iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis reveals proteomic changes in leaves of cultivated tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) in response to drought stress.

Drought is one of the most severe forms of abiotic stresses that threaten the survival of plants, including crops. In turn, plants dramatically change their physiology to increase drought tolerance, including reconfiguration of proteomes. Here, we studied drought-induced proteomic changes in leaves of cultivated tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), a solanaceous plant, using the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based protein labeling technology.

Tobacco serine/threonine protein kinase gene NrSTK enhances black shank resistance.

A serine/threonine protein kinase gene (NrSTK) was cloned from Nicotiana repanda based on the sequence of a previously isolated resistance gene analog (RGA). Expression of RGA was induced by challenge with the pathogen black shank. The NrSTK gene was predicted to encode a protein kinase that contained an ATP binding site at residues 41-69 and a serine/threonine protein kinase activation sequence spanning the region 161-173.

First Report of Tomato zonate spot virus in Iris tectorum in China.

Iris tectorum Maxim, a very popular Chinese traditional medicinal perennial herb belonging to the Iridaceae family, is widely grown as a year-round ornamental in China. During May to August 2014, as part of a survey for tospoviruses (family Bunyaviridae) in flue-cured tobacco, symptoms suspected to be caused by tospoviruses were observed on I. tectorum around farmers' fields in Kunming, Yunnan province.