Patterns of Inflorescence Development of Three Prairie Grasses (Andropogoneae, Poaceae)

This article comments on: Shang Y, Yuan L, Di Y, Jia Y, Zhang Z, Li S, Xing L, Qi Z, Wang X, Zhu J, Hua W, Wu X, Zhu M, Li G, Li C. 2020. A CYC/TB1 type TCP transcription factor controls spikelet meristem identity in barley. Journal of Experimental Botany 71, 7118–7131.

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Next Generation Cereal Crop Yield Enhancement: From Knowledge of Inflorescence Development to Practical Engineering by Genome Editing

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22105167 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (10) ◽

pp. 5167

Author(s):

Lei Liu ◽

Penelope L. Lindsay ◽

David Jackson

Keyword(s):

Genome Editing ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Yield Enhancement ◽

Cereal Crops ◽

Grain Number ◽

Inflorescence Development ◽

New Era ◽

High Productivity ◽

Practical Engineering ◽

Crops Yield

Artificial domestication and improvement of the majority of crops began approximately 10,000 years ago, in different parts of the world, to achieve high productivity, good quality, and widespread adaptability. It was initiated from a phenotype-based selection by local farmers and developed to current biotechnology-based breeding to feed over 7 billion people. For most cereal crops, yield relates to grain production, which could be enhanced by increasing grain number and weight. Grain number is typically determined during inflorescence development. Many mutants and genes for inflorescence development have already been characterized in cereal crops. Therefore, optimization of such genes could fine-tune yield-related traits, such as grain number. With the rapidly advancing genome-editing technologies and understanding of yield-related traits, knowledge-driven breeding by design is becoming a reality. This review introduces knowledge about inflorescence yield-related traits in cereal crops, focusing on rice, maize, and wheat. Next, emerging genome-editing technologies and recent studies that apply this technology to engineer crop yield improvement by targeting inflorescence development are reviewed. These approaches promise to usher in a new era of breeding practice.

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Bulbils in garlic inflorescence: development and virus translocation

Scientia Horticulturae ◽

10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110146 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 285 ◽

pp. 110146

Author(s):

Himal Bhusal ◽

Einat Shemesh-Mayer ◽

Itzhak Forer ◽

Lavr Kryukov ◽

Ross Peters ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Inflorescence Development

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Maize LAZY1 Mediates Shoot Gravitropism and Inflorescence Development through Regulating Auxin Transport, Auxin Signaling, and Light Response

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY ◽

10.1104/pp.113.227314 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 163 (3) ◽

pp. 1306-1322 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Zhaobin Dong ◽

Chuan Jiang ◽

Xiaoyang Chen ◽

Tao Zhang ◽

Lian Ding ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Auxin Transport ◽

Light Response ◽

Auxin Signaling ◽

Inflorescence Development ◽

Shoot Gravitropism

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Seasonal and temperature effects on mycorrhizal activity and dependence of cool- and warm-season tallgrass prairie grasses

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b92-201 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 70 (8) ◽

pp. 1596-1602 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

S. P. Bentivenga ◽

B. A. D. Hetrick

Keyword(s):

Tallgrass Prairie ◽

Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Warm Season ◽

Growing Season ◽

Cool Temperature ◽

Cool Season ◽

Fungal Activity ◽

Prairie Grasses ◽

Vesicular Arbuscular ◽

Warm Season Grasses

Previous research on North American tallgrass prairie grasses has shown that warm-season grasses rely heavily on vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, while cool-season grasses are less dependent on the symbiosis (i.e., receive less benefit). This led to the hypothesis that cool-season grasses are less dependent on the symbiosis, because the growth of these plants occurs when mycorrhizal fungi are inactive. Field studies were performed to assess the effect of phenology of cool- and warm-season grasses on mycorrhizal fungal activity and fungal species composition. Mycorrhizal fungal activity in field samples was assessed using the vital stain nitro blue tetrazolium in addition to traditional staining techniques. Mycorrhizal activity was greater in cool-season grasses than in warm-season grasses early (April and May) and late (December) in the growing season, while mycorrhizal activity in roots of the warm-season grasses was greater (compared with cool-season grasses) in midseason (July and August). Active mycorrhizal colonization was relatively high in both groups of grasses late in the growing season, suggesting that mycorrhizal fungi may proliferate internally or may be parasitic at this time. Total Glomales sporulation was generally greater in the rhizosphere of cool-season grasses in June and in the rhizosphere of the warm-season grasses in October. A growth chamber experiment was conducted to examine the effect of temperature on mycorrhizal dependence of cool- and warm-season grasses. For both groups of grasses, mycorrhizal dependence was greatest at the temperature that favored growth of the host. The results suggest that mycorrhizal fungi are active in roots when cool-season grasses are growing and that cool-season grasses may receive benefit from the symbiosis under relatively cool temperature regimes. Key words: cool-season grasses, tallgrass prairie, vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizae, warm-season grasses.

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