-
BMC Plant Biology Aug 2023Climate change has exacerbated the effects of abiotic stresses on plant growth and productivity. Drought is one of the most important abiotic stress factors that... (Review)
Review
Climate change has exacerbated the effects of abiotic stresses on plant growth and productivity. Drought is one of the most important abiotic stress factors that interfere with plant growth and development. Plant selection and breeding as well as genetic engineering methods used to improve crop drought tolerance are expensive and time consuming. Plants use a myriad of adaptative mechanisms to cope with the adverse effects of drought stress including the association with beneficial microorganisms such as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Inoculation of plant roots with different PGPR species has been shown to promote drought tolerance through a variety of interconnected physiological, biochemical, molecular, nutritional, metabolic, and cellular processes, which include enhanced plant growth, root elongation, phytohormone production or inhibition, and production of volatile organic compounds. Therefore, plant colonization by PGPR is an eco-friendly agricultural method to improve plant growth and productivity. Notably, the processes regulated and enhanced by PGPR can promote plant growth as well as enhance drought tolerance. This review addresses the current knowledge on how drought stress affects plant growth and development and describes how PGPR can trigger plant drought stress responses at the physiological, morphological, and molecular levels.
Topics: Droughts; Plant Development; Drought Resistance; Plant Growth Regulators; Acclimatization
PubMed: 37626328
DOI: 10.1186/s12870-023-04403-8 -
Journal of Thermal Biology Dec 2023Heat stress is a key abiotic stressor for dairy production in the tropics which is further compounded by the ongoing climate change. Heat stress not only adversely... (Review)
Review
Heat stress is a key abiotic stressor for dairy production in the tropics which is further compounded by the ongoing climate change. Heat stress not only adversely impacts the production and welfare of dairy cows but severely impacts the economics of dairying due to production losses and increased cost of rearing. Over the years, selection has ensured development of high producing breeds, however, the thermotolerance ability of animals has been largely overlooked. In the past decade, the ill effects of climate change have made it pertinent to rethink the selection strategies to opt for climate resilient breeds, to ensure optimum production and reproduction. This has led to renewed interest in evaluation of the impacts of heat stress on cows and the underlying mechanisms that results in their acclimatization and adaptation to varied thermal ambience. The understanding of heat stress and associated responses at various level of animal is crucial to device amelioration strategies to secure optimum production and welfare of cows. With this review, an effort has been made to provide an overview on temperature humidity index as an important indicator of heat stress, general effect of heat stress in dairy cows, and impact of heat stress and subsequent response at physiological, haematological, molecular and genetic level of dairy cows.
Topics: Female; Cattle; Animals; Thermotolerance; Lactation; Hot Temperature; Heat-Shock Response; Reproduction; Heat Stress Disorders; Humidity; Milk; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 37976864
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103740 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Oct 2023The paradox of the organism refers to the observation that organisms appear to function as coherent purposeful entities, despite the potential for within-organismal... (Review)
Review
The paradox of the organism refers to the observation that organisms appear to function as coherent purposeful entities, despite the potential for within-organismal components like selfish genetic elements and cancer cells to erode them from within. While it is commonly accepted that organisms may pursue fitness maximisation and can be thought to hold particular agendas, there is a growing recognition that genes and cells do so as well. This can lead to evolutionary conflicts between an organism and the parts that reside within it. Here, we revisit the paradox of the organism. We first outline its conception and relationship to debates about adaptation in evolutionary biology. Second, we review the ways selfish elements may exploit organisms, and the extent to which this threatens organismal integrity. To this end, we introduce a novel classification scheme that distinguishes between selfish elements that seek to distort transmission versus those that seek to distort phenotypic traits. Our classification scheme also highlights how some selfish elements elude a multi-level selection decomposition using the Price equation. Third, we discuss how the organism can retain its status as the primary fitness-maximising agent in the face of selfish elements. The success of selfish elements is often constrained by their strategy and further limited by a combination of fitness alignment and enforcement mechanisms controlled by the organism. Finally, we argue for the need for quantitative measures of both internal conflicts and organismality.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Biological Evolution; Acclimatization; Models, Genetic
PubMed: 37203364
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12983 -
Environmental Science & Technology Aug 2023Microbial nitrite oxidation is the primary pathway that generates nitrate in wastewater treatment systems and can be performed by a variety of microbes: namely,... (Review)
Review
Microbial nitrite oxidation is the primary pathway that generates nitrate in wastewater treatment systems and can be performed by a variety of microbes: namely, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Since NOB were first isolated 130 years ago, the understanding of the phylogenetical and physiological diversities of NOB has been gradually deepened. In recent endeavors of advanced biological nitrogen removal, NOB have been more considered as a troublesome disruptor, and strategies on NOB suppression often fail in practice after long-term operation due to the growth of specific NOB that are able to adapt to even harsh conditions. In line with a review of the history of currently known NOB genera, a phylogenetic tree is constructed to exhibit a wide range of NOB in different phyla. In addition, the growth behavior and metabolic performance of different NOB strains are summarized. These specific features of various NOB (e.g., high oxygen affinity of , tolerance to chemical inhibitors of and , and preference to high temperature of ) highlight the differentiation of the NOB ecological niche in biological nitrogen processes and potentially support their adaptation to different suppression strategies (e.g., low dissolved oxygen, chemical treatment, and high temperature). This review implicates the acquired physiological characteristics of NOB to their emergence from a genomic and ecological perspective and emphasizes the importance of understanding physiological characterization and genomic information in future wastewater treatment studies.
Topics: Wastewater; Nitrification; Phylogeny; Acclimatization; Nitrites
PubMed: 37589598
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c00636 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2023Mandacaru is a cactus with great socioeconomic potential, but lack of information about its cultivation hinders its domestication. Here, we aimed to evaluate the...
Mandacaru is a cactus with great socioeconomic potential, but lack of information about its cultivation hinders its domestication. Here, we aimed to evaluate the acclimatization and vegetative development of mandacaru under different substrates and irrigation levels. For this, seeds inoculated in vitro were grown for 120 days, being transplanted to pots containing four types of substrate (S1-caatinga soil + gravel; S2-washed sand + organic matter + soil + charcoal; S3-washed sand + cattle manure + soil + sand; S4-commercial organic substrate). Pots were irrigated with 100% of the field capacity (FC) once-a-week, or with 50% FC twice-a-week, and kept in a greenhouse for six months. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 4 × 2 factorial scheme, with six replications. Plant height and diameter, axial and radial growth rate, fresh and dry mass of stem and root, water content, and photosynthetic pigments were determined. Growth was affected mainly by the substrate, with S4 resulting in higher growth and pigment content, while S1 was impaired and S2 and S3 resulted in intermediate growth. The use of S4 and 100% FC once per week was the best condition for mandacaru.
Topics: Animals; Cattle; Cactaceae; Sand; Brazil; Soil; Acclimatization
PubMed: 37996545
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47929-5 -
Trends in Ecology & Evolution Aug 2023The contribution of pre-existing phenotypic variation to evolution in novel environments has long been appreciated. Nevertheless, evolutionary ecologists have struggled... (Review)
Review
The contribution of pre-existing phenotypic variation to evolution in novel environments has long been appreciated. Nevertheless, evolutionary ecologists have struggled with communicating these aspects of the adaptive process. In 1982, Gould and Vrba proposed terminology to distinguish character states shaped via natural selection for the roles they currently serve ('adaptations') from those shaped under preceding selective regimes ('exaptations'), with the intention of replacing the inaccurate 'preadaptation'. Forty years later, we revisit Gould and Vrba's ideas which, while often controversial, continue to be widely debated and highly cited. We use the recent emergence of urban evolutionary ecology as a timely opportunity to reintroduce the ideas of Gould and Vrba as an integrated framework to understand contemporary evolution in novel environments.
Topics: Biological Evolution; Ecology; Adaptation, Physiological; Acclimatization; Selection, Genetic
PubMed: 37024381
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.006 -
Journal of Applied Physiology... Oct 2023Acute altitude exposure lowers arterial oxygen content ([Formula: see text]) and cardiac output ([Formula: see text]) at peak exercise, whereas O extraction from blood...
Acute altitude exposure lowers arterial oxygen content ([Formula: see text]) and cardiac output ([Formula: see text]) at peak exercise, whereas O extraction from blood to working muscles remains similar. Acclimatization normalizes [Formula: see text] but not peak [Formula: see text] nor peak oxygen consumption (V̇o). To what extent acclimatization impacts muscle O extraction remains unresolved. Twenty-one sea-level residents performed an incremental cycling exercise to exhaustion near sea level (SL), in acute (ALT1) and chronic (ALT16) hypoxia (5,260 m). Arterial blood gases, gas exchange at the mouth and oxy- (OHb) and deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) of the vastus lateralis were recorded to assess arterial O content ([Formula: see text]), [Formula: see text], and V̇o. The HHb-V̇o slope was taken as a surrogate for muscle O extraction. During moderate-intensity exercise, HHb-V̇o slope increased to a comparable extent at ALT1 (2.13 ± 0.94) and ALT16 (2.03 ± 0.88) compared with SL (1.27 ± 0.12), indicating increased O extraction. However, the HHb/[Formula: see text] ratio increased from SL to ALT1 and then tended to go back to SL values at ALT16. During high-intensity exercise, HHb-V̇o slope reached a break point beyond which it decreased at SL and ALT1, but not at ALT16. Increased muscle O extraction during submaximal exercise was associated with decreased [Formula: see text] in acute hypoxia. The significantly greater muscle O extraction during maximal exercise in chronic hypoxia is suggestive of an O reserve. During incremental exercise muscle deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) and oxygen consumption (V̇o) both increase linearly, and the slope of their relationship is an indirect index of local muscle O extraction. The latter was assessed at sea level, in acute and during chronic exposure to 5,260 m. The demonstrated presence of a muscle O extraction reserve during chronic exposure is coherent with previous studies indicating both limited muscle oxidative capacity and decrease in motor drive.
Topics: Humans; Oxygen; Hypoxia; Exercise; Quadriceps Muscle; Acclimatization; Oxygen Consumption; Altitude; Muscle, Skeletal
PubMed: 37589059
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00100.2023 -
Nature Communications Sep 2023Quantifying the rate of thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration is essential in determining potential for carbon cycle feedbacks under a warming climate....
Quantifying the rate of thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration is essential in determining potential for carbon cycle feedbacks under a warming climate. Uncertainty surrounding this topic stems in part from persistent methodological issues and difficulties isolating the interacting effects of changes in microbial community responses from changes in soil carbon availability. Here, we constructed a series of temperature response curves of microbial respiration (given unlimited substrate) using soils sampled from around New Zealand, including from a natural geothermal gradient, as a proxy for global warming. We estimated the temperature optima ([Formula: see text]) and inflection point ([Formula: see text]) of each curve and found that adaptation of microbial respiration occurred at a rate of 0.29 °C ± 0.04 1SE for [Formula: see text] and 0.27 °C ± 0.05 1SE for [Formula: see text] per degree of warming. Our results bolster previous findings indicating thermal adaptation is demonstrably offset from warming, and may help quantifying the potential for both limitation and acceleration of soil C losses depending on specific soil temperatures.
Topics: Soil Microbiology; Acclimatization; Climate; Acceleration; Soil
PubMed: 37673868
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41096-x -
Current Opinion in Plant Biology Oct 2023Climate change-induced temperature fluctuations impact agricultural productivity through short-term intense heat waves or long-term heat stress. Plants have evolved... (Review)
Review
Climate change-induced temperature fluctuations impact agricultural productivity through short-term intense heat waves or long-term heat stress. Plants have evolved sophisticated strategies to deal with heat stress. Understanding perception and transduction of heat signals from outside to inside cells is essential to improve plant thermotolerance. In this review, we will focus on translocation of molecules and proteins associated with signal transduction to understand how plant cells decode signals from the environment to trigger a suitable response.
Topics: Heat-Shock Response; Thermotolerance; Signal Transduction; Crops, Agricultural; Climate Change; Hot Temperature
PubMed: 37354735
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2023.102406 -
International Journal of Molecular... Aug 2023Phytochromes are receptors for red light (R)/far-red light (FR), which are not only involved in regulating the growth and development of plants but also in mediated... (Review)
Review
Phytochromes are receptors for red light (R)/far-red light (FR), which are not only involved in regulating the growth and development of plants but also in mediated resistance to various stresses. Studies have revealed that phytochrome signaling pathways play a crucial role in enabling plants to cope with abiotic stresses such as high/low temperatures, drought, high-intensity light, and salinity. Phytochromes and their components in light signaling pathways can also respond to biotic stresses caused by insect pests and microbial pathogens, thereby inducing plant resistance against them. Given that, this paper reviews recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of action of phytochromes in plant resistance to adversity and discusses the importance of modulating the genes involved in phytochrome signaling pathways to coordinate plant growth, development, and stress responses.
Topics: Acclimatization; Light Signal Transduction; Cold Temperature; Droughts; Phytochrome
PubMed: 37686008
DOI: 10.3390/ijms241713201