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Journal of Experimental Botany Aug 2019Sulfated peptides are plant hormones that are active at nanomolar concentrations. The sulfation at one or more tyrosine residues is catalysed by tyrosylprotein... (Review)
Review
Sulfated peptides are plant hormones that are active at nanomolar concentrations. The sulfation at one or more tyrosine residues is catalysed by tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase (TPST), which is encoded by a single-copy gene. The sulfate group is provided by the co-substrate 3´-phosphoadenosine 5´-phosphosulfate (PAPS), which links synthesis of sulfated signaling peptides to sulfur metabolism. The precursor proteins share a conserved DY-motif that is implicated in specifying tyrosine sulfation. Several sulfated peptides undergo additional modification such as hydroxylation of proline and glycosylation of hydroxyproline. The modifications render the secreted signaling molecules active and stable. Several sulfated signaling peptides have been shown to be perceived by leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) but have signaling pathways that, for the most part, are yet to be elucidated. Sulfated peptide hormones regulate growth and a wide variety of developmental processes, and intricately modulate immunity to pathogens. While basic research on sulfated peptides has made steady progress, their potential in agricultural and pharmaceutical applications has yet to be explored.
Topics: Peptide Hormones; Plant Development; Plant Growth Regulators; Plant Proteins; Plants; Sulfates
PubMed: 31231771
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz292 -
Genes Feb 2021The molecular components of the circadian system possess the interesting feature of acting together to create a self-sustaining oscillator, while at the same time acting... (Review)
Review
The molecular components of the circadian system possess the interesting feature of acting together to create a self-sustaining oscillator, while at the same time acting individually, and in complexes, to confer phase-specific circadian control over a wide range of physiological and developmental outputs. This means that many circadian oscillator proteins are simultaneously also part of the circadian output pathway. Most studies have focused on transcriptional control of circadian rhythms, but work in plants and metazoans has shown the importance of post-transcriptional and post-translational processes within the circadian system. Here we highlight recent work describing post-translational mechanisms that impact both the function of the oscillator and the clock-controlled outputs.
Topics: Circadian Clocks; Circadian Rhythm; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Plant Proteins; Plants; Protein Processing, Post-Translational
PubMed: 33668215
DOI: 10.3390/genes12030325 -
Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal... May 2022Dogs possess the ability to obtain essential nutrients, established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), from both animal- and plant-based... (Review)
Review
Dogs possess the ability to obtain essential nutrients, established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), from both animal- and plant-based ingredients. There has been a recent increase in the popularity of diets that limit or completely exclude certain plant-based ingredients. Examples of these diets include 'ancestral' or 'evolutionary' diets, raw meat-based diets and grain-free diets. As compared to animal sources, plant-derived ingredients (including vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds) provide many non-essential phytonutrients with some data suggesting they confer health benefits. This review aims to assess the strength of current evidence on the relationship between the consumption of plant-based foods and phytonutrients (such as plant-derived carotenoids, polyphenols and phytosterols) and biomarkers of health and diseases (such as body weight/condition, gastrointestinal health, immune health, cardiovascular health, visual function and cognitive function) from clinical trials and epidemiological studies. This review highlights the potential nutritional and health benefits of including plant-based ingredients as a part of balanced canine diets. We also highlight current research gaps in existing studies and provide future research directions to inform the impact of incorporating plant-based ingredients in commercial or home-prepared diets.
Topics: Animals; Diet; Dogs; Fruit; Nutritional Status; Phytochemicals; Plants; United States; Vegetables
PubMed: 34495560
DOI: 10.1111/jpn.13626 -
Journal of Plant Research Jan 2021Plant movements are generally slow, but some plant species have evolved the ability to move very rapidly at speeds comparable to those of animals. Whereas movement in... (Review)
Review
Plant movements are generally slow, but some plant species have evolved the ability to move very rapidly at speeds comparable to those of animals. Whereas movement in animals relies on the contraction machinery of muscles, many plant movements use turgor pressure as the primary driving force together with secondarily generated elastic forces. The movement of stomata is the best-characterized model system for studying turgor-driven movement, and many gene products responsible for this movement, especially those related to ion transport, have been identified. Similar gene products were recently shown to function in the daily sleep movements of pulvini, the motor organs for macroscopic leaf movements. However, it is difficult to explain the mechanisms behind rapid multicellular movements as a simple extension of the mechanisms used for unicellular or slow movements. For example, water transport through plant tissues imposes a limit on the speed of plant movements, which becomes more severe as the size of the moving part increases. Rapidly moving traps in carnivorous plants overcome this limitation with the aid of the mechanical behaviors of their three-dimensional structures. In addition to a mechanism for rapid deformation, rapid multicellular movements also require a molecular system for rapid cell-cell communication, along with a mechanosensing system that initiates the response. Electrical activities similar to animal action potentials are found in many plant species, representing promising candidates for the rapid cell-cell signaling behind rapid movements, but the molecular entities of these electrical signals remain obscure. Here we review the current understanding of rapid plant movements with the aim of encouraging further biological studies into this fascinating, challenging topic.
Topics: Animals; Models, Biological; Movement; Plant Leaves; Plants
PubMed: 33415544
DOI: 10.1007/s10265-020-01243-7 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... May 2022Sex chromosomes in plants have often been contrasted with those in animals with the goal of identifying key differences that can be used to elucidate fundamental... (Review)
Review
Sex chromosomes in plants have often been contrasted with those in animals with the goal of identifying key differences that can be used to elucidate fundamental evolutionary properties. For example, the often homomorphic sex chromosomes in plants have been compared to the highly divergent systems in some animal model systems, such as birds, and therian mammals, with many hypotheses offered to explain the apparent dissimilarities, including the younger age of plant sex chromosomes, the lesser prevalence of sexual dimorphism, or the greater extent of haploid selection. Furthermore, many plant sex chromosomes lack complete sex chromosome dosage compensation observed in some animals, including therian mammals, some poeciliids, and , and plant dosage compensation, where it exists, appears to be incomplete. Even the canonical theoretical models of sex chromosome formation differ somewhat between plants and animals. However, the highly divergent sex chromosomes observed in some animal groups are actually the exception, not the norm, and many animal clades are far more similar to plants in their sex chromosome patterns. This begs the question of how different are plant and animal sex chromosomes, and which of the many unique properties of plants would be expected to affect sex chromosome evolution differently than animals? In fact, plant and animal sex chromosomes exhibit more similarities than differences, and it is not at all clear that they differ in terms of sexual conflict, dosage compensation, or even degree of divergence. Overall, the largest difference between these two groups is the greater potential for haploid selection in plants compared to animals. This may act to accelerate the expansion of the non-recombining region at the same time that it maintains gene function within it. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sex determination and sex chromosome evolution in land plants'.
Topics: Animals; Chromosomes, Plant; Dosage Compensation, Genetic; Drosophila; Evolution, Molecular; Mammals; Plants; Sex Chromosomes
PubMed: 35306885
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0218 -
Biomolecules Dec 2023Plant peptides are a new frontier in plant biology, owing to their key regulatory roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. Synthetic peptides are... (Review)
Review
Plant peptides are a new frontier in plant biology, owing to their key regulatory roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. Synthetic peptides are promising biological agents that can be used to improve crop growth and protection in an environmentally sustainable manner. Plant regulatory peptides identified in pioneering research, including systemin, PSK, HypSys, RALPH, Pep1, CLV3, TDIF, CLE, and RGF/GLV/CLEL, hold promise for crop improvement as potent regulators of plant growth and defense. Mass spectrometry and bioinformatics are greatly facilitating the discovery and identification of new plant peptides. The biological functions of most novel plant peptides remain to be elucidated. Bioassays are an essential part in studying the biological activity of identified and putative plant peptides. Root growth assays and cultivated plant cell cultures are widely used to evaluate the regulatory potential of plant peptides during growth, differentiation, and stress reactions. These bioassays can be used as universal approaches for screening peptides from different plant species. Development of high-throughput bioassays can facilitate the screening of large numbers of identified and putative plant peptides, which have recently been discovered but remain uncharacterized for biological activity.
Topics: Peptides; Plants; Plant Development; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
PubMed: 38136666
DOI: 10.3390/biom13121795 -
Plant Physiology and Biochemistry : PPB Sep 2022Potassium (K) is an integral part of plant nutrition, playing essential roles in plant growth and development. Despite its abundance in soils, the limitedly available... (Review)
Review
Potassium (K) is an integral part of plant nutrition, playing essential roles in plant growth and development. Despite its abundance in soils, the limitedly available form of K ion (K) for plant uptake is a critical factor for agricultural production. Plants have evolved complex transport systems to maintain appropriate K levels in tissues under changing environmental conditions. Adequate stimulation and coordinated actions of multiple K-channels and K-transporters are required for nutrient homeostasis, reproductive growth, cellular signaling and stress adaptation responses in plants. Various contemporary studies revealed that K-homeostasis plays a substantial role in plant responses and tolerance to abiotic stresses. The beneficial effects of K in plant responses to abiotic stresses include its roles in physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved in photosynthesis, osmoprotection, stomatal regulation, water-nutrient absorption, nutrient translocation and enzyme activation. Over the last decade, we have seen considerable breakthroughs in K research, owing to the advances in omics technologies. In this aspect, omics investigations (e.g., transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics) in systems biology manner have broadened our understanding of how K signals are perceived, conveyed, and integrated for improving plant physiological resilience to abiotic stresses. Here, we update on how K-uptake and K-distribution are regulated under various types of abiotic stress. We discuss the effects of K on several physiological functions and the interaction of K with other nutrients to improve plant potential against abiotic stress-induced adverse consequences. Understanding of how K orchestrates physiological mechanisms and contributes to abiotic stress tolerance in plants is essential for practicing sustainable agriculture amidst the climate crisis in global agriculture.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Ions; Plant Development; Plants; Potassium; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 35932652
DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2022.07.011 -
Physiologia Plantarum Apr 2021Plants being sessile have evolved numerous mechanisms to meet the changing environmental and growth conditions. Plant pathogens are responsible for devastating disease... (Review)
Review
Plants being sessile have evolved numerous mechanisms to meet the changing environmental and growth conditions. Plant pathogens are responsible for devastating disease epidemics in many species. Transporter proteins are an integral part of plant growth and development, and several studies have documented their role in pathogen disease resistance. In this review, we analyze the studies on genome-wide identifications of plant transporters like sugars will eventually be exported transporters (SWEET), multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporters, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, natural resistance-associated macrophage proteins (NRAMP), and sugar transport proteins (STPs), all having a significant role in plant disease resistance. The mechanism of action of these transporters, their solute specificity, and the potential application of recent molecular biology approaches deploying these transporters for the development of disease-resistant plants are also discussed. The applications of genome editing tools, such as CRIPSR/Cas9, are also presented. Altogether the information included in this article gives a better understanding of the role of transporter proteins during plant-pathogen interaction.
Topics: Disease Resistance; Humans; Membrane Transport Proteins; Plant Diseases; Plant Proteins; Plants
PubMed: 33639002
DOI: 10.1111/ppl.13377 -
Natural Product Reports Jul 2022Covering: up to March 2022Plants are a unique source of complex specialized metabolites, many of which play significant roles in human society. In many cases, however,... (Review)
Review
Covering: up to March 2022Plants are a unique source of complex specialized metabolites, many of which play significant roles in human society. In many cases, however, the availability of these metabolites from naturally occurring sources fails to meet current demands. Thus, there is much interest in expanding the production capacity of target plant molecules. Traditionally, plant breeding, chemical synthesis, and microbial fermentation are considered the primary routes towards large scale production of natural products. Here, we explore the advances, challenges, and future of plant engineering as a complementary path. Although plants are an integral part of our food and agricultural systems and sustain an extensive array of chemical constituents, their complex genetics and physiology have prevented the optimal exploitation of plants as a production chassis. We highlight emerging engineering tools and scientific advances developed in recent years that have improved the prospects of using plants as a sustainable and scalable production platform. We also discuss technological limitations and overall economic outlook of plant-based production of natural products.
Topics: Agriculture; Biological Products; Humans; Plants
PubMed: 35674317
DOI: 10.1039/d2np00017b -
Environmental Microbiology Apr 2021The plant endosphere is colonized by complex microbial communities and microorganisms, which colonize the plant interior at least part of their lifetime and are termed... (Review)
Review
The plant endosphere is colonized by complex microbial communities and microorganisms, which colonize the plant interior at least part of their lifetime and are termed endophytes. Their functions range from mutualism to pathogenicity. All plant organs and tissues are generally colonized by bacterial endophytes and their diversity and composition depend on the plant, the plant organ and its physiological conditions, the plant growth stage as well as on the environment. Plant-associated microorganisms, and in particular endophytes, have lately received high attention, because of the increasing awareness of the importance of host-associated microbiota for the functioning and performance of their host. Some endophyte functions are known from mostly lab assays, genome prediction and few metagenome analyses; however, we have limited understanding on in planta activities, particularly considering the diversity of micro-environments and the dynamics of conditions. In our review, we present recent findings on endosphere environments, their physiological conditions and endophyte colonization. Furthermore, we discuss microbial functions, the interaction between endophytes and plants as well as methodological limitations of endophyte research. We also provide an outlook on needs of future research to improve our understanding on the role of microbiota colonizing the endosphere on plant traits and ecosystem functioning.
Topics: Bacteria; Endophytes; Microbiota; Plant Development; Plant Roots; Plants
PubMed: 32955144
DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15240