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Amino Acids Jul 2021Free amino acids (FAAs), the major constituents of the natural moisturizing factor (NMF), are very important for maintaining the moisture balance of human skin and their...
Free amino acids (FAAs), the major constituents of the natural moisturizing factor (NMF), are very important for maintaining the moisture balance of human skin and their deficiency results in dry skin conditions. There is a great interest in the identification and use of nature-based sources of these molecules for such cosmeceutical applications. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the FAA contents of selected Ethiopian plant and fungi species; and select the best sources so as to use them for the stated purpose. About 59 different plant species and oyster mushroom were included in the study and the concentrations of 27 FAAs were analyzed. Each sample was collected, lyophilized, extracted using aqueous solvent, derivatized with Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride (Fmoc-Cl) prior to solid-phase extraction and quantified using Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS/MS) system. All the 27 FAAs were detected in most of the samples. The dominant FAAs that are part of the NMF were found at sufficiently high concentration in the mushroom and some of the plants. This indicates that FAAs that could be included in the preparations for the management of dry skin condition can be obtained from a single natural resource and the use of these resources for the specified purpose have both economic and therapeutic advantage in addition to fulfilling customer needs.
Topics: Amino Acids; Chromatography, Liquid; Cosmeceuticals; Fungi; Humans; Plants; Skin; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 34106335
DOI: 10.1007/s00726-021-03008-5 -
The New Phytologist Mar 2020Canonical plant phytochromes are master regulators of photomorphogenesis and the shade avoidance response. They are also part of a widespread superfamily of... (Review)
Review
Canonical plant phytochromes are master regulators of photomorphogenesis and the shade avoidance response. They are also part of a widespread superfamily of photoreceptors with diverse spectral and biochemical properties. Plant phytochromes belong to a clade including other phytochromes from glaucophyte, prasinophyte, and streptophyte algae (all members of the Archaeplastida) and those from cryptophyte algae. This is consistent with recent analyses supporting the existence of an AC (Archaeplastida + Cryptista) clade. AC phytochromes have been proposed to arise from ancestral cyanobacterial genes via endosymbiotic gene transfer (EGT), but most recent studies instead support multiple horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events to generate extant eukaryotic phytochromes. In principle, this scenario would be compared to the emerging understanding of early events in eukaryotic evolution to generate a coherent picture. Unfortunately, there is currently a major discrepancy between the evolution of phytochromes and the evolution of eukaryotes; phytochrome evolution is thus not a solved problem. We therefore examine phytochrome evolution in a broader context. Within this context, we can identify three important themes in phytochrome evolution: deletion, duplication, and diversification. These themes drive phytochrome evolution as organisms evolve in response to environmental challenges.
Topics: Biological Evolution; Cyanobacteria; Gene Duplication; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genes, Plant; Phylogeny; Phytochrome; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Sequence Deletion; Symbiosis
PubMed: 31595505
DOI: 10.1111/nph.16240 -
Plant, Cell & Environment Apr 2021Plant population density is an important variable in agronomy and forestry and offers an experimental way to better understand plant-plant competition. We made a... (Review)
Review
Plant population density is an important variable in agronomy and forestry and offers an experimental way to better understand plant-plant competition. We made a meta-analysis of responses of even-aged mono-specific stands to population density by quantifying for 3 stand and 33 individual plant variables in 334 experiments how much both plant biomass and phenotypic traits change with a doubling in density. Increasing density increases standing crop per area, but decreases the mean size of its individuals, mostly through reduced tillering and branching. Among the phenotypic traits, stem diameter is negatively affected, but plant height remains remarkably similar, partly due to an increased stem length-to-mass ratio and partly by increased allocation to stems. The reduction in biomass is caused by a lower photosynthetic rate, mainly due to shading of part of the foliage. Total seed mass per plant is also strongly reduced, marginally by lower mass per seed, but mainly because of lower seed numbers. Plants generally have fewer shoot-born roots, but their overall rooting depth seems hardly affected. The phenotypic plasticity responses to high densities correlate strongly with those to low light, and less with those to low nutrients, suggesting that at high density, shading affects plants more than nutrient depletion.
Topics: Biomass; Plant Development; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Population Density
PubMed: 33280135
DOI: 10.1111/pce.13968 -
Plant Signaling & Behavior Dec 2021The global electric circuit and the marine layer in coastal regions result in the presence of atmospheric negative polarity ions within the canopy of plants. This leads...
The global electric circuit and the marine layer in coastal regions result in the presence of atmospheric negative polarity ions within the canopy of plants. This leads to the hypothesis:In the presence of negative polarity atmospheric ions plants activate a plant wide system to absorb and utilize these negative polarity ions.This plant wide system, termed Extracellular Transport System (ETS), is focused on nitrate movement. The object of this paper is to verify the existence of ETS by characterizing 1) how ETS absorbs ion from the atmosphere and 2) within the plant how ETS moves ions from source to destination. Over the past 2-years characteristics of ETS were examined in pecans, pistachios, lemons, wine grapes, cotton, corn, avocados and chili peppers in production agriculture fields in Arizona and California. Nitrate movement was separated into three physical locations: Location I, in the atmosphere outside the plant; Location II, in the interfacial volume between the atmosphere and the plant surface; Location III, in the plant itself. The paper is divided into three parts. Each part is concerned with a particular location of nitrate movement. The major tool of verification is presentation of simultaneous patterns of nitrate ion arrival rate on a simulated plant surface and subsequent movement of nitrate within the extracellular region of the plant. Use of this tool is illustrated in corn, lemons, chili peppers and avocados.A base functionality of ETS has been developed: ETS is a transient, plant wide system wherein 1) nitrate ions are putatively absorbed by a variety of epidermal structures including trichomes and transferred into the extracellular region, 2) hydrated pathways are produced in the extracellular region through which these nitrate ions pass 3) electrical potential gradients are created in the extracellular region which provide a force field to provoke movement of nitrate ions through these pathways. Anthropomorphic climate has three dimensions: light, temperature and moisture. Phytomorphic climate has five dimensions: light, temperature, moisture, earth tides and atmospheric ion presence. ETS is a natural adaptation of plants to the transient nature of atmospheric negative polarity ion presence. It provides a mechanism for plants to utilize this ubiquitous and renewable source of nitrate.
Topics: Atmosphere; Nitrates; Plants
PubMed: 34554051
DOI: 10.1080/15592324.2021.1890431 -
Microbial Biotechnology Nov 2014The significant increase in foodborne outbreaks caused by contaminated fresh produce, such as alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, melons, tomatoes and spinach, during the last 30... (Review)
Review
The significant increase in foodborne outbreaks caused by contaminated fresh produce, such as alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, melons, tomatoes and spinach, during the last 30 years stimulated investigation of the mechanisms of persistence of human pathogens on plants. Emerging evidence suggests that Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli, which cause the vast majority of fresh produce outbreaks, are able to adhere to and to form biofilms on plants leading to persistence and resistance to disinfection treatments, which subsequently can cause human infections and major outbreaks. In this review, we present the current knowledge about host, bacterial and environmental factors that affect the attachment to plant tissue and the process of biofilm formation by S. enterica and E. coli, and discuss how biofilm formation assists in persistence of pathogens on the plants. Mechanisms used by S. enterica and E. coli to adhere and persist on abiotic surfaces and mammalian cells are partially similar and also used by plant pathogens and symbionts. For example, amyloid curli fimbriae, part of the extracellular matrix of biofilms, frequently contribute to adherence and are upregulated upon adherence and colonization of plant material. Also the major exopolysaccharide of the biofilm matrix, cellulose, is an adherence factor not only of S. enterica and E. coli, but also of plant symbionts and pathogens. Plants, on the other hand, respond to colonization by enteric pathogens with a variety of defence mechanisms, some of which can effectively inhibit biofilm formation. Consequently, plant compounds might be investigated for promising novel antibiofilm strategies.
Topics: Bacterial Infections; Biofilms; Escherichia coli; Humans; Plants; Salmonella enterica; Vegetables
PubMed: 25351039
DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12186 -
PeerJ 2022As forested natural habitats disappear in the world, traditional, shade-coffee plantations offer an opportunity to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services....
BACKGROUND
As forested natural habitats disappear in the world, traditional, shade-coffee plantations offer an opportunity to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. Traditional coffee plantations maintain a diversity of tree species that provide shade for coffee bushes and, at the same time, are important repositories for plants and animals that inhabited the original cloud forest. However, there is still little information about shade-coffee plantation's fungal diversity despite their relevance for ecosystem functioning as decomposers, symbionts and pathogens. Specifically, it is unknown if and what mycorrhizae-forming fungi can be found on the branches and trunks of coffee bushes and trees, which hold a diversity of epiphytes. Here, we evaluate fungal communities on specific plant microsites on both coffee bushes and shade trees. We investigate the ecological roles played by this diversity, with a special focus on mycorrhizae-forming fungi that may enable the establishment and development of epiphytic plants.
METHODS
We collected 48 bark samples from coffee bushes and shade trees (coffee; tree), from four plant microsites (upper and lower trunks, branches and twigs), in two shade-coffee plantations in the Soconusco region in southern Mexico, at different altitudes. We obtained ITS amplicon sequences that served to estimate alpha and beta diversity, to assign taxonomy and to infer the potential ecological role played by the detected taxa.
RESULTS
The bark of shade trees and coffee bushes supported high fungal diversity (3,783 amplicon sequence variants). There were no strong associations between community species richness and collection site, plant type or microsite. However, we detected differences in beta diversity between collection sites. All trophic modes defined by FUNGuild database were represented in both plant types. However, when looking into guilds that involve mycorrhizae formation, the CLAM test suggests that coffee bushes are more likely to host taxa that may function as mycorrhizae.
DISCUSSION
We detected high fungal diversity in shade-coffee plantations in Soconusco, Chiapas, possibly remnants of the original cloud forest ecosystem. Several mycorrhiza forming fungi guilds occur on the bark of coffee bushes and shade trees in this agroecosystem, with the potential of supporting epiphyte establishment and development. Thus, traditional coffee cultivation could be part of an integrated strategy for restoration and conservation of epiphytic populations. This is particularly relevant for conservation of threatened species of Orchidaceae that are highly dependent on mycorrhizae formation.
Topics: Animals; Ecosystem; Mexico; Biodiversity; Forests; Trees; Plants; Mycorrhizae
PubMed: 35789660
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13610 -
FEMS Microbiology Ecology Oct 2023The root-associated soil microbiome contributes immensely to support plant health and performance against abiotic and biotic stressors. Understanding the processes that...
Plant species identity and plant-induced changes in soil physicochemistry-but not plant phylogeny or functional traits - shape the assembly of the root-associated soil microbiome.
The root-associated soil microbiome contributes immensely to support plant health and performance against abiotic and biotic stressors. Understanding the processes that shape microbial assembly in root-associated soils is of interest in microbial ecology and plant health research. In this study, 37 plant species were grown in the same soil mixture for 10 months, whereupon the root-associated soil microbiome was assessed using amplicon sequencing. From this, the contribution of direct and indirect plant effects on microbial assembly was assessed. Plant species and plant-induced changes in soil physicochemistry were the most significant factors that accounted for bacterial and fungal community variation. Considering that all plants were grown in the same starting soil mixture, our results suggest that plants, in part, shape the assembly of their root-associated soil microbiome via their effects on soil physicochemistry. With the increase in phylogenetic ranking from plant species to class, we observed declines in the degree of community variation attributed to phylogenetic origin. That is, plant-microbe associations were unique to each plant species, but the phylogenetic associations between plant species were not important. We observed a large degree of residual variation (> 65%) not accounted for by any plant-related factors, which may be attributed to random community assembly.
Topics: Soil Microbiology; Phylogeny; Soil; Microbiota; Bacteria; Plants; Plant Roots; Rhizosphere
PubMed: 37816673
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiad126 -
American Journal of Botany Jan 2013The relationship between fundamental plant biology and space biology was especially synergistic in the era of the Space Shuttle. While all terrestrial organisms are... (Review)
Review
The relationship between fundamental plant biology and space biology was especially synergistic in the era of the Space Shuttle. While all terrestrial organisms are influenced by gravity, the impact of gravity as a tropic stimulus in plants has been a topic of formal study for more than a century. And while plants were parts of early space biology payloads, it was not until the advent of the Space Shuttle that the science of plant space biology enjoyed expansion that truly enabled controlled, fundamental experiments that removed gravity from the equation. The Space Shuttle presented a science platform that provided regular science flights with dedicated plant growth hardware and crew trained in inflight plant manipulations. Part of the impetus for plant biology experiments in space was the realization that plants could be important parts of bioregenerative life support on long missions, recycling water, air, and nutrients for the human crew. However, a large part of the impetus was that the Space Shuttle enabled fundamental plant science essentially in a microgravity environment. Experiments during the Space Shuttle era produced key science insights on biological adaptation to spaceflight and especially plant growth and tropisms. In this review, we present an overview of plant science in the Space Shuttle era with an emphasis on experiments dealing with fundamental plant growth in microgravity. This review discusses general conclusions from the study of plant spaceflight biology enabled by the Space Shuttle by providing historical context and reviews of select experiments that exemplify plant space biology science.
Topics: Biology; Plants; Space Flight
PubMed: 23281389
DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200338 -
Nucleic Acids Research Jan 2017Plant Reactome (http://plantreactome.gramene.org/) is a free, open-source, curated plant pathway database portal, provided as part of the Gramene project. The database...
Plant Reactome (http://plantreactome.gramene.org/) is a free, open-source, curated plant pathway database portal, provided as part of the Gramene project. The database provides intuitive bioinformatics tools for the visualization, analysis and interpretation of pathway knowledge to support genome annotation, genome analysis, modeling, systems biology, basic research and education. Plant Reactome employs the structural framework of a plant cell to show metabolic, transport, genetic, developmental and signaling pathways. We manually curate molecular details of pathways in these domains for reference species Oryza sativa (rice) supported by published literature and annotation of well-characterized genes. Two hundred twenty-two rice pathways, 1025 reactions associated with 1173 proteins, 907 small molecules and 256 literature references have been curated to date. These reference annotations were used to project pathways for 62 model, crop and evolutionarily significant plant species based on gene homology. Database users can search and browse various components of the database, visualize curated baseline expression of pathway-associated genes provided by the Expression Atlas and upload and analyze their Omics datasets. The database also offers data access via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and in various standardized pathway formats, such as SBML and BioPAX.
Topics: Computational Biology; Databases, Genetic; Genomics; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Plants; Search Engine; Signal Transduction; Systems Biology; User-Computer Interface; Web Browser
PubMed: 27799469
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw932 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Mar 2023Evidence that climate change will impact the ecology and evolution of individual plant species is growing. However, little, as yet, is known about how climate change... (Review)
Review
Evidence that climate change will impact the ecology and evolution of individual plant species is growing. However, little, as yet, is known about how climate change will affect interactions between plants and their pathogens. Climate drivers could affect the physiology, and thus demography, and ultimately evolutionary processes affecting both plant hosts and their pathogens. Because the impacts of climate drivers may operate in different directions at different scales of infection, and, furthermore, may be nonlinear, abstracting across these processes may mis-specify outcomes. Here, we use mechanistic models of plant-pathogen interactions to illustrate how counterintuitive outcomes are possible, and we introduce how such framing may contribute to understanding climate effects on plant-pathogen systems. We discuss the evidence-base derived from wild and agricultural plant-pathogen systems that could inform such models, specifically in the direction of estimates of physiological, demographic and evolutionary responses to climate change. We conclude by providing an overview of knowledge gaps and directions for future research in this important area. This article is part of the theme issue 'Infectious disease ecology and evolution in a changing world'.
Topics: Climate Change; Plants
PubMed: 36744564
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0017