Review
Horticulture
Anca Butiuc-Keul, Ana Coste
Summary: Grapevine cultivation has adapted to changing conditions and demands through advancements in biotechnology and molecular biology, allowing for genetic improvement. These technologies have led to better cultivar identification, trait mapping, and genomic selection, as well as advances in grapevine regeneration, genetic transformation, and genome editing for enhanced yield and quality.
Review
Plant Sciences
Haoqiang Yu, Qingqing Yang, Fengling Fu, Wanchen Li
Summary: Heterologous expression of exogenous genes and suppression of undesirable genes by RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas technology are more effective than overexpression of endogenous genes for transgenic improvement of crops.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Kaining Jin, Guoxin Chen, Yirong Yang, Zhiguo Zhang, Tiegang Lu
Summary: This review summarizes the strategies for improving C-3 photosynthesis, including enhancing Rubisco properties and reducing photorespiratory limitations. It also discusses the potential of synthetic biology approaches in constructing photorespiratory bypasses. These strategies have the potential to enhance C-3 photosynthesis and boost crop production.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Agronomy
Luis Fernando Campuzano-Duque, Matthew Wohlgemuth Blair
Summary: Robusta coffee, mostly grown in Africa, Asia, and parts of tropical America, has the potential to be cultivated in lowland areas of Colombia, a traditional Arabica coffee producer. Compared to highland Arabica coffee, Robusta has greater tolerance to drought and heat, but has different flavor characteristics and higher caffeine levels. It exhibits natural resistance to major pests and diseases, making it suitable for cultivation under harsh conditions. To improve the genetic traits of Robusta coffee, understanding its genetic resources and implementing a good breeding strategy are essential.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Haoqiang Yu, Yingge Wang, Fengling Fu, Wanchen Li
Summary: Biotic constraints, such as pathogens and herbivory insects, significantly affect crop yields and quality. Conventional management of these constraints has limitations. Transgenic technologies with heterologous gene expression and RNAi have successfully developed numerous resistant cultivars, reducing yield loss. However, improving resistance to bacteria and nematodes through endogenous gene overexpression and RNAi is still in the testing stage. Recent advances in RNAi and CRISPR/Cas technologies offer potential for enhancing crop resistance to multiple biotic constraints.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Biology
Liwen Yang, Pingxian Zhang, Yifan Wang, Guihua Hu, Weijun Guo, Xiaofeng Gu, Li Pu
Summary: Synthetic epigenetics holds great potential in crop improvement. By studying epigenetic mechanisms and using innovative techniques, researchers can develop engineered smart crops that have higher yields and can actively adapt to internal and external environments.
SCIENCE CHINA-LIFE SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Horticulture
Choy Yuen Khew, Christabel Ming Ming Koh, Yi Shang Chen, Soon Liang Sim, Zehnder Jaroop Augustine Mercer
Summary: This paper reviews the breeding work of black pepper and emphasizes the importance of molecular breeding in improving its production. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) and gene editing are two significant approaches that are gaining prominence in black pepper breeding. Molecular markers have been extensively studied in germplasm evaluation, genetic mapping, map-based gene identification, and marker-assisted plant breeding. With the advancement of sequencing technology, genome editing tools, especially CRISPR/Cas technology, have become available and have the potential to transform the plant genome in a precise, efficient, and time-saving manner. This review summarizes the progress in black pepper breeding and the application of molecular breeding technologies for ensuring crop sustainability.
SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Quancan Hou, Xiangyuan Wan
Summary: Crop breeding faces challenges due to increasing food demand, but recent studies show that epigenetic and epitranscriptomic diversity can provide additional resources for breeding. By harnessing these through biotechnologies, there is potential for significant crop improvement.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiangqiang Zhan, Yuming Lu, Jian-Kang Zhu, Jose Ramon Botella
Summary: The CRISPR technology has significantly impacted plant biology and crop improvement, with developments ranging from gene disruption to precise editing techniques like base editing and gene targeting. Advances have also been made in using different CRISPR systems for gene transcription and epigenome control.
JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Uday Chand Jha, Harsh Nayyar, Eric J. B. von Wettberg, Yogesh Dashrath Naik, Mahendar Thudi, Kadambot H. M. Siddique
Summary: Advances in genome sequencing technologies have revolutionized legume genomics and facilitated the assembly of high-quality reference genomes. These technologies also allow for the study of structural variations and offer prospects for improving important traits in legume crops to combat the global food crisis.
Review
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Rui-Xiang Zhang, Bin-Bin Li, Zheng-Guang Yang, Jia-Qi Huang, Wei-Hang Sun, Nadeem Bhanbhro, Wen-Ting Liu, Kun-Ming Chen
Summary: This article provides a comprehensive overview of the CRISPR-based gene editing technology in agricultural breeding, highlighting the application and capacity of different toolsets in plant gene expression regulation. It also discusses the general problems in CRISPR application and optimal solutions for high-throughput gene function analysis.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Yaodong Yang, Mumtaz Ali Saand, Liyun Huang, Walid Badawy Abdelaal, Jun Zhang, Yi Wu, Jing Li, Muzafar Hussain Sirohi, Fuyou Wang
Summary: Omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, ionomics, and phenomics, have been instrumental in understanding key biological processes in crops such as growth, yield, and stress responses. These techniques have been applied to important crops like wheat, soybean, tomato, barley, maize, millet, cotton, and rice.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Lu Shi, Jing Su, Myeong-Je Cho, Hao Song, Xiaoou Dong, Ying Liang, Zhiyong Zhang
Summary: Gene expression plays a crucial role in crop plant regulation. Genome editing of plant promoters offers the potential to modify gene expression patterns and create favorable traits. This can be done by precise generation of nucleotide sequences or by generating random mutations in the promoter region to select elite alleles based on phenotypic effects.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Rosa Laura Lopez-Marques
Summary: An increasing world population and drastic changes in weather conditions pose challenges for agricultural production. To ensure sustainable food production, crop plants need to be improved to withstand various stresses. This article reviews the role of plant lipid flippases in stress-related responses and discusses their suitability as biotechnological targets for crop improvement.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Shashi Uniyal, Munni Bhandari, Preeti Singh, Rahul Kunwar Singh, Shree Prakash Tiwari
Summary: Cytokinins are plant hormones that play important roles in various physiological processes and have value in agriculture. While plants can synthesize cytokinins themselves, exogenous application of these hormones can accelerate plant growth and improve yield. Cyanobacteria can serve as a source of cytokinins and other substances that promote plant growth, making them a potential tool for sustainable agriculture.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Natallia Ashykhmina, Kai Xun Chan, Henning Frerigmann, Frank Van Breusegem, Stanislav Kopriva, Ulf-Ingo Fluegge, Tamara Gigolashvili
Summary: Plants have highly compartmentalized eukaryotic cells, with plastids and mitochondria relying on the flow of information to and from the nuclei. Retrograde and anterograde signals, such as the retrograde signaling molecule PAP, play a role in coordinating intracellular functions in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. The SAL1 protein, which dephosphorylates PAP to AMP, has different stability and impacts in different cell compartments. Further research is needed to understand the role of the SAL1-PAP pathway in various cellular processes under stress conditions.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jonas Blomme, Ward Develtere, Ayse Kose, Julia Arraiza Ribera, Christophe Brugmans, Jessica Jaraba-Wallace, Ward Decaestecker, Debbie Rombaut, Alexandra Baekelandt, Alvaro Daniel Fernandez Fernandez, Frank Van Breusegem, Dirk Inze, Thomas Jacobs
Summary: This study presents a simplified heat stress assay that can effectively increase the mutagenesis efficiency of CRISPR in plants and in some cases improve the recovery of mutant progeny.
Review
Cell Biology
Ron Mittler, Sara I. Zandalinas, Yosef Fichman, Frank Van Breusegem
Summary: This review discusses the essential role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses, as well as the mechanisms of ROS signaling, regulation, and resilience in plants.
NATURE REVIEWS MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Barbara De Meester, Rebecca Van Acker, Marlies Wouters, Silvia Traversari, Marijke Steenackers, Jenny Neukermans, Frank Van Breusegem, Annabelle Dejardin, Gilles Pilate, Wout Boerjan
Summary: This study evaluated the performance of poplars with downregulated CINNAMYL ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE 1 (CAD1) in the field and found that they showed improved saccharification yields but also exhibited negative effects such as leaning phenotypes, early bud set, and reduced yield.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Qing Lu, Anaxi Houbaert, Qian Ma, Jingjing Huang, Lieven Sterck, Cheng Zhang, Rene Benjamins, Frederik Coppens, Frank Van Breusegem, Eugenia Russinova
Summary: In this study, researchers found that a mutation in the AMPD gene reduces the sensitivity of Arabidopsis seedlings to brassinosteroids by modulating BIN2 oligomerization and activity in a hydrogen peroxide-dependent manner. They also discovered an H2O2 homeostasis-mediated regulation loop between AMPD and BIN2, which fine-tunes the BIN2 kinase activity to control plant growth and development.
Article
Microbiology
Inigo Saiz-Fernandez, Biljana Dordevic, Pavel Kerchev, Martin Cerny, Thomas Jung, Miroslav Berka, Chuen-Hsu Fu, Marilia Horta Jung, Bretislav Brzobohaty
Summary: This study compares the different susceptibilities of Chinese cork oak and European cork oak to Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands. The results show that Chinese cork oak has a slower defense response, with a significant decrease in sugar content in the roots, while European cork oak has an increased abundance of peroxidases, superoxide dismutases, and glutathione S-transferases to decrease susceptibility to the pathogen.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jaroslav Pavlu, Pavel Kerchev, Martin Cerny, Jan Novak, Miroslav Berka, Timothy O. Jobe, Jose Maria Lopez Ramos, Inigo Saiz-Fernandez, Aaron Michael Rashotte, Stanislav Kopriva, Bretislav Brzobohaty
Summary: Cytokinins have an interplay with sulfur homeostasis and are involved in regulating the expression of sulfur-responsive genes and levels of sulfate and glutathione. The cytokinin receptor ARABIDOPSIS HISTIDINE KINASE 3 and cytokinin-deficient plants play a role in glutathione accumulation. On the other hand, cytokinin also triggers sulfur starvation-like gene expression and decreases sulfate and glutathione content.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Sravankumar Thula, Taraka Ramji Moturu, Hymavathi Salava, Veronika Balakhonova, Miroslav Berka, Pavel Kerchev, Kumud Bandhu Mishra, Tomasz Nodzynski, Sibu Simon
Summary: Strigolactones (SLs), derived from carotenoids, play a unique and dynamic role in regulating photosynthetic pathways and high light-driven stress adaptation in plants.
JOURNAL OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Sunita Jindal, Pavel Kerchev, Miroslav Berka, Martin Cerny, Halidev Krishna Botta, Ashverya Laxmi, Bretislav Brzobohaty
Summary: The study shows that type-A ARRs play an important role in heat stress response in Arabidopsis by affecting the redox homeostasis, thereby improving the efficiency of plant responses to stress stimuli.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Heng Zhou, Jingjing Huang, Patrick Willems, Frank Van Breusegem, Yanjie Xie
Summary: Reactive electrophilic species are widely present in plant cells and play a role in specific redox-regulated signaling events. Redox signaling is known to regulate gene expression during various biological processes, including plant growth, development, and stress responses. Recent data has shown that transcription factors are a major target of cysteine thiol-based oxidative post-translational modifications, which can affect their activity and transmit redox information to the nucleus. This review discusses the progress made in characterizing these modifications, their biochemical properties, and their effects on plant transcription factors, as well as the underlying mechanism of redox regulation and the challenges that remain in understanding the redox regulation of plant gene expression.
TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alvaro Daniel Fernandez-Fernandez, Simon Stael, Frank Van Breusegem
Summary: Proteolysis in plants is a significant field of study because proteases play crucial roles in plant cell death, disease, and development. Proteolytic activities are tightly regulated to ensure precise activity and minimize unwanted effects. Only a few plant proteases and their activation mechanisms have been extensively studied.
CELL DEATH AND DIFFERENTIATION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patrick Willems, Valerie Van Ruyskensvelde, Takanori Maruta, Robin Pottie, Alvaro D. Fernandez-Fernandez, Jarne Pauwels, Matthew A. Hannah, Kris Gevaert, Frank Van Breusegem, Katrien Van der Kelen
Summary: Alternative splicing is an important gene regulatory process in plants, and its inhibition can alleviate cell death and enhance tolerance to oxidative stress.
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Caccamo, Felix Vega de Luna, Khadija Wahni, Alexander N. Volkov, Jonathan Przybyla-Toscano, Antonello Amelii, Alexandre Kriznik, Nicolas Rouhier, Joris Messens, Claire Remacle
Summary: Recent studies have identified a novel class of ascorbate peroxidases called APX-R, with a focus on APX2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in this study. Experimental results indicate that APX2 exhibits peroxidase activity with guaiacol as an electron donor, along with the ability to bind copper and heme. Evidence suggests a potential interaction between APX2 and plastocyanin, highlighting the role of APX2 in regulating copper transfer to plastocyanin.
Article
Cell Biology
Hsu-Min Sung, Johanna Schott, Philipp Boss, Janina A. Lehmann, Marius Roland Hardt, Doris Lindner, Joris Messens, Ivan Bogeski, Uwe Ohler, Georg Stoecklin
Summary: This study reveals that nuclear speckles undergo significant reorganization under ribotoxic stress, leading to enhanced recruitment of factors required for splice-site recognition and activation of immediate early gene splicing. This reorganization is mediated by the stress-activated p38 MAPK pathway and coincides with splicing activation of pre-existing and newly synthesized pre-mRNAs.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Cezary Waszczak, Dmitry Yarmolinsky, Marina Leal Gavarron, Triin Vahisalu, Maija Sierla, Olena Zamora, Ross Carter, Tuomas Puukko, Nina Sipari, Airi Lamminmaki, Jorg Durner, Dieter Ernst, J. Barbro Winkler, Lars Paulin, Petri Auvinen, Andrew J. Fleming, Mats X. Andersson, Hannes Kollist, Jaakko Kangasjarvi
Summary: Land plants have evolved multiple adaptations to control transpiration, but the molecular mechanisms behind these adaptations are not fully understood. In this study, researchers used an ozone-sensitivity forward genetics approach to identify mutants in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana that are impaired in the regulation of gas exchange. Through experiments on these mutants, they found that a mutation in the MURUS1 gene led to high water loss and impaired leaf conductance in response to stomata-closing stimuli. They discovered that this high water loss was not due to stomatal movements but instead was linked to metabolic defects. The researchers also found that boron deficiency played a role in the water loss phenotype of the MURUS1 mutants, affecting the mechanical and morphological properties of stomatal complexes and overall plant physiology. This study highlights the importance of fucose metabolism and boron uptake in plant-water relations.
