Speed breeding in growth chambers and glasshouses for crop breeding and model plant research.

'Speed breeding' (SB) shortens the breeding cycle and accelerates crop research through rapid generation advancement. SB can be carried out in numerous ways, one of which involves extending the duration of plants' daily exposure to light, combined with early seed harvest, to cycle quickly from seed to seed, thereby reducing the generation times for some long-day (LD) or day-neutral crops. In this protocol, we present glasshouse and growth chamber-based SB approaches with supporting data from experimentation with several crops.

Towards take-all control: a C-21β oxidase required for acylation of triterpene defence compounds in oat.

Oats produce avenacins, antifungal triterpenes that are synthesized in the roots and provide protection against take-all and other soilborne diseases. Avenacins are acylated at the carbon-21 position of the triterpene scaffold, a modification critical for antifungal activity. We have previously characterized several steps in the avenacin pathway, including those required for acylation.

A conserved amino acid residue critical for product and substrate specificity in plant triterpene synthases.

Triterpenes are structurally complex plant natural products with numerous medicinal applications. They are synthesized through an origami-like process that involves cyclization of the linear 30 carbon precursor 2,3-oxidosqualene into different triterpene scaffolds. Here, through a forward genetic screen in planta, we identify a conserved amino acid residue that determines product specificity in triterpene synthases from diverse plant species.

Investigation of triterpene synthesis and regulation in oats reveals a role for β-amyrin in determining root epidermal cell patterning.

Sterols have important functions in membranes and signaling. Plant sterols are synthesized via the isoprenoid pathway by cyclization of 2,3-oxidosqualene to cycloartenol. Plants also convert 2,3-oxidosqualene to other sterol-like cyclization products, including the simple triterpene β-amyrin.

Biochemical analysis of a multifunctional cytochrome P450 (CYP51) enzyme required for synthesis of antimicrobial triterpenes in plants.

Members of the cytochromes P450 superfamily (P450s) catalyze a huge variety of oxidation reactions in microbes and higher organisms. Most P450 families are highly divergent, but in contrast the cytochrome P450 14α-sterol demethylase (CYP51) family is one of the most ancient and conserved, catalyzing sterol 14α-demethylase reactions required for essential sterol synthesis across the fungal, animal, and plant kingdoms. Oats (Avena spp.

Plasmid transfer from Streptomyces to Mycobacterium smegmatis by spontaneous transformation.

Hybrids of the Streptomyces coelicolor conjugative plasmid SCP2* and the Mycobacterium plasmid pAL5000 were transferred from Streptomyces coelicolor or Streptomyces lividans to Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 in plate crosses. Inactivation of the SCP2* transfer function did not prevent or reduce plasmid transfer. This transfer was DNase I sensitive and thus involved release of DNA from Streptomyces, followed by transformation of M.