Transcripts related with ammonium use and effects of gibberellin on expressions of the transcripts responding to ammonium in two invasive and native species.

Soil nitrogen forms are important for exotic plant invasions. However, little effort has been made to study the molecular mechanisms underlying the utilization of different N forms in co-occurring invasive and native plants. The invasive plant prefers nitrate relative to ammonium, and mainly invades nitrate-dominated environments, while it co-occurring native congener prefers ammonium.

Salinity Tolerance in a Synthetic Allotetraploid Wheat (SSAA) Is Similar to Its Higher Tolerant Parent (SS) and Linked to Flavonoids Metabolism.

Allotetraploidization between A and S (closely related to B) genome species led to the speciation of allotetraploid wheat (genome BBAA). However, the immediate metabolic outcomes and adaptive changes caused by the allotetraploidization event are poorly understood. Here, we investigated how allotetraploidization affected salinity tolerance using a synthetic allotetraploid wheat line (genome SSAA, labeled as 4x), its (genome SS, labeled as SS) and (AA genome, labeled as AA) parents.

Various potentially toxic element tolerances in different rice genotypes correlate with distinct physiological responses and alterations in DNA methylation.

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are harmful to plant growth and reduce crop productivity. In this work, we studied three rice genotypes (T-35, RZ-1, and RZ-2) to quantify the diverse PTE effects and tolerances by examining morphology, physiology, and DNA methylation patterns. Morphological results showed that T-35 exhibits the highest tolerance to all studied PTE stressors (Cu, Cd, Cr).

Balanced Genome Triplication in Wheat Causes Premature Growth Arrest and an Upheaval of Genome-Wide Gene Regulation.

Polyploidy, or whole genome duplication (WGD), is a driving evolutionary force across the tree of life and has played a pervasive role in the evolution of the plant kingdom. It is generally believed that a major genetic attribute contributing to the success of polyploidy is increased gene and genome dosage. The evolution of polyploid wheat has lent support to this scenario.

Extensive changes in gene expression and alternative splicing due to homoeologous exchange in rice segmental allopolyploids.

We report rampant homoeologous exchanges in progenies of a newly synthesized rice segmental allotetraploid and demonstrate their consequences to changes of gene expression and alternative splicing. Allopolyploidization is recurrent across the tree of angiosperms and known as a driving evolutionary force in both plants and animals. A salient feature of allopolyploidization is the induction of homoeologous exchange (HE) events between the constituent subgenomes, which may in turn cause changes in gene expression, transcript alternative splicing, and phenotypic novelty.

Imprinted gene expression in maize starchy endosperm and aleurone tissues of reciprocal F1 hybrids at a defined developmental stage.

Imprinted gene expression in flowering plants predominantly occurs in the triploid endosperm of developing seed. However, endosperm is composed of distinct tissue types. For example, the maize (Zea mays) endosperm is constituted by two major tissues, starchy endosperm and aleurone.

Gene-body CG methylation and divergent expression of duplicate genes in rice.

Gene and genome duplication fosters genetic novelty, but redundant gene copies would undergo mutational decay unless preserved via selective or neutral forces. Molecular mechanisms mediating duplicate preservation remain incompletely understood. Several recent studies showed an association between DNA methylation and expression divergence of duplicated genes and suggested a role of epigenetic mechanism in duplicate retention.