ALT1, a Snf2 family chromatin remodeling ATPase, negatively regulates alkaline tolerance through enhanced defense against oxidative stress in rice.

Alkaline salt stress adversely affects rice growth, productivity and grain quality. However, the mechanism underlying this process remains elusive. We characterized here an alkaline tolerant mutant, alt1 in rice.

Molecular genetic dissection of quantitative trait loci regulating rice grain size.

Grain size is one of the most important factors determining rice yield. As a quantitative trait, grain size is predominantly and tightly controlled by genetic factors. Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for grain size have been molecularly identified and characterized.

Interaction between two timing microRNAs controls trichome distribution in Arabidopsis.

The miR156-targeted squamosa promoter binding protein like (SPL) transcription factors function as an endogenous age cue in regulating plant phase transition and phase-dependent morphogenesis, but the control of SPL output remains poorly understood. In Arabidopsis thaliana the spatial pattern of trichome is a hallmark of phase transition and governed by SPLs. Here, by dissecting the regulatory network controlling trichome formation on stem, we show that the miR171-targeted lost meristems 1 (LOM1), LOM2 and LOM3, encoding GRAS family members previously known to maintain meristem cell polarity, are involved in regulating the SPL activity.

Cytokinin antagonizes abscisic acid-mediated inhibition of cotyledon greening by promoting the degradation of abscisic acid insensitive5 protein in Arabidopsis.

In higher plants, seed germination is followed by postgerminative growth. One of the key developmental events during postgerminative growth is cotyledon greening, which enables a seedling to establish photosynthetic capacity. The plant phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a vital role by inhibiting seed germination and postgerminative growth in response to dynamically changing internal and environmental cues.

The Arabidopsis eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF5A-2 regulates root protoxylem development by modulating cytokinin signaling.

The phytohormone cytokinin regulates various aspects of plant growth and development, including root vascular development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, mutations in the cytokinin signaling components cause misspecification of protoxylem cell files. Auxin antagonizes cytokinin-regulated root protoxylem differentiation by inducing expression of Arabidopsis phosphotransfer protein6 (AHP6), a negative regulator of cytokinin signaling.

LESION SIMULATING DISEASE1 interacts with catalases to regulate hypersensitive cell death in Arabidopsis.

LESION SIMULATING DISEASE1 (lsd1) is an important negative regulator of programmed cell death (PCD) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The loss-of-function mutations in lsd1 cause runaway cell death triggered by reactive oxygen species. lsd1 encodes a novel zinc finger protein with unknown biochemical activities.

Paraquat Resistant1, a Golgi-localized putative transporter protein, is involved in intracellular transport of paraquat.

Paraquat is one of the most widely used herbicides worldwide. In green plants, paraquat targets the chloroplast by transferring electrons from photosystem I to molecular oxygen to generate toxic reactive oxygen species, which efficiently induce membrane damage and cell death. A number of paraquat-resistant biotypes of weeds and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants have been identified.

Rational engineering of plasticity residues of sesquiterpene synthases from Artemisia annua: product specificity and catalytic efficiency.

Most TPSs (terpene synthases) contain plasticity residues that are responsible for diversified terpene products and functional evolution, which provide a potential for improving catalytic efficiency. Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone from Artemisia annua L., is widely used for malaria treatment and progress has been made in engineering the production of artemisinin or its precursors.

A cotton BURP domain protein interacts with α-expansin and their co-expression promotes plant growth and fruit production.

Plant growth requires cell wall extension. The cotton AtRD22-Like 1 gene GhRDL1, predominately expressed in elongating fiber cells, encodes a BURP domain-containing protein. Here, we show that GhRDL1 is localized in cell wall and interacts with GhEXPA1, an α-expansin functioning in wall loosening.

Arabidopsis transcription factor genes NF-YA1, 5, 6, and 9 play redundant roles in male gametogenesis, embryogenesis, and seed development.

Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) is a highly conserved transcription factor presented in all eukaryotic organisms, and is a heterotrimer consisting of three subunits: NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. In Arabidopsis, these three subunits are encoded by multigene families. The best-studied member of the NF-Y transcription factors is LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1), a NF-YB family member, which plays a critical role in embryogenesis and seed maturation.

Arabidopsis MYC2 interacts with DELLA proteins in regulating sesquiterpene synthase gene expression.

Arabidopsis thaliana flowers emit volatile terpenes, which may function in plant-insect interactions. Here, we report that Arabidopsis MYC2, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, directly binds to promoters of the sesquiterpene synthase genes TPS21 and TPS11 and activates their expression. Expression of TPS21 and TPS11 can be induced by the phytohormones gibberellin (GA) and jasmonate (JA), and both inductions require MYC2.

Deletion of the initial 45 residues of ARR18 induces cytokinin response in Arabidopsis.

The plant hormone cytokinin plays important roles in various aspects of plant growth and development. Cytokinin signaling is mediated by a multistep phosphorelay similar to bacterial two-component system. Type-B ARRs lie at the end of the cytokinin signaling, typically mediating the output response.

Enhanced seed oil production in canola by conditional expression of Brassica napus LEAFY COTYLEDON1 and LEC1-LIKE in developing seeds.

The seed oil content in oilseed crops is a major selection trait to breeders. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) and LEC1-LIKE (L1L) are key regulators of fatty acid biosynthesis. Overexpression of AtLEC1 and its orthologs in canola (Brassica napus), BnLEC1 and BnL1L, causes an increased fatty acid level in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, which, however, also show severe developmental abnormalities.

The Arabidopsis LSD1 gene plays an important role in the regulation of low temperature-dependent cell death.

In higher plants, the crosstalk between cold stress responses and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling is not well understood. *Two chilling-sensitive mutants, chs4-1 and chs4-3, were characterized genetically and molecularly. *The CHS4 gene, identified by map-based cloning, was found to be identical to lesion simulating disease resistance 1 (LSD1).

Arabidopsis histidine kinase CKI1 acts upstream of histidine phosphotransfer proteins to regulate female gametophyte development and vegetative growth.

Cytokinin signaling is mediated by a multiple-step phosphorelay. Key components of the phosphorelay consist of the histidine kinase (HK)-type receptors, histidine phosphotransfer proteins (HP), and response regulators (RRs). Whereas overexpression of a nonreceptor-type HK gene CYTOKININ-INDEPENDENT1 (CKI1) activates cytokinin signaling by an unknown mechanism, mutations in CKI1 cause female gametophytic lethality.

The Arabidopsis PARAQUAT RESISTANT2 gene encodes an S-nitrosoglutathione reductase that is a key regulator of cell death.

Metabolism of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), a major biologically active nitric oxide (NO) species, is catalyzed by the evolutionally conserved GSNO reductase (GSNOR). Previous studies showed that the Arabidopsis GSNOR1/HOT5 gene regulates salicylic acid signaling and thermotolerance by modulating the intracellular S-nitrosothiol level. Here, we report the characterization of the Arabidopsis paraquat resistant2-1 (par2-1) mutant that shows an anti-cell death phenotype.

Genome-wide comparative analysis of type-A Arabidopsis response regulator genes by overexpression studies reveals their diverse roles and regulatory mechanisms in cytokinin signaling.

Cytokinin is a critical growth regulator for various aspects of plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signaling is mediated by a two-component system-based phosphorelay that transmits a signal from the receptors, through histidine phosphotransfer proteins, to the downstream response regulators (ARRs). Of these ARRs, type-A ARR genes, whose transcription can be rapidly induced by cytokinin, act as negative regulators of cytokinin signaling.

Molecular analysis of rice plants harboring a multi-functional T-DNA tagging system.

About 25,000 rice T-DNA insertional mutant lines were generated using the vector pCAS04 which has both promoter-trapping and activation-tagging function. Southern blot analysis revealed that about 40% of these mutants were single copy integration and the average T-DNA insertion number was 2.28.

Overexpression of PGA37/MYB118 and MYB115 promotes vegetative-to-embryonic transition in Arabidopsis.

Formation of somatic embryos from non-germline cells is unique to higher plants and can be manipulated in a variety of species. Previous studies revealed that overexpression of several Arabidopsis genes, including WUSCHEL (WUS)/PLANT GROWTH ACTIVATOR6 (PGA6), BABY BOOM, LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1), and LEC2, is able to cause vegetative-to-embryonic transition or the formation of somatic embryos. Here, we report that a gain-of-function mutation in the Arabidopsis PGA37 gene, encoding the MYB118 transcription factor, induced vegetative-to-embryonic transition, the formation of somatic embryos from root explants, and an elevated LEC1 expression level.

LEAFY COTYLEDON1 is a key regulator of fatty acid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.

In plants, fatty acids are de novo synthesized predominantly in plastids from acetyl-coenzyme A. Although fatty acid biosynthesis has been biochemically well studied, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms of the pathway. Here, we show that overexpression of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) gene causes globally increased expression of fatty acid biosynthetic genes, which are involved in key reactions of condensation, chain elongation, and desaturation of fatty acid biosynthesis.

Serine palmitoyltransferase, a key enzyme for de novo synthesis of sphingolipids, is essential for male gametophyte development in Arabidopsis.

Sphingolipids are important signaling molecules involved in various cellular activities. De novo sphingolipid synthesis is initiated by a rate-limiting enzyme, serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a heterodimer consisting of LONG-CHAIN BASE1 (LCB1) and LCB2 subunits. A mutation in the Arabidopsis thaliana LCB1 gene, lcb1-1, was found to cause embryo lethality.

Construction and application of EST library from Setaria italica in response to dehydration stress.

Foxtail millet is a gramineous crop with low water requirement. Despite its high water use efficiency, less attention has been paid to the molecular genetics of foxtail millet. This article reports the construction of subtracted cDNA libraries from foxtail millet seedlings under dehydration stress and the expression profile analysis of 1947 UniESTs from the subtracted cDNA libraries by a cDNA microarray.

The Arabidopsis Spontaneous Cell Death1 gene, encoding a zeta-carotene desaturase essential for carotenoid biosynthesis, is involved in chloroplast development, photoprotection and retrograde signalling.

Carotenoids, a class of natural pigments found in all photosynthetic organisms, are involved in a variety of physiological processes, including coloration, photoprotection, biosynthesis of abscisic acid (ABA) and chloroplast biogenesis. Although carotenoid biosynthesis has been well studied biochemically, the genetic basis of the pathway is not well understood. Here, we report the characterization of two allelic Arabidopsis mutants, spontaneous cell death1-1 (spc1-1) and spc1-2.