Assessment of homozygosity in transgenic plants using selectable markers.

Production of homozygous transgenic plants is a prerequisite for the phenotypic analysis and/or for the commercial release of transgenic plants for cultivation. Here we present a simple protocol for the selection of homozygous transgenics using antibiotics as a selectable marker. The protocol has been used to select homozygous rice transgenic plants using hygromycin antibiotic.

An exopolysaccharide-producing novel Agrobacterium pusense strain JAS1 isolated from snake plant enhances plant growth and soil water retention.

A peculiar bacterial growth was very often noticed in leaf-initiated tissue cultures of Sansevieria trifasciata, a succulent belonging to the Asparagaceae family. The isolate left trails of some highly viscous material on the walls of the suspension vessels or developed a thick overlay on semisolid media without adversities in plant growth. FTIR identified this substance to be an extracellular polysaccharide.

Structural and functional insights into the mechanism of action of plant borate transporters.

Boron has essential roles in plant growth and development. BOR proteins are key in the active uptake and distribution of boron, and regulation of intracellular boron concentrations. However, their mechanism of action remains poorly studied.

Arsenite provides a selective signal that coordinates arsenate uptake and detoxification through the regulation of PHR1 stability in Arabidopsis.

In nature, plants acquire nutrients from soils to sustain growth, and at the same time, they need to avoid the uptake of toxic compounds and/or possess tolerance systems to cope with them. This is particularly challenging when the toxic compound and the nutrient are chemically similar, as in the case of phosphate and arsenate. In this study, we demonstrated that regulatory elements of the phosphate starvation response (PSR) coordinate the arsenate detoxification machinery in the cell.

Transfer of stabilising mutations between different secondary active transporter families.

Integral membrane transporters play essential roles in the movement of substrates across biological membranes. One approach to produce transporters suitable for structural studies is to introduce mutations that reduce conformational flexibility and increase stability. However, it can be difficult to predict which mutations will result in a more stable protein.

Determination of Boron Content Using a Simple and Rapid Miniaturized Curcumin Assay.

To determine boron quantity in soil, water and biological samples, several protocols are available. Colorimetric assays are the simplest and cheapest methods which can be used to determine boron concentration. However, published protocols do not give straightforward guidance for beginners to adopt these protocols for routine use in the laboratory.

Cytokinin Determines Thiol-Mediated Arsenic Tolerance and Accumulation.

The presence of arsenic in soil and water is a constant threat to plant growth in many regions of the world. Phytohormones act in the integration of growth control and stress response, but their role in plant responses to arsenic remains to be elucidated. Here, we show that arsenate [As(V)], the most prevalent arsenic chemical species in nature, causes severe depletion of endogenous cytokinins (CKs) in the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).