Linking Brassinosteroid and ABA Signaling in the Context of Stress Acclimation.

The important regulatory role of brassinosteroids (BRs) in the mechanisms of tolerance to multiple stresses is well known. Growing data indicate that the phenomenon of BR-mediated drought stress tolerance can be explained by the generation of stress memory (the process known as 'priming' or 'acclimation'). In this review, we summarize the data on BR and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling to show the interconnection between the pathways in the stress memory acquisition.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using transgenic Nicotiana tabacum callus culture expressing silicatein gene from marine sponge Latrunculia oparinae.

In the present investigation, transgenic tobacco callus cultures and plants overexpressing the silicatein gene LoSilA1 from marine sponge Latrunculia oparinae were obtained and their bioreduction behaviour for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was studied. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic flame electron microscopy (AFM) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Our measurements showed that the reduction of silver nitrate produced spherical AgNPs with diameters in the range of 12-80 nm.

Critical analysis of protein signaling networks involved in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism: focus on anthocyanins.

Anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis is a convenient and relatively simple model for investigating the basic principles of secondary metabolism regulation. In recent years, many publications have described links between anthocyanin biosynthesis and general defense reactions in plants as well as photomorphogenesis and hormonal signaling. These relationships are complex, and they cannot be understood intuitively.

New opportunities for the regulation of secondary metabolism in plants: focus on microRNAs.

Plant cell cultures are of particular interest in industrial applications as a source of biologically active substances. It is difficult, however, to achieve stable production of secondary metabolites for many plant cell cultures using classical techniques. Novel approaches should be developed for removal of the inhibitor blocks that prevent pathway activation and shift the regulatory balance to the activation of entire biosynthetic pathways.

CDPK-driven changes in the intracellular ROS level and plant secondary metabolism.

Heterologous expression of a constitutively active calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) gene was previously shown to increase secondary metabolite production in cultured cells of Rubia cordifolia, but the critical question of how CDPK activates secondary metabolism remains to be answered. In this article, we report that the expression of the Arabidopsis CDPK gene, AtCPK1, in R. cordifolia cells caused moderate and stable elevation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.