Comprehensive identification and expression analyses of sugar transporter genes reveal the role of GmSTP22 in salt stress resistance in soybean.

The transport, compartmentation and allocation of sugar are critical for plant growth and development, as well as for stress resistance, but sugar transporter genes have not been comprehensively characterized in soybean. Here, we performed a genome-wide identification and expression analyses of sugar transporter genes in soybean in order to reveal their putative functions. A total of 122 genes encoding sucrose transporters (SUTs) and monosaccharide transporters (MSTs) were identified in soybean.

PHOSPHATE1-mediated phosphate translocation from roots to shoots regulates floral transition in plants.

Phosphorus nutrition has been known for a long time to influence floral transition in plants, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Arabidopsis phosphate transporter PHOSPHATE1 (PHO1) plays a critical role in phosphate translocation from roots to shoots, but whether and how it regulates floral transition is unknown. Here, we show that knockout mutation of PHO1 delays flowering under both long- and short-day conditions.

Plasma membrane H-ATPases in mineral nutrition and crop improvement.

Plasma membrane H-ATPases (PMAs) pump H out of the cytoplasm by consuming ATP to generate a membrane potential and proton motive force for the transmembrane transport of nutrients into and out of plant cells. PMAs are involved in nutrient acquisition by regulating root growth, nutrient uptake, and translocation, as well as the establishment of symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizas. Under nutrient stresses, PMAs are activated to pump more H and promote organic anion excretion, thus improving nutrient availability in the rhizosphere.

Calmodulin and calmodulin-like protein-mediated plant responses to biotic stresses.

Plants have evolved a set of finely regulated mechanisms to respond to various biotic stresses. Transient changes in intracellular calcium (Ca ) concentration have been well documented to act as cellular signals in coupling environmental stimuli to appropriate physiological responses with astonishing accuracy and specificity in plants. Calmodulins (CaMs) and calmodulin-like proteins (CMLs) are extensively characterized as important classes of Ca sensors.

Measurement of Total Phosphorus and Polyphosphate in .

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants. Green algae usually store excess P as polyphosphate (polyP) in the vacuoles. PolyP, a linear chain of three to hundreds of phosphate residues linked by phosphoanhydride bonds, is important for cell growth.

Mass spectrometry imaging and single-cell transcriptional profiling reveal the tissue-specific regulation of bioactive ingredient biosynthesis in Taxus leaves.

Taxus leaves provide the raw industrial materials for taxol, a natural antineoplastic drug widely used in the treatment of various cancers. However, the precise distribution, biosynthesis, and transcriptional regulation of taxoids and other active components in Taxus leaves remain unknown. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging analysis was used to visualize various secondary metabolites in leaf sections of Taxus mairei, confirming the tissue-specific accumulation of different active metabolites.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of TCP family genes in .

Introduction: The anti-tumor vindoline and catharanthine alkaloids are naturally existed in Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus), an ornamental plant in many tropical countries. Plant-specific TEOSINTE BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PCF (TCP) transcription factors play important roles in various plant developmental processes.

Comparative transcriptome analyses under individual and combined nutrient starvations provide insights into N/P/K interactions in rice.

Crops often suffer from simultaneous limitations of multiple nutrients in soils, including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), which are three major macronutrients essential for ensuring growth and yield. Although plant responses to individual N, P, and K deficiency have been well documented, our understanding of the responses to combined nutrient deficiencies and the crosstalk between nutrient starvation responses is still limited. Here, we compared the physiological responses in rice under seven kinds of single and multiple low nutrient stress of N, P and K, and used RNA sequencing approaches to compare their transcriptome changes.

Overexpression of a Plasma Membrane H-ATPase Gene Stimulates the Uptake of Primary Macronutrients in Rice Roots.

Plasma membrane (PM) H-ATPase is a master enzyme involved in various plant physiological processes, such as stomatal movements in leaves and nutrient uptake and transport in roots. Overexpression of PM H-ATPase 1 () has been known to increase NH uptake in rice roots. Although electrophysiological and pharmacological experiments have shown that the transport of many substances is dependent on the proton motive force provided by PM H-ATPase, the exact role of PM H-ATPase on the uptake of nutrients in plant roots, especially for the primary macronutrients N, P, and K, is still largely unknown.

Sucrose rather than GA transported by AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14 supports pollen fitness at late anther development stages.

Both sugar and the hormone gibberellin (GA) are essential for anther-enclosed pollen development and thus for plant productivity in flowering plants. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14, which are expressed in anthers and associated with seed yield, transport both sucrose and GA. However, it is still unclear which substrate transported by them directly affects anther development and seed yield.

Arabidopsis CAMTA3/SR1 is involved in drought stress tolerance and ABA signaling.

Calcium/calmodulin signals are important for various cellular and physiological activities in plants. Calmodulin binding transcription activators also named Signal Responsive (SR) proteins belong to an important calcium/calmodulin-dependent transcription factor family that plays critical roles in stress responses. However, the role of SRs in abscisic acid (ABA) regulated plant responses to drought stress is largely unknown.

H-ATPases in Plant Growth and Stress Responses.

H-ATPases, including the phosphorylated intermediate-type (P-type) and vacuolar-type (V-type) H-ATPases, are important ATP-driven proton pumps that generate membrane potential and provide proton motive force for secondary active transport. P- and V-type H-ATPases have distinct structures and subcellular localizations and play various roles in growth and stress responses. A P-type H-ATPase is mainly regulated at the posttranslational level by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of residues in its autoinhibitory C terminus.

Molecular basis of plasma membrane H-ATPase function and potential application in the agricultural production.

Increase of crop yield is always the desired goal, manipulation of genes in relation to plant growth is a shortcut to promote crop yield. The plasma membrane (PM) H-ATPase is the plant master enzyme; the energy yielded by ATP hydrolysis pumps H out of cells, establishes the membrane potential, maintains pH homeostasis and provides the proton-motive force required for transmembrane transport of many materials. PM H-ATPase is involved in root nutrient uptake, epidermal stomatal opening, phloem sucrose loading and unloading, and hypocotyl cell elongation.

Insights of intracellular/intercellular phosphate transport and signaling in unicellular green algae and multicellular land plants.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for plant growth and development. Vacuoles play a fundamental role in the storage and remobilization of P in plants, while our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of creating and reusing P stores are limited. Besides, we also know very little about the coordination of intercellular P translocation, neither the inorganic phosphate (Pi) signaling nor the Pi transport patterns.

Combined analyses of translatome and transcriptome in Arabidopsis reveal new players responding to magnesium deficiency.

Translational control of gene expression, including recruitment of ribosomes to messenger RNA (mRNA), is particularly important during the response to stress. Purification of ribosome-associated mRNAs using translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) followed by RNA-sequencing facilitates the study of mRNAs undergoing active transcription and better proxies the translatome, or protein response, to stimuli. To identify plant responses to Magnesium (Mg) deficiency at the translational level, we combined transcriptome and translatome analyses.

Molecular regulation of zinc deficiency responses in plants.

Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals. Because of its low availability in arable soils worldwide, Zn deficiency is becoming a serious agricultural problem resulting in decreases of crop yield and nutritional quality. Plants have evolved multiple responses to adapt to low levels of soil Zn supply, involving biochemical and physiological changes to improve Zn acquisition and utilization, and defend against Zn deficiency stress.

Plasma membrane H-ATPase overexpression increases rice yield via simultaneous enhancement of nutrient uptake and photosynthesis.

Nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) are essential elements for plant growth and crop yield. Thus, improved N and C utilisation contributes to agricultural productivity and reduces the need for fertilisation. In the present study, we find that overexpression of a single rice gene, Oryza sativa plasma membrane (PM) H-ATPase 1 (OSA1), facilitates ammonium absorption and assimilation in roots and enhanced light-induced stomatal opening with higher photosynthesis rate in leaves.

Loss of two families of SPX domain-containing proteins required for vacuolar polyphosphate accumulation coincides with the transition to phosphate storage in green plants.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants. It is stored as inorganic phosphate (Pi) in the vacuoles of land plants but as inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) in chlorophyte algae. Although it is recognized that the SPX-Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) and VPE proteins are responsible for Pi influx and efflux, respectively, across the tonoplast in land plants, the mechanisms that underlie polyP homeostasis and the transition of phosphorus storage forms during the evolution of green plants remain unclear.

Genome-Wide Identification, Expression Profiling, and Evolution of Phosphate Transporter Gene Family in Green Algae.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for plant growth and development. Phosphate transporters (PHTs) are -membrane proteins that mediate the uptake and translocation of phosphate (Pi) in green plants. The PHT family including PHT1, PHT2, PHT3 and PHT4 subfamilies are well-studied in land plants; however, PHT genes in green algae are poorly documented and not comprehensively identified.

Integrated analyses of miRNAome and transcriptome reveal zinc deficiency responses in rice seedlings.

Background: Zinc (Zn) deficiency is one of the most widespread soil constraints affecting rice productivity, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of Zn deficiency response is still limited. Here, we aim to understand the molecular mechanisms of Zn deficiency response by integrating the analyses of the global miRNA and mRNA expression profiles under Zn deficiency and resupply in rice seedlings by integrating Illumina's high-throughput small RNA sequencing and transcriptome sequencing.

Results: The transcriptome sequencing identified 360 genes that were differentially expressed in the shoots and roots of Zn-deficient rice seedlings, and 97 of them were recovered after Zn resupply.

Transcriptome profiles of soybean leaves and roots in response to zinc deficiency.

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a widespread agricultural problem in arable soils of the whole world. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Zn-deficiency response are largely unknown. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomic profilings of soybean leaves and roots in response to Zn deficiency through Illumina's high-throughput RNA sequencing in order to understand the molecular basis of Zn-deficiency response in the plants.

Early Transcriptomic Response to Phosphate Deprivation in Soybean Leaves as Revealed by RNA-Sequencing.

Low phosphate (Pi) availability is an important limiting factor affecting soybean production. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for low Pi stress response and tolerance remain largely unknown, especially for the early signaling events under low Pi stress. Here, a genome-wide transcriptomic analysis in soybean leaves treated with a short-term Pi-deprivation (24 h) was performed through high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology.

Analysis of EF-Hand Proteins in Soybean Genome Suggests Their Potential Roles in Environmental and Nutritional Stress Signaling.

Calcium ion (Ca) is a universal second messenger that plays a critical role in plant responses to diverse physiological and environmental stimuli. The stimulus-specific signals are perceived and decoded by a series of Ca binding proteins serving as Ca sensors. The majority of Ca sensors possess the EF-hand motif, a helix-loop-helix structure which forms a turn-loop structure.

Involvement of calmodulin and calmodulin-like proteins in plant responses to abiotic stresses.

Transient changes in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration have been well recognized to act as cell signals coupling various environmental stimuli to appropriate physiological responses with accuracy and specificity in plants. Calmodulin (CaM) and calmodulin-like proteins (CMLs) are major Ca(2+) sensors, playing critical roles in interpreting encrypted Ca(2+) signals. Ca(2+)-loaded CaM/CMLs interact and regulate a broad spectrum of target proteins such as channels/pumps/antiporters for various ions, transcription factors, protein kinases, protein phosphatases, metabolic enzymes, and proteins with unknown biochemical functions.

Genome-wide identification, expression analysis of GH3 family genes in Medicago truncatula under stress-related hormones and Sinorhizobium meliloti infection.

Auxin plays a pivotal role in the regulation of plant growth and development by controlling the expression of auxin response genes rapidly. As one of the major auxin early response gene families, Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3) genes are involved in auxin homeostasis by conjugating excess auxins to amino acids. However, how GH3 genes function in environmental stresses and rhizobial infection responses in Medicago truncatula are largely unknown.