scholarly journals The ubiquitin system affects agronomic plant traits

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (40) ◽  
pp. 13940-13955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina J. Linden ◽  
Judy Callis
Keyword(s):  
Seed Size ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
26S Proteasome ◽  
Plant Host ◽  
Ubiquitin System ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Effector Recognition

In a single vascular plant species, the ubiquitin system consists of thousands of different proteins involved in attaching ubiquitin to substrates, recognizing or processing ubiquitinated proteins, or constituting or regulating the 26S proteasome. The ubiquitin system affects plant health, reproduction, and responses to the environment, processes that impact important agronomic traits. Here we summarize three agronomic traits influenced by ubiquitination: induction of flowering, seed size, and pathogen responses. Specifically, we review how the ubiquitin system affects expression of genes or abundance of proteins important for determining when a plant flowers (focusing on FLOWERING LOCUS C, FRIGIDA, and CONSTANS), highlight some recent studies on how seed size is affected by the ubiquitin system, and discuss how the ubiquitin system affects proteins involved in pathogen or effector recognition with details of recent studies on FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 and SUPPRESSOR OF NPR CONSTITUTIVE 1, respectively, as examples. Finally, we discuss the effects of pathogen-derived proteins on plant host ubiquitin system proteins. Further understanding of the molecular basis of the above processes could identify possible genes for modification or selection for crop improvement.

New and novel genetic tools for improving crops.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (028) ◽  
Author(s):  
Penna Suprasanna
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Genetically Modified Crops ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
New Novel ◽  
High Throughput Phenotyping ◽  
Sequencing Platforms

Abstract The basic tenet of crop improvement is the novel genetic variability that is achieved through selection, hybridization, mutation and recombination. The new technological innovations of plant breeding offer scope for transforming crop improvement with more precision and resolution. Advances in genomic-based tools and high-throughput phenotyping have enabled the analysis of genetic variation and identification of molecular signatures of agronomic traits. Molecular markers and molecular-marker-assisted breeding have facilitated the speedy selection of new, novel genetic combinations in breeding for high-yielding, stress-tolerant and nutritionally enriched crops. Transgenic methods have revolutionized modification for stress tolerance and higher productivity, and several genetically modified crops are under cultivation. Availability of genome sequencing platforms and genomic resources has significantly contributed to accessing novel genes and validating their functions. Genome-editing tools and recent advances of prime editing are now accessible for precise genetic alteration of plant traits. The new plant breeding tools will certainly foster development of highly productive, improved crop varieties for achieving food security and climate resilience.

scholarly journals Integration of high-density genetic mapping with transcriptome analysis uncovers numerous agronomic QTL and reveals candidate genes for the control of tillering in sorghum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajanikanth Govindarajulu ◽  
Ashley N Hostetler ◽  
Yuguo Xiao ◽  
Srinivasa R Chaluvadi ◽  
Margarita Mauro-Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Interspecific Cross ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Plant Domestication ◽  
Sorghum Propinquum ◽  
Ril Population ◽  
Trait Locus ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
Low Coverage

Abstract Phenotypes such as branching, photoperiod sensitivity, and height were modified during plant domestication and crop improvement. Here, we perform quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of these and other agronomic traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from an interspecific cross between Sorghum propinquum and Sorghum bicolor inbred Tx7000. Using low-coverage Illumina sequencing and a bin-mapping approach, we generated ∼1920 bin markers spanning ∼875 cM. Phenotyping data were collected and analyzed from two field locations and one greenhouse experiment for six agronomic traits, thereby identifying a total of 30 QTL. Many of these QTL were penetrant across environments and co-mapped with major QTL identified in other studies. Other QTL uncovered new genomic regions associated with these traits, and some of these were environment-specific in their action. To further dissect the genetic underpinnings of tillering, we complemented QTL analysis with transcriptomics, identifying 6189 genes that were differentially expressed during tiller bud elongation. We identified genes such as Dormancy Associated Protein 1 (DRM1) in addition to various transcription factors that are differentially expressed in comparisons of dormant to elongating tiller buds and lie within tillering QTL, suggesting that these genes are key regulators of tiller elongation in sorghum. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of this RIL population in detecting domestication and improvement-associated genes in sorghum, thus providing a valuable resource for genetic investigation and improvement to the sorghum community.

scholarly journals Research and Application of Molecular and Phenotypic Data for Tree Biodiversity Evaluation

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 564
Author(s):  
Gaetano Distefano
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Biotic Stresses ◽  
Tree Crop ◽  
Ecological Habitats

The main challenges for tree crop improvement are linked to the sustainable development of agro-ecological habitats, improving the adaptability to limiting environmental factors and resistance to biotic stresses or promoting novel genotypes with improved agronomic traits [...]

scholarly journals Gene targeting facilitated by engineered sequence-specific nucleases and its potential for applications in crop improvement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Miki ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Dali Kong ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Targeting ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Strand Break ◽  
End Joining ◽  
Homology Directed Repair ◽  
Target Dna ◽  
Targeted Gene Editing ◽  
Non Homologous End Joining

Abstract Humans are currently facing the problem of how to ensure that there is enough food to feed all of the world’s population. Ensuring that the food supply is sufficient will likely require the modification of crop genomes to improve their agronomic traits. The development of engineered sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) paved the way for targeted gene editing in organisms, including plants. SSNs generate a double-strand break (DSB) at the target DNA site in a sequence-specific manner. These DSBs are predominantly repaired via error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), and are only rarely repaired via error-free homology-directed repair (HDR) if an appropriate donor template is provided. Gene targeting (GT), i.e., the integration or replacement of a particular sequence, can be achieved with combinations of SSNs and repair donor templates. Although its efficiency is extremely low, GT has been achieved in some higher plants. Here, we provide an overview of SSN-facilitated GT in higher plants and discuss the potential of GT as a powerful tool for generating crop plants with desirable features.

The biology of Canadian weeds. 108. Erucastrum gallicum (Willd.) O.E. Schulz

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne I. Warwick ◽  
David A. Wall
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Close Relative ◽  
Weed Biology ◽  
Germplasm Resource ◽  
Winter Annual

A review of biological information is provided for Erucastrum gallicum (Willd.) O.E. Schulz. A European native, it was introduced into Canada and the United States in the early 1900s and spread rapidly along the railroads. The species occurs in all the provinces and the Northwest Territories and is particularly abundant in the Prairie provinces and mid-western United States. It is a summer annual, rarely a winter annual or biennial species, and is characterized by high reproductive output. Plants occur most commonly on waste ground and along roadsides and railroads, followed by agricultural fields. Erucastrum gallicum is of allopolyploid origins (n = 15, 7 + 8 chromosomes), and contains a single multi-locus isozyme genotype. The species is a close relative of Brassica and is capable of limited genetic exchange with the canola species, B. rapa and B. napus. The possible transfer of genes from transgenic canola varieties to Erucastrum gallicum poses a remote, but potential, environmental risk. Populations of Erucastrum gallicum, including both Old World and North American populations, constitute a valuable germplasm resource as potential sources of beneficial agronomic traits, such as disease resistance for canola crop improvement. Key words: Dog mustard, Erucastrum gallicum, weed biology, risk assessment, germplasm, canola

scholarly journals Plant traits are poor predictors of long-term ecosystem functioning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fons van der Plas ◽  
Thomas Schröder-Georgi ◽  
Alexandra Weigelt ◽  
Kathryn Barry ◽  
Sebastian Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Average Percentage ◽  
Functional Consequences ◽  
Small Set

ABSTRACTEarth is home to over 350,000 vascular plant species1 that differ in their traits in innumerable ways. Yet, a handful of functional traits can help explaining major differences among species in photosynthetic rate, growth rate, reproductive output and other aspects of plant performance2–6. A key challenge, coined “the Holy Grail” in ecology, is to upscale this understanding in order to predict how natural or anthropogenically driven changes in the identity and diversity of co-occurring plant species drive the functioning of ecosystems7, 8. Here, we analyze the extent to which 42 different ecosystem functions can be predicted by 41 plant traits in 78 experimentally manipulated grassland plots over 10 years. Despite the unprecedented number of traits analyzed, the average percentage of variation in ecosystem functioning that they jointly explained was only moderate (32.6%) within individual years, and even much lower (12.7%) across years. Most other studies linking ecosystem functioning to plant traits analyzed no more than six traits, and when including either only six random or the six most frequently studied traits in our analysis, the average percentage of explained variation in across-year ecosystem functioning dropped to 4.8%. Furthermore, different ecosystem functions were driven by different traits, with on average only 12.2% overlap in significant predictors. Thus, we did not find evidence for the existence of a small set of key traits able to explain variation in multiple ecosystem functions across years. Our results therefore suggest that there are strong limits in the extent to which we can predict the long-term functional consequences of the ongoing, rapid changes in the composition and diversity of plant communities that humanity is currently facing.

scholarly journals Sorghum pan-genome explores the functional utility to accelerate the genetic gain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Ruperao ◽  
Nepolean Thirunavukkarasu ◽  
Prasad Gandham ◽  
Sivasubramani S. ◽  
Govindaraj M ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Gain ◽  
Core Genome ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Pan Genome ◽  
Genome Association ◽  
Reference Genomes ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Variable Genes

AbstractSorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is one of the most important food crops in the arid and rainfed production ecologies. It is a part of resilient farming and is projected as a smart crop to overcome the food and nutritional challenges in the developing world. The development and characterisation of the sorghum pan-genome will provide insight into genome diversity and functionality, supporting sorghum improvement. We built a sorghum pan-genome using reference genomes as well as 354 genetically diverse sorghum accessions belonging to different races. We explored the structural and functional characteristics of the pan-genome and explain its utility in supporting genetic gain. The newly-developed pan-genome has a total of 35,719 genes, a core genome of 16,821 genes and an average of 32,795 genes in each cultivar. The variable genes are enriched with environment responsive genes and classify the sorghum accessions according to their race. We show that 53% of genes display presence-absence variation, and some of these variable genes are predicted to be functionally associated with drought traits. Using more than two million SNPs from the pan-genome, association analysis identified 398 SNPs significantly associated with important agronomic traits, of which, 92 were in genes. Drought gene expression analysis identified 1,788 genes that are functionally linked to different conditions, of which 79 were absent from the reference genome assembly. This study provides comprehensive genomic diversity resources in sorghum which can be used in genome assisted crop improvement.

scholarly journals Cloning and Characterization of TaSAP7-A, a Member of the Stress-Associated Protein Family in Common Wheat

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenlu Li ◽  
Yixue Wang ◽  
Runzhi Li ◽  
Xiaoping Chang ◽  
Xiangyang Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Chlorophyll Content ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
26S Proteasome ◽  
Regulatory Subunit ◽  
Germination Stage

Stress association proteins (SAPs) are A20/AN1 zinc-finger domain proteins, which play important roles in plant adaptation to abiotic stress and plant development. The functions of SAPs in some plants were reported, but little is known about it in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study, we characterized a novel 2AN1-type stress association protein gene TaSAP7-A, which was mapped to chromosome 5A in wheat. Subcellular localization indicated that TaSAP7-A was distributed in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Unlike previously known A20/AN1-type SAP genes, TaSAP7-A was negatively regulated to abiotic stress tolerance. Overexpressing TaSAP7-A Arabidopsis lines were hypersensitive to ABA, osmotic and salt stress at germination stage and post-germination stage. Overexpression of TaSAP7-A Arabidopsis plants accelerated the detached leaves’ chlorophyll degradation. Association analysis of TaSAP7-A haplotypes and agronomic traits showed that Hap-5A-2 was significantly associated with higher chlorophyll content at jointing stage and grain-filling stage. These results jointly revealed that TaSAP7-A is related to the chlorophyll content in the leaves of Arabidopsis and wheat. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that TaSAP7-A interacted with TaS10B, which was the component of regulatory subunit in 26S proteasome. In general, TaSAP7-A was a regulator of chlorophyll content, and favorable haplotypes should be helpful for improving plant chlorophyll content and grain yield of wheat.

scholarly journals Pigeonpea composite collection and identification of germplasm for use in crop improvement programmes

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 97-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. D. Upadhyaya ◽  
K. N. Reddy ◽  
Shivali Sharma ◽  
R. K. Varshney ◽  
R. Bhattacharjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Germplasm Collection ◽  
Sources Of Resistance ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Stresses ◽  
Biotic Stresses ◽  
Mini Core Collection ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
Simple Sequence ◽  
High Seed Yield

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan(L.) Millsp. is one of the most important legume crops as major source for proteins, minerals and vitamins, in addition to its multiple uses as food, feed, fuel, soil enricher, or soil binder, and in fencing, roofing and basket making. ICRISAT's genebank conserves 13,632 accessions of pigeonpea. The extensive use of few parents in crop improvement is contrary to the purpose of collecting a large number of germplasm accessions and has resulted in a narrow base of cultivars. ICRISAT, in collaboration with the Generation Challenge Program, has developed a composite collection of pigeonpea consisting of 1000 accessions representing the diversity of the entire germplasm collection. This included 146 accessions of mini core collection and other materials. Genotyping of the composite collection using 20 microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers separated wild and cultivated types in two broad groups. A reference set comprising 300 most diverse accessions has been selected based on SSR genotyping data. Phenotyping of the composite collection for 16 quantitative and 16 qualitative traits resulted in the identification of promising diverse accessions for the four important agronomic traits: early flowering (96 accessions), high number of pods (28), high 100-seed weight (88) and high seed yield/plant (49). These accessions hold potential for their utilization in pigeonpea breeding programmes to develop improved cultivars with a broad genetic base. Pigeonpea germplasm has provided sources of resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses and cytoplasmic-male sterility for utilization in breeding programmes.

scholarly journals Degradation of Myogenic Transcription Factor MyoD by the Ubiquitin Pathway In Vivo and In Vitro: Regulation by Specific DNA Binding

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5670-5677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ossama Abu Hatoum ◽  
Shlomit Gross-Mesilaty ◽  
Kristin Breitschopf ◽  
Aviad Hoffman ◽  
Hedva Gonen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Dna Binding ◽  
Specific Inhibitor ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
26S Proteasome ◽  
Intact Cells ◽  
Free System ◽  
Ubiquitin System

ABSTRACT MyoD is a tissue-specific transcriptional activator that acts as a master switch for skeletal muscle differentiation. Its activity is induced during the transition from proliferating, nondifferentiated myoblasts to resting, well-differentiated myotubes. Like many other transcriptional regulators, it is a short-lived protein; however, the targeting proteolytic pathway and the underlying regulatory mechanisms involved in the process have remained obscure. It has recently been shown that many short-lived regulatory proteins are degraded by the ubiquitin system. Degradation of a protein by the ubiquitin system proceeds via two distinct and successive steps, conjugation of multiple molecules of ubiquitin to the target protein and degradation of the tagged substrate by the 26S proteasome. Here we show that MyoD is degraded by the ubiquitin system both in vivo and in vitro. In intact cells, the degradation is inhibited by lactacystin, a specific inhibitor of the 26S proteasome. Inhibition is accompanied by accumulation of high-molecular-mass MyoD-ubiquitin conjugates. In a cell-free system, the proteolytic process requires both ATP and ubiquitin and, like the in vivo process, is preceded by formation of ubiquitin conjugates of the transcription factor. Interestingly, the process is inhibited by the specific DNA sequence to which MyoD binds: conjugation and degradation of a MyoD mutant protein which lacks the DNA-binding domain are not inhibited. The inhibitory effect of the DNA requires the formation of a complex between the DNA and the MyoD protein. Id1, which inhibits the binding of MyoD complexes to DNA, abrogates the effect of DNA on stabilization of the protein.

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