Biologia plantarum, 2013 (vol. 57), issue 3

Article

In vitro flowering red miniature rose

S. Zeng, S. Liang, Y. Y. Zhang, K. L. Wu, J. A. Teixeira da Silva, J. Duan

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:401-409 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0306-4

Using aseptic plantlets obtained from stem node explants of hybrid red miniature rose (Rosa hybrida cv. Fairy Dance), the effects of shoot physiological status, medium ingredients, and culture thermoperiod on in vitro flowering were evaluated. Shoot height, subculture media for shoot multiplication, sucrose concentration, plant growth regulators (PGRs), mineral substances in media, and thermoperiod had a significant effect on the percentage of in vitro flowering. Shoots 3 ± 0.2 or 2 ± 0.2 cm in height cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 2.0 mg dm^-3 6-benzyladenine (BA), 0.2 mg dm^-3...

Spatio-temporal distribution and methyl-esterification of pectic epitopes provide evidence of developmental regulation of pectins during somatic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

K. Sala, I. Potocka, E. Kurczynska

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:410-416 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0304-6

The aim of the present study was to describe the occurrence of three pectic epitopes, recognized by JIM7, LM19, and LM5 antibodies, during somatic (SE) and zygotic (ZE) embryogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. The epitopes recognized by JIM7 and LM19 antibodies showed different distributions during SE stages. Moreover, in the early stages of somatic embryo development, a cytoplasmic occurrence of LM19 epitope was detected. Distribution of a pectic epitope recognized by LM5 antibody corresponded to a vascular system differentiation pattern. Occurrence of LM5 epitope was the same in both zygotic and somatic embryos and often restricted to newly...

Lipid peroxidation, H₂O₂ content, and antioxidants during acclimatization of Abrus precatorius to ex vitro conditions

S. Perveen, M. Anis, I. M. Aref

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:417-424 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0328-y

An efficient, rapid, and reproducible plant regeneration protocol was successfully developed for Abrus precatorius L. using mature nodal explants excised from a 5-year-old field grown plant. The highest shoot regeneration frequency (87 %) with maximum number of multiple shoots (15.0) and shoot length (4.8 cm) were recorded on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium amended with 2.5 μM thidiazuron, 120 mg dm^-3 polyvinylpyrrolidone, and 0.5 μM α-naphthalene acetic acid. The best treatment for maximum root (4.0) induction was half strength MS medium supplemented with 1.5 μM indole-3-butyric acid. The in vitro plantlets...

Analysis of differentially expressed genes in response to endogenous cytokinins during cotton leaf senescence

P. Zhao, N. Zhang, Z. J. Yin, Y. D. Liu, F. F. Shen

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:425-432 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0324-2

Cytokinins have been implicated in delaying leaf senescence. We previously generated transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants that harbor the Agrobacterium isopentenyl transferase gene (ipt) directed by a proteinase gene promoter. Here, we report that mRNAs were isolated from ipt cotton leaves and azygous leaves and were subsequently sequenced using Illumina Solexa technology. The sequence tags were searched against the TIGR database and the related gene expression profiles were compared resulting in the identification of 1 218 differentially expressed genes (DEGs): 719 up-regulated and 499 down-regulated....

Arabidopsis LIM proteins PLIM2a and PLIM2b regulate actin configuration during pollen tube growth

J. R. Ye, L. M. Zhou, M. L. Xu

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:433-441 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0323-3

The pollen tube grows rapidly, exclusively at its tip, to deliver its sperm for fertilization. The polarized tip growth of pollen tubes is dependent on the highly dynamic actin cytoskeleton. Plant LIM proteins (named after initials of containing proteins Lin11, Isl-1, and Mec-3) have been shown to regulate actin bundling in different cells, however, their roles in pollen tube growth have remained obscure. Here, we report the function of Arabidopsis LIM proteins PLIM2a and PLIM2b in pollen tube growth. The PLIM2a mutation resulted in short and swollen Arabidopsis pollen tube with defective actin bundles. The expression of the construct...

Characterization and gene mapping of a chlorophyll-deficient mutant clm1 of Triticum monococcum L.

M. J. Ansari, A. Al-Ghamdi, R. Kumar, S. Usmani, Y. Al-Attal, A. Nuru, A. A. Mohamed, K. Singh, H. S. Dhaliwal

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:442-448 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0307-3

Diploid wheat Triticum monococcum L. is a model plant for wheat functional genomics. Chlorophyll-deficient mutant (clm1) was identified during manual screening of the ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS)-treated M₂ progenies of T. monococcum accession pau14087 in the field. The clm1 mutant, due to significantly decreased chlorophyll content compared with the wild-type (WT), exhibited pale yellow leaves which slowly recovered to green before flowering. The clm1 mutant showed early flowering, reduced number of tillers, trichome length and density, and different shape as compared with the WT. At the same time, clm1...

Cryptic homoeology analysis in species and hybrids of genus Zea

M. del C. Molina, C. G. López, S. Staltari, S. E. Chorzempa, V. Moreno Ferrero

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:449-456 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0299-4

Cryptic intergenomic pairing of genus Zea was induced by the use of a diluted colchicine solution in order to elucidate the phylogenetic relations and differentiation of the homoeologous genomes. Results indicate that in species and hybrids with 2n = 20, there was chromosome pairing between the homoeologous A and B genomes with a maximum of 5IV, with the exception of Zea diploperennis and their interspecific hybrids where cryptic homoeologous chromosome pairing was not induced. In almost all 2n = 30 hybrids, observed cryptic pairing increased to a maximum of 10III although Z. mays × Z. mays with 2n = 30 did not show significant...

Expression of recombinant human lactoferrin in transgenic alfalfa plants

G. Stefanova, S. Slavov, K. Gecheff, M. Vlahova, A. Atanassov

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:457-464 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0305-5

In order to produce human lactoferrin (Lf) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), a construct containing human Lf cDNA under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was engineered. As selectable marker bar gene, whose expression in plant cells confers tolerance to L-phosphinothricin (ppt) was used. Plants from a highly embryogenic alfalfa clone from the Bulgarian cultivar Obnova 10 were transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated leaf disc method. Transgenic alfalfa plants were established from ppt-resistant calli via indirect somatic embryogenesis. The presence of human Lf cDNA in the genome of the...

Isolation and functional characterization of Salt overly sensitive 1 (SOS1) gene promoter from Salicornia brachiata

E. Goyal, R. S. Singh, K. Kanika

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:465-473 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0309-1

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress and salt overly sensitive (SOS) pathway plays an important role in imparting tolerance to salinity by reinstating cellular ionic equilibrium. Salt overly sensitive 1 (SOS1) gene of SOS pathway has been implicated in increasing salt tolerance in plants. In this study, a 734 bp fragment of SOS1 promoter (SbUSOS1) was isolated from a halophyte Salicornia brachiata Roxb. In silico analysis of SbUSOS1 predicted several cis-acting regulatory elements such as DOF motif, GT elements, ABRE-like sequence, and root specific motifs. Functional validation of SbUSOS1 into tobacco stems...

Structural, physiological, and biochemical profiling of tea plants under zinc stress

M. Mukhopadhyay, A. Das, P. Subba, P. Bantawa, B. Sarkar, P. Ghosh, T. K. Mondal

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:474-480 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0300-2

Zinc is the most widespread deficient micronutrient in the tea growing soils of India which affects growth of the plants. In order to investigate the structural, physiological, and biochemical changes under Zn stress (i.e. both deficient and excess supply) of tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze cv. T-78] plants, we treated young plants with ZnSO₄ at 0 (deficiency), 0.3, 3 (optimum), and 30 μM (toxic) concentrations for 8 weeks. Zn deficiency and excess resulted in considerable decrease in shoot and root fresh and dry masses, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed disorganization of some cellular organelles....

Magnesium deficiency-induced changes in organic acid metabolism of Citrus sinensis roots and leaves

L.T. Yang, G.H. Yang, X. You, C.P. Zhou, Y.B. Lu, L.S. Chen

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:481-486 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0313-5

Organic acid (OA) metabolisms are of fundamental importance but very limited data are available on the responses of plant OA metabolisms to Mg-deficiency. Seedlings of Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck cv. Xuegan were irrigated with Mg-deficient (0, 50, or 500 μM MgSO₄) or Mg-sufficient (2000 μM MgSO₄) nutrient solution every other day for 12 weeks. Thereafter, we investigated the content of Mg, malate, and citrate as well as the activities of acidmetabolizing enzymes in roots and leaves. Root malate content remained stable except for an increase in the highest Mg content and root citrate content increased with increasing...

Effect of hydrogen peroxide on seedling growth and antioxidants in two wheat cultivars

J. Lu, X.N. Li, Y.L. Yang, L.Y. Jia, J. You, W.R. Wang

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:487-494 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0312-6

This study aimed to investigate seed germination, seedling growth, and antioxidative responses in two wheat cultivars, Ningchun and Xihan, exposed to different H₂O₂ concentrations. Ningchun exhibited higher germination rate but lower root and shoot growth than Xihan when exposed to H₂O₂ treatment. Assays using fluorescent dye H₂DCFDA and propidium iodide showed a significantly enhanced H₂O₂ content and a cell elongation inhibition in H₂O₂-treated roots. The malondialdehyde content was elevated with increasing exogenous H₂O₂ concentration....

Cold-induced changes in mineral content in leaves of Coffea spp. Identification of descriptors for tolerance assessment

J. C. Ramalho, A. S. Fortunato, L. F. Goulao, F. C. Lidon

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:495-506 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0329-x

Temperature and mineral nutrition are major environmental factors regulating plant growth and development. Yet, cold impact on mineral contents and the ability of the plants to perform changes in specific elements as a part of the acclimation process received little attention. Using five Coffea genotypes previously characterized concerning their cold sensitivity, a mineral analysis was performed considering macro (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S) and micro (Na, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, and B) nutrients in order to predict their importance in cold tolerance. The results showed a cold-induced dynamics of mineral nutrients in recently mature leaves. The less cold...

Protective role of salicylic acid applied before cold stress on antioxidative system and protein patterns in barley apoplast

S. Mutlu, Ö. Karadağoğlu, Ö. Atici, B. Nalbantoğlu

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:507-513 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0322-4

This study was carried out to better understand the role of salicylic acid (SA) applied before cold stress in the cold tolerance mechanism. Two barley (Hordeum vulgare) cultivars, cold-sensitive (Akhisar) and cold-tolerant (Tokak), were used and 0.1 mM SA was applied to 7-d-old barley seedlings growing under control conditions (20/18 °C). The seedlings were transferred to cold chamber (7/5 °C) at the age 14, 21, and 28 d. After three days, the leaves were harvested to determine the activities of apoplastic antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) and ice nucleation activity and electrophoretic...

Cell death induced by ozone stress in the leaves of Populus deltoides × maximowiczii

G. Bartoli, L. M. C. Forino, A. M. Tagliasacchi, M. Durante

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:514-524 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0315-3

When exposed to an acute ozone stress, cell death occurred in leaves of the O₃ sensitive Populus deltoides × maximowiczii clone Eridano. After treatment (5 h fumigation and 24 h recovery), the damaged areas covered more than 50 % of the leaf surface. At cellular level, these lesions were preceded by some apoptotic hallmarks and by biochemical and physiological alterations evoked by the apoplastic O₃ dissociation. The cell death pattern was highly localized and involved an increase of membrane permeability, externalization of phosphatidylserine, DNA fragmentation, callose accumulation, polyphenol production, and a biphasic...

Anatomical changes of xylem cells in stem of Pinus radiata seedlings exposed to inclination and ethylene

P. Ramos, R. Herrera

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:525-530 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0321-5

In conifers, relationship between ethylene and the response to inclination are not well understood. The aim of this work was to study the consequence for the application of 2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid (ethephon), compound able to release ethylene, in one-year-old Pinus radiata D. Don seedlings subjected to inclination. In plants exposed to inclination for 15 d, increase in thickness of cell walls, more rounded shape of xylem cells, and accumulation of lignin were observed. Ethephon application accelerated significantly these changes; they can be observed after 5 d of inclination. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) showed up-regulation...

Impact of phloem girdling on leaf gas exchange and hydraulic conductance in hybrid aspen

A. Sellin, A. Niglas, E. Õunapuu, A. Karusion

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:531-539 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0316-2

We investigated phloem-xylem interactions in relation to leaf hydraulic capacity in hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) by using phloem girdling method. Removal of bark tissues (phloem girdling) at the branch base resulted in a substantial decline in stomatal conductance (g_S), net photosynthetic rate (P_N), and leaf hydraulic efficiency, and in increase of leaf water potential (Ψ_L). Although gS declined more than P_N (83 versus 78 %), the ratio of intercellular to ambient CO₂ concentrations (c_i/c_a) increased from 0.67 to 0.87 in three...

A type I MADS-box gene is differentially expressed in wheat in response to infection by the stripe rust fungus

J. Guo, X. -X. Shi, J. -S. Zhang, Y. -H. Duan, P. -F. Bai, X. -N. Guan, Z. -S. Kang

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:540-546 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0297-6

The gene, designated TaMADS2, was obtained from wheat leaves infected with the wheat stripe rust fungus by in silico cloning and RT-PCR. TaMADS2 encodes a predicted 159-amino-acid polypeptide that contains a highly conserved MADS domain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that TaMADS2 is a type I MADS-box gene. The TaMADS2 transcript was detected in wheat leaves, stems, and roots. The expression of TaMADS2 was substantially down-regulated in the compatible interaction between wheat and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) at 36 and 48 h post-inoculation (hpi), whereas in the incompatible...

Viral resistance mediated by shRNA depends on the sequence similarity and mismatched sites between the target sequence and siRNA

L. Zhang, X. Xie, Y. Song, F. Jiang, C. Zhu, F. Wen

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:547-554 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0314-4

Viral resistance can be effectively induced in transgenic plants through their silencing machinery. Thus, we designed nine short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) constructs to target nuclear inclusion protein b (NIb), helper component proteinase (HC-Pro), cylindrical inclusion protein (CI) and viral protein genome linked (VPg) genes of Potato virus Y (PVY^N) and Tobacco etch virus (TEV-SD1). The shRNAs were completely complementary to the genes of PVY^N, and contained 1-3 nt mismatches to the genes of TEV-SD1. To study the specificity of gene silencing in shRNA-mediated viral resistance, the constructs...

Brief Communications

Abscisic acid mediates hydrogen peroxide production in peanut induced by water stress

A. Furlan, A. Llanes, V. Luna, S. Castro

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:555-558 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0296-7

Peanut plants exposed to water stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) accumulated abscisic acid (ABA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), the increase being significant at 12 and 24 h after addition, respectively. To address the question whether the increase in H₂O₂ production was related to ABA accumulation, the peanut leaves were pretreated with ABA biosynthesis inhibitor (sodium tungstate) and then exposed to water stress. Under these conditions, a decrease of ABA and H₂O₂ content were found after 12 h. The addition of 100 μM ABA restored H₂O₂ content reaching...

Extent of cross-fertilization in Orobanche cumana Wallr.

M. I. Rodríguez-Ojeda, J. M. Fernández-Martínez, L. Velasco, B. Pérez-Vich

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:559-562 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0301-1

Sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) is considered a self-fertilizing species, but there is no indication as to whether it is strictly self-fertilized or that it presents some extent of cross-fertilization. The objective of this research was to measure the rate of cross-fertilization in O. cumana using an unpigmented recessive mutant as a visual marker. A pot and a field experiment in which single unpigmented plants were surrounded by a large number of pigmented plants were conducted. Occurrence of F₁ hybrids, readily distinguishable from unpigmented plants in the progenies of unpigmented plants provided a direct measurement...

Microsatellite markers designed for tree-fern species Dicksonia sellowiana

A. G. Nazareno, P. C. S. Angelo, V. C. Muschner, J. Santos, A. D. Schlindwein, M. S. Reis

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:563-566 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0311-7

Microsatellite markers were developed for Dicksonia sellowiana (Dicksoniaceae), an overexploited and endangered tree-fern species native to Brazil. From an enriched genomic library, 11 primer pairs were selected and used to characterize 36 D. sellowiana individuals from six Brazilian populations. Eight primer pairs amplified dinucleotide and hexanucleotide repeats with two to ten alleles per locus; three primer pairs were monomorphic. For the set of polymorphic markers, the mean observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.29 to 0.44 and from 0.27 to 0.56, respectively. Eight of the primer pairs were also successfully amplified...

Pretreatment with NaCl induces tolerance of rice seedlings to subsequent Cd or Cd + NaCl stress

L. J. Ma, C. M. Yu, X. M. Li, Y. Y. Li, L. L. Wang, C. Y. Ma, S. Y. Tao, N. Bu

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:567-570 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0310-8

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings were grown hydroponically in Hoagland's nutrient solution under controlled conditions to investigate the effects of NaCl pretreatment on their response to subsequent application of cadmium (Cd) alone and Cd + NaCl combination. The Cd stress caused growth retardation in all plants, significantly reduced pigment content, stomatal conductance (g_s), and net photosynthetic rate (P_N). Cd stress significantly increased malondialdehyde and proline content. Compared to Cd treatment alone, combination stress had more detrimental effects on the above parameters. However, the NaCl pretreatment was beneficial...

Early transcription of defence-related genes in Platanus × acerifolia leaves following treatment with cerato-platanin

I. Baccelli, A. Scala, L. Pazzagli, R. Bernardi

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:571-575 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0308-2

The protein elicitor cerato-platanin (CP) is known to induce defence-related responses in various plants. Some of these responses occur very quickly. In the present work, transcriptional changes caused by CP in leaves from Platanus × acerifolia (Aiton) Willd. were studied. With a cDNA microarray, 131 differentially regulated transcripts were identified as responsive to CP after 24 h of treatment. Eighty-six of these were cold-or ozone-modulated transcripts, thus revealing a significant overlap between genes responsive to CP and to cold/ozone stress. The transcriptional changes caused by CP were compared with the CP-orthologous protein Pop1 in...

Effects of paclobutrazol in vitro on transplanting efficiency and root tip development of Dendrobium nobile

Z. Z. Wen, Y. Lin, Y. Q. Liu, M. Wang, Y. Q. Wang, W. Liu

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:576-580 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0319-z

The effects of paclobutrazol (PBZ) on the ex vitro transfer efficiency of in vitro grown Dendrobium nobile seedlings were investigated. The survival percentage was increased by 41.6 % with 0.8 mg dm^-3 PBZ treatment compared to controls. The PBZ-treated D. nobile plants were shorter than control plants. Morphological and anatomical analyses showed that root diameter, especially at the root apex, became larger after treatment with PBZ which is consistent with the increases in cortical cell sizes and row numbers. In addition, the first observations of thickened velamen of the PBZ-treated seedling were made in the...

Spatial distribution and speciation of copper in root tips of cucumber revealed by μ-XRF and μ-XANES

J. Song, Y. Q. Yang, S. H. Zhu, G. C. Chen, X. F. Yuan, T. T. Liu, X. H. Yu, J. Y. Shi

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:581-586 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0317-1

The localization, biotransformation, and chemical speciation of copper in root tips of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) were investigated using synchrotron-based micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and micro X-ray absorption near edge structure (μ-XANES). The highest content of Cu was found in root cap and meristematic zone whereas low Cu content in elongation and maturation zone. There was a dramatic increase of Cu content in root cap and meristematic zone after treatment with 100 μM CuSO₄ for 72 h. The μ-XANES analysis revealed that most of Cu in root tip was bound with alginate, citrate, and cysteine-like ligands whereas rarely...

Effects of cadmium on growth, photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content in leaves of soybean seedlings

Z. -C. Xue, H. -Y. Gao, L. -T. Zhang

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:587-590 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0318-0

Cadmium is a widely spread pollutant and the objective of this study was to study the effects of different concentrations of Cd (0, 50, and 100 μM) on the soybean seedlings treated for 10 d. The growth was inhibited and chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO₂ concentration, probability that a trapped exciton moves an electron into the electron transport chain beyond QA - (ET_O/TR_O), performance indexes (PI_ABS), and amount of active reaction centres per excited cross section (RC/CS_O) were decreased with the increasing Cd concentration. The leaf reflectance...

Wood ontogeny during the first year of hybrid poplar development

J. Ďurkovič, A. Kaňuchová, F. Kačík, M. Mamoňová, A. Lengyelová

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:591-596 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0320-6

During the first year of hybrid poplar development, we assessed radial growth dynamics quantified by the proportion of secondary xylem tissue within the stem area, the vessel area percentage, the content of both lignin and cellulose, the lignin monomeric composition, and the macromolecular properties of cellulose. The intraannual radial growth dynamics in the proportion of secondary xylem tissue was fitted by the Gompertz regression line whereas changes in the vessel area percentage were fitted maximally by a cubic regression line. Under constant temperature and photoperiod, this study revealed that nonlinear patterns of radial growth dynamics are...

Characterization of RAM to SAM transitions in Selaginella microphylla grown in vitro

S. Bandyopadhyay, K. Nandagopal, T. B. Jha

Biologia plantarum 2013, 57:597-600 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-013-0325-1

In vitro morphogenetic ability of plant cells has been demonstrated in diverse species of angiosperms and gymnosperms but no such report is available in the genus Selaginella till date. We have established an in vitro morphogenic root culture where indole butyric acid (IBA) induced profuse branched and unbranched roots in Selaginella microphylla. We observed inter-convertibility of root apical meristem (RAM) to shoot apical meristem (SAM) in presence of IBA and showed that intact roots are also capable of transformation. Friable callus was obtained from roots on prolonged (∼50 weeks) root cultures. By isolating total...