Assessing the role of REM13, REM34 and REM46 during the transition to the reproductive phase in Arabidopsis thaliana.

REM (reproductive meristem) transcription factors have been proposed as regulators of plant reproductive development mainly based on their specific expression patterns in reproductive structures, but their roles are still largely unknown probably because of their redundancy. We selected three REM genes (REM13, REM34 and REM46) for functional analysis, based on their genome position and/or co-expression data.Our results suggest that these genes have a role in flowering time regulation and may modulate cell cycle progression.

TEMPRANILLO homologs in apple regulate flowering time in the woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca.

The long juvenile period of fruit trees makes their breeding costly and time-consuming. Therefore, flowering time engineering and shortening the juvenile phase have become a breeding priority for the genetic improvement of fruit tree crops. Many economically valuable fruit trees belong to the Rosaceae family including apples and strawberries.

Dual chemotherapy with benznidazole at suboptimal dose plus curcumin nanoparticles mitigates Trypanosoma cruzi-elicited chronic cardiomyopathy.

Curcumin (Cur) is a natural polyphenolic flavonoid isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa. Its anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties are increasingly considered to have beneficial effects on the progression of cardiomyopathy associated with Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. However, the Cur therapeutic limitation is its bioavailability and new Cur nanomedicine formulations are developed to overcome this obstacle.

The floral repressors TEMPRANILLO1 and 2 modulate salt tolerance by regulating hormonal components and photo-protection in Arabidopsis.

Members of the plant specific RAV family of transcription factors regulate several developmental and physiological processes. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the RAV TEMPRANILLO 1 (TEM1) and TEM2 control important phase changes such as the juvenile to adult and the vegetative to reproductive transitions. Besides their known regulatory function in plant development, a transcriptomics analysis of transgenic plants overexpressing TEM1 also revealed overrepresentation of Gene Ontology (GO) categories related to abiotic stress responses.

Genes of the Family Control Heading Date and Carpel Development in Rice.

In plants, correct formation of reproductive organs is critical for successful seedset and perpetuation of the species. Plants have evolved different molecular mechanisms to coordinate flower and seed development at the proper time of the year. Among the plant-specific RELATED TO ABI3 AND VP1 (RAV) family of transcription factors, only TEMPRANILLO1 (TEM1) and TEM2 have been shown to affect reproductive development in Arabidopsis ().

TEMPRANILLO is a direct repressor of the microRNA miR172.

In the age-dependent pathway, microRNA 156 (miR156) is essential for the correct timing of developmental transitions. miR156 negatively regulates several SPL genes, which promote the juvenile-to-adult and floral transitions in part through upregulation of miR172. The transcriptional repressors TEMPRANILLO1 (TEM1) and TEM2 delay flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana at least through direct repression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and gibberellin biosynthetic genes, and have also been reported to participate in the length of the juvenile phase.

Curcumin exerts anti-inflammatory and vasoprotective effects through amelioration of NFAT-dependent endothelin-1 production in mice with acute Chagas cardiomyopathy.

Background: The anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties of curcumin (Cur), a natural polyphenolic flavonoid isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa, are increasingly considered to have beneficial effects on the progression of Chagas heart disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of oral therapy with Cur on T. cruzi-mediated cardiovasculopathy in acutely infected mice and analyse the in vitro response of parasite-infected human microvascular endothelial cells treated with this phytochemical.

AaMYB1 and its orthologue AtMYB61 affect terpene metabolism and trichome development in Artemisia annua and Arabidopsis thaliana.

The effective anti-malarial drug artemisinin (AN) isolated from Artemisia annua is relatively expensive due to the low AN content in the plant as AN is only synthesized within the glandular trichomes. Therefore, genetic engineering of A. annua is one of the most promising approaches for improving the yield of AN.

Cardioprotective actions of curcumin on the pathogenic NFAT/COX-2/prostaglandin E pathway induced during Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

Background: Diverse cardiovascular signaling routes have been considered critical for Chagas cardiomyopathy caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Along this line, T. cruzi infection and endothelin-1 (ET-1) have been shown to cooperatively activate the Ca/NFAT cascade in cardiomyocytes, leading to cyclooxygenase type 2 (COX-2) induction and increased release of prostanoids and prohypertrophic peptides.

Molecular Farming in Artemisia annua, a Promising Approach to Improve Anti-malarial Drug Production.

Malaria is a parasite infection affecting millions of people worldwide. Even though progress has been made in prevention and treatment of the disease; an estimated 214 million cases of malaria occurred in 2015, resulting in 438,000 estimated deaths; most of them occurring in Africa among children under the age of five. This article aims to review the epidemiology, future risk factors and current treatments of malaria, with particular focus on the promising potential of molecular farming that uses metabolic engineering in plants as an effective anti-malarial solution.

TEMPRANILLO Reveals the Mesophyll as Crucial for Epidermal Trichome Formation.

Plant trichomes are defensive specialized epidermal cells. In all accepted models, the epidermis is the layer involved in trichome formation, a process controlled by gibberellins (GAs) in Arabidopsis rosette leaves. Indeed, GA activates a genetic cascade in the epidermis for trichome initiation.

Flowering and trichome development share hormonal and transcription factor regulation.

Gibberellins (GAs) and cytokinins (CKs) are plant hormones that act either synergistically or antagonistically during the regulation of different developmental processes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, GAs and CKs overlap in the positive regulation of processes such as the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase and the development of epidermal adaxial trichomes. Despite the fact that both developmental processes originate in the rosette leaves, they occur separately in time and space.

SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE Up-Regulates TEMPRANILLO2 Floral Repressor at Low Ambient Temperatures.

Plants integrate day length and ambient temperature to determine the optimal timing for developmental transitions. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the floral integrator FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and its closest homolog TWIN SISTER OF FT promote flowering in response to their activator CONSTANS under long-day inductive conditions. Low ambient temperature (16°C) delays flowering, even under inductive photoperiods, through repression of FT, revealing the importance of floral repressors acting at low temperatures.

Cardiopathogenic mediators generated by GATA4 signaling upon co-activation with endothelin-1 and Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc), the etiological agent of Chagas disease, triggers multiple responses in the myocardium, a central organ of infection and pathology in the host. Parasite-driven induction of diverse regulators of cardiovascular function, including the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1), the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), has been linked to the development of severe chagasic cardiomyopathy. Our current goal was to analyze the participation of the zinc finger transcription factor GATA4, critically implicated in pathological cardiac hypertrophic response, in the generation of key mediators involved in the pathogenesis of Tc-elicited heart dysfunction.

RAV genes: regulation of floral induction and beyond.

Background: Transcription factors of the RAV (RELATED TO ABI3 AND VP1) family are plant-specific and possess two DNA-binding domains. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the family comprises six members, including TEMPRANILLO 1 (TEM1) and TEM2. Arabidopsis RAV1 and TEM1 have been shown to bind bipartite DNA sequences, with the consensus motif C(A/C/G)ACA(N)2-8(C/A/T)ACCTG.

TEMPRANILLO genes link photoperiod and gibberellin pathways to control flowering in Arabidopsis.

In Arabidopsis, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) promotes flowering in response to long days in the photoperiod pathway, while signalling downstream gibberellin (GA) perception is critical for flowering under short days. Previously we have established that the TEMPRANILLO (TEM) genes have a pivotal role in the direct repression of FT. Here we show that TEM genes directly regulate the expression of the GA(4) biosynthetic genes GA 3-oxidase1 and 2 (GA3OX1 and GA3OX2).

VERDANDI is a direct target of the MADS domain ovule identity complex and affects embryo sac differentiation in Arabidopsis.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the three MADS box genes SEEDSTICK (STK), SHATTERPROOF1 (SHP1), and SHP2 redundantly regulate ovule development. Protein interaction studies have shown that a multimeric complex composed of the ovule identity proteins together with the SEPALLATA MADS domain proteins is necessary to determine ovule identity. Despite the extensive knowledge that has become available about these MADS domain transcription factors, little is known regarding the genes that they regulate.