Biologia plantarum, 2017 (vol. 61), issue 2
Original Papers
De novo transcriptome analysis of Fraxinus velutina using Illumina platform and development of EST-SSR markers
L.-P. Yan, C.-L. Liu, D.-J. Wu, L. Li, J. Shu, C. Sun, Y. Xia, L.-J. Zhao
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:210-218 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0681-8
To facilitate functional genomic analysis and molecular breeding of velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina Torr), the de novo sequencing was carried out by Illumina sequencing technology. The cDNA samples were prepared from eleven different tissues of velvet ash and sequenced by using the Illumina genome analyzer. Subsequently, de novo assemebly, functional annotation databases, and the screening of expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) were performed by comparing with corresponding databases using BLASTx and software tools. We obtained 51 698 unigenes with an average length of 661 bp and an N50...
Expression of sucrose metabolism and transport genes in cassava petiole abscission zones in response to water stress
W. B. Liao, Y. Y. Li, C. Lu, M. Peng
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:219-226 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0658-7
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important crop, and its starch formation is regulated by sucrose metabolism and transport. To understand the roles of sucrose metabolism and transport in cassava under water stress, we studied not only sucrose metabolism and transport in cassava abscission zones (AZs) but also expression of respective genes. Sucrose was transported from leaves to roots in the early stage of water stress, and a reverse sucrose flow was detected in the later stages of the stress. The decrease in sucrose content was related to leaf senescence and inhibition of photosynthesis. Microarray analyses showed seven genes encoding...
Differential expression pattern of transcription factors across annual Medicago genotypes in response to salinity stress
F. Mokhtari, F. Rafiei, L. Shabani, B. Shiran
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:227-234 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0666-7
Plants respond differently to salinity stress due to their unique gene architectures. Among genes, transcription factors (TFs) regulate many physiological and biochemical processes by modulating the rate of transcription initiation of target genes. Modulation of TFs has been correlated to the salt adaptation of any given genotype. In order to identify the expression of eight TFs (belong to bHLH, CBF, MYB, WRKY, and Zpt2 families) in three annual Medicago genotypes (M. polymorpha cv. Ieze, M. laciniata cv. Shushtar, and M. laciniata cv. Gheshm) under salinity stress, the RT-qPCR analyses were performed. Attempts were also...
An intronless sucrose:fructan-6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) gene from Dasypyrum villosum enhances abiotic tolerance in tobacco
X. L. He, J. W. Wang, W. X. Li, Z. Z. Chen, J. Wu, J. X. Zhao, J. N. Su, Z. H. Wang, X. H. Chen
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:235-245 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0696-1
Fructans play vital roles in enhancing plant abiotic stress tolerance by reducing oxidative damage, stabilizing cell membranes, improving the osmotic adjustment capacity, and lowering the freezing point. In this study, a sucrose: fructan-6-fructosyltransferase (6-SFT) gene involved in the synthesis of fructans was isolated from Dasypyrum villosum, Dv-6-SFT, using genomic walking and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. Alignment of the cDNA sequence with its genomic counterpart showed that no introns were present in the Dv-6-SFT gene, and thus it differs from all other plant 6-SFTs that have been cloned previously. Sequence...
Gene expression and flavonol biosynthesis are induced by ultraviolet-B and salt stresses in Reaumuria trigyna
H. Zhang, Z. Wu, Y. Suo, J. Wang, L. Zheng, Y. Wang
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:246-254 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-017-0725-8
In plants, flavonoids play roles not only in development, but also in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. We analyzed the transcriptome data of NaCl-treated Reaumuria trigyna, a small, highly haloduric desert shrub, focusing on the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. We identified 118 unigenes annotated as genes encoding enzymes related to flavonoid biosynthesis, 68 of which were differentially expressed under NaCl treatment (39 upregulated, 29 downregulated). Of the 118 annotated unigenes, 47 were annotated as members of families related to the flavonol biosynthetic pathway (e.g., F3H, FLS, and OMT). Of those 47...
Comprehensive analysis of differently expressed genes and proteins in albino and green plantlets from a wheat anther culture
P. Zhao, K. Wang, W. Zhang, H. Y. Liu, L. P. Du, H. R. Hu, X. G. Ye
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:255-265 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0662-y
The anther culture technique, although it has been widely used in wheat breeding programs, is associated with a high albinism rate that limits its application. The mechanism of albinism has not been studied explicitly at the molecular level. In this study, differently expressed genes (DEGs) and proteins (DEPs) of albino and green seedlings from a wheat anther culture were analyzed and compared using transcriptomic sequencing (RNA-Seq), two-dimensional electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. A total of 1 892 DEGs (1 115 down-regulated and 777 up-regulated) and 43 DEPs (15 down-regulated and 28 up-regulated) that are primarily involved in photosynthetic...
Characterization and functional analysis of transcription factor ZmEIL1 in maize
Q. L. Shi, Y. B. Dong, D. H. Qiao, Q. Zhou, L. Zhang, Z. Y. Ma, Y. L. Li
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:266-274 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-017-0705-z
As key nuclear transcription factors, the ethylene-insensitive3/EIN3-like (EIN3/EIL) proteins play important roles in ethylene signal transduction pathway in various plants. In order to better understand the role of EIN3/EILs, one EIN3-like gene (designated ZmEIL1) was isolated from maize (Zea mays L.). The full-length cDNA of ZmEIL1 was 1 999 bp in length and encoded 647 amino acids. Sequence comparison of ZmEIL1 protein with other EIN3/EILs proteins revealed high conservation of five α-helices that could form a V-shaped cleft in a 3-D model, just like AtEIL3 in Arabidopsis thaliana. This protein showed...
The analysis of mutant phenotypes and tissue expression reveals a role of SNAREs VAMP721 and VAMP722 in seedling growth
L. Zhang, H. Y. Zhao, W. C. Qi, F. X. Zheng, T. Q. Wang, J. Y. Li
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:275-283 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-017-0745-4
Membrane traffic mediated by a soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex contributes to plant growth and development. However, the functional significance of SNAREs involved in cell wall deposition and seedling development has not been sufficiently explored. In this study, we explored the roles of R-SNAREs VAMP721 (At1g04750) and VAMP722 (At2g33120) in seedling growth of Arabidopsis thaliana by histochemical staining, fluorescence labeling, and analyzing mutant phenotypes. Our results show a massive intracellular accumulation of cellulose and callose, and an abnormal deposition of callose...
Function of Malus prunifolia WRKY6 transcription factor in response to different stresses
N. Wang, Z.-Y. Yue, P. Wang, X. Sun, X.-Q. Gong, F.-W. Ma
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:284-292 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0701-8
The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are integral parts of signaling pathways that regulate many processes, such as senescence, seed dormancy, seed germination, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Stress-related functions of WRKY6 have been characterized in Arabidopsis and other plant species, but its role has not been identified in apple. Here, we cloned WRKY6 genes from Malus prunifolia. Two homologues MpWRKY6a and MpWRKY6b found in this species were members of Group II WRKY6 TFs. They were localized to the cell nucleus. MpWRKY6a can bind to W-boxes. Compared with the untransformed wild type plants, MpWRKY6a-overexpressing...
Transcriptome-wide identification and expression analyses of ABC transporters in dwarf polish wheat under metal stresses
X. Wang, C. Wang, H. Sheng, Y. Wang, J. Zeng, H. Kang, X. Fan, L. Sha, H. Zhang, Y. Zhou
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:293-304 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0697-0
ABC transporters, which comprise one of the largest protein families, are involved in maintaining osmotic homeostasis, nutrient uptake, pathogen resistance, and metal tolerance. In this study, 30 ABC genes in dwarf polish wheat were characterized and classified into seven subfamilies (ABCA - ABCG). Among them, 24 ABC transporters were newly found in wheat. The expressions of 13 ABC genes in roots and leaves under six metal stresses were also analyzed. All these genes were differentially regulated by Cd (except ABCE2, ABCF4, and ABCF6 in roots), suggesting that these genes participate in Cd transport, sequestration,...
Anatomy, photochemical activity, and DNA polymorphism in leaves of dwarf tomato irradiated with X-rays
C. Arena, M. Turano, B. Hay Mele, P. R. Cataletto, M. Furia, M. Pugliese, V. De Micco
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:305-314 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0668-5
The response of higher plants to ionising radiation depends on factors related to both radiation properties and plant features including species, cultivar, age, and structural complexity of the target organ. Adult plants of dwarf tomato were irradiated with different doses of X-rays to investigate possible variations in leaf morpho-anatomical traits, photosynthetic efficiency, and genomic DNA. In order to assess if and how responses depend on leaf developmental stage, we analysed two types of leaves; nearly mature leaves (L1) and actively developing leaves (L2), whose lamina size corresponded to 70 and 25 %, respectively, of the lamina size of the...
Low temperature-induced leaf senescence and the expression of senescence-related genes in the panicles of Litchi chinensis
H.-F. Yang, X.-Y. Lu, H.-B. Chen, C.-C. Wang, B.-Y. Zhou
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:315-322 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0667-6
Litchi is one of the most important subtropical evergreen fruit trees in Southern Asia. Litchi floral buds are a mix of axillary or apical panicle primordia, leaf primordia, and rudimentary leaves. Under usual winter and early spring conditions, the axillary panicle primordia prevail, and the rudimentary leaves abscise when low temperatures reach a certain threshold. The floral buds ultimately develop into pure panicles. Understanding the regulatory mechanism of rudimentary leaf senescence is of great importance for litchi flowering. In this study, litchi potted trees at the floral differentiation stage were treated with low and high temperatures in...
Enhancement of stress tolerance in cucumber seedlings by proanthocyanidins
L.-J. Zhu, X.-G. Deng, L.-J. Zou, D.-W. Zhang, H.-H. Lin
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:323-332 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0663-x
Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are the main products of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in many plants. However, their biological function during environmental stresses in plants is rarely reported. In the present study, the effects of pretreatment with PAs on the response of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings to high irradiance (HI), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and cold stress were investigated. The PAs pretreament alleviated stress-induced oxidative damage in plant cells and increased the activity of alternative oxidase (AOX) and content of abscisic acid (ABA). Furthermore, PAs-pretreated seedlings suffered less damage by the stress conditions,...
Changes in antioxidant enzyme activities and gene expression in two muskmelon genotypes under progressive water stress
W. A. Ansari, N. Atri, B. Singh, S. Pandey
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:333-341 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0694-3
Responses of two muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) genotypes (drought tolerant SC-15 and drought susceptible EC-564755) were analyzed at 0, 7, 14, and 21 d of progressive water stress. Although water deficit caused a significant decline in relative water content, the magnitude of reduction was lower in SC-15. Electrolyte leakage, hydrogen peroxide, and malonydialdehyde generation were higher in EC-564755, whereas accumulation of proline was higher in SC-15. Higher activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, guaiacol peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, and higher expression of the respective genes...
Embryo lethality in wheat-rye hybrids: dosage effect and deletion bin mapping of the responsible wheat locus
N. Tikhenko, N. Poursarebani, T. Rutten, T. Schnurbusch, A. Börner
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:342-348 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0691-6
The speciation allele at Eml-A1 of hexaploid wheat, which causes embryo lethality in wheat-rye hybrids, was investigated using cytologically modified genetic stocks. It was demonstrated that an extra dose of this allele had no effect on embryo development in these hybrids. There was no positive effect on embryo development and, therefore, no overcoming of the postzygotic barrier. An abortion of the hybrid embryos at an earlier stage of development was also not observed. Physical mapping was performed using chromosome 6A deletion lines. This study revealed the location of Eml-A1 on the most distal part of the long arm of chromosome 6A....
Altered gibberellin content affects growth and development in transgenic tobacco lines overexpressing a wheat gene encoding F-box protein
S. Yin, S. Zhou, X. Kong, Y. Han, W. Wang
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:349-358 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-017-0707-x
In a previous study, we have identified and characterized gene from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) encoding F-box protein and named it TaFBA. In this paper, transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants overexpressing TaFBA1 displayed accelerated growth early, but the rate slowed gradually at later stages of growth, and the mature transgenic plants were even shorter in stature and flowered later than did the wild type (WT). Treatment with gibberellin (GA) conferred an accelerated growth rate to the transgenic tobacco plants at later stages, similar to that of WT, whereas growth was inhibited more seriously in WT than in...
Differential proline metabolism in vegetative and reproductive tissues determine drought tolerance in chickpea
D. Kaur, S. K. Grewal, J. Kaur, S. Singh
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:359-366 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0695-2
Proline is emerging as a critical component of drought tolerance and fine tuning of its metabolism under stress affects the plants sensitivity and response to stress. Thus the study was carried out to analyse the effect of water deficit on the proline content and principal enzymes involved in its synthesis (Δ1-pyrolline-carboxylate synthetase) and catabolism (proline dehydrogenase) at different developmental stages and in different organs (roots, nodules, leaves, pod wall, and seeds) of two chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars differing in drought tolerance (drought tolerant ICC4958 and drought sensitive ILC3279). It was...
Protection of Artemisia annua roots and leaves against oxidative stress induced by arsenic
A. Kumari, N. Pandey, S. Pandey-Rai
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:367-377 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0686-3
The present study was conducted to examine differential responses of roots and leaves of Artemisia annua to different arsenic concentrations (50, 100, and 150 μΜ) and treatment durations (1, 3, 5, or 7 d). The values of bioconcentration factor and translocation factor calculated on the basis of total As-accumulation in roots and shoots suggested that A. annua is a good As-accumulator. Above and below ground plant biomass was enhanced at 100 μΜ As but at 150 μΜ As was significantly reduced. As-treatment caused membrane damage more in the roots than in the leaves as reflected by higher degree of lipid peroxidation in the...
Microwaves affect Myriophyllum aquaticum plants differently depending on the wave polarization
M. D. H. J. Senavirathna, T. Asaeda
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:378-384 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0660-0
Previous studies on microwave exposure on plants have revealed variations in sensitivity of plants to different microwave frequencies, exposure durations, and power intensities. However, the effects of different polarizations of microwaves on plants have not been studied. Therefore, we investigated the effect of horizontally and vertically polarized 2 GHz continuous microwaves on Myriophyllum aquaticum plants at 1.8 W m-2 power density. The electric potential variation along the vascular tissues were investigated for 1.5 h and growth parameters, pigmentation, and H2O2 formation were studied during 48 h microwave...
Reviews
Molecular responses to drought stress in plants
G. Kaur, B. Asthir
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:201-209 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0700-9
Drought is a severe environmental constraint to plant productivity. Being a multidimensional stress, it triggers a wide variety of plant responses ranging from physiological, biochemical to molecular levels. One of the inevitable consequences of drought stress is an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in different cellular compartments, namely the chloroplasts and mitochondria. This enhanced ROS production is, however, kept under tight control by a versatile and cooperative antioxidant system that modulates intracellular ROS content and sets the redoxstatus of the cell. Furthermore, ROS production under stresses functions as an alarm...
Brief Communications
Inhibition of putrescine biosynthesis enhanced salt stress sensitivity and decreased spermidine content in rice seedlings
A. Yamamoto, I.-S. Shim, S. Fujihara
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:385-388 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0676-5
The effect of polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors on the salt stress response of rice seedlings was investigated. For this, DL-α-difluoromethylarginine (DFMA) and DL-α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), two competitive inhibitors of arginine decarboxylase (ADC) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), were used. The ADC and ODC are rate-limiting enzymes involved in synthesis of putrescine. The effective quantum yield of photosynthetic energy conversion (ΦPSII) decreased with the salt stress, and this decrease was highly significant in the treatments with DFMA and DFMO. Interestingly, addition of exogenous putrescine reduced the decline...
Transcriptional properties of eight synthetic pathogen-inducible promoters in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana
Z. C. Huang, S. Peng, H. Li, F. H. Zeng
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:389-393 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0665-8
Synthetic pathogen-inducible promoters (SPIP) hold a great promise to meet the demands for a desired temporal and spatial regulation of transgenes. Four pathogen-inducible cis-elements (F-box, S-box, Gst1-box, and W-box) and the minimal cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter (-46 to +8 TATA box) were used to design SPIP. Eight SPIP were synthesized and named FSGW, FSWG, GWFS, GWSF, SFGW, SFWG, WGFS, and WGSF according to the order of cis-element dimers. They were used to replace the CaMV 35S promoter in the plasmid pBI121 to control expression of the β-glucuronidase (gus) gene. The transcriptional properties...
Changes in dehydrin composition in winter cereal crowns during winter survival
A. V. Pomortsev, N. V. Dorofeev, N. B. Katysheva, A. A. Peshkova
Biologia plantarum 2017, 61:394-398 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-016-0673-8
This study is focused on examination of crown dehydrin content during overwintering and spring dehardening periods in three Poaceae family winter plants: rye, wheat, and triticale. Frost resistances of seedlings in laboratory and field conditions were compared. Immunoblotting demonstrates that winter wheat and winter triticale differed from winter rye based on their dehydrin qualitative content. Unlike wheat and triticale, rye lacked a protein with a molecular mass of 55.3 kDa. Winter wheat contained a polypeptide with a molecular mass of 29 kDa in autumn but lacked it in winter compared with triticale. Comparison of dehydrin spectra from the...