scholarly journals Gibberellin Metabolism and Signaling: Targets for Improving Agronomic Performance of Crops

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 1902-1911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaopei Gao ◽  
Chengcai Chu

Abstract Gibberellins (GAs) are a class of tetracyclic diterpenoid phytohormones that regulate many aspects of plant development, including seed germination, stem elongation, leaf expansion, pollen maturation, and the development of flowers, fruits and seeds. During the past decades, the primary objective of crop breeding programs has been to increase productivity or yields. ‘Green Revolution’ genes that can produce semidwarf, high-yielding crops were identified as GA synthesis or response genes, confirming the value of research on GAs in improving crop productivity. The manipulation of GA status either by genetic alteration or by exogenous application of GA or GA biosynthesis inhibitors is often used to optimize plant growth and yields. In this review, we summarize the roles of GAs in major aspects of crop growth and development and present the possible targets for the fine-tuning of GA metabolism and signaling as a promising strategy for crop improvement.

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. v ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev K. Varshney ◽  
Himabindu Kudapa

Legumes represent the most valued food sources in agriculture after cereals. Despite the advances made in breeding food legumes, there is a need to develop and further improve legume productivity to meet increasing food demand worldwide. Several biotic and abiotic stresses affect legume crop productivity throughout the world. The study of legume genetics, genomics and biology are all important in order to understand the limitations of yield of legume crops and to support our legume breeding programs. With the advent of huge genomic resources and modern technologies, legume research can be directed towards precise understanding of the target genes responsible for controlling important traits for yield potential, and for resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Programmed and systematic research will lead to developing high yielding, stress tolerant and early maturing varieties. This issue of Functional Plant Biology is dedicated to ‘Legume Biology’ research covering part of the work presented at VI International Conference on Legume Genetics and Genomics held at Hyderabad, India, in 2012. The 13 contributions cover recent advances in legume research in the context of plant architecture and trait mapping, functional genomics, biotic stress and abiotic stress.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Martin Jerome Jeyakumar ◽  
Asif Ali ◽  
Wen-Ming Wang ◽  
Muthu Thiruvengadam

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a short, single-stranded, non-coding RNA found in eukaryotic cells that can regulate the expression of many genes at the post-transcriptional level. Among various plant miRNAs with diverse functions, miR156 plays a key role in biological processes, including developmental regulation, immune response, metabolic regulation, and abiotic stress. MiRNAs have become the regulatory center for plant growth and development. MicroRNA156 (miR156) is a highly conserved and emerging tool for the improvement of plant traits, including crop productivity and stress tolerance. Fine-tuning of squamosa promoter biding-like (SPL) gene expression might be a useful strategy for crop improvement. Here, we studied the regulation of the miR156 module and its interaction with SPL factors to understand the developmental transition of various plant species. Furthermore, this review provides a strong background for plant biotechnology and is an important source of information for further molecular breeding to optimize farming productivity.


Author(s):  
G. S. Khush ◽  
S. Peng

World food crops have been improved progressively since their domestication about 10,000 years ago. Progress was especially rapid after the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws of inheritance, when scientific principles could be applied to crop improvement. Modern varieties of wheat and rice, which ushered the so-called green revolution and led to the doubling of cereal production in a 25-year period, are examples of recent achievements in increasing crop productivity. The present world population of 5.8 billion is likely to reach 7 billion in 2010 and 8 billion in 2025. Per caput food intake will increase due to improved living standards. It is estimated that we will have to produce 50% more food by 2025. Food grain production in Africa will have to increase almost 400%, in Latin America 200%, and in Asia 60%. In the past, food production grew as a result of increased yield potential of new crop varieties, as well as increases in cropped area. In the future, major increases in cropped area are unlikely. In fact, in most Asian countries the cultivated area is declining due to pressures of urbanization and industrialization. Pesticide use is dropping as a result of concerns about their harmful effects on the environment and on human health. Increasingly, the industrial base is competing with agriculture for water and labor. Thus, we will have to produce more food from less land, with less pesticides, less labor, and less water. Increases in crop productivity are therefore essential to feed the world in the next century. One way to increase crop productivity is to develop crop cultivars with higher yield potential. Of the various strategies for increasing the yield potential, two are reviewed in this chapter. Selection for semidwarf stature in the late 1950s for rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most striking example of a successful improvement in plant type. Although selections were guided by short stature, resistance to lodging, and efficient biomass partitioning between grain and straw, breeders were unintentionally selecting for improved canopy architecture, light penetration, and other favorable agronomic characteristics (as reviewed by Takeda, 1984).


Author(s):  
Mark Cooper ◽  
Kai P. Voss-Fels ◽  
Carlos D. Messina ◽  
Tom Tang ◽  
Graeme L. Hammer

Abstract Key message Climate change and Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management interactions together challenge our strategies for crop improvement. Research to advance prediction methods for breeding and agronomy is opening new opportunities to tackle these challenges and overcome on-farm crop productivity yield-gaps through design of responsive crop improvement strategies. Abstract Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management (G × E × M) interactions underpin many aspects of crop productivity. An important question for crop improvement is “How can breeders and agronomists effectively explore the diverse opportunities within the high dimensionality of the complex G × E × M factorial to achieve sustainable improvements in crop productivity?” Whenever G × E × M interactions make important contributions to attainment of crop productivity, we should consider how to design crop improvement strategies that can explore the potential space of G × E × M possibilities, reveal the interesting Genotype–Management (G–M) technology opportunities for the Target Population of Environments (TPE), and enable the practical exploitation of the associated improved levels of crop productivity under on-farm conditions. Climate change adds additional layers of complexity and uncertainty to this challenge, by introducing directional changes in the environmental dimension of the G × E × M factorial. These directional changes have the potential to create further conditional changes in the contributions of the genetic and management dimensions to future crop productivity. Therefore, in the presence of G × E × M interactions and climate change, the challenge for both breeders and agronomists is to co-design new G–M technologies for a non-stationary TPE. Understanding these conditional changes in crop productivity through the relevant sciences for each dimension, Genotype, Environment, and Management, creates opportunities to predict novel G–M technology combinations suitable to achieve sustainable crop productivity and global food security targets for the likely climate change scenarios. Here we consider critical foundations required for any prediction framework that aims to move us from the current unprepared state of describing G × E × M outcomes to a future responsive state equipped to predict the crop productivity consequences of G–M technology combinations for the range of environmental conditions expected for a complex, non-stationary TPE under the influences of climate change.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mambo G. Mupepi ◽  
Sylvia C. Mupepi

The primary objective of this paper is about innovation within specific social organization which compacts with the division of labor, knowledge creation, and the use of technology such as e-enterprise in social economy aimed at improving productivity. A significant proportion of the world's economy is organized to make profits not only for investors but to sustain the employment of many disadvantaged people throughout the world. It includes cooperative organizations, foundations and many other social enterprises that provide a wide range of products and services across the globe and generate sustainable employment. Productivity tends to increase when the job is divided into manageable portions and then performed by adequately skilled personnel. In order to succeed in an environment in which other businesses fiercely compete along with social enterprises it is imperative to take into account innovative systems such as e-enterprise to leverage competition and increase productivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Clayton G. Campbell ◽  
Mio Nagano

Buckwheat crop improvement by breeding has been taking place over the past 100 years or more. During this time there has been improvements in many desirable agronomic characteristics which has resulted in higher yields in many of the breeding programs. Phenotypic modifications, such as dwarf, semi-dwarf and branching have been reported. There has also been an effort to increase flower number as this has been shown in cross pollinating buckwheat, to increase yields. Flower cluster modifications and their effects on yield have also been studied. Increased reports on the discovery of buckwheat wild species have been reported from several programs with many interspecific crosses having taken place. Several of these crosses were performed with Fagopyrum esculentum in efforts to increase variability which can be used to increase yield potential as well as to obtain increased nutritional components.  More recent efforts have focused on the development of self-pollinating buckwheat, both from introgression of genes from Fagopyrum homotropicum as well as from mutations in cross pollinating buckwheat. The main problem has been in breeding depression which has occurred in many of the reported attempts. However, high yielding homomorphic, self-pollinating varieties have been developed and are now in commercial production. There is now emphasis being placed on many of the nutritional aspects of buckwheat flour as well as value added components. It is expected that this will increase over time.  Key words: Buckwheat breeding, homomorphic, autogamous buckwheat.   Izvleček Žlahtnjenje ajde poteka že več kot 100 let. V tem času je bila dosežena izboljšava željenih agronomskih lastnosti, kar je pri mnogih programih žlahtnjenja omogočilo večje pridelke. Raziskovalci poročajo o fenotipskih modifikacijah, kot je pritlikava ali pol-pritlikava rast in razvejanje. Za povečanje pridelka so bile raziskane modifikacije socvetij. Število poročil o odkritjih divjih sorodnikov ajde in o mnogih medvrstnih križanjih se je v zadnjem času povečalo. V mnoga od teh križanj je bila vključena navadna ajda (Fagopyrum esculentum), da bi povečali  variabilnost, kar bi lahko omogočilo povečanje pridelka in izboljšanje prehranskih lastnosti. Novejša prizadevanja so se osredotočila na razvoj samooplodnosti pri ajdi, z vključitvijo genov vrste Fagopyrum homotropicum, kot tudi mutacij pri ajdi, ki se je opraševala navzkrižno.  Pri tem je bila glavna težava preseči  depresijo zaradi samooploditev, depresija se je pojavila pri večih poskusih samooploditve. Ne glede na to je uspelo dobiti visokorodne homomorfne samooplodne sorte za ponudbo na trgu semen. Sedaj se prizadevanja usmerjajo k izboljšanju prehranske vrednosti ajde in pomembnih sestavin v ajdovi moki. Pričakovati je, da se bo pomen prehranske vrednosti ajde sčasoma še povečeval. Ključne besede: žlahtnjenje ajde, homomorfnost, samo­oplodna ajda


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 412-420
Author(s):  
G. Afolayan ◽  
S. P. Deshpande ◽  
S. E. Aladele ◽  
A. O. Kolawole ◽  
I. Angarawai ◽  
...  

AbstractSorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important resource to the national economy and it is essential to assess the genetic diversity in existing sorghum germplasm for better conservation, utilization and crop improvement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of genetic diversity within and among sorghum germplasms collected from diverse institutes in Nigeria and Mali using Single Nucleotide Polymorphic markers. Genetic diversity among the germplasm was low with an average polymorphism information content value of 0.24. Analysis of Molecular Variation revealed 6% variation among germplasm and 94% within germplasms. Dendrogram revealed three groups of clustering which indicate variations within the germplasms. Private alleles identified in the sorghum accessions from National Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Ibadan, Nigeria and International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Kano, Nigeria shows their prospect for sorghum improvement and discovery of new agronomic traits. The presence of private alleles and genetic variation within the germplasms indicates that the accessions are valuable resources for future breeding programs.


Author(s):  
Min Duan ◽  
Xiao-Juan Ke ◽  
Hong-Xia Lan ◽  
Xi Yuan ◽  
Peng Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract Gibberellins (GAs) play important roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. The green revolution gene SD1 encoding gibberellin 20-oxidase 2 (GA20ox2) has been widely used in modern rice breeding. However, the molecular mechanism of how SD1/OsGA20ox2 expression is regulated remains unclear. Here, we report a Cys2/His2 zinc finger protein ZFP207 acting as a transcriptional repressor of OsGA20ox2. ZFP207 was mainly accumulated in young tissues and more specifically in culm nodes. ZFP207-overexpression (ZFP207OE) plants displayed semidwarfism phenotype and small grains by modulating cell length. RNA interference of ZFP207 caused increased plant height and grain length. The application of exogenous GA3 could rescue the semidwarf phenotype of ZFP207OE rice seedlings. Moreover, ZFP207 repressed the expression of OsGA20ox2 via binding to its promoter region. Taken together, ZFP207 acts as a transcriptional repressor of SD1/OsGA20ox2 and it may play a critical role in plant growth and development in rice through the fine-tuning of GA biosynthesis .


2012 ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fukuda ◽  
S. Matsuo ◽  
K. Kikuchi ◽  
W. Mitsuhashi ◽  
T. Toyomasu ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 492-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Lorenzo Quibod ◽  
Genelou Atieza-Grande ◽  
Eula Gems Oreiro ◽  
Denice Palmos ◽  
Marian Hanna Nguyen ◽  
...  

Abstract The impact of modern agriculture on the evolutionary trajectory of plant pathogens is a central question for crop sustainability. The Green Revolution replaced traditional rice landraces with high-yielding varieties, creating a uniform selection pressure that allows measuring the effect of such intervention. In this study, we analyzed a unique historical pathogen record to assess the impact of a major resistance gene, Xa4, in the population structure of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) collected in the Philippines in a span of 40 years. After the deployment of Xa4 in the early 1960s, the emergence of virulent pathogen groups was associated with the increasing adoption of rice varieties carrying Xa4, which reached 80% of the total planted area. Whole genomes analysis of a representative sample suggested six major pathogen groups with distinctive signatures of selection in genes related to secretion system, cell-wall degradation, lipopolysaccharide production, and detoxification of host defense components. Association genetics also suggested that each population might evolve different mechanisms to adapt to Xa4. Interestingly, we found evidence of strong selective sweep affecting several populations in the mid-1980s, suggesting a major bottleneck that coincides with the peak of Xa4 deployment in the archipelago. Our study highlights how modern agricultural practices facilitate the adaptation of pathogens to overcome the effects of standard crop improvement efforts.


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