The small iron-deficiency-induced protein OLIVIA and its relation to the bHLH transcription factor POPEYE.

Iron (Fe) is a crucial micronutrient needed in many metabolic processes. To balance needs and potential toxicity, plants control the amount of Fe they take up and allocate to leaves and seeds during their development. One important regulator of this process is POPEYE (PYE).

Iron Availability within the Leaf Vasculature Determines the Magnitude of Iron Deficiency Responses in Source and Sink Tissues in Arabidopsis.

Iron (Fe) uptake and translocation in plants are fine-tuned by complex mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. In Arabidopsis thaliana, local regulation of Fe homeostasis at the root level has been extensively studied and is better understood than the systemic shoot-to-root regulation. While the root system is solely a sink tissue that depends on photosynthates translocated from source tissues, the shoot system is a more complex tissue, where sink and source tissues occur synchronously.

Copper uptake mechanism of Arabidopsis thaliana high-affinity COPT transporters.

Copper (Cu) is an essential plant micronutrient. Under scarcity, Cu is reduced to Cu and taken up through specific high-affinity transporters (COPTs). In Arabidopsis, the COPT family consists of six members, either located at the plasma membrane (COPT1, COPT2, and COPT6) or in internal membranes (COPT3 and COPT5).

Changes in iron availability in Arabidopsis are rapidly sensed in the leaf vasculature and impaired sensing leads to opposite transcriptional programs in leaves and roots.

The OLIGOPEPTIDE TRANSPORTER 3 (OPT3) has recently been identified as a component of the systemic network mediating iron (Fe) deficiency responses in Arabidopsis. Reduced expression of OPT3 induces an over accumulation of Fe in roots and leaves, due in part by an elevated expression of the IRON-REGULATED TRANSPORTER 1. Here we show however, that opt3 leaves display a transcriptional program consistent with an Fe overload, suggesting that Fe excess is properly sensed in opt3 leaves and that the OPT3-mediated shoot-to-root signaling is critical to prevent a systemic Fe overload.

A report on extensive lateral genetic reciprocation between arsenic resistant Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus strains analyzed using RAPD-PCR.

The study involves isolation of arsenic resistant bacteria from soil samples. The characterization of bacteria isolates was based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The phylogenetic consanguinity among isolates was studied employing rpoB and gltX gene sequence.

Moving toward a precise nutrition: preferential loading of seeds with essential nutrients over non-essential toxic elements.

Plants and seeds are the main source of essential nutrients for humans and livestock. Many advances have recently been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms by which plants take up and accumulate micronutrients such as iron, zinc, copper and manganese. Some of these mechanisms, however, also facilitate the accumulation of non-essential toxic elements such as cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As).

Efficient method for Agrobacterium mediated transformation of Artemisia annua L.

Artemisinin, a potent antimalarial natural products isolated from aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. Many patents have been reported that the demand for artemisinin is exponentially increasing year after year due to increased incidences of drug resistant malaria throughout the world. Leaf explants were used frequently as target tissue to generate transgenic of Artemisia.

Variation in oil content and fatty acid composition of the seed oil of Acacia species collected from the northwest zone of India.

Background: The oil content and fatty acid composition of the mature seeds of Acacia species collected from natural habitat of the northwest zone of the Indian subcontinent (Rajasthan) were analyzed in order to determine their potential for human or animal consumption.

Results: Oil content varied between 40 and 102 g kg⁻¹. The highest oil content was obtained in Acacia bivenosa DC.

Screening and detection of biomarkers in chickpea plants exposed to chromium and cadmium.

A broad screening protocol, covering the most general phytochemical groups of compounds, was developed on the basis of high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). A total of six TLC systems, comprising three derivatization reagents, two stationary phases and two mobile phases, were included. The screening method was applied for the identification of biomarkers in the chickpea plant exposed to cadmium and chromium.

Isolation, characterization and structural studies of amorpha - 4, 11-diene synthase (ADS(3963)) from Artemisia annua L.

With the escalating prevalence of malaria in recent years, artemisinin demand has placed considerable stress on its production worldwide. At present, the relative low-yield of artemisinin (0.01-1.

Structural and functional characterization of HMG-COA reductase from Artemisia annua.

Plants synthesize a great variety of isoprenoid products that are required not only for normal growth and development but also for their adaptive responses to environmental challenges. However, despite the remarkable diversity in the structure and function of plant isoprenoids, they all originate from a single metabolic precursor, mevalonic acid. The synthesis of mevalonic acid is catalysed by the enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG- CoA reductase).