scholarly journals Autophagy—an underestimated coordinator of construction and destruction during plant root ontogeny

Planta ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Wojciechowska ◽  
Kornel M. Michalak ◽  
Agnieszka Bagniewska-Zadworna

Abstract Main Conclusion Autophagy is a key but undervalued process in root ontogeny, ensuring both the proper development of root tissues as well as the senescence of the entire organ. Abstract Autophagy is a process which occurs during plant adaptation to changing environmental conditions as well as during plant ontogeny. Autophagy is also engaged in plant root development, however, the limitations of belowground studies make it challenging to understand the entirety of the developmental processes. We summarize and discuss the current data pertaining to autophagy in the roots of higher plants during their formation and degradation, from the beginning of root tissue differentiation and maturation; all the way to the aging of the entire organ. During root growth, autophagy participates in the processes of central vacuole formation in cortical tissue development, as well as vascular tissue differentiation and root senescence. At present, several key issues are still not entirely understood and remain to be addressed in future studies. The major challenge lies in the portrayal of the mechanisms of autophagy on subcellular events in belowground plant organs during the programmed control of cellular degradation pathways in roots. Given the wide range of technical areas of inquiry where root-related research can be applied, including cutting-edge cell biological methods to track, sort and screen cells from different root tissues and zones of growth, the identification of several lines of evidence pertaining to autophagy during root developmental processes is the most urgent challenge. Consequently, a substantial effort must be made to ensure whether the analyzed process is autophagy-dependent or not.

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-43
Author(s):  
I.O. Konovalova ◽  
T.N. Kudelina ◽  
S.O. Smolyanina ◽  
A.I. Lilienberg ◽  
T.N. Bibikova

A new technique for Arabidopsis thaliana cultivation has been proposed that combines the use of a phytogel-based nutrient medium and a hydrophilic membrane of hydrate cellulose film, separating the root system of the plant from the medium thickness. Growth rates of both main and lateral roots were faster in the plants cultivated on the surface of hydrate cellulose film than in the plants grown in the phytogel volume. The location of the root system on the surface of the transparent hydrate film simplifies its observation and analysis and facilitates plant transplantation with preservation of the root system configuration. The proposed technique allowed us to first assess the effect of exogenous auxin on the growth of lateral roots at the 5-6 developmental stage. methods to study plant root systems, hydrate cellulose film, A. thaliana, lateral roots, differential root growth rate, auxin The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project Bel_mol_a 19-54-04015) and the basic topic of the Russian Academy of Sciences - IBMP RAS «Regularities of the Influence of Extreme Environmental Factors on the Processes of Cultivation of Higher Plants and the Development of Japanese Quail Tissues at Different Stages of its Ontogenesis under the Conditions of Regenerative Life Support Systems».


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana P. dos Santos ◽  
Tamara G. de Araújo ◽  
Gandhi Rádis-Baptista

Venom-derived peptides display diverse biological and pharmacological activities, making them useful in drug discovery platforms and for a wide range of applications in medicine and pharmaceutical biotechnology. Due to their target specificities, venom peptides have the potential to be developed into biopharmaceuticals to treat various health conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and chronic pain. Despite the high potential for drug development, several limitations preclude the direct use of peptides as therapeutics and hamper the process of converting venom peptides into pharmaceuticals. These limitations include, for instance, chemical instability, poor oral absorption, short halflife, and off-target cytotoxicity. One strategy to overcome these disadvantages relies on the formulation of bioactive peptides with nanocarriers. A range of biocompatible materials are now available that can serve as nanocarriers and can improve the bioavailability of therapeutic and venom-derived peptides for clinical and diagnostic application. Examples of isolated venom peptides and crude animal venoms that have been encapsulated and formulated with different types of nanomaterials with promising results are increasingly reported. Based on the current data, a wealth of information can be collected regarding the utilization of nanocarriers to encapsulate venom peptides and render them bioavailable for pharmaceutical use. Overall, nanomaterials arise as essential components in the preparation of biopharmaceuticals that are based on biological and pharmacological active venom-derived peptides.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brahma N. Singh ◽  
Garima Pandey ◽  
Prateeksha ◽  
J. Kumar

With the advent of green pharmaceuticals, the secondary metabolites derived from plants have provided numerous leads for the development of a wide range of therapeutic drugs; however the discovery of new drugs with novel structures has declined in the past few years. Cryptogams including lichens, bryophytes, and pteridophytes represent a group of small terrestrial plants that remain relatively untouched in the drug discovery process though some have been used as ethnomedicines by various tribes worldwide. Studies of their secondary metabolites are recent but reveal unique secondary metabolites which are not synthesized by higher plants. These compounds can have the potential to develop more potential herbal drugs for prevention and treatment of diseases The present article . deals with the secondary metabolites and pharmacological activities of cryptogams with an objective to bring them forth as potential source of biodynamic compounds of therapeutic value.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin Hubai ◽  
Nora Kováts ◽  
Gábor Teke

AbstractAtmospheric particulate matter (PM) is one of the major environmental concerns in Europe. A wide range of studies has proved the ecotoxic potential of atmospheric particles. PM exerts chemical stress on vegetation by its potentially toxic constituents; however, relatively few studies are available on assessing phytotoxic effects under laboratory conditions. In our study, aqueous extract of particulate matter was prepared and used for treatment. Experiment was following the procedure defined by the No. 227 OECD Guideline for the Testing of Chemicals: Terrestrial Plant Test. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plants were used; elucidated toxicity was assessed based on morphological and biochemical endpoints such as biomass, chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b, carotenoids, and protein content. Biomass reduction and protein content showed a clear dose–effect relationship; the biomass decreased in comparison with the control (100%) in all test groups (TG) at a steady rate (TG1: 87.73%; TG2: 71.77%; TG3: 67.01%; TG4: 63.63%). The tendency in protein concentrations compared to the control was TG1: 113.61%; TG2: 148.21% TG3: 160.52%; TG4: 157.31%. However, pigments showed a ‘Janus-faced’ effect: nutrient content of the sample caused slight increase at lower doses; actual toxicity became apparent only at higher doses (chlorophyll-a concentration decrease was 84.47% in TG4, chlorophyll-b was 77.17%, and finally, carotene showed 83.60% decrease in TG4).


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1022
Author(s):  
Rashid G. Bikbaev ◽  
Ivan V. Timofeev ◽  
Vasiliy F. Shabanov

Optical sensing is one of many promising applications for all-dielectric photonic materials. Herein, we present an analytical and numerical study on the strain-responsive spectral properties of a bioinspired sensor. The sensor structure contains a two-dimensional periodic array of dielectric nanodisks to mimic the optical behavior of grana lamellae inside chloroplasts. To accumulate a noticeable response, we exploit the collective optical mode in grana ensemble. In higher plants, such a mode appears as Wood’s anomaly near the chlorophyll absorption line to control the photosynthesis rate. The resonance is shown persistent against moderate biological disorder and deformation. Under the stretching or compression of a symmetric structure, the mode splits into a couple of polarized modes. The frequency difference is accurately detected. It depends on the stretch coefficient almost linearly providing easy calibration of the strain-sensing device. The sensitivity of the considered structure remains at 5 nm/% in a wide range of strain. The influence of the stretching coefficient on the length of the reciprocal lattice vectors, as well as on the angle between them, is taken into account. This adaptive phenomenon is suggested for sensing applications in biomimetic optical nanomaterials.


2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1560) ◽  
pp. 4029-4041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy A. Stamps ◽  
Ton G. G. Groothuis

Developmental processes can have major impacts on the correlations in behaviour across contexts (contextual generality) and across time (temporal consistency) that are the hallmarks of animal personality. Personality can and does change: at any given age or life stage it is contingent upon a wide range of experiential factors that occurred earlier in life, from prior to conception through adulthood. We show how developmental reaction norms that describe the effects of prior experience on a given behaviour can be used to determine whether the effects of a given experience at a given age will affect contextual generality at a later age, and to illustrate how variation within individuals in developmental plasticity leads to variation in contextual generality across individuals as a function of experience. We also show why niche-picking and niche-construction, behavioural processes which allow individuals to affect their own developmental environment, can affect the contextual generality and the temporal consistency of personality. We conclude by discussing how an appreciation of developmental processes can alert behavioural ecologists studying animal personality to critical, untested assumptions that underlie their own research programmes, and outline situations in which a developmental perspective can improve studies of the functional significance and evolution of animal personality.


2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (17) ◽  
pp. 7251-7256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Fukushima ◽  
Miyako Kusano ◽  
Norihito Nakamichi ◽  
Makoto Kobayashi ◽  
Naomi Hayashi ◽  
...  

In higher plants, the circadian clock controls a wide range of cellular processes such as photosynthesis and stress responses. Understanding metabolic changes in arrhythmic plants and determining output-related function of clock genes would help in elucidating circadian-clock mechanisms underlying plant growth and development. In this work, we investigated physiological relevance of PSEUDO-RESPONSE REGULATORS (PRR 9, 7, and 5) in Arabidopsis thaliana by transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Metabolite profiling using gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry demonstrated well-differentiated metabolite phenotypes of seven mutants, including two arrhythmic plants with similar morphology, a PRR 9, 7, and 5 triple mutant and a CIRCADIAN CLOCK-ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1)-overexpressor line. Despite different light and time conditions, the triple mutant exhibited a dramatic increase in intermediates in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This suggests that proteins PRR 9, 7, and 5 are involved in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis. Integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics revealed that PRR 9, 7, and 5 negatively regulate the biosynthetic pathways of chlorophyll, carotenoid and abscisic acid, and α-tocopherol, highlighting them as additional outputs of pseudo-response regulators. These findings indicated that mitochondrial functions are coupled with the circadian system in plants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Dang ◽  
Irene Lavagi-Craddock ◽  
Sohrab Bodaghi ◽  
Georgios Vidalakis

Citrus dwarfing viroid (CDVd) induces stunting on sweet orange trees [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck], propagated on trifoliate orange rootstock [Citrus trifoliata (L.), syn. Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.]. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) that play important roles in the regulation of tree gene expression. To identify miRNAs in dwarfed citrus trees, grown in high-density plantings, and their response to CDVd infection, sRNA next-generation sequencing was performed on CDVd-infected and non-infected controls. A total of 1,290 and 628 miRNAs were identified in stem and root tissues, respectively, and among those, 60 were conserved in each of these two tissue types. Three conserved miRNAs (csi-miR479, csi-miR171b, and csi-miR156) were significantly downregulated (adjusted p-value < 0.05) in the stems of CDVd-infected trees compared to the non-infected controls. The three stem downregulated miRNAs are known to be involved in various physiological and developmental processes some of which may be related to the characteristic dwarfed phenotype displayed by CDVd-infected C. sinensis on C. trifoliata rootstock field trees. Only one miRNA (csi-miR535) was significantly downregulated in CDVd-infected roots and it was predicted to target genes controlling a wide range of cellular functions. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis performed on selected miRNA targets validated the negative correlation between the expression levels of these targets and their corresponding miRNAs in CDVd-infected trees. Our results indicate that CDVd-responsive plant miRNAs play a role in regulating important citrus growth and developmental processes that may participate in the cellular changes leading to the observed citrus dwarf phenotype.


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