Toxic effects of lead on plants: integrating multi-omics with bioinformatics to develop Pb-tolerant crops.

Lead disrupts plant metabolic homeostasis and key structural elements. Utilizing modern biotechnology tools, it's feasible to develop Pb-tolerant varieties by discovering biological players regulating plant metabolic pathways under stress. Lead (Pb) has been used for a variety of purposes since antiquity despite its toxic nature.

The wheels of destruction: Plant NLR immune receptors are mobile and structurally dynamic disease resistance proteins.

Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins are intracellular immune receptors that restrict plant invasion by pathogens. Most NLRs operate in intricate networks to detect pathogen effectors in a robust and efficient manner. NLRs are not static sensors; rather, they exhibit remarkable mobility and structural plasticity during the innate immune response.

mutation at the splicing receptor site affected RNA splicing and decreased amylose content in barley.

Granule-bound starch synthase I (HvGBSSI) is encoded by the barley () gene and is the sole enzyme in the synthesis of amylose. Here, a mutant was identified from an ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized barley population. There were two single-base mutations G1086A and A2424G in in the mutant (M2-1105).

Chemical diversity, medicinal potentialities, biosynthesis, and pharmacokinetics of anthraquinones and their congeners derived from marine fungi: a comprehensive update.

Marine fungi receive excessive attention as prolific producers of structurally unique secondary metabolites, offering promising potential as substitutes or conjugates for current therapeutics, whereas existing research has only scratched the surface in terms of secondary metabolite diversity and potential industrial applications as only a small share of bioactive natural products have been identified from marine-derived fungi thus far. Anthraquinones derived from filamentous fungi are a distinct large group of polyketides containing compounds which feature a common 9,10-dioxoanthracene core, while their derivatives are generated through enzymatic reactions such as methylation, oxidation, or dimerization to produce a large variety of anthraquinone derivatives. A considerable number of reported anthraquinones and their derivatives have shown significant biological activities as well as highly economical, commercial, and biomedical potentialities such as anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities.

Plant genetic effects on microbial hubs impact host fitness in repeated field trials.

Although complex interactions between hosts and microbial associates are increasingly well documented, we still know little about how and why hosts shape microbial communities in nature. In addition, host genetic effects on microbial communities vary widely depending on the environment, obscuring conclusions about which microbes are impacted and which plant functions are important. We characterized the leaf microbiota of 200 genotypes in eight field experiments and detected consistent host effects on specific, broadly distributed microbial species (operational taxonomic unit [OTUs]).

Re-examination of the Gene Family in Barley ( L.) Indicates a Role in the Regulation of Starch Synthesis.

The factor () gene family is a large plant-specific transcription factor family, which plays important roles in regulating plant growth and development. A role in starch synthesis is among the multiple functions of this family of transcription factors. Barley ( L.

Marine Brominated Tyrosine Alkaloids as Promising Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2.

There have been more than 150 million confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic in 2019. By June 2021, the mortality from such infections approached 3.9 million people.

Effect of Flowering Time-Related Genes on Biomass, Harvest Index, and Grain Yield in CIMMYT Elite Spring Bread Wheat.

Grain yield (YLD) is a function of the total biomass (BM) and of partitioning the biomass by grains, i.e., the harvest index (HI).

Induced proximity of a TIR signaling domain on a plant-mammalian NLR chimera activates defense in plants.

Plant and animal intracellular nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immune receptors detect pathogen-derived molecules and activate defense. Plant NLRs can be divided into several classes based upon their N-terminal signaling domains, including TIR (Toll-like, Interleukin-1 receptor, Resistance protein)- and CC (coiled-coil)-NLRs. Upon ligand detection, mammalian NAIP and NLRC4 NLRs oligomerize, forming an inflammasome that induces proximity of its N-terminal signaling domains.

The Role of Carotenogenic Metabolic Flux in Carotenoid Accumulation and Chromoplast Differentiation: Lessons From the Melon Fruit.

Carotenoids have various roles in plant physiology. Plant carotenoids are synthesized in plastids and are highly abundant in the chromoplasts of ripening fleshy fruits. Considerable research efforts have been devoted to elucidating mechanisms that regulate carotenoid biosynthesis, yet, little is known about the mechanism that triggers storage capacity, mainly through chromoplast differentiation.

DNA methylation is maintained with high fidelity in the honey bee germline and exhibits global non-functional fluctuations during somatic development.

Background: DNA methylation of active genes, also known as gene body methylation, is found in many animal and plant genomes. Despite this, the transcriptional and developmental role of such methylation remains poorly understood. Here, we explore the dynamic range of DNA methylation in honey bee, a model organism for gene body methylation.

Efficient curation of genebanks using next generation sequencing reveals substantial duplication of germplasm accessions.

Genebanks are valuable resources for crop improvement through the acquisition, ex-situ conservation and sharing of unique germplasm among plant breeders and geneticists. With over seven million existing accessions and increasing storage demands and costs, genebanks need efficient characterization and curation to make them more accessible and usable and to reduce operating costs, so that the crop improvement community can most effectively leverage this vast resource of untapped novel genetic diversity. However, the sharing and inconsistent documentation of germplasm often results in unintentionally duplicated collections with poor characterization and many identical accessions that can be hard or impossible to identify without passport information and unmatched accession identifiers.

Assembly and disassembly intermediates of maize streak geminivirus.

Maize streak virus (MSV) belongs to the Geminiviridae. Four forms of MSV coat protein (CP) assemblages were isolated from infected plants: geminate capsids, T = 1 icosahedral capsids, pentamers and decamers of CPs. Sequential exposure of geminate capsids to increasing pH, from 4.

Pea Ferritin Stability under Gastric pH Conditions Determines the Mechanism of Iron Uptake in Caco-2 Cells.

Background: Iron deficiency is an enduring global health problem that requires new remedial approaches. Iron absorption from soybean-derived ferritin, an ∼550-kDa iron storage protein, is comparable to bioavailable ferrous sulfate (FeSO4). However, the absorption of ferritin is reported to involve an endocytic mechanism, independent of divalent metal ion transporter 1 (DMT-1), the transporter for nonheme iron.

Highlight on the dynamic organization of the nucleus.

The last decade has seen rapid advances in our understanding of the proteins of the nuclear envelope, which have multiple roles including positioning the nucleus, maintaining its structural organization, and in events ranging from mitosis and meiosis to chromatin positioning and gene expression. Diverse new and stimulating results relating to nuclear organization and genome function from across kingdoms were presented in a session stream entitled "Dynamic Organization of the Nucleus" at this year's Society of Experimental Biology (SEB) meeting in Brighton, UK (July 2016). This was the first session stream run by the Nuclear Dynamics Special Interest Group, which was organized by David Evans, Katja Graumann (both Oxford Brookes University, UK) and Iris Meier (Ohio State University, USA).

Post-translational Serine/Threonine Phosphorylation and Lysine Acetylation: A Novel Regulatory Aspect of the Global Nitrogen Response Regulator GlnR in S. coelicolor M145.

Soil-dwelling Streptomyces bacteria such as S.coelicolor have to constantly adapt to the nitrogen (N) availability in their habitat. Thus, strict transcriptional and post-translational control of the N-assimilation is fundamental for survival of this species.

High immunogenicity of plant-produced candidate influenza vaccine based on the M2e peptide fused to flagellin.

The ectodomain of the conserved influenza matrix protein M2 (M2e) is a promising target for the development of a universal influenza vaccines. Immunogenicity of M2e could be enhanced by its fusion to bacterial flagellin, the ligand for Toll-like receptor 5. Previously we reported the transient expression in plants of a recombinant protein Flg-4M comprising flagellin fused to 4 tandem copies of the M2e.

Cytokinin responses counterpoint auxin signaling during rhizobial infection.

The transcriptomics approach to study gene expression in root hairs from M. truncatula has shed light on the developmental events during rhizobial infection and the underlying hormone responses. This approach revealed the induction of several cyclins and an aurora kinase which suggests that the cell-division machinery plays a role in rhizobial infection.

Genome Sequencing of a Mung Bean Plant Growth Promoting Strain of P. aeruginosa with Biocontrol Ability.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PGPR2 is a mung bean rhizosphere strain that produces secondary metabolites and hydrolytic enzymes contributing to excellent antifungal activity against Macrophomina phaseolina, one of the prevalent fungal pathogens of mung bean. Genome sequencing was performed using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine generating 1,354,732 reads (6,772,433 sequenced bases) achieving ~25-fold coverage of the genome. Reference genome assembly using MIRA 3.

Plants, diet, and health.

Chronic disease is a major social challenge of the twenty-first century. In this review, we examine the evidence for discordance between modern diets and those on which humankind evolved as the cause of the increasing incidence of chronic diseases, and the evidence supporting consumption of plant foods as a way to reduce the risk of chronic disease. We also examine the evidence for avoiding certain components of plant-based foods that are enriched in Western diets, and review the mechanisms by which different phytonutrients are thought to reduce the risk of chronic disease.

The rules of engagement in the legume-rhizobial symbiosis.

Rhizobial bacteria enter a symbiotic association with leguminous plants, resulting in differentiated bacteria enclosed in intracellular compartments called symbiosomes within nodules on the root. The nodules and associated symbiosomes are structured for efficient nitrogen fixation. Although the interaction is beneficial to both partners, it comes with rigid rules that are strictly enforced by the plant.

Plant-parasite coevolution: bridging the gap between genetics and ecology.

We review current ideas about coevolution of plants and parasites, particularly processes that generate genetic diversity. Frequencies of host resistance and parasite virulence alleles that interact in gene-for-gene (GFG) relationships coevolve in the familiar boom-and-bust cycle, in which resistance is selected when virulence is rare, and virulence is selected when resistance is common. The cycle can result in stable polymorphism when diverse ecological and epidemiological factors cause negative direct frequency-dependent selection (ndFDS) on host resistance, parasite virulence, or both, such that the benefit of a trait to fitness declines as its frequency increases.

Amplification of fungal genomes using multiple displacement amplification.

The availability of genomic DNA of sufficient quality and quantity is fundamental to molecular genetic analysis. Many filamentous fungi are slow growing or even unculturable and current DNA isolation methods are often unsatisfactory. Multiple displacement amplification (MDA) is a technique that can be employed to reliably amplify whole genomes from such recalcitrant species.