Article
Plant Sciences
Salman Sahid, Chandan Roy, Dibyendu Shee, Riddhi Datta, Soumitra Paul
Summary: The OsSalT gene plays a crucial role in drought tolerance in rice, with its overexpression enhancing plant resilience to drought stress. This enhancement may be achieved through interaction with transcription factors OsNAC1 and OsDREB2A to regulate the expression of drought-responsive genes.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nikolai Huwa, Oliver H. Weiergraeber, Alexander Fejzagic, Christian Kirsch, Ulrich Schaffrath, Thomas Classen
Summary: This study reports the structure and binding properties of the rice protein OsJAC1, which enhances resistance against bacterial and fungal plant pathogens. The study reveals a new carbohydrate binding motif for the dirigent domain of OsJAC1.
Article
Plant Sciences
Aliya Aglyamova, Natalia Petrova, Oleg Gorshkov, Liudmila Kozlova, Tatyana Gorshkova
Summary: Proteins with specific carbohydrate-binding lectin domains play important roles in regulating and monitoring the cell wall during plant development. A genome-wide screening and transcriptomic analysis of maize roots identified a set of lectins with high expression levels and differential regulation, which are predicted to be involved in cell wall metabolism and have direct access to the cell wall. These lectins have potential roles in the early stages of root morphogenesis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ruifang Ma, Bin Huang, Jialu Chen, Zhinuo Huang, Peiyao Yu, Shiyu Ruan, Zhijun Zhang
Summary: Four putative PeD-J genes were identified in the Moso bamboo genome, which were highly expressed in the panicle and may play important roles in the formation and development of different tissue types in Moso bamboo. PeD-J proteins were found to have unique two domains, significantly different from other plant lectins mainly due to tandem dirigent and jacalin domains. The results of this study provide insights into the biological functions of PeD-Js during bamboo growth, development, and stress response.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nikolai Huwa, Oliver H. Weiergraeber, Christian Kirsch, Ulrich Schaffrath, Thomas Classen
Summary: The study established a heterologous expression system for the monocot chimeric jacalin OsJAC1 and found that its domains have different carbohydrate-binding specificities, explaining its ability to respond to different stimuli.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Michie Kobayashi, Hiroe Utsushi, Koki Fujisaki, Takumi Takeda, Tetsuro Yamashita, Ryohei Terauchi
Summary: This article investigates a protein called JRL in the plant extracellular space, which has virulence effects and can suppress plant immune responses. The study found that JRL proteins secreted by the pathogen Sg can enhance the pathogenicity of the pathogen in Poaceae crops. Furthermore, it was discovered that JRL proteins localize to the apoplastic space in N. benthamiana leaves.
MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Andrea G. G. Monroy-Borrego, Nicole F. F. Steinmetz
Summary: Agriculture is challenged by global warming and new pests. Gene delivery tools can increase crop yields and enable molecular farming of pharmaceuticals in plants. However, technical difficulties and regulatory hurdles need to be overcome.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Urology & Nephrology
Meijun Si, Lanqing Li, Mengting Fang, Zhiming Ye, Xu-chao Zhang, Wei Yang, Liming Nie, Xueqing Yu
Summary: This study directly visualized the deposition of IgA in the kidneys of IgAN patients using optical imaging in a mouse model. It was found that IgA from IgAN patients preferentially accumulated in the kidneys and could persist for more than two weeks, leading to kidney impairment.
KIDNEY INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hannah D. Stacey, Diana Golubeva, Alyssa Posca, Jann C. Ang, Kyle E. Novakowski, Muhammad Atif Zahoor, Charu Kaushic, Ewa Cairns, Dawn M. E. Bowdish, Caitlin E. Mullarkey, Matthew S. Miller
Summary: IgA plays a key role in protecting against viral infections by potentiating NETosis through neutrophils, which release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to trap and inactivate viruses.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Hang Su, Andre van Eerde, Espen Rimstad, Ralph Bock, Norica Branza-Nichita, Igor A. Yakovlev, Jihong Liu Clarke
Summary: Plants are valuable sources of food, feed, herbal medicines, and raw materials for industry. They can also serve as green factories for producing biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. Plant-based production platforms offer advantages such as scalability, cost-effectiveness, and safety. Recent developments include plant-made vaccines for COVID-19 and Ebola, as well as clinical trials for plant-made influenza vaccines.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sanjay Naik, Sanjit Kumar
Summary: This review focuses on anti-viral lectins isolated and characterized from plants and algae in the past 5 years, showing their anti-viral properties against HIV, Influenza, and coronaviruses.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Zi Wang, Xinfang Xie, Jingyi Li, Xue Zhang, Jiawei He, Manliu Wang, Jicheng Lv, Hong Zhang
Summary: Excessive complement activation is implicated in the formation of crescents, especially diffuse crescent formation, in IgA nephropathy patients. Urinary C4d is correlated with the proportion of crescents and may serve as a potential biomarker for monitoring disease progression in crescentic IgA nephropathy. Combining urine complement products improves predictive ability for renal survival compared to crescents alone.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura Junqueira de Camargo, Mara Andrade Colares Maia, Rafael dos Santos Woloski, Caroline Rizzi, Gustavo Marcal Schmidt Garcia Moreira, Claus Troger Pich, Luciano da Silva Pinto
Summary: A novel lectin, rBTL, was generated by modifying the amino acid sequence of BanLec. It maintained the structure and specificity of the carbohydrate-binding site, exhibited biological activity, and showed cytotoxicity against human melanoma cells.
MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kaori Sano, Shinji Saito, Tadaki Suzuki, Osamu Kotani, Akira Ainai, Elly van Riet, Koshiro Tabata, Kumpei Saito, Yoshimasa Takahashi, Masaru Yokoyama, Hironori Sato, Takahiro Maruno, Kaede Usami, Susumu Uchiyama, Kiyoko Ogawa-Goto, Hideki Hasegawa
Summary: The functional properties of anti-HA stalk IgA antibodies are impacted by IgA polymerization, but unlike anti-HA head antibodies, this impact is not always positive. The coordination between two binding modules determines whether IgA polymerization enhances or diminishes the anti-viral functions of anti-HA stalk IgA antibodies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dharshini Karnan Singaravelu, Dalal Nasser Binjawhar, Fuad Ameen, Anbazhagan Veerappan
Summary: The study demonstrates the use of lectin-fortified cationic copper sulfide nanoparticles for targeted delivery and treatment of drug-resistant pathogens. The lectin-fortified nanoparticles showed excellent anti-infective activity against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) and stronger ability to inhibit biofilm formation and disrupt biofilm-associated virulence factors. These findings highlight the potential of lectin fortification in enhancing the therapeutic potential of antimicrobials against critical human pathogens.
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Ruben Mateos Fernandez, Marko Petek, Iryna Gerasymenko, Mojca Jutersek, Spela Baebler, Kalyani Kallam, Elena Moreno Gimenez, Janine Gondolf, Alfred Nordmann, Kristina Gruden, Diego Orzaez, Nicola J. Patron
Summary: Arthropod crop pests account for 20% of global annual crop losses, a figure expected to rise with climate change. Humans have historically used chemical formulations to control pests, but concerns about biodiversity impacts are growing. Biotechnology is providing new options for pest control, including engineering resistant crops and insect populations.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Camilo Calvache, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Sara Selma, Mireia Uranga, Asun Fernandez-del-Carmen, Jose-Antonio Daros, Diego Orzaez
Summary: This study demonstrates that anti-CRISPR proteins AcrIIA4 and AcrVA1 can prevent CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing in plants, opening up new possibilities for customized control of gene editing and gene expression.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Elena Garcia-Perez, Borja Diego-Martin, Alfredo Quijano-Rubio, Elena Moreno-Gimenez, Sara Selma, Diego Orzaez, Marta Vazquez-Vilar
Summary: A copper-inducible programmable transcriptional activator system was optimized for conditional gene activation in Nicotiana benthamiana, allowing efficient expression of target genes under specific conditions. This system has potential applications in producing plant-derived metabolites and recombinant proteins.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Sara Selma, Neus Sanmartin, Ana Espinosa-Ruiz, Silvia Gianoglio, Maria Pilar Lopez-Gresa, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Victor Flors, Antonio Granell, Diego Orzaez
Summary: Transcriptional regulators based on CRISPR architecture allow for the reprogramming of gene expression in plants. In this study, the multiplexable CRISPR activator dCasEV2.1 was used to selectively enrich four different flavonoids in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Resulting metabolic analysis showed a specific enrichment of the targeted metabolites, demonstrating the potential of dCasEV2.1 for customizing plant metabolome.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Gaston A. Pizzio, Cristian Mayordomo, Jorge Lozano-Juste, Victor Garcia-Carpintero, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Sergio G. Nebauer, Kacper P. Kaminski, Nikolai V. Ivanov, Juan C. Estevez, Maria Rivera-Moreno, Armando Albert, Diego Orzaez, Pedro L. Rodriguez
Summary: Developing crop genome editing techniques to identify key genes involved in abiotic stress signaling is essential for tackling climate change and sustainable food production. In this study, we used multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing to analyze the ABA receptor family in Nicotiana benthamiana, a biotechnological crop. We found that mutations in certain receptors impaired the sensitivity to ABA, but did not affect transpiration regulation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Sara Selma, Silvia Gianoglio, Mireia Uranga, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Ana Espinosa-Ruiz, Margit Drapal, Paul D. Fraser, Jose-Antonio Daros, Diego Orzaez
Summary: Programmable transcriptional regulators based on CRISPR architecture have promising applications in inducing plant gene expression. Virus-derived systems, particularly gRNA, have emerged as an interesting alternative for delivering CRISPR components to plants. By utilizing a Potato virus X-derived vector, researchers were able to achieve highly specific virus-induced gene activation in Nicotiana benthamiana, resulting in program-specific metabolic fingerprints in the plant leaves.
Article
Plant Sciences
Silvia Gianoglio, Cinzia Comino, Andrea Moglia, Alberto Acquadro, Victor Garcia-Carpintero, Gianfranco Diretto, Filippo Sevi, Jose Luis Rambla, Gabriella Dono, Danila Valentino, Elena Moreno-Gimenez, Mateu Fullana-Pericas, Miguel A. Conesa, Jeroni Galmes, Sergio Lanteri, Andrea Mazzucato, Diego Orzaez, Antonio Granell
Summary: Gene editing is a valuable tool for crop breeding, but its impact on agriculture depends on the regulation of crops generated by gene editing technologies and our understanding of the mutations' impact on plant phenotype. This study focuses on evaluating the effects of induced mutations in a locus-specific manner for plant breeding. By targeting the GF locus in tomatoes, the researchers assessed the efficiency, specificity, and mutation patterns associated with CRISPR/Cas9 activity for this gene. The results showed that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation of the GF locus in tomatoes is efficient, specific, and reproducible, and it offers potential improvements for cultivation, consumer appreciation, and health.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Elena Moreno-Gimenez, Sara Selma, Camilo Calvache, Diego Orzaez
Summary: Programmable transcriptional factors based on CRISPR architecture have been widely used in plants for endogenous gene regulation. The dCasEV2.1 activation system, a powerful CRISPR tool for gene induction in plants, exhibits remarkable genome-wide specificity and strong activation capacity. By utilizing the GB_SynP collection of DNA parts, a total of 35 synthetic promoters were successfully assembled, showing predictable activation levels and minimal background. Furthermore, GB_SynP was employed to analyze the combinatorial expression of an autoluminescence pathway in Nicotiana benthamiana, demonstrating the valuable role of this tool in extracting important biological information.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Sara Selma, Diego Orzaez
Summary: The possibility of engineering plants with augmented capabilities has fascinated plant biotechnologists since its origins, and it has become even more relevant in present times due to climate change and population growth. Synthetic biology has provided tools for constructing synthetic gene circuits (SGCs) in plant biotechnology, allowing the manipulation of environmental or endogenous inputs to generate new physiological outputs. This review aims to categorize the components of SGCs into sensor, processor, and actuator modules and discuss the latest advances and challenges in their design, providing a framework for exchanging DNA parts and information in plant synthetic biology.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Kalyani Kallam, Elena Moreno-Gimenez, Ruben Mateos-Fernandez, Connor Tansley, Silvia Gianoglio, Diego Orzaez, Nicola Patron
Summary: Previous studies have shown that plants can be used as production platforms for molecules used in health, medicine, and agriculture. This study demonstrated the use of pathway engineering and synthetic genetic elements for controlling the timing and levels of production of Lepidopteran sex pheromones in Nicotiana benthamiana. The approaches demonstrated here provide new insights into the heterologous reconstruction of metabolic pathways in plants.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carmine De Paola, Victor Garcia-Carpintero, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Kacper Kaminski, Asun Fernandez-del-Carmen, Nicolas Sierro, Nikolai V. Ivanov, Giovanni Giuliano, Peter Waterhouse, Diego Orzaez
Summary: SPL proteins play important roles in plant growth and development, and have potential applications in precision breeding. In this study, SPL genes were identified in tobacco and Nicotiana benthamiana LAB strain, and were found to be regulated by microRNA 156. Knockout of the N. benthamiana SPL13_1a gene resulted in a significant delay in flowering time.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Elena Moreno-Gimenez, Monica Gandia, Zara Saez, Paloma Manzanares, Lynne Yenush, Diego Orzaez, Jose F. Marcos, Sandra Garrigues
Summary: Fungal synthetic biology is a rapidly developing field that aims to optimize the use of fungi in biotechnology by generating standardized genetic elements and rules for the fungal research community. The development of synthetic biology toolkits for filamentous fungi and the expansion of the FungalBraid catalog open up new possibilities for studying and exploiting these organisms. The addition of new DNA parts and the adaptation of dCas9-regulated synthetic promoter collections further enhance the modularity and interchangeability of DNA assemblies in fungi.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Buddhini Ranawaka, Jiyuan An, Michal T. Lorenc, Hyungtaek Jung, Maria Sulli, Giuseppe Aprea, Sally Roden, Victor Llaca, Satomi Hayashi, Leila Asadyar, Zacharie LeBlanc, Zuba Ahmed, Fatima Naim, Samanta Bolzan de Campos, Tal Cooper, Felipe F. de Felippes, Pengfei Dong, Silin Zhong, Victor Garcia-Carpintero, Diego Orzaez, Kevin J. Dudley, Aureliano Bombarely, Julia Bally, Christopher Winefield, Giovanni Giuliano, Peter M. Waterhouse
Summary: Nicotiana benthamiana is a valuable model plant and biotechnology platform with a 3 Gb allotetraploid genome. High-quality genome assemblies, along with transcriptome, epigenome, microRNA, and transposable element datasets, have been produced for LAB strain and a related wild accession, QLD. Despite several genomic differences, LAB/QLD has the potential to be as useful as the Columbia-0/Landsberg errecta partnership in Arabidopsis genomics.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Fernando Merwaiss, Enrique Lozano-Sanchez, Joao Zulaica, Luciana Rusu, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Diego Orzaez, Guillermo Rodrigo, Ron Geller, Jose-Antonio Daros
Summary: Researchers have developed genetically encoded multivalent viral nanoparticles that can recognize and neutralize SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. These nanoparticles exhibited higher neutralization activity compared to the corresponding nanobodies in a dimeric format. The ability to produce VNP cocktails in plants makes them an attractive alternative to standard antibodies for multiple applications in diagnosis and therapeutics.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2023)