The single RRM domain-containing protein SARP1 is required for establishment of the separation zone in Arabidopsis.

Abscission is the shedding of plant organs in response to developmental and environmental cues. Abscission involves cell separation between two neighboring cell types, residuum cells (RECs) and secession cells (SECs) in the floral abscission zone (AZ) in Arabidopsis thaliana. However, the regulatory mechanisms behind the spatial determination that governs cell separation are largely unknown.

Redundant role of OsCNGC4 and OsCNGC5 encoding cyclic nucleotide-gated channels in rice pollen germination and tube growth.

In staple crops, such as rice (Oryza sativa L.), pollen plays a crucial role in seed production. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying rice pollen germination and tube growth remain underexplored.

Ectopic expression of a thaumatin-like protein impairs the timely deposition and dissolution of callose during microsporogenesis, leading to microspore death and male sterility in Arabidopsis.

Two pollen-preferential thaumatin-like proteins show both common and distinctive expression profiles. Precocious expression of one of them drastically disturbs timely deposition and dissolution of callose during microsporogenesis, leading to microspore death. Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs), members of the pathogenesis-related protein family 5 (PR-5), are involved in plant defenses against biotic and abiotic stresses through antifungal activity and enhanced tolerance.

Rice pollen-specific OsRALF17 and OsRALF19 are essential for pollen tube growth.

Pollen tube growth is essential for successful double fertilization, which is critical for grain yield in crop plants. Rapid alkalinization factors (RALFs) function as ligands for signal transduction during fertilization. However, functional studies on RALF in monocot plants are lacking.

A myosin XI adaptor, TAPE, is essential for pollen tube elongation in rice.

Pollen tube (PT) elongation is important for double fertilization in angiosperms and affects the seed-setting rate and, therefore, crop productivity. Compared to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana L.), information on PT elongation in rice (Oryza sativa L.

Protoplast isolation and transient gene expression in different petunia cultivars.

The protocol optimized for Petunia hybrida cv. Mirage Rose produced high protoplast yields in 3 out of other 11 cultivars (Damask White, Dreams White, and Opera Supreme White). Factors optimized in the protoplast transfection process showed that the best transfection efficiency (80%) was obtained using 2.

Metabolomic Variability of Different Soybean Genotypes: β-Carotene-Enhanced (), Wild (), and Hybrid ( × ) Soybeans.

We obtained a new hybrid soybean (Hybrid) by hybridizing β-carotene-enhanced soybean (BCE; L.) containing the gene and wild-type soybean (Wild; ). To investigate metabolic changes between variants, we performed metabolic profiling of leaves (three growth stages) and seeds.

OsMTD2-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) balance is essential for intact pollen-tube elongation in rice.

The highly specialized haploid male gametophyte-pollen consist of two sperm cells and a large vegetative cell. Successful fertilization requires proper growth timing and rupture of the pollen tube until it delivers sperm cells, which occur immediately after a pollen grain hydrates. Although a tight regulation on polar cell-wall expansion of the pollen tube is fundamentally important, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely unknown, especially in crop plants.

Global Identification of Genes Involved in Rice Pollen Germination and Functional Characterization of a Key Member, OsANTH3.

Pollen in angiosperms plays a critical role in double fertilization by germinating and elongating pollen tubes rapidly in one direction to deliver sperm. In this process, the secretory vesicles deliver cell wall and plasma membrane materials, and excessive materials are sequestered via endocytosis. However, endocytosis in plants is poorly understood.

A Raf-like kinase is required for smoke-induced seed dormancy in .

Plants sense and integrate diverse stimuli to determine the timing for germination. A smoke compound, 3,4,5-trimethylfuran-2()-one (trimethylbutenolide, TMB), has been identified to inhibit the seed germination of higher plants. To understand the mode of action, we examined various physiological and molecular aspects of the TMB-dependent inhibition of seed germination in The results indicated that the effect of TMB is due to the enhanced physiological dormancy, which is modulated by other dormancy regulatory cues such as after-ripening, stratification, and ABA/GA signaling.

Compositional equivalence assessment of insect-resistant genetically modified rice using multiple statistical analyses.

The safety of transgenic Bt rice containing bacteria-derived gene from (Bt) was assessed by conducting field trials at two locations for two consecutive years in South Korea, using the near-isogenic line comparator rice cultivar ('Ilmi', non-Bt rice) and four commercial cultivars as references. Compositional analyses included measurement of proximates, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and antinutrients. Significant differences between Bt rice and non-Bt rice were detected; however, all differences were within the reference range.

Analysis of sticky generative cell mutants reveals that suppression of callose deposition in the generative cell is necessary for generative cell internalization and differentiation in Arabidopsis.

In flowering plants, double fertilization between male and female gametophytes, which are separated by distance, largely depends on the unique pattern of the male gametophyte (pollen): two non-motile sperm cells suspended within a tube-producing vegetative cell. A morphological screen to elucidate the genetic control governing the strategic patterning of pollen has led to the isolation of a sticky generative cell (sgc) mutant that dehisces abnormal pollen with the generative cell immobilized at the pollen wall. Analyses revealed that the sgc mutation is specifically detrimental to pollen development, causing ectopic callose deposition that impedes the timely internalization and differentiation of the generative cell.

GORI, encoding the WD40 domain protein, is required for pollen tube germination and elongation in rice.

Successful delivery of sperm cells to the embryo sac in higher plants is mediated by pollen tube growth. The molecular mechanisms underlying pollen germination and tube growth in crop plants remain rather unclear, although these mechanisms are crucial to plant reproduction and seed formation. By screening pollen-specific gene mutants in rice (Oryza sativa), we identified a T-DNA insertional mutant of Germinating modulator of rice pollen (GORI) that showed a one-to-one segregation ratio for wild type (WT) to heterozygous.

Physiological Importance of Pectin Modifying Genes During Rice Pollen Development.

Although cell wall dynamics, particularly modification of homogalacturonan (HGA, a major component of pectin) during pollen tube growth, have been extensively studied in dicot plants, little is known about how modification of the pollen tube cell wall regulates growth in monocot plants. In this study, we assessed the role of HGA modification during elongation of the rice pollen tube by adding a pectin methylesterase (PME) enzyme or a PME-inhibiting catechin extract (Polyphenon 60) to in vitro germination medium. Both treatments led to a severe decrease in the pollen germination rate and elongation.

Negatively Regulates Internode Elongation and Plant Height by Modulating GA Homeostasis in Rice.

Internode elongation is one of the key agronomic traits determining a plant's height and biomass. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling internode elongation is still limited in crop plant species. Here, we report the functional identification of an atypical basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor () through gain-of-function studies using overexpression () and activation tagging () lines of rice.

MYB81, a microspore-specific GAMYB transcription factor, promotes pollen mitosis I and cell lineage formation in Arabidopsis.

Sexual reproduction in flowering plants relies on the production of haploid gametophytes that consist of germline and supporting cells. During male gametophyte development, the asymmetric mitotic division of an undetermined unicellular microspore segregates these two cell lineages. To explore genetic regulation underlying this process, we screened for pollen cell patterning mutants and isolated the heterozygous myb81-1 mutant that sheds ~50% abnormal pollen.

In vitro propagation method for production of morphologically and genetically stable plants of different strawberry cultivars.

Background: As strawberries are susceptible to somaclonal variation when propagated by tissue culture techniques, it is challenging to obtain the true-to-type plants necessary for continuous production of fruits of stable quality. Therefore, we aimed to develop an in vitro propagation method for the production of true-to-type plants of five different strawberry cultivars from meristems cultured in media containing different concentrations of kinetin (Kn).

Results: For all the cultivars, shoot induction was successful only in the meristems cultured in the medium without Kn and the medium containing 0.

Gene Family Regulates Floral Organ Growth with Unequal Genetic Redundancy in .

A () gene family, consisting of six genes in , encodes a group of helix-loop-helix proteins that act in the growth-promoting transcriptional network. To delineate the specific role of each of the genes in organ growth, we took a reverse genetic approach by constructing high order loss-of-function mutants of . In addition to dwarf vegetative growth, some double or high order mutants exhibited defective floral development, resulting in reduced fertility.

The Pragmatic Introduction and Expression of Microbial Transgenes in Plants.

Several genetic strategies have been proposed for the successful transformation and expression of microbial transgenes in model and crop plants. Here, we bring into focus the prominent applications of microbial transgenes in plants for the development of disease resistance; mitigation of stress conditions; augmentation of food quality; and use of plants as "" for the production of recombinant proteins, industrially important enzymes, vaccines, antimicrobial compounds, and other valuable secondary metabolites. We discuss the applicable and cost-effective approaches of transgenesis in different plants, as well as the limitations thereof.

Exo-ethylene application mitigates waterlogging stress in soybean (Glycine max L.).

Background: Waterlogging (WL) is a key factor hindering soybean crop productivity worldwide. Plants utilize various hormones to avoid various stress conditions, including WL stress; however, the physiological mechanisms are still not fully understood.

Results: To identify physiological mechanisms during WL stress, different phytohormones, such as ethephon (ETP; donor source of ethylene), abscisic acid, gibberellins, indole-3-acetic acid, kinetin, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid were exogenously applied to soybean plants.

Compositional analyses of diverse phytochemicals and polar metabolites from different-colored potato ( L.) tubers.

Lipophilic bioactive compounds and hydrophilic primary metabolites from potato ( L.) tubers with different-colored flesh (white-, yellow-, red-, and purple) were characterized. The carotenoid content was relatively higher in red-colored potatoes, in which lutein was most plentiful.

A missense allele of KARRIKIN-INSENSITIVE2 impairs ligand-binding and downstream signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana.

A smoke-derived compound, karrikin (KAR), and an endogenous but as yet unidentified KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE2 (KAI2) ligand (KL) have been identified as chemical cues in higher plants that impact on multiple aspects of growth and development. Genetic screening of light-signaling mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana has identified a mutant designated as ply2 (pleiotropic long hypocotyl2) that has pleiotropic light-response defects. In this study, we used positional cloning to identify the molecular lesion of ply2 as a missense mutation of KAI2/HYPOSENSITIVE TO LIGHT, which causes a single amino acid substitution, Ala219Val.

Genome-wide analyses of late pollen-preferred genes conserved in various rice cultivars and functional identification of a gene involved in the key processes of late pollen development.

Background: Understanding late pollen development, including the maturation and pollination process, is a key component in maintaining crop yields. Transcriptome data obtained through microarray or RNA-seq technologies can provide useful insight into those developmental processes. Six series of microarray data from a public transcriptome database, the Gene Expression Omnibus of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, are related to anther and pollen development.

GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR and GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR Specify Meristematic Cells of Gynoecia and Anthers.

We investigated the biological roles of the Arabidopsis () GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR (GRF) and GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR (GIF) transcriptional complex in the development of gynoecia and anthers. There are nine and three in Arabidopsis, and seven are posttranscriptionally silenced by microRNA396 (miR396). We found that overexpression of in the double mutant background (:) resulted in neither ovary nor pollen.