Article
Plant Sciences
Jose P. Delatorre-Castillo, Jose Delatorre-Herrera, Kung Sang Lay, Jorge Arenas-Charlin, Isabel Sepulveda-Soto, Liliana Cardemil, Enrique Ostria-Gallardo
Summary: Aloe vera, a succulent CAM plant, has the remarkable ability to survive under severe and prolonged drought. The study found that a preconditioning treatment of 50% of soil field capacity allowed A. vera to better withstand seven months of water deprivation. The plant also showed a metabolic switch in response to drought. This research may provide biotechnological solutions for crop production in the current scenario of climatic emergency.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fanny E. Hartmann, Tiziana Vonlanthen, Nikhil Kumar Singh, Megan C. McDonald, Andrew Milgate, Daniel Croll
Summary: Convergent evolution was observed in pesticide resistance adaptation of the fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici, with some loci showing convergent changes across populations while others displaying more population-specific allele frequency changes. Genome-wide association studies revealed unknown factors in azole resistance and showed that half of the known resistance loci overlapped with selective sweep regions, indicating the major selective pressure of fungicide application on the pathogen. Genomic analyses highlighted the contribution of both de novo mutations and gene flow to convergent pesticide adaptation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Loren Kocillari, Mark E. Olson, Samir Suweis, Rodrigo P. Rocha, Alberto Lovison, Franco Cardin, Todd E. Dawson, Alberto Echeverria, Alex Fajardo, Silvia Lechthaler, Cecilia Martinez-Perez, Carmen Regina Marcati, Kuo-Fang Chung, Julieta A. Rosell, Ali Segovia-Rivas, Cameron B. Williams, Emilio Petrone-Mendoza, Andrea Rinaldo, Tommaso Anfodillo, Jayanth R. Banavar, Amos Maritan
Summary: Plants play a crucial role in shaping global water and carbon cycles through the transportation of water via xylem conduits. The Widened Pipe Model (WPM) proposes that xylem conduits should have a specific profile along plant stems, balancing between hydraulic efficiency and carbon cost. The data analysis supports the WPM predictions, highlighting the influence of natural selection on plant hydraulic evolution.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Gederts Ievinsh
Summary: The aim of this review is to reassess various aspects of plant water content and argue that measuring absolute water content in plant sciences is undervalued. The review discusses general questions about water status in plants, methods of determining water content, structural organization of water in plant tissues, and differences in water content of different plant parts. It also analyzes the influence of environmental factors on plant water status and concludes that the physiological and ecological significance of differences in plant water content require further elucidation.
Review
Ecology
Steven A. Kannenberg, Jessica S. Guo, Kimberly A. Novick, William R. L. Anderegg, Xue Feng, Daniel Kennedy, Alexandra G. Konings, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Ashley M. Matheny
Summary: This review explores the factors shaping plant water stress responses and the approaches used to classify plant water-use strategies. The controversial concept of a continuum from isohydry to anisohydry is highlighted.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Boaz Negin, Georg Jander
Summary: The majority of plant specialized metabolites serve as defense mechanisms against herbivores, with identical or structurally distinct compounds repeatedly targeting the same herbivorous animals. This may be due to constraints in plant primary metabolism and limited accessible targets in animals. The complex biosynthetic pathways of unique defensive compounds in individual genera or species may complicate their repeated evolution in different plant species.
CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Brett T. Wolfe, Matteo Detto, Yong-Jiang Zhang, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Tim Brodribb, Adam D. Collins, Chloe Crawford, L. Turin Dickman, Kim S. Ely, Jessica Francisco, Preston D. Gurry, Haigan Hancock, Christopher T. King, Adelodun R. Majekobaje, Christian J. Mallett, Nate G. McDowell, Zachary Mendheim, Sean T. Michaletz, Daniel B. Myers, Ty J. Price, Alistair Rogers, Lawren Sack, Shawn P. Serbin, Zafar Siddiq, David Willis, Jin Wu, Joseph Zailaa, S. Joseph Wright
Summary: The partitioning of hydraulic resistance along the soil-to-leaf continuum affects transpiration in vascular plants. In trees, the contribution of leaf hydraulic resistance to total soil-to-leaf hydraulic resistance is significant and declines with tree height. Assessing leaf hydraulic resistance using field-based measurements provides a more accurate understanding of its role in tree hydrodynamics.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kara Ryan, Ryan Greenway, Jake Landers, Lenin Arias-Rodriguez, Michael Tobler, Joanna L. Kelley
Summary: Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas that disrupts biological processes, yet fish in the Poecilia mexicana species complex have evolved sulfide tolerance multiple times. This study investigates whether the repeated evolution of tolerance is due to similar genomic changes, finding evidence of both convergence and divergence in gene variation associated with sulfide processes and toxicity.
Article
Biology
Jory Thiel, Muzaffar A. Khan, Roel M. Wouters, Richard J. Harris, Nicholas R. Casewell, Bryan G. Fry, R. Manjunatha Kini, Stephen P. Mackessy, Freek J. Vonk, Wolfgang Wuster, Michael K. Richardson
Summary: Convergence is the phenomenon where similar phenotypes evolve independently in different lineages. Resistance to toxins in animals is an example of convergence, where molecular adaptations have evolved to counteract the harmful effects of toxins. However, resistance adaptations may carry fitness costs if they disrupt the normal physiology of the resistant animal.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Stefano G. Giulieri, Romain Guerillot, Sebastian Duchene, Abderrahman Hachani, Diane Daniel, Torsten Seemann, Joshua S. Davis, Steven Y. C. Tong, Bernadette C. Young, Daniel J. Wilson, Timothy P. Stinear, Benjamin P. Howden
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the genetic variations and evolutionary patterns of Staphylococcus aureus during severe infections. The findings reveal distinct evolutionary signatures and convergent mutations in genes related to antibiotic response and pathogenesis, highlighting the clinical significance of these adaptations. Non-canonical loci associated with adaptation were also identified. These results contribute to a better understanding of the molecular changes when S. aureus transitions from colonization to severe infection and may have implications for predicting clinical outcomes and developing new treatment and prevention strategies.
Article
Ecology
Ryan Hill
Summary: This study examined convergent evolution in flight-related morphology among eight mimicry complexes of 51 butterfly species from Ecuador. Results showed significant morphological differences between mimicry complexes, divided into three clusters. Flight-related morphology adds complexity to predator-prey signals and limits the evolution of color patterns.
Article
Microbiology
Jean Carlier, Francois Bonnot, Veronique Roussel, Sebastien Ravel, Reina Teresa Martinez, Luis Perez-Vicente, Catherine Abadie, Stephen Wright
Summary: This study revealed the genomic basis of adaptation to quantitative resistance in the banana pathogen Pseudocercospora fijiensis, detecting several genomic regions potentially involved in quantitative pathogenicity and highlighting specific host-pathogen interactions. The findings suggest a polygenic basis for fungal adaptation to quantitative plant resistance and complex molecular interactions between plants and pathogens in quantitative disease development.
Review
Plant Sciences
Mohanned Abdalla, Michael Bitterlich, Jan Jansa, David Pueschel, Mutez A. Ahmed
Summary: This article reviews the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in improving crop drought tolerance, highlighting their effects on water supply and the biophysical mechanisms involved. Using a soil-plant hydraulic model, the authors demonstrate how AMF can enhance water transport in the soil and extend root length to mitigate the impact of soil drying on plant water potential. The synthesis of evidence and simulations suggest that AMF symbiosis postpones the onset of stress by regulating transpiration rates and leaf water potentials during drought, thus promoting crop survival under limited water availability. The article also calls for future research to integrate soil and root hydraulic dynamics in order to better understand the role of AMF in plant-water relations under changing climate conditions.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gil Eshel, Viviana Araus, Soledad Undurraga, Daniela C. Soto, Carol Moraga, Alejandro Montecinos, Tomas Moyano, Jonathan Maldonado, Francisca P. Diaz, Kranthi Varala, Chase W. Nelson, Orlando Contreras-Lopez, Henrietta Pal-Gabor, Tatiana Kraiser, Gabriela Carrasco-Puga, Ricardo Nilo-Poyanco, Charles M. Zegar, Ariel Orellana, Martin Montecino, Alejandro Maass, Miguel L. Allende, Robert DeSalle, Dennis W. Stevenson, Mauricio Gonzalez, Claudio Latorre, Gloria M. Coruzzi, Rodrigo A. Gutierrez
Summary: The Atacama Desert in Chile is a harsh environment with extreme conditions, yet it supports a diverse range of plant species including endemic plants. Research conducted in the region has identified genes associated with plant adaptation to stressful environments, including those linked to stress responses, metabolism, and energy production. This genetic information could be valuable for engineering crop resilience to climate change, especially as some Atacama plants are closely related to staple crops.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Andreas H. Schweiger, Nicolai M. Nurk, Heath Beckett, Sigrid Liede-Schumann, Guy F. Midgley, Steven I. Higgins
Summary: This study found that rainfall and its temporal variation can predict CAM dependence in the leaf-succulent genus Drosanthemum, with high predictive power of rainfall constancy. The predictive power of rainfall seasonality and temperature-related variables was negligible. The evolutionary history of the tested clades significantly affected the relationship between rainfall constancy and CAM dependence.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nick A. Owen, Orlaith Ni Choncubhair, Jamie Males, Jose Ignacio del Real Laborde, Ramon Rubio-Cortes, Howard Griffiths, Gary Lanigan
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2016)
Review
Plant Sciences
Jamie Males
BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Jamie Males, Howard Griffiths
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Ecology
Jamie Males
Article
Plant Sciences
Jamie Males, Howard Griffiths
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2017)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jamie Males, Howard Griffiths
Article
Plant Sciences
Jamie Males
FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jamie Males
Article
Plant Sciences
Carrie M. Tribble, Jesus Martinez-Gomez, Cody Coyotee Howard, Jamie Males, Victoria Sosa, Emily B. Sessa, Nico Cellinese, Chelsea D. Specht
Summary: Geophytes are herbaceous plants that regrow from underground buds, playing an important role in plant evolution and ecology. Their ability to adapt to seasonal climates, mediate interactions between plants, and influence macroevolutionary patterns make them valuable research subjects. Despite the importance of belowground organs in characterizing morphological diversity, research on the morphology and evolution of these organs is lacking.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jamie Males