scholarly journals Knockout of the entire family of AITR genes in Arabidopsis leads to enhanced drought and salinity tolerance without fitness costs

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyu Chen ◽  
Na Zhang ◽  
Ganghua Zhou ◽  
Saddam Hussain ◽  
Sajjad Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Molecular Breeding ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Fitness Costs ◽  
Entire Family ◽  
Knock Out

Abstract Backgorund Environmental stresses including abiotic stresses and biotic stresses limit yield of plants. Stress-tolerant breeding is an efficient way to improve plant yield under stress conditions. Genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 can be used in molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits in crops, but in most cases, with fitness costs. The plant hormone ABA regulates plant responses to abiotic stresses via signaling transduction. We previously identified AITRs as a family of novel transcription factors that play a role in regulating plant responses to ABA and abiotic stresses. We found that abiotic stress tolerance was increased in the single, double and triple aitr mutants. However, it is unclear if the increased abiotic stress tolerance in the mutants may have fitness costs. Results We report here the characterization of AITRs as suitable candidate genes for CRISPR/Cas9 editing to improve plant stress tolerance. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to target AITR3 and AITR4 simultaneously in the aitr256 triple and aitr1256 quadruple mutants respectively, we generated Cas9-free aitr23456 quintuple and aitr123456 sextuple mutants. We found that reduced sensitivities to ABA and enhanced tolerance to drought and salt were observed in these mutants. Most importantly, plant growth and development was not affected even in the aitr123456 sextuple mutants, in whom the entire AITR family genes have been knocked out, and the aitr123456 sextuple mutants also showed a wild type response to the pathogen infection. Conclusions Our results suggest that knockout of the AITR family genes in Arabidopsis enhanced abiotic stress tolerance without fitness costs. Considering that knock-out a few AITRs will lead to enhanced abiotic stress tolerance, that AITRs are widely distributed in angiosperms with multiple encoding genes, AITRs may be targeted for molecular breeding to improve abiotic stress tolerance in plants including crops.

scholarly journals The Role of Stress-Responsive Transcription Factors in Modulating Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngdae Yoon ◽  
Deok Hyun Seo ◽  
Hoyoon Shin ◽  
Hui Jin Kim ◽  
Chul Min Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Plant Tolerance

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, high temperature, and salinity, affect plant growth and productivity. Furthermore, global climate change may increase the frequency and severity of abiotic stresses, suggesting that development of varieties with improved stress tolerance is critical for future sustainable crop production. Improving stress tolerance requires a detailed understanding of the hormone signaling and transcriptional pathways involved in stress responses. Abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) are key stress-response hormones in plants, and some stress-responsive transcription factors such as ABFs and MYCs function as direct components of ABA and JA signaling, playing a pivotal role in plant tolerance to abiotic stress. In addition, extensive studies have identified other stress-responsive transcription factors belonging to the NAC, AP2/ERF, MYB, and WRKY families that mediate plant response and tolerance to abiotic stress. These suggest that transcriptional regulation of stress-responsive genes is an essential step to determine the mechanisms underlying plant stress responses and tolerance to abiotic stress, and that these transcription factors may be important targets for development of crops with enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. In this review, we briefly describe the mechanisms underlying plant abiotic stress responses, focusing on ABA and JA metabolism and signaling pathways. We then summarize the diverse array of transcription factors involved in plant responses to abiotic stress, while noting their potential applications for improvement of stress tolerance.

scholarly journals Mutation of GmAITR Genes by CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Results in Enhanced Salinity Stress Tolerance in Soybean

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianya Wang ◽  
Hongwei Xun ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Xiaoyang Ding ◽  
Hainan Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Salinity Tolerance ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Aba Signaling ◽  
Entire Family

Breeding of stress-tolerant plants is able to improve crop yield under stress conditions, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been shown to be an efficient way for molecular breeding to improve agronomic traits including stress tolerance in crops. However, genes can be targeted for genome editing to enhance crop abiotic stress tolerance remained largely unidentified. We have previously identified abscisic acid (ABA)-induced transcription repressors (AITRs) as a novel family of transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of ABA signaling, and we found that knockout of the entire family of AITR genes in Arabidopsis enhanced drought and salinity tolerance without fitness costs. Considering that AITRs are conserved in angiosperms, AITRs in crops may be targeted for genome editing to improve abiotic stress tolerance. We report here that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing leads to enhanced salinity tolerance in soybean. By using quantitative RT-PCR analysis, we found that the expression levels of GmAITRs were increased in response to ABA and salt treatments. Transfection assays in soybean protoplasts show that GmAITRs are nucleus proteins, and have transcriptional repression activities. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to target the six GmAITRs simultaneously, we successfully generated Cas9-free gmaitr36 double and gmaitr23456 quintuple mutants. We found that ABA sensitivity in these mutants was increased. Consistent with this, ABA responses of some ABA signaling key regulator genes in the gmaitr mutants were altered. In both seed germination and seedling growth assays, the gmaitr mutants showed enhanced salt tolerance. Most importantly, enhanced salinity tolerance in the mutant plants was also observed in the field experiments. These results suggest that mutation of GmAITR genes by CRISPR/Cas9 is an efficient way to improve salinity tolerance in soybean.

scholarly journals Down-Regulation of SlGRAS10 in Tomato Confers Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 623
Author(s):  
Sidra Habib ◽  
Yee Yee Lwin ◽  
Ning Li
Keyword(s):  
Salt Stress ◽  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Flavonoid Biosynthesis ◽  
Ros Scavenging ◽  
Down Regulation

Adverse environmental factors like salt stress, drought, and extreme temperatures, cause damage to plant growth, development, and crop yield. GRAS transcription factors (TFs) have numerous functions in biological processes. Some studies have reported that the GRAS protein family plays significant functions in plant growth and development under abiotic stresses. In this study, we demonstrated the functional characterization of a tomato SlGRAS10 gene under abiotic stresses such as salt stress and drought. Down-regulation of SlGRAS10 by RNA interference (RNAi) produced dwarf plants with smaller leaves, internode lengths, and enhanced flavonoid accumulation. We studied the effects of abiotic stresses on RNAi and wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, SlGRAS10-RNAi plants were more tolerant to abiotic stresses (salt, drought, and Abscisic acid) than the WT plants. Down-regulation of SlGRAS10 significantly enhanced the expressions of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) to reduce the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as O2− and H2O2. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline contents were remarkably high in SlGRAS10-RNAi plants. Furthermore, the expression levels of chlorophyll biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and stress-related genes were also enhanced under abiotic stress conditions. Collectively, our conclusions emphasized the significant function of SlGRAS10 as a stress tolerate transcription factor in a certain variety of abiotic stress tolerance by enhancing osmotic potential, flavonoid biosynthesis, and ROS scavenging system in the tomato plant.

scholarly journals Review of recent transgenic studies on abiotic stress tolerance and future molecular breeding in potato

2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Kikuchi ◽  
Huu Duc Huynh ◽  
Tsukasa Endo ◽  
Kazuo Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Molecular Breeding ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance

scholarly journals Potassium: A Vital Regulator of Plant Responses and Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses

Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirza Hasanuzzaman ◽  
M. Bhuyan ◽  
Kamrun Nahar ◽  
Md. Hossain ◽  
Jubayer Mahmud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Ion Homeostasis ◽  
Enzyme Activation ◽  
Regulatory Function ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Plant Structure ◽  
Physiological Processes

Among the plant nutrients, potassium (K) is one of the vital elements required for plant growth and physiology. Potassium is not only a constituent of the plant structure but it also has a regulatory function in several biochemical processes related to protein synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and enzyme activation. Several physiological processes depend on K, such as stomatal regulation and photosynthesis. In recent decades, K was found to provide abiotic stress tolerance. Under salt stress, K helps to maintain ion homeostasis and to regulate the osmotic balance. Under drought stress conditions, K regulates stomatal opening and helps plants adapt to water deficits. Many reports support the notion that K enhances antioxidant defense in plants and therefore protects them from oxidative stress under various environmental adversities. In addition, this element provides some cellular signaling alone or in association with other signaling molecules and phytohormones. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding K-induced abiotic stress tolerance in plants, the exact molecular mechanisms of these protections are still under investigation. In this review, we summarized the recent literature on the biological functions of K, its uptake, its translocation, and its role in plant abiotic stress tolerance.

CRISPR-mediated genome editing in maize for improved abiotic stress tolerance.

2021 ◽  
pp. 405-420
Author(s):  
Ali Razzaq ◽  
Ghulam Mustafa ◽  
Muhammad Amjad Ali ◽  
Muhammad Sarwar Khan ◽  
Faiz Ahmad Joyia
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Maize Genome ◽  
Yield Improvement ◽  
Maize Cultivars ◽  
Genome Manipulation

Abstract This chapter discusses the applications of CRISPR-mediated genome editing to improve the abiotic stress tolerance (such as drought, heat, waterlogging and cold tolerance) of maize. CRISPR/Cas9 has great potential for maize genome manipulation at desired sites. By using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing, numerous genes can be targeted to produce elite maize cultivars that minimize the challenges of abiotic stresses. In the future, more precise and accurate variants of the CRISPR/Cas9 toolbox are expected to be used for maize yield improvement.

scholarly journals Physiological and Molecular Characterization of Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stresses

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1308
Author(s):  
Monica Boscaiu ◽  
Ana Fita
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Heat And Cold Stress

Abiotic stress represents a main constraint for agriculture, affecting plant growth and productivity. Drought and soil salinity, especially, are major causes of reduction of crop yields and food production worldwide. It is not unexpected, therefore, that the study of plant responses to abiotic stress and stress tolerance mechanisms is one of the most active research fields in plant biology. This Special Issue compiles 22 research papers and 4 reviews covering different aspects of these responses and mechanisms, addressing environmental stress factors such as drought, salinity, flooding, heat and cold stress, deficiency or toxicity of compounds in the soil (e.g., macro and micronutrients), and combination of different stresses. The approaches used are also diverse, including, among others, the analysis of agronomic traits based on morphological characteristics, physiological and biochemical studies, and transcriptomics or transgenics. Despite its complexity, we believe that this Special Issue provides a useful overview of the topic, including basic information on the mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance as well as practical aspects such as the alleviation of the deleterious effects of stress by different means, or the use of local landraces as a source of genetic material adapted to combined stresses. This knowledge should help to develop the agriculture of the (near) future, sustainable and better adapted to the conditions ahead, in a scenario of global warming and environmental pollution.

scholarly journals Advances in Omics Approaches for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Tomato

Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhi Chaudhary ◽  
Praveen Khatri ◽  
Pankaj Singla ◽  
Surbhi Kumawat ◽  
Anu Kumari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Stress Tolerance ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Genetic Regulatory Networks ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Efficient Utilization

Tomato, one of the most important crops worldwide, has a high demand in the fresh fruit market and processed food industries. Despite having considerably high productivity, continuous supply as per the market demand is hard to achieve, mostly because of periodic losses occurring due to biotic as well as abiotic stresses. Although tomato is a temperate crop, it is grown in almost all the climatic zones because of widespread demand, which makes it challenge to adapt in diverse conditions. Development of tomato cultivars with enhanced abiotic stress tolerance is one of the most sustainable approaches for its successful production. In this regard, efforts are being made to understand the stress tolerance mechanism, gene discovery, and interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Several omics approaches, tools, and resources have already been developed for tomato growing. Modern sequencing technologies have greatly accelerated genomics and transcriptomics studies in tomato. These advancements facilitate Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and genomic selection (GS). However, limited efforts have been made in other omics branches like proteomics, metabolomics, and ionomics. Extensive cataloging of omics resources made here has highlighted the need for integration of omics approaches for efficient utilization of resources and a better understanding of the molecular mechanism. The information provided here will be helpful to understand the plant responses and the genetic regulatory networks involved in abiotic stress tolerance and efficient utilization of omics resources for tomato crop improvement.

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