Identification of drought responsive Elaeis guineensis WRKY transcription factors with sensitivity to other abiotic stresses and hormone treatments.

Background: The ability of plants to withstand and thrive in an adverse environment is crucial to ensure their survivability and yield performance. The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) have crucial roles in plant growth, development and stress response, particularly drought stress. In oil palm, drought is recognized as one of the major yield limiting factors.

An Efficient Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 Mutagenesis System for Oil Palm ().

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has emerged as a powerful tool for the precise editing of plant genomes for crop improvement. Rapid methods for the determination of guide RNA (gRNA) cleavage efficiency and an efficient DNA delivery system is essential for gene editing. However, we lack an efficient gene-editing system for palm species.

Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals novel insights into transcriptional responses to phosphorus starvation in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) root.

Background: Phosphorus (P), in its orthophosphate form (Pi) is an essential macronutrient for oil palm early growth development in which Pi deficiency could later on be reflected in lower biomass production. Application of phosphate rock, a non-renewable resource has been the common practice to increase Pi accessibility and maintain crop productivity in Malaysia. However, high fixation rate of Pi in the native acidic tropical soils has led to excessive utilization of P fertilizers.

EgRBP42 from oil palm enhances adaptation to stress in Arabidopsis through regulation of nucleocytoplasmic transport of stress-responsive mRNAs.

Abiotic stress reduces plant growth and crop productivity. However, the mechanism underlying posttranscriptional regulations of stress response remains elusive. Herein, we report the posttranscriptional mechanism of nucleocytoplasmic RNA transport of stress-responsive transcripts mediated by EgRBP42, a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein-like RNA-binding protein from oil palm, which could be necessary for rapid protein translation to confer abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

WRI1-1, ABI5, NF-YA3 and NF-YC2 increase oil biosynthesis in coordination with hormonal signaling during fruit development in oil palm.

The oil biosynthesis pathway must be tightly controlled to maximize oil yield. Oil palm accumulates exceptionally high oil content in its mesocarp, suggesting the existence of a unique fruit-specific fatty acid metabolism transcriptional network. We report the complex fruit-specific network of transcription factors responsible for modulation of oil biosynthesis genes in oil palm mesocarp.

Differential abundance analysis of mesocarp protein from high- and low-yielding oil palms associates non-oil biosynthetic enzymes to lipid biosynthesis.

Background: The oil palm Elaeis guineensis Jacq. which produces the highest yield per unit land area of the oil crops is the most important commercial oil crop in South East Asia. The fleshy mesocarp of oil palm fruit, where oil is mostly derived from, contains up to 90 % dry weight of oil (one of the most concentrated in plant tissues).

HnRNP-like proteins as post-transcriptional regulators.

Plant cells contain a diverse repertoire of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that coordinate a network of post-transcriptional regulation. RBPs govern diverse developmental processes by modulating the gene expression of specific transcripts. Recent gene annotation and RNA sequencing clearly showed that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-like proteins which form a family of RBPs, are also expressed in higher plants and serve specific plant functions.

EgRBP42 encoding an hnRNP-like RNA-binding protein from Elaeis guineensis Jacq. is responsive to abiotic stresses.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been implicated as regulatory proteins involved in the post-transcriptional processes of gene expression in plants under various stress conditions. In this study, we report the cloning and characterization of a gene, designated as EgRBP42, encoding a member of the plant heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-like RBP family from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.).