.
PMID: 36809964
BMC Genomics , IF:3.969 , 2023 Feb , V24 (1) : P77 doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09187-7
Transcriptome analysis of Populus x canadensis 'Zhongliao1' in response to low temperature stress.
Liaoning Provincial Institute of Poplar, 115213, Gaizhou, China. woodbreeding@126.com.; Liaoning Provincial Institute of Poplar, 115213, Gaizhou, China.; College of Environment and Bioresources, Dalian Minzu University, 116600, Dalian, China.
BACKGROUND: Low temperatures are known to limit the growth and geographical distribution of poplars. Although some transcriptomic studies have been conducted to explore the response of poplar leaves to cold stress, only a few have comprehensively analyzed the effects of low temperature on the transcriptome of poplars and identified genes related to cold stress response and repair of freeze-thaw injury. RESULTS: We exposed the Euramerican poplar Zhongliao1 to low temperatures; after stems were exposed to - 40℃, 4℃, and 20℃, the mixture of phloem and cambium was collected for transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. A total of 29,060 genes were detected, including 28,739 known genes and 321 novel genes. Several differentially expressed genes (n = 36) were found to be involved in the Ca(2+) signaling pathway, starch-sucrose metabolism pathway, abscisic acid signaling pathway, and DNA repair. They were functionally annotated; glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidase and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase genes, for instance, showed a close relationship with cold resistance. The expression of 11 differentially expressed genes was verified by qRT-PCR; RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR data were found to be consistent, which validated the robustness of our RNA-Seq findings. Finally, multiple sequence alignment and evolutionary analysis were performed, the results of which suggested a close association between several novel genes and cold resistance in Zhongliao1. CONCLUSION: We believe that the cold resistance and freeze-thaw injury repair genes identified in this study are of great significance for cold tolerance breeding.
PMID: 36803355
Plants (Basel) , IF:3.935 , 2023 Feb , V12 (4) doi: 10.3390/plants12040763
Screening and Verification of Reference Genes for Analysis of Gene Expression in Garlic (Allium sativum L.) under Cold and Drought Stress.
Qinghai Key Laboratory of Vegetable Genetics and Physiology, Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences of Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China.; School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
The principal objective of this study was to screen and verify reference genes appropriate for gene expression evaluation during plant growth and development under distinct growth conditions. Nine candidate reference genes were screened based on garlic transcriptome sequence data. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression levels of the aforementioned reference genes in specific tissues under drought and cold stress. Then, geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and ReFinder were used to consider the consistency of the expression levels of candidate reference genes. Finally, the stress-responsive gene expression of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) was quantitatively evaluated to confirm the chosen reference genes. Our results indicated that there were variations in the abundance and stability of nine reference gene transcripts underneath cold and drought stress, among which ACT and UBC-E2 had the highest transcript abundance, and 18S rRNA and HIS3 had the lowest transcript abundance. UBC and UBC-E2 were the most stably expressed genes throughout all samples; UBC and UBC-E2 were the most stably expressed genes during cold stress, and ACT and UBC were the most stably expressed genes under drought stress. The most stably expressed genes in roots, pseudostems, leaves, and cloves were EF1, ACT, HIS3, UBC, and UBC-E2, respectively, while GAPDH was the most unstable gene during drought and cold stress conditions and in exclusive tissues. Taking the steady reference genes UBC-E2, UBC, and ACT as references during drought and cold stress, the reliability of the expression levels was further demonstrated by detecting the expression of AsAPX. Our work thereby offers a theoretical reference for the evaluation of gene expression in garlic in various tissues and under stress conditions.
PMID: 36840111
Plants (Basel) , IF:3.935 , 2023 Feb , V12 (3) doi: 10.3390/plants12030677
Gene Profiling of the Ascorbate Oxidase Family Genes under Osmotic and Cold Stress Reveals the Role of AnAO5 in Cold Adaptation in Ammopiptanthus nanus.
Key Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Metabolomics, Minzu University of China, National Ethnic Affairs Commission, Beijing 100081, China.; Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environment in Minority Areas, Minzu University of China, National Ethnic Affairs Commission, Beijing 100081, China.; College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China.; College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100080, China.
The uplift of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau has led to a drastic change in the climate in Central Asia, from warm and rainy, to dry and less rainfall. Ammopiptanthus nanus, a rare evergreen broad-leaved shrub distributed in the temperate desert region of Central Asia, has survived the drastic climate change in Central Asia caused by the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Ascorbate oxidase (AO) regulates the redox status of the apoplast by catalyzing the oxidation of ascorbate acid to dehydroascorbic acid, and plays a key role in the adaptation of plants to environmental changes. Analyzing the evolution, environmental response, and biological functions of the AO family of A. nanus is helpful for understanding how plant genome evolution responds to climate change in Central Asia. A total of 16 AOs were identified in A. nanus, all of which contained the ascorbate oxidase domain, most of which contained transmembrane domain, and many were predicted to be localized in the apoplast. Segmental duplication and tandem duplication are the main factors driving the gene amplification of the AO gene family in A. nanus. Gene expression analysis based on transcriptome data and fluorescence quantitative PCR, as well as enzyme activity measurements, showed that the expression levels of AO genes and total enzyme activity decreased under short-term osmotic stress and low-temperature stress, but the expression of some AO genes (AnAO5, AnAO13, and AnAO16) and total enzyme activity increased under 7 days of cold stress. AnAO5 and AnAO11 are targeted by miR4415. Further functional studies on AnAO5 showed that AnAO5 protein was localized in the apoplast. The expression of AnAO5 in yeast cells and the transient expression in tobacco enhanced the tolerance of yeast and tobacco to low-temperature stress, and the overexpression of AnAO5 enhanced the tolerance of Arabidopsis seedlings to cold stress. Our research provides important data for understanding the role of AOs in plant adaptation to environmental change.
PMID: 36771760
Plants (Basel) , IF:3.935 , 2023 Jan , V12 (3) doi: 10.3390/plants12030592
Genome-Wide Analysis and Expression of Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Ion Channel (CNGC) Family Genes under Cold Stress in Mango (Mangifera indica).
Hainan Climate Center, Haikou 570203, China.; Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.; College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.; Guilinyang Campus, Qiongtai Normal University, Haikou 571127, China.; Hainan Meteorological Service Center, Haikou 570203, China.; School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.; College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.; Key Laboratory of South China Sea Meteorological Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Hainan Province, Haikou 570203, China.; Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on Tropical Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Haikou 571101, China.; Hainan Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Control of Tropical Agricultural Pests, Haikou 571101, China.
The 'king of fruits' mango (Mangifera indica) is widely cultivated in tropical areas and has been threatened by frequent extreme cold weather. Cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel (CNGC) genes have an important function in the calcium-mediated development and cold response of plants. However, few CNGC-related studies are reported in mango, regardless of the mango cold stress response. In this study, we identified 43 CNGC genes in mango showing tissue-specific expression patterns. Five MiCNGCs display more than 3-fold gene expression induction in the fruit peel and leaf under cold stress. Among these, MiCNGC9 and MiCNGC13 are significantly upregulated below 6 degrees C, suggesting their candidate functions under cold stress. Furthermore, cell membrane integrity was damaged at 2 degrees C in the mango leaf, as shown by the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), and eight MiCNGCs are positively correlated with MDA contents. The high correlation between MiCNGCs and MDA implies MiCNGCs might regulate cell membrane integrity by regulating MDA content. Together, these findings provide a valuable guideline for the functional characterization of CNGC genes and will benefit future studies related to cold stress and calcium transport in mango.
PMID: 36771676
Plants (Basel) , IF:3.935 , 2023 Jan , V12 (3) doi: 10.3390/plants12030459
Progress and Prospects of the Molecular Basis of Soybean Cold Tolerance.
MARA Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.; Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 194, Ethiopia.; John Innes Centre, Norwich Bioscience Institutes, Norwich NR2 3LA, UK.
Cold stress is a major factor influencing the geographical distribution of soybean growth and causes immense losses in productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that the soybean has undergone to survive cold temperatures will have immense value in improving soybean cold tolerance. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in soybean response to cold. We summarized the recent studies on soybean cold-tolerant quantitative trait loci (QTLs), transcription factors, associated cold-regulated (COR) genes, and the regulatory pathways in response to cold stress. Cold-tolerant QTLs were found to be overlapped with the genomic region of maturity loci of E1, E3, E4, pubescence color locus of T, stem growth habit gene locus of Dt1, and leaf shape locus of Ln, indicating that pleiotropic loci may control multiple traits, including cold tolerance. The C-repeat responsive element binding factors (CBFs) are evolutionarily conserved across species. The expression of most GmDREB1s was upregulated by cold stress and overexpression of GmDREB1B;1 in soybean protoplast, and transgenic Arabidopsis plants can increase the expression of genes with the DRE core motif in their promoter regions under cold stress. Other soybean cold-responsive regulators, such as GmMYBJ1, GmNEK1, GmZF1, GmbZIP, GmTCF1a, SCOF-1 and so on, enhance cold tolerance by regulating the expression of COR genes in transgenic Arabidopsis. CBF-dependent and CBF-independent pathways are cross-talking and work together to activate cold stress gene expression. Even though it requires further dissection for precise understanding, the function of soybean cold-responsive transcription factors and associated COR genes studied in Arabidopsis shed light on the molecular mechanism of cold responses in soybeans and other crops. Furthermore, the findings may also provide practical applications for breeding cold-tolerant soybean varieties in high-latitude and high-altitude regions.
PMID: 36771543
Plants (Basel) , IF:3.935 , 2023 Jan , V12 (2) doi: 10.3390/plants12020288
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of WRKY Transcription Factors in Siraitia siamensis.
College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.; CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.; School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China.; Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China.; Guangxi Crop Genetic Improvement and Biotechnology Laboaratory, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China.; State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China.
WRKY transcription factors, as the largest gene family in higher plants, play an important role in various biological processes including growth and development, regulation of secondary metabolites, and stress response. In this study, we performed genome-wide identification and analysis of WRKY transcription factors in S. siamensis. A total of 59 SsWRKY genes were identified that were distributed on all 14 chromosomes, and these were classified into three major groups based on phylogenetic relationships. Each of these groups had similar conserved motifs and gene structures. We compared all the S. siamensis SsWRKY genes with WRKY genes identified from three diverse plant species, and the results implied that segmental duplication and tandem duplication play an important roles in the evolution processes of the WRKY gene family. Promoter region analysis revealed that SsWRKY genes included many cis-acting elements related to plant growth and development, phytohormone response, and both abiotic and biotic stress. Expression profiles originating from the transcriptome database showed expression patterns of these SsWRKY genes in four different tissues and revealed that most genes are expressed in plant roots. Fifteen SsWRKY genes with low-temperature response motifs were surveyed for their gene expression under cold stress, showing that most genes displayed continuous up-regulation during cold treatment. Our study provides a foundation for further study on the function and regulatory mechanism of the SsWRKY gene family.
PMID: 36679001
Life (Basel) , IF:3.817 , 2023 Feb , V13 (2) doi: 10.3390/life13020524
Suppression of the HOS1 Gene Affects the Level of ROS Depending on Light and Cold.
Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 159 Stoletija Str., 690022 Vladivostok, Russia.; Institute of Automation and Control Processes, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 5 Radio Str., 690041 Vladivostok, Russia.
The E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase HOS1 is an important integrator of temperature information and developmental processes. HOS1 is a negative regulator of plant cold tolerance, and silencing HOS1 leads to increased cold tolerance. In the present work, we studied ROS levels in hos1(Cas9)Arabidopsis thaliana plants, in which the HOS1 gene was silenced by disruption of the open reading frame via CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Confocal imaging of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) showed that the hos1 mutation moderately increased levels of ROS under both low and high light (HL) conditions, but wild-type (WT) and hos1(Cas9) plants exhibited similar ROS levels in the dark. Visualization of single cells did not reveal differences in the intracellular distribution of ROS between WT and hos1(Cas9) plants. The hos1(Cas9) plants contained a high basal level of ascorbic acid, maintained a normal balance between reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG), and generated a strong antioxidant defense response against paraquat under HL conditions. Under cold exposure, the hos1 mutation decreased the ROS level and substantially increased the expression of the ascorbate peroxidase genes Apx1 and Apx2. When plants were pre-exposed to cold and further exposed to HL, the expression of the NADPH oxidase genes RbohD and RbohF was increased in the hos1(Cas9) plants but not in WT plants. hos1-mediated changes in the level of ROS are cold-dependent and cold-independent, which implies different levels of regulation. Our data indicate that HOS1 is required to maintain ROS homeostasis not only under cold conditions, but also under conditions of both low and high light intensity. It is likely that HOS1 prevents the overinduction of defense mechanisms to balance growth.
PMID: 36836880
Life (Basel) , IF:3.817 , 2022 Dec , V13 (1) doi: 10.3390/life13010122
Analysis of the C2H2 Gene Family in Maize (Zea mays L.) under Cold Stress: Identification and Expression.
Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China.
The C2H2 zinc finger protein is one of the most common zinc finger proteins, widely exists in eukaryotes, and plays an important role in plant growth and development, as well as in salt, low-temperature, and drought stress and other abiotic stress responses. In this study, C2H2 members were identified and analyzed from the low-temperature tolerant transcriptome sequencing data of maize seedlings. The chromosome position, physical and chemical properties, evolution analysis, gene structure, conservative motifs, promoter cis elements and collinearity relationships of gene the family members were analyzed using bioinformatics, and the expression of the ZmC2H2 gene family under cold stress was analyzed by fluorescent quantitative PCR. The results showed that 150 members of the C2H2 zinc finger protein family were identified, and their protein lengths ranged from 102 to 1223 bp. The maximum molecular weight of the ZmC2H2s was 135,196.34, and the minimum was 10,823.86. The isoelectric point of the ZmC2H2s was between 33.21 and 94.1, and the aliphatic index was 42.07-87.62. The promoter cis element analysis showed that the ZmC2H2 family contains many light-response elements, plant hormone-response elements, and stress-response elements. The analysis of the transcriptome data showed that most of the ZmC2H2 genes responded to cold stress, and most of the ZmC2H2 genes were highly expressed in cold-tolerant materials and lowly expressed in cold-sensitive materials. The real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that ZmC2H2-69, ZmC2H2-130, and ZmC2H2-76 were significantly upregulated, and that ZmC2H2-149, ZmC2H2-33, and ZmC2H2-38 were significantly downregulated. It is hypothesized that these genes, which function in different metabolic pathways, may play a key role in the maize cold response. These genes could be further studied as candidate genes. This study provides a theoretical reference for further study on the function analysis of the maize C2H2 gene family.
PMID: 36676071
Funct Plant Biol , IF:3.101 , 2023 Jan doi: 10.1071/FP22211
Ultrasonic treatment to enhance seed germination and vigour of wheat (Triticum durum) in association with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt pathway.
Treatments of wheat (Triticum durum L.) seeds with sonication or hydropriming may enhance seed germination and vigour in association with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the effect of sonication and hydropriming treatments on seed germination of wheat through the characterisation of seed germination performance, GABA shunt metabolite level (GABA, glutamate, and alanine), and the level of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) mRNA transcription. Wheat seeds were exposed to three treatments for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20min: (1) sonication with water; (2) sonication without water; and (3) hydropriming without sonication. Treated seeds were evaluated for germination percentage, mean time to germinate, germination rate index in the warm germination test, and seedling emergence and shoot length in the cold test. GABA shunt metabolites level (GABA, glutamate, and alanine), and the level of GAD mRNA transcription were measured for the seeds after treatments and for seedlings during germination and cold tests. Seeds treated with sonication or hydropriming treatments had a higher germination rate index (faster germination) in the standard germination test, and higher seedling emergence and shoot length in the cold test. Seeds treated with sonication or hydropriming treatments showed an enhancement in GABA shunt and their metabolites (alanine and glutamate), and GAD mRNA transcription level compared to untreated-control seeds. In conclusion, the sonication or hydropriming treatments significantly improved the germination performance of wheat and enhanced GABA metabolism to maintain the C:N metabolic balance, especially under cold stress.
PMID: 36634915
Plant Biol (Stuttg) , IF:3.081 , 2023 Feb doi: 10.1111/plb.13510
Assessment of proline function in higher plants under extreme temperatures.
College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU), Fuzhou, China.; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Hangzhou, China.; Department of Botany, Faculty of Life Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.; Research Center on Ecological Sciences, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.; Department of Agricultural Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Nigde, Turkey.; Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Lab, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.; Department of Horticulture, School of Horticulture and Landscape, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.; Division of Plant Physiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi, India.; Group of Antioxidants, Free Radicals and Nitric Oxide in Biotechnology, Food and Agriculture, Department of Stress, Development and Signaling in Plants, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, Spanish National Research Council, CSIC, Granada, Spain.; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Institute of Forestry and Pomology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China.; State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Centre for Crop and Food Innovation, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
Climate change and abiotic stress factors are key players in crop losses worldwide. Among which, extreme temperatures (heat and cold) disturb plant growth and development, reduce productivity and, in severe cases, lead to plant death. Plants have developed numerous strategies to mitigate the detrimental impact of temperature stress. Exposure to stress leads to the accumulation of various metabolites, e.g. sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids and amino acids. Plants accumulate the amino acid 'proline' in response to several abiotic stresses, including temperature stress. Proline abundance may result from de novo synthesis, hydrolysis of proteins, reduced utilization or degradation. Proline also leads to stress tolerance by maintaining the osmotic balance (still controversial), cell turgidity and indirectly modulating metabolism of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, the crosstalk of proline with other osmoprotectants and signalling molecules, e.g. glycine betaine, abscisic acid, nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide, soluble sugars, helps to strengthen protective mechanisms in stressful environments. Development of less temperature-responsive cultivars can be achieved by manipulating the biosynthesis of proline through genetic engineering. This review presents an overview of plant responses to extreme temperatures and an outline of proline metabolism under such temperatures. The exogenous application of proline as a protective molecule under extreme temperatures is also presented. Proline crosstalk and interaction with other molecules is also discussed. Finally, the potential of genetic engineering of proline-related genes is explained to develop 'temperature-smart' plants. In short, exogenous application of proline and genetic engineering of proline genes promise ways forward for developing 'temperature-smart' future crop plants.
PMID: 36748909
Plant Biol (Stuttg) , IF:3.081 , 2023 Mar , V25 (2) : P308-321 doi: 10.1111/plb.13489
Cold stress triggers freezing tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) via hormone regulation and transcription of related genes.
College of Life Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
Low temperatures limit the geographic distribution and yield of plants. Hormones play an important role in coordinating the growth and development of plants and their tolerance to low temperatures. However, the mechanisms by which hormones affect plant resistance to extreme cold stress in the natural environment are still unclear. In this study, two winter wheat varieties with different cold resistances, Dn1 and J22, were used to conduct targeted plant hormone metabolome analysis on the tillering nodes of winter wheat at 5 degrees C, -10 degrees C and -25 degrees C using an LC-ESI-MS/MS system. We screened 39 hormones from 88 plant hormone metabolites and constructed a partial regulatory network of auxin, jasmonic acid and cytokinin. GO analysis and enrichment of KEGG pathways in different metabolites showed that the 'plant hormone signal transduction' pathway was the most common. Our study showed that extreme low temperature increased the most levels of auxin, cytokinin and salicylic acid, and decreased levels of jasmonic acid and abscisic acid, and that levels of auxin, jasmonic acid and cytokinin in Dn1 were higher than those in J22. These changes in hormone levels were associated with changes in gene expression in synthesis, catabolism, transport and signal transduction pathways. These results differ from the previous hormone regulation mechanisms, which were mostly obtained at 4 degrees C. Our results provide a basis for further understanding the molecular mechanisms by which plant endogenous hormones regulate plant freezing stress tolerance.
PMID: 36385725
PeerJ , IF:2.984 , 2023 , V11 : Pe14690 doi: 10.7717/peerj.14690
Genome-wide identification and expression reveal the involvement of the FCS-like zinc finger (FLZ) gene family in Gossypium hirsutum at low temperature.
Cash Crops Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Science, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.; Adsen Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Urumqi, Xinjiang, China.
FCS-like zinc finger (FLZ) is a plant-specific gene family that plays an important regulatory role in plant growth and development and its response to stress. However, studies on the characteristics and functions of cotton FLZ family genes are still lacking. This study systematically identified members of the cotton FLZ gene family based on cotton genome data. The cotton FLZ family genes were systematically analyzed by bioinformatics, and their expression patterns in different tissues and under low-temperature stress were analyzed by transcriptome and qRT-PCR. The G. hirsutum genome contains 56 FLZ genes distributed on 20 chromosomes, and most of them are located in the nucleus. According to the number and evolution analysis of FLZ family genes, FLZ family genes can be divided into five subgroups in cotton. The G. hirsutum FLZ gene has a wide range of tissue expression types, among which the expression is generally higher in roots, stems, leaves, receptacles and calyx. Through promoter analysis, it was found that it contained the most cis-acting elements related to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Combined with the promoter and qRT-PCR results, it was speculated that GhFLZ11, GhFLZ25, GhFLZ44 and GhFLZ55 were involved in the response of cotton to low-temperature stress. Taken together, our findings suggest an important role for the FLZ gene family in the cotton response to cold stress. This study provides an important theoretical basis for further research on the function of the FLZ gene family and the molecular mechanism of the cotton response to low temperature.
PMID: 36710860
PeerJ , IF:2.984 , 2023 , V11 : Pe14704 doi: 10.7717/peerj.14704
Genome-wide identification and expression profile analysis of SWEET genes in Chinese jujube.
Hebei Agricultural University, College of Horticulture, Baoding, Hebei, China.; Hebei Agricultural University, Research Center of Chinese Jujube, Baoding, Hebei, China.; Hebei Agricultural University, National Engineering Research Center for Agriculture in Northern Mountaninous Areas, Baoding, Hebei, China.; Hebei University of Engineering, School of Landscape and Ecological Engineering, Handan, Hebei, China.
The novel sugar transporter known as SWEET (sugars will eventually be exported transporter) is involved in the transport and distribution of photosynthesis products in plants. The SWEET protein is also involved in pollen development, nectar secretion, stress responses, and other important physiological processes. Although SWEET genes have been characterized and identified in model plants, such as Arabidopsis and rice, little is known about them in jujube. In this study, the molecular characteristics of the SWEET gene family in the Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) and their expression patterns in different organs, at different fruit developmental stages, and under abiotic stress were analyzed. A total of 19 ZjSWEET genes were identified in jujube through a genome-wide study; these were classified into four sub-groups based on their phylogenic relationships. The gene structure analysis of ZjSWEET genes showed that all the members had introns. The expression patterns of different ZjSWEET genes varied significantly in different organs (root, shoot, leave, flower, fruit), which indicated that ZjSWEETs play different roles in multiple organs. According to the expression profiles by quantitative real-time PCR analysis during fruit development, the expression levels of the two genes (ZjSWEET11, ZjSWEET18) gradually increased with the development of the fruit and reached a high level at the full-red fruit stage. A prediction of the cis-acting regulatory elements indicated that the promoter sequences of ZjSWEETs contained nine types of phytohormone-responsive cis-regulatory elements and six environmental factors. In addition, the expression profiles by quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that some of the ZjSWEETs responded to environmental changes; ZjSWEET2 was highly induced in response to cold stress, and ZjSWEET8 was significantly up-regulated in response to alkali and salt stresses. This study showed that the functions of the ZjSWEET family members of jujube are different, and some may play an important role in sugar accumulation and abiotic stress in jujube.
PMID: 36684667
J Therm Biol , IF:2.902 , 2023 Feb , V112 : P103479 doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103479
Comparative transcriptome analysis of Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae-Bruchinae) after heat and cold stress exposure.
College of Plant Protection, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, 030801, China.; College of Agricultural Economics and Management, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, 030801, China.; College of Plant Protection, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, 030801, China. Electronic address: zxh6288@126.com.
Callosobruchus chinensis is regarded as one of the cosmopolitan pests of legume crops and can cause tremendous losses to a variety of beans. This study focused on comparative transcriptome analyses of C. chinensis exposed to 45 degrees C (heat stress), 27 degrees C (ambient temperature) and -3 degrees C (cold stress) for 3 h to investigate the gene differences and underlying molecular mechanisms. There were 402 and 111 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in the heat and cold stress treatments, respectively. "cell process", "cell" and "binding" were the main enriched functions and biological processes revealed by gene ontology (GO) analysis. The clusters of orthologous genes (COG) showed that DEGs were assigned to the categories: "posttranslational modification, protein turnover, chaperones", "lipid transport and metabolism", and "general function prediction only". With respect to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), the "longevity regulating pathway-multiple species", "carbon metabolism", "peroxisome", "protein processing in endoplasmic", "glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism" pathways were significantly enriched. The annotation and enrichment analysis revealed that genes encoding heat shock proteins (Hsps) and cuticular proteins were significantly upregulated under high and low-temperature stresses, respectively. In addition, some DEGs encoding "Protein lethal essential for life", "Reverse transcriptase", "DnaJ domain", "Cytochrome" and "Zinc finger protein" were also upregulated to varying degrees. Transcriptomic data were validated using qRT‒PCR, which confirmed that they were consistent. In this paper, the temperature tolerance of C. chinensis adults was evaluated and the results showed that female adults were more sensitive to heat and cold stress than males, and the upregulation of heat shock protein and epidermal protein was the largest in DEGs after heat and cold stress, respectively. These findings provide a reference for further understanding the biological characteristics of C. chinensis adults and the molecular mechanisms underlying the response to low and high temperatures.
PMID: 36796922
Micromachines (Basel) , IF:2.891 , 2023 Feb , V14 (2) doi: 10.3390/mi14020440
Miniature Noninvasive Sensor Based on Impedance-Change Detection in Branches for Measuring Branch Ice Content in Overwintering Woody Plants.
School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.; China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Industrial Internet and Big Data, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 102448, China.
Advancements in detection instruments have enabled the real-time acquisition of water information during plant growth; however, the real-time monitoring of freeze-thaw information during plant overwintering remains a challenge. Based on the relationship between the change in the water-ice ratio and branch impedance during freezing, a miniature noninvasive branch volume ice content (BVIC) sensor was developed for monitoring real-time changes in volumetric ice content and the ice freeze-thaw rate of woody plant branches during the overwintering period. The results of the performance analysis of the impedance measurement circuit show that the circuit has a lateral sensitivity range, measurement range, resolution, measurement accuracy, and power consumption of 0-35 mm, 0-100%, 0.05%, +/-1.76%, and 0.25 W, respectively. The dynamic response time was 0.296 s. The maximum allowable error by the output voltage fluctuation, owing to the ambient temperature and humidity, was only +/-0.635%, which meets the actual use requirements. The calibration curve fit coefficients were >0.98, indicating a significant correlation. The ice content of plant branches under cold stress was measured for indoor and field environments, and the sensors could effectively monitor changes in the branch ice content in plants exposed to cold stress. Additionally, they can differentiate between plants with different cold resistances, indicating the reliability of the BVIC sensor.
PMID: 36838140
Lett Appl Microbiol , IF:2.858 , 2023 Jan , V76 (1) doi: 10.1093/lambio/ovac035
Effect of seed biopriming with selected endophytes on the growth and chilling tolerance of rice plants.
Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 40227, Taiwan.; Innovation and Development Center of Sustainable Agriculture (IDCSA), National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 40227, Taiwan.; Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.; Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 40227, Taiwan.; Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.
The aim of this study was to develop an efficient bioinoculant for amelioration of adverse effects from chilling stress (10 degrees C), which are frequently occurred during rice seedling stage. Seed germination bioassay under chilling condition with rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. Tainan 11 was performed to screen for plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria among 41 chilling-tolerant rice endophytes. And several agronomic traits were used to evaluate the effects of bacterial inoculation on rice seedling, which were experienced for 7-d chilling stress in walk-in growth chamber. The field trials were further used to verify the performance of potential PGP endophytes on rice growth. A total of three endophytes with multiple PGP traits were obtained. It was demonstrated that Pseudomonas sp. CC-LS37 inoculation led to 18% increase of maximal efficiency of Photosystem II (PSII) after 7-d chilling stress and 7% increase of chlorophyll a content, and 64% decline of malondialdehyde content in shoot after 10-d recovery at normal temperature in walk-in growth chamber. In field trial, biopriming of seeds with strain CC-LS37 caused rice plants to increase shoot chlorophyll soil plant analysis development values (by 2.9% and 2.5%, respectively) and tiller number (both by 61%) under natural climate and chilling stress during the end of tillering stage, afterward 30% more grain yield was achieved. In conclusion, strain CC-LS37 exerted its function in increase of tiller number of chilling stress-treated rice seedlings via improvement of photosynthetic characteristics, which in turn increases the rice grain yield. This study also proposed multiple indices used in the screening of potential endophytes for conferring chilling tolerance of rice plants.
PMID: 36688764
J Plant Res , IF:2.629 , 2023 Mar , V136 (2) : P211-225 doi: 10.1007/s10265-023-01437-9
Morphological and antioxidant responses of Nopalea cochenillifera cv. Maya (edible Opuntia sp. "Kasugai Saboten") to chilling acclimatization.
Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, 1-501 Shiogamaguchi, Tempaku, Nagoya, 468-8502, Japan. ayumu@meijo-u.ac.jp.; Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, 1-501 Shiogamaguchi, Tempaku, Nagoya, 468-8502, Japan.
To clarify the wintering ability of the cactus Nopalea cochenillifera cv. Maya (edible Opuntia sp., common name "Kasugai Saboten"), we investigated the effects of temperature and antioxidant capacity on chilling acclimatization. We analyzed the anatomy of cladode chlorenchyma tissue of plants exposed to light under chilling. We found that chilling acclimatization can be achieved by exposure to approximately 15 degrees C for 2 weeks and suggest that it is affected by whether or not antioxidant capacity can recover. The overwintering cacti had the thinnest cuticle but firm cuticular wax, which is important in the acquisition of low temperature tolerance under strong light. In cacti with severe chilling injury, round swollen nuclei with clumping chloroplasts were localized in the upper part (axial side) of the cell, as though pushed up by large vacuoles in the lower part. In overwintering cacti, chloroplasts were arranged on the lateral side of the cell as in control plants, but they formed pockets: invaginations with a thin layer of chloroplast stroma that surrounded mitochondria and peroxisomes. Specific cellular structural changes depended on the degree of chilling stress and provide useful insights linking chloroplast behavior and structural changes to the environmental stress response.
PMID: 36690846
Braz J Microbiol , IF:2.476 , 2023 Mar , V54 (1) : P371-383 doi: 10.1007/s42770-023-00913-7
Alleviation of cold stress in wheat with psychrotrophic phosphorus solubilizing Acinetobacter rhizosphaerae EU-KL44.
Department of Microbiology, Akal College of Basic Sciences, Eternal University, Baru Sahib, Sirmour, 173101, India.; Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Khem Singh Gill Akal College of Agriculture, Eternal University, Baru Sahib, Sirmour, 173101, India. ajar@eternaluniversity.edu.in.
Low-temperature stress can seriously impair plant physiology. Chilling injury leads to a complex array of cellular dysfunctions, and symptoms include chlorosis, sterility, loss of vigor, wilting, and even death of the plants. Furthermore, phosphorus limitations additionally halt the growth of plants. Low-temperature adaptive plant growth-promoting microbes through various direct and indirect mechanisms help in the survival of plants under stress conditions. The present investigation deals with isolation of P-solubilizing psychrotrophic bacteria from diverse cultivars of wheat grown in the Keylong region of Himachal Pradesh. A total of 33 P-solubilizing bacterial isolates were obtained. P-solubilizers were screened for different plant growth-promoting (PGP) attributes of K and Zn solubilization, production of IAA, siderophores, and different hydrolytic enzymes. Among 33 P-solubilizers, 8 efficient strains exhibiting multiple PGP attributes were used as bioinoculants for wheat under low-temperature stress in different in vitro and in vivo experiments. The psychrotrophic bacterial isolates positively influenced the growth and physiological parameters as well as nutrient uptake and yield of wheat and efficiently alleviated low-temperature stress. The potential of low-temperature stress adaptive and PGP microbes can be utilized in agricultural sector for amelioration of low-temperature stress and plant growth promotion. The present study deals with the isolation of psychrotrophic P-solubilizers with multiple PGP attributes and their role in alleviation of cold stress in wheat.
PMID: 36740643
Plant Signal Behav , IF:2.247 , 2022 Dec , V17 (1) : P2139116 doi: 10.1080/15592324.2022.2139116
A tomato chloroplast-targeted DnaJ protein, SlDnaJ20 maintains the stability of photosystem I/II under chilling stress.
School of Biological Sciences, Jining Medical University, Ri'zhao, 276800, P.R. China.
DnaJ proteins are key molecular chaperones that act as a part of the stress response to stabilize plant proteins, thereby maintaining protein homeostasis under stressful conditions. Herein we used transgenic plants to explore the role of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) SlDnaJ20 chloroplast DnaJ protein in to the resistance of these proteins to cold. When chilled, transgenic plants exhibited superior cold resistance, with reduced growth inhibition and cellular damage and increased fresh mass and chlorophyll content relative to control. These transgenic plants further exhibited increased Fv/Fm, P700 oxidation, phi(Ro), and delta(Ro) relative to control plants under chilling conditions. Under these same cold conditions, these transgenic plants also exhibited higher levels of core proteins in the photosystem I (PSI) and II (PSII) complexes (PsaA and PsaB; D1 and D2) relative to control wild-type plants. Together these results suggested that the overexpression of SlDnaJ20 is sufficient to maintain PSI and PSII complex stability and to alleviate associated photoinhibition of these complexes, thereby increasing transgenic plant resistance to cold stress.
PMID: 36408837
Plant Signal Behav , IF:2.247 , 2022 Dec , V17 (1) : P2081420 doi: 10.1080/15592324.2022.2081420
Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of DREB genes in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) in response to cold stress.
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Key Lab of Plant-Soil Interaction, MOE, Center for Resources, Environment and Food Security, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.; Hunan Tobacco Science Institute, Changsha, China.
Dehydration-responsive element-binding proteins (DREBs) belong to members of the AP2/ERF transcription factor superfamily, which has been reported to involve various abiotic-stress responses and tolerance in plants. However, research on the DREB-family is still limited in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), a forage legume cultivated worldwide. The recent genome-sequence release of the alfalfa cultivar "XinJiangDaYe" allowed us to identify 172 DREBs by a multi-step homolog search. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that such MsDREBs could be classified into 5 groups, namely A-1 (56 members), A-2 (39), A-3 (3), A-4 (61) and 13 (A-5 (13), thus adding substantial new members to the DREB-family in alfalfa. Furthermore, a comprehensive survey in silico of conserved motif, gene structure, molecular weight, and isoelectric point (pI) as well as gene expression was conducted. The resulting data showed that, for cold-stress response, 33 differentially expressed MsDREBs were identified with a threshold of Log2-fold > 1, and most of which were transcriptionally upregulated within 48 h during a cold treatment(s). Moreover, the expression profiling of MsDREBs from two ecotypes of alfalfa subspecies i.e. M. sativa ssp. falcata (F56, from a colder region of Central Asia) and M. sativa ssp. sativa (B47, from Near East) revealed that most of the cold-stress responsive MsDREBs exhibited a significantly lower expression in F56, leading to a proposal of the existence of a distinct mechanism(s) for cold tolerance regulated by DREB-related action, which would have been evolved in alfalfa with a genotypic specificity. Additionally, by examining the transcriptome of a freezing-tolerance species (M. sativa cv. Zhaodong), eight DREBs were found to be implicated in a long-term freezing-stress adaptation with a great potential. Taken together, the current genome-wide identification in alfalfa points to the importance of some MsDREBs in the cold-stress response, providing some promising molecular targets to be functionally characterized for the improvement of cold tolerance in crops including alfalfa.
PMID: 35642507
Curr Issues Mol Biol , IF:2.081 , 2023 Feb , V45 (2) : P1693-1711 doi: 10.3390/cimb45020109
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Calmodulin-Like Gene Family in Paspalums vaginatium Revealed Their Role in Response to Salt and Cold Stress.
Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Grassland Science, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.; Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
The calmodulin-like (CML) family is an important calcium (Ca(2+)) sensor in plants and plays a pivotal role in the response to abiotic and biotic stresses. As one of the most salt-tolerant grass species, Paspalums vaginatum is resistant to multiple abiotic stresses, such as salt, cold, and drought. However, investigations of PvCML proteins in P. vaginatum have been limited. Based on the recently published P. vaginatum genome, we identified forty-nine PvCMLs and performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of PvCMLs. The main results showed that the PvCMLs were unevenly distributed on all chromosomes and that the expansion of PvCMLs was shaped by tandem and segmental duplications. In addition, cis-acting element analysis, expression profiles, and qRT-PCR analysis revealed that PvCMLs were involved in the response to salt and cold stress. Most interestingly, we found evidence of a tandem gene cluster that independently evolved in P. vaginatum and may participate in cold resistance. In summary, our work provides important insight into how grass species are resistant to abiotic stresses such as salt and cold and could be the basis of further gene function research on CMLs in P. vaginatum.
PMID: 36826054
Curr Issues Mol Biol , IF:2.081 , 2023 Jan , V45 (1) : P699-720 doi: 10.3390/cimb45010047
Transcriptomic Analysis of Yunwu Tribute Tea Leaves under Cold Stress.
Guizhou Province Institute of Biology, Guizhou Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550009, China.; The Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Germplasm Innovation in Mountainous Region (Ministry of Education), Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.; The Application Center for Plant Conservation Technology, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550006, China.
BACKGROUND: Cold stress usually occurs in winter and is one of the most significant environmental factors restricting the growth of the tea plant as well as its geographical distribution. OBJECTIVE: It is necessary to identify the physiological and molecular mechanisms of plants under cold stress so that cold-tolerant crop varieties can be cultivated to limit production losses. At the same time, this would allow the crop planting area to be expanded, hence improving the economic benefits. METHODS: In this study, the transcriptome data of Yunwu Tribute Tea under cold conditions were obtained using the Illumina HiSeq platform. By analyzing changes in transcriptome data associated with the antioxidant enzyme system, plant hormone signal transduction, proline and tyrosine metabolism pathways, and transcription factors, the molecular mechanisms involved in Yunwu Tribute Tea under cold stress were investigated. RESULTS: In this study, Illumina HiSeq technology was applied to investigate the cold-tolerance mechanism. For this purpose, cDNA libraries were obtained from two groups of samples, namely the cold-treated group (DW) and the control group (CK). A total of 185,973 unigenes were produced from 511,987 assembled transcripts; among these, 16,020 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (corrected p-value < 0.01, |log2(fold change)| >3), including 9606 up-regulated and 6414 down-regulated genes, were obtained. Moreover, the antioxidant enzyme system, plant hormone signal transduction, proline and tyrosine metabolism pathways, and transcription factors were analyzed; based on these results, a series of candidate genes related to cold stress were screened out and discussed. The physiological indexes related to the low-temperature response were tested, along with five DEGs which were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Differential gene expression analysis has confirmed that substantial cold-responsive genes are related to the antioxidant enzyme system, plant hormone signal transduction, proline metabolism pathway, tyrosine metabolism pathway, and transcription factors.
PMID: 36661533
Plant Commun , 2023 Feb : P100562 doi: 10.1016/j.xplc.2023.100562
A chromosome-level genome assembly for Erianthus fulvus provides insights into its biofuel potential and facilitates breeding for improvement of sugarcane.
Sugarcane Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen 518067, China.; Plant Molecular Genetics Laboratory, School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.; Sugarcane Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; The Key Laboratory of Crop Production and Smart Agriculture of Yunnan Province, Kunming, Yunnan,650201, China.; International Genome Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China.; Sugarcane Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China.; College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China.; State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Yunnan Plateau Characteristic Agriculture Industry Research Institute, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China.; Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen 518067, China.; Sugarcane Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; The Key Laboratory of Crop Production and Smart Agriculture of Yunnan Province, Kunming, Yunnan,650201, China.; Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Austria, 8010.; State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Yunnan Plateau Characteristic Agriculture Industry Research Institute, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China. Electronic address: zzj1811@163.com.; Sugarcane Research Institute of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; The Key Laboratory of Crop Production and Smart Agriculture of Yunnan Province, Kunming, Yunnan,650201, China. Electronic address: zzj1811@163.com.
Erianthus produces substantial biomass, exhibits good Brix value, and shows wider environmental adaptability, rendering it a potential biofuel plant. In contrast to closely related sorghum and sugarcane, Erianthus can grow in degraded soils, thus releasing pressure on agricultural lands used for biofuel production. However, the lack of genomic resources for Erianthus hinders its genetic improvement, thus limiting its potential for biofuel production. In the present study, we generated a chromosome-scale reference genome for Erianthus fulvus Nees. The estimated genome size through flow cytometry was found to be 937 Mb, and the assembled genome size was 902 Mb, covering 96.26% of the estimated genome size. A total of 35,065 protein-coding genes were predicted, and 67.89% of the genome was found to be repetitive. A recent whole-genome duplication occurred approximately 74.10 million years ago in the E. fulvus genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed that E. fulvus is evolutionary closer to S. spontaneum and diverged after S. bicolor. Three of the ten chromosomes in E. fulvus were formed as a result of rearrangements of ancestral chromosomes. Phylogenetic reconstruction of the Saccharum complex revealed a polyphyletic origin of the complex, and sister relationship of E. fulvus with Saccharum sp., excluding S. arundinaceum. Based on the four amino acid residues that provide substrate specificity, the E. fulvus SWEET proteins were classified as mono- and di-saccharide sugar transporters. Furthermore, the ortho-QTL genes identified for 10 biofuel-related traits may aid in the rapid screening of E. fulvus populations to enhance breeding programs for improved biofuel production. In conclusion, the results of this study provide valuable insights for breeding programs aimed at improving biofuel production in E. fulvus and enhancing sugarcane introgression programs.
PMID: 36814384
Heliyon , 2023 Feb , V9 (2) : Pe13066 doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13066
Tryptophan-centered metabolic alterations coincides with lipid-mediated fungal response to cold stress.
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming 650032, China.; Kunming Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Kunming University, Kunming 650214, China.; State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China.
Tryptophan and its derived metabolites have been assumed to play important roles in the development and survival of organisms. However, the links of tryptophan and its derived metabolites to temperature change remained largely cryptic. Here we presented that a class of prenyl indole alkaloids biosynthesized from tryptophan dramatically accumulated in thermophilic fungus Thermomyces dupontii under cold stress, in which lipid droplets were also highly accumulated and whose conidiophores were highly build-up. Concurrently, disruption of the key NRPS gene involved in the biosynthesis of prenyl indole alkaloids, resulted in decreased lipid and shrunken mitochondria but enlarged vacuoles. Moreover, the Fe(3+) and superoxide levels in DeltaNRPS were significantly increased but the reactive oxygen species lipid peroxidation and autophagy levels decreased. Metabolomics study revealed that most enriched metabolites in DeltaNRPS were mainly composed of tryptophan degraded metabolites including well known ROS scavenger kynurenamines, and lipid-inhibitors, anthranilic acid and indoleacetic acid, and free radical reaction suppressor free fatty acids. Transcriptomic analysis suggested that the key gene involved in tryptophan metabolism, coinciding with the lipid metabolic processes and ion transports were most up-regulated in DeltaNRPS under stress. Our results confirmed a lipid-mediated fungal response to cold stress and unveiled a link of tryptophan-based metabolic reprogramming to the fungal cold adaption.
PMID: 36747564