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Trends in Microbiology Apr 2022Phosphate is an essential macronutrient for fungal proliferation as well as a key mediator of antagonistic, beneficial, and pathogenic interactions between fungi and... (Review)
Review
Phosphate is an essential macronutrient for fungal proliferation as well as a key mediator of antagonistic, beneficial, and pathogenic interactions between fungi and other organisms. In this review, we summarize recent insights into the integration of phosphate metabolism with mechanisms of fungal adaptation that support growth and survival. In particular, we highlight aspects of phosphate sensing important for responses to stress and regulation of cell-surface changes with an impact on fungal pathogenesis, host immune responses, and disease outcomes. Additionally, new studies provide insights into the influence of phosphate availability on cooperative or antagonistic interactions between fungi and other microbes, the associations of mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi with plants, and connections with plant immunity. Overall, phosphate homeostasis is emerging as an integral part of fungal metabolism and communication to support diverse lifestyles.
Topics: Fungi; Mycorrhizae; Phosphates; Plants
PubMed: 34479774
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2021.08.002 -
The New Phytologist Aug 2021Plants are systemically relevant to our planet not only by constituting a major part of its biomass, but also because they produce a vast diversity of bioactive... (Review)
Review
Plants are systemically relevant to our planet not only by constituting a major part of its biomass, but also because they produce a vast diversity of bioactive phytochemicals. These compounds often modulate interactions between plants and the environment, and can have substantial effects on plant consumers and their health. By taking a food web perspective, we highlight the role of bioactive phytochemicals in linking soils, plants, animals and humans and discuss their contributions to systems health. The analysis of connections among food web components revealed an underexplored potential of phytochemicals to optimize food web health and productivity.
Topics: Animals; Food Chain; Phytochemicals; Plants
PubMed: 33826755
DOI: 10.1111/nph.17385 -
Biochemistry. Biokhimiia Feb 2017Many different peptides regulating cell differentiation, growth, and development are found in plants. Peptides participate in regulation of plant ontogenesis starting... (Review)
Review
Many different peptides regulating cell differentiation, growth, and development are found in plants. Peptides participate in regulation of plant ontogenesis starting from pollination, pollen tube growth, and the very early stages of embryogenesis, including formation of embryo and endosperm. They direct differentiation of meristematic stem cells, formation of tissues and individual organs, take part in regulation of aging, fruit maturation, and abscission of plant parts associated with apoptosis. Biological activity of peptides is observed at very low concentrations, and it has mainly signal nature and hormonal character. "Mature" peptides appear mainly due to processing of protein precursors with (or without) additional enzymatic modifications. Plant peptides differ in origin, structure, and functional properties. Their specific action is due to binding with respective receptors and interactions with various proteins and other factors. Peptides can also regulate physiological functions by direct peptide-protein interactions. Peptide action is coordinated with the action of known phytohormones (auxins, cytokinins, and others); thus, peptides control phytohormonal signal pathways.
Topics: Endosperm; Plant Proteins; Plants; Pollen Tube; Pollination
PubMed: 28320293
DOI: 10.1134/S0006297917020018 -
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta Sep 2016Bacteria and fungi can undergo symbiotic or pathogenic interactions with plants. Membrane lipids and lipid-derived molecules from the plant or the microbial organism... (Review)
Review
Bacteria and fungi can undergo symbiotic or pathogenic interactions with plants. Membrane lipids and lipid-derived molecules from the plant or the microbial organism play important roles during the infection process. For example, lipids (phospholipids, glycolipids, sphingolipids, sterol lipids) are involved in establishing the membrane interface between the two organisms. Furthermore, lipid-derived molecules are crucial for intracellular signaling in the plant cell, and lipids serve as signals during plant-microbial communication. These signal lipids include phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol, lysophospholipids, and free fatty acids derived from phospholipase activity, apocarotenoids, and sphingolipid breakdown products such as ceramide, ceramide-phosphate, long chain base, and long chain base-phosphate. Fatty acids are the precursors for oxylipins, including jasmonic acid, and for azelaic acid, which together with glycerol-3-phosphate are crucial for the regulation of systemic acquired resistance. This article is part of a Special Issue titled "Plant Lipid Biology," guest editors Kent Chapman and Ivo Feussner.
Topics: Ceramides; Disease Resistance; Glycolipids; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Lipids; Phospholipases; Phospholipids; Plant Diseases; Plants; Sphingolipids
PubMed: 26928590
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2016.02.021 -
The Plant Journal : For Cell and... Jan 2022Originally conceived as harmful metabolic byproducts, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are now recognized as an integral part of numerous cellular programs. Thanks to their... (Review)
Review
Originally conceived as harmful metabolic byproducts, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are now recognized as an integral part of numerous cellular programs. Thanks to their diverse physicochemical properties, compartmentalized production, and tight control exerted by the antioxidant machinery they activate signaling pathways that govern plant growth, development, and defense. Excessive ROS levels are often driven by adverse changes in environmental conditions, ultimately causing oxidative stress. The associated negative impact on cellular constituents have been a major focus of decade-long research efforts to improve the oxidative stress resilience by boosting the antioxidant machinery in model and crop species. We highlight the role of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants as integral factors of multiple signaling cascades beyond their mere function to prevent oxidative damage under adverse abiotic stress conditions.
Topics: Antioxidants; Droughts; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Reactive Oxygen Species; Signal Transduction; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 34519111
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15493 -
Plant Science : An International... Aug 2018Plant synthetic biology is a rapidly emerging field that aims to engineer genetic circuits to function in plants with the same reliability and precision as electronic... (Review)
Review
Plant synthetic biology is a rapidly emerging field that aims to engineer genetic circuits to function in plants with the same reliability and precision as electronic circuits. These circuits can be used to program predictable plant behavior, producing novel traits to improve crop plant productivity, enable biosensors, and serve as platforms to synthesize chemicals and complex biomolecules. Herein we introduce the importance of developing orthogonal plant parts and the need for quantitative part characterization for mathematical modeling of complex circuits. In particular, transfer functions are important when designing electronic-like genetic controls such as toggle switches, positive/negative feedback loops, and Boolean logic gates. We then discuss potential constraints and challenges in synthetic regulatory circuit design and integration when using plants. Finally, we highlight current and potential plant synthetic regulatory circuit applications.
Topics: Gene Regulatory Networks; Genetic Engineering; Models, Theoretical; Plants; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 29907304
DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.04.005 -
Current Opinion in Plant Biology Feb 2022Mechanical forces were arguably among the first stimuli to be perceived by cells, and they continue to shape the evolution of all organisms. Great strides have been made... (Review)
Review
Mechanical forces were arguably among the first stimuli to be perceived by cells, and they continue to shape the evolution of all organisms. Great strides have been made in recent years in the field of plant cell and molecular mechanobiology, in part owing to focused efforts on key model systems. Here, we propose to enrich such work through evolutionary mechanobiology, or 'evo-mechano', and describe three major themes that could drive research in this area. We use plastid evo-mechano as a case study, describing how plastids from different lineages perceive their mechanical environments, how their mechanical properties vary across lineages, and their distinct roles in graviperception. Finally, we argue that future research into the biomechanical properties and mechanobiological signaling mechanisms that have been elaborated by green species over the past 1.5 billion years will help us understand both the universal and the unique adaptations of plants to their physical environment.
Topics: Biophysics; Models, Biological; Plant Cells; Plants; Plastids
PubMed: 34628340
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2021.102112 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... May 2022Plants have characteristic features that affect the expression of sexual function, notably the existence of a haploid organism in the life cycle, and in their... (Review)
Review
Plants have characteristic features that affect the expression of sexual function, notably the existence of a haploid organism in the life cycle, and in their development, which is modular, iterative and environmentally reactive. For instance, primary selection (the first filtering of the products of meiosis) is via gametes in diplontic animals, but via gametophyte organisms in plants. Intragametophytic selfing produces double haploid sporophytes which is in effect a form of clonal reproduction mediated by sexual mechanisms. In homosporous plants, the diploid sporophyte is sexless, sex being only expressed in the haploid gametophyte. However, in seed plants, the timing and location of gamete production is determined by the sporophyte, which therefore has a sexual role, and in dioecious plants has genetic sex, while the seed plant gametophyte has lost genetic sex. This evolutionary transition is one that E.J.H. Corner called 'the transference of sexuality'. The iterative development characteristic of plants can lead to a wide variety of patterns in the distribution of sexual function, and in dioecious plants poor canalization of reproductive development can lead to intrasexual mating and the production of YY supermales or WW superfemales. Finally, plant modes of asexual reproduction (agamospermy/apogamy) are also distinctive by subverting gametophytic processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sex determination and sex chromosome evolution in land plants'.
Topics: Animals; Diploidy; Germ Cells, Plant; Plants; Reproduction
PubMed: 35306890
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0213 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Nov 2018RNA uridylation consists of the untemplated addition of uridines at the 3' extremity of an RNA molecule. RNA uridylation is catalysed by terminal uridylyltransferases... (Review)
Review
RNA uridylation consists of the untemplated addition of uridines at the 3' extremity of an RNA molecule. RNA uridylation is catalysed by terminal uridylyltransferases (TUTases), which form a subgroup of the terminal nucleotidyltransferase family, to which poly(A) polymerases also belong. The key role of RNA uridylation is to regulate RNA degradation in a variety of eukaryotes, including fission yeast, plants and animals. In plants, RNA uridylation has been mostly studied in two model species, the green algae and the flowering plant Plant TUTases target a variety of RNA substrates, differing in size and function. These RNA substrates include microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering silencing RNAs (siRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and mRNA fragments generated during post-transcriptional gene silencing. Viral RNAs can also get uridylated during plant infection. We describe here the evolutionary history of plant TUTases and we summarize the diverse molecular functions of uridylation during RNA degradation processes in plants. We also outline key points of future research.This article is part of the theme issue '5' and 3' modifications controlling RNA degradation'.
Topics: Arabidopsis; Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; Plants; RNA; RNA Interference; RNA Stability; Uridine
PubMed: 30397100
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0163 -
Comptes Rendus Biologies 2016There are only three grand theories in biology: the theory of the cell, the theory of the gene, and the theory of evolution. Two of these, the cell and gene theories,... (Review)
Review
There are only three grand theories in biology: the theory of the cell, the theory of the gene, and the theory of evolution. Two of these, the cell and gene theories, originated in the study of plants, with the third resulting in part from botanical considerations as well. Mendel's elucidation of the rules of inheritance was a result of his experiments on peas. The rediscovery of Mendel's work in 1900 was by the botanists de Vries, Correns, and Tschermak. It was only in subsequent years that animals were also shown to have segregation of genetic elements in the exact same manner as had been shown in plants. The story of developmental biology is different - while the development of plants has long been studied, the experimental and genetic approaches to developmental mechanism were developed via experiments on animals, and the importance of genes in development (e.g., Waddington, 1940) and their use for understanding developmental mechanisms came to botanical science much later - as late as the 1980s.
Topics: Developmental Biology; Genes, Plant; Genetics; Plant Development; Plants; Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
PubMed: 27238367
DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2016.05.003