Darwin's Green Living Fossil: The Microalga and Evolutionary Stasis.

In 1723, Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek, the "master of fleas and father of microbiology", died at the age of 90 [...

Phyllosphere microbial associations improve plant reproductive success.

The above-ground (phyllosphere) plant microbiome is increasingly recognized as an important component of plant health. We hypothesized that phyllosphere bacterial recruitment may be disrupted in a greenhouse setting, and that adding a bacterial amendment would therefore benefit the health and growth of host plants. Using a newly developed synthetic phyllosphere bacterial microbiome for tomato (), we tested this hypothesis across multiple trials by manipulating microbial inoculation of leaves and measuring subsequent plant growth and reproductive success, comparing results from plants grown in both greenhouse and field settings.

Photosynthetically active radiation is required for seedling growth promotion by volcanic dacitic tuff breccia (Azomite).

A plant's growth and development are shaped by its genome and the capacity to negotiate its environment for access to light, water, and nutrients. There is a vital need to understand the interactions between the plant, its physical environment, and the fertilizers used in agriculture. In this study, a commercially available volcanic ash fertilizer, Azomite®, characterized as dacitic (rhyolitic) tuff breccia, was tested for its effect on promoting early seedling vigor.

Mendel-200: Pea as a model system to analyze hormone-mediated stem elongation.

In a recent Review Article on Gregor Mendel's (1822-1884) work with pea ()-plants, it was proposed that this crop species should be re-vitalized as a model organism for the study of cell- and organ growth. Here, we describe the effect of exogenous gibberellic acid (GA) on the growth of the second internode in 4-day-old light-grown pea seedlings (, large var. "Senator").

Temporally Selective Modification of the Tomato Rhizosphere and Root Microbiome by Volcanic Ash Fertilizer Containing Micronutrients.

Food crops are grown with fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (macronutrients) along with magnesium, calcium, boron, and zinc (micronutrients) at different ratios during their cultivation. Soil and plant-associated microbes have been implicated to promote plant growth, stress tolerance, and productivity. However, the high degree of variability across agricultural environments makes it difficult to assess the possible influences of nutrient fertilizers on these microbial communities.

Auxin action in developing maize coleoptiles: challenges and open questions.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the elucidation of the process of plant organ growth at the cellular level by Julius Sachs (1870). In this Addendum to a Review Article in , we describe this fundamental discovery and argue that the etiolated grass coleoptile still represents the system of choice for the experimental analysis of auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA)-action. With reference to the phenomenon of 'tissue tension', we discuss the acid-growth hypotheses of IAA-induced wall loosening and the process of vacuolar expansion, respectively.

A Plant Growth-Promoting Microbial Soil Amendment Dynamically Alters the Strawberry Root Bacterial Microbiome.

Despite growing interest in utilizing microbial-based methods for improving crop growth, much work still remains in elucidating how beneficial plant-microbe associations are established, and what role soil amendments play in shaping these interactions. Here, we describe a set of experiments that test the effect of a commercially available soil amendment, VESTA, on the soil and strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Monterey) root bacterial microbiome. The bacterial communities of the soil, rhizosphere, and root from amendment-treated and untreated fields were profiled at four time points across the strawberry growing season using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform.

Plant gnotobiology: Epiphytic microbes and sustainable agriculture.

In 1963, a monograph by Thomas D. Luckey entitled Germfree Life and Gnotobiology was published, with a focus on animals treated with microbes and reference to the work of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). Here, we review the history and current status of plant gnotobiology, which can be traced back to the experiments of Jean-Baptiste Boussingault (1801-1887) published in 1838.

COP1 jointly modulates cytoskeletal processes and electrophysiological responses required for stomatal closure.

Reorganization of the cortical microtubule cytoskeleton is critical for guard cell function. Here, we investigate how environmental and hormonal signals cause these rearrangements and find that COP1, a RING-finger-type ubiquitin E3 ligase, is required for degradation of tubulin, likely by the 26S proteasome. This degradation is required for stomatal closing.

Expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana BBX32 gene in soybean increases grain yield.

Crop yield is a highly complex quantitative trait. Historically, successful breeding for improved grain yield has led to crop plants with improved source capacity, altered plant architecture, and increased resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. To date, transgenic approaches towards improving crop grain yield have primarily focused on protecting plants from herbicide, insects, or disease.

BBX32, an Arabidopsis B-Box protein, functions in light signaling by suppressing HY5-regulated gene expression and interacting with STH2/BBX21.

A B-box zinc finger protein, B-BOX32 (BBX32), was identified as playing a role in determining hypocotyl length during a large-scale functional genomics study in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Further analysis revealed that seedlings overexpressing BBX32 display elongated hypocotyls in red, far-red, and blue light, along with reduced cotyledon expansion in red light. Through comparative analysis of mutant and overexpression line phenotypes, including global expression profiling and growth curve studies, we demonstrate that BBX32 acts antagonistically to ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5).

Ubiquitin ligase switch in plant photomorphogenesis: A hypothesis.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1 (CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1) plays a key role in the repression of the plant photomorphogenic development in darkness. In the presence of light, COP1 is inactivated by a mechanism which is not completely understood. This leads to accumulation of COP1's target transcription factors, which initiates photomorphogenesis, resulting in dramatic changes of the seedling's physiology.

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor PIF5 acts on ethylene biosynthesis and phytochrome signaling by distinct mechanisms.

PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR5 (PIF5), a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, interacts specifically with the photoactivated form of phytochrome B (phyB). Here, we report that dark-grown Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings overexpressing PIF5 (PIF5-OX) exhibit exaggerated apical hooks and short hypocotyls, reminiscent of the triple response induced by elevated ethylene levels, whereas pif5 mutants fail to maintain tight hooks like those of wild-type seedlings. Silver ions, an ethylene receptor blocker, rescued the triple-response phenotype, and we show that PIF5-OX seedlings express enhanced levels of key ethylene biosynthesis enzymes and produce elevated ethylene levels.

Phytochrome induces rapid PIF5 phosphorylation and degradation in response to red-light activation.

The phytochrome (phy) family of sensory photoreceptors (phyA-phyE in Arabidopsis thaliana) induces changes in target-gene expression upon light-induced translocation to the nucleus, where certain members interact with selected members of the constitutively nuclear basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor family, such as PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR3 (PIF3). Previous evidence indicates that the binding of the photoactivated photoreceptor molecule to PIF3 induces rapid phosphorylation of the transcription factor in the cell prior to its degradation via the ubiqitin-proteosome system. To investigate whether this apparent primary signaling mechanism can be generalized to other phy-interacting partners, we have examined the molecular behavior of a second related phy-interacting member of the basic helix-loop-helix family, PIF5, during early deetiolation, immediately following initial exposure of dark-grown seedlings to light.

Functional profiling reveals that only a small number of phytochrome-regulated early-response genes in Arabidopsis are necessary for optimal deetiolation.

In previous time-resolved microarray-based expression profiling, we identified 32 genes encoding putative transcription factors, signaling components, and unknown proteins that are rapidly and robustly induced by phytochrome (phy)-mediated light signals. Postulating that they are the most likely to be direct targets of phy signaling and to function in the primary phy regulatory circuitry, we examined the impact of targeted mutations in these genes on the phy-induced seedling deetiolation process in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using light-imposed concomitant inhibition of hypocotyl and stimulation of cotyledon growth as diagnostic criteria for normal deetiolation, we identified three major mutant response categories.

ELF4 is a phytochrome-regulated component of a negative-feedback loop involving the central oscillator components CCA1 and LHY.

Evidence has been presented that a negative transcriptional feedback loop formed by the genes CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED (CCA1), LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and TIMING OF CAB (TOC1) constitutes the core of the central oscillator of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis. Here we show that these genes are expressed at constant, basal levels in dark-grown seedlings. Transfer to constant red light (Rc) rapidly induces a biphasic pattern of CCA1 and LHY expression, and a reciprocal TOC1 expression pattern over the first 24 h, consistent with initial induction of this synchronous oscillation by the light signal.

A novel molecular recognition motif necessary for targeting photoactivated phytochrome signaling to specific basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors.

The phytochrome (phy) family of sensory photoreceptors (phyA to phyE) in Arabidopsis thaliana control plant developmental transitions in response to informational light signals throughout the life cycle. The photoactivated conformer of the photoreceptor Pfr has been shown to translocate into the nucleus where it induces changes in gene expression by an unknown mechanism. Here, we have identified two basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, designated PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR5 (PIF5) and PIF6, which interact specifically with the Pfr form of phyB.

Expression profiling of phyB mutant demonstrates substantial contribution of other phytochromes to red-light-regulated gene expression during seedling de-etiolation.

Different Arabidopsis phytochrome (phy) family members (phyA through phyE) display differential photosensory and/or physiological functions in regulating growth and developmental responses to light signals. To identify the genes regulated by phyB in response to continuous monochromatic red light (Rc) during the induction of seedling de-etiolation, we have performed time-course, microarray-based expression profiling of wild type (WT) and phyB null mutants. Comparison of the observed expression patterns with those induced by continuous monochromatic far-red light (FRc; perceived exclusively by phyA) in WT and phyA null-mutant seedlings suggests early convergence of the FRc and Rc photosensory pathways to control a largely common transcriptional network.

EARLY FLOWERING 4 functions in phytochrome B-regulated seedling de-etiolation.

To define the functions of genes previously identified by expression profiling as being rapidly light induced under phytochrome (phy) control, we are investigating the seedling de-etiolation phenotypes of mutants carrying T-DNA insertional disruptions at these loci. Mutants at one such locus displayed reduced responsiveness to continuous red, but not continuous far-red light, suggesting a role in phyB signaling but not phyA signaling. Consistent with such a role, expression of this gene is induced by continuous red light in wild-type seedlings, but the level of induction is strongly reduced in phyB-null mutants.