Understanding the salt overly sensitive pathway in Prunus: Identification and characterization of NHX, CIPK, and CBL genes

Posted on by

Abstract

Salinity is a major abiotic stress factor that can significantly impact crop growth, and productivity. In response to salt stress, the plant Salt Overly Sensitive (SOS) signaling pathway regulates the homeostasis of intracellular sodium ion concentration. The SOS1, SOS2, and SOS3 genes play critical roles in the SOS pathway, which belongs to the members of Na+/H+ exchanger (NHX), CBL-interacting protein kinase (CIPK), and calcineurin B-like (CBL) gene families, respectively. In this study, we performed genome-wide identifications and phylogenetic analyses of NHX, CIPK, and CBL genes in six Rosaceae species: Prunus persica, Prunus dulcis, Prunus mume, Prunus armeniaca, Pyrus ussuriensis × Pyrus communis, and Rosa chinensis. NHX, CIPK, and CBL genes of Arabidopsis thaliana were used as controls for phylogenetic analyses. Our analysis revealed the lineage-specific and adaptive evolutions of Rosaceae genes. Our observations indicated the existence of two primary classes of CIPK genes: those that are intron-rich and those that are intron-less. Intron-rich CIPKs in Rosaceae and Arabidopsis can be traced back to algae CIPKs and CIPKs found in early plants, suggesting that intron-less CIPKs evolved from their intron-rich counterparts. This study identified one gene for each member of the SOS signaling pathway in P. persica: PpSOS1, PpSOS2, and PpSOS3. Gene expression analyses indicated that all three genes of P. persica were expressed in roots and leaves. Yeast two-hybrid-based protein–protein interaction analyses revealed a direct interaction between PpSOS3 and PpSOS2; and between PpSOS2 and PpSOS1C-terminus region. Our findings indicate that the SOS signaling pathway is highly conserved in P. persica.

Identification of Piper species that are resistant to Phytophthora capsici, Meloidogyne incognita, and waterlogging in Vietnam

Posted on by
Identification of Piper species that are resistant to Phytophthora capsici, Meloidogyne incognita, and waterlogging in Vietnam

Two Piper accessions P. divaricatum and P. hancei in Vietnam demonstrated high levels of resistance to pathogenic Phytophthora capsici, the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and tolerance towards waterlogged conditions.


Abstract

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a spice commonly used in kitchens throughout the world. Black pepper production is devastated by a range of pathogenic agents, including Phytophthora capsici and Meloidogyne incognita. Many efforts have been directed towards finding black pepper cultivars that are resistant to these pathogens. In this work, a 39-accession germplasm panel of species in the Piper family collected throughout Vietnam was described. Preliminary tests using P. capsici inoculation onto leaves were carried out to identify potentially resistant accessions. Next, candidate plants were inoculated with P. capsici mycelial suspension and survival rates were assessed 15, 30 and 45 days postinoculation. In addition, Piper plants were challenged with M. incognita by adding larvae/juveniles to growing pots. Resistance to M. incognita was determined by the number of root galls and the percentage of plants with yellow leaves 1, 2 and 4 months after treatment. Piper accessions were also subjected to a 4-day waterlogged treatment. Two accessions (HUIB_PH30 and HUIB_PD36) demonstrated high levels of resistance to all biological and water stresses. Micromorphological characterizations revealed that the amount of intercellular spaces in the root cortex correlated with the resistance to P. capsici and waterlogging tolerance. Hence, the abundance of intercellular spaces can serve as a guide for further selection of black pepper accessions that are resistant to common diseases and tolerant to waterlogged conditions.

Evaluation of soybean genotypes for cowpea mild mottle virus resistance through phenotypic reaction and genotypic analysis

Posted on by
Evaluation of soybean genotypes for cowpea mild mottle virus resistance through phenotypic reaction and genotypic analysis

Soybean genotypes were screened under field and controlled conditions to identify and characterize, through gene-specific and SSR molecular markers, genotypes resistant against CPMMV infection.


Abstract

Cowpea mild mottle virus (CPMMV), a carlavirus nonpersistently transmitted by whiteflies, is an emerging and economically important virus of soybean. The present study aimed to identify soybean genotypes resistant to CPMMV through mechanical inoculation-based phenotyping and marker trait association using gene-specific and simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers. A set of 500 soybean genotypes was initially screened in the field for CPMMV infection, of which 288 genotypes showing resistance were evaluated further under controlled glasshouse conditions. Among these 288 genotypes, 43 (14.9%) were resistant, 59 (20.5%) were moderately resistant while the remaining 186 (64.6%) were susceptible. A set of five gene-specific primer pairs, three of which targeted CPMMV R genes, was used for screening the 288 soybean genotypes; 96 genotypes from the 288 (based on disease score) were also genotyped with 24 SSR polymorphic markers for an association study. The mean values of major allele frequency and gene diversity were found to be 0.70 and 0.39, respectively. The polymorphism information content varied from 0.14 to 0.37. Population structure and cluster analysis revealed three subpopulations for the five gene-specific markers and two distinct subpopulations for the 24 SSR markers, respectively. Neighbour joining-based clustering analysis categorized the 288 genotypes into two major clusters. Three markers were found to be significantly associated with CPMMV resistance. The BARCSOYSSR0558 marker showed the highest phenotypic variance of 9.6%. The present study will help in identification of CPMMV R genes and breeding new resistant varieties through marker-assisted selection.

Implementing deep‐learning techniques for accurate fruit disease identification

Posted on by
Implementing deep-learning techniques for accurate fruit disease identification

To overcome the problem of manual identification of fruit disease here in this work we are proposing a deep-learning model to analyse fruit images to detect diseases the fruit is suffering from.


Abstract

To overcome the problems of manual identification of fruit disease, this work proposes a deep-learning model to analyse fruit images to detect diseases in the fruit. We are proposing here a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based model for fruit disease classification. By including many layers, the proposed CNN model extracts numerous features from the fruit, deals with the large data set and finally evaluates it. With the MobileNetv2 model, the disease prediction accuracy for papaya, guava and citrus was 99.4%, 98.8% and 95.8% and the recall values were 99.4%, 98.8% and 93.8%, respectively. With VGG16, the disease prediction accuracy for papaya, guava and citrus was 97.7%, 99.6% and 94.2% and the recall values were 96.5%, 99.6% and 89.2%, respectively. Finally, with DenseNet121, the disease prediction accuracy for papaya, guava and citrus was 99.4%, 97.6% and 99.2%, and the recall values were 98.8%, 97.6% and 99.2%, respectively.

Diversity of Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose on three oak species (Quercus acutissima, Q. mongolica and Q. variabilis) in China

Posted on by
Diversity of Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose on three oak species (Quercus acutissima, Q. mongolica and Q. variabilis) in China

The pathogenic species diversity of Colletotrichum on Quercus species from seven locations was assessed by morphological and phylogenetic analyses of ITS, gapdh, chs-1, act and tub2 sequences; nine species were identified.


Abstract

Anthracnose of oak (Quercus) caused by Colletotrichum spp. is one of the most common diseases in oak forests. To investigate the species diversity of Colletotrichum associated with oak anthracnose, symptomatic leaf samples of three oak species (Q. acutissima, Q. mongolica and Q. variabilis) were collected from Anhui, Hainan, Henan, Shaanxi and Shandong Provinces, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Beijing City in China from 2019 to 2022. A total of 219 Colletotrichum isolates were obtained and identified by morphological and phylogenetic analyses of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh), chitin synthase 1 (chs-1), actin (act) and β-tubulin (tub2) sequences. Nine species were identified: C. fioriniae (two isolates, 0.9%), C. camellia-japonicae (two isolates, 0.9%), C. karstii (three isolates, 1.4%), C. quercicola (two isolates, 0.9%), C. aenigma (three isolates, 1.4%), C. endophyticum (two isolates, 0.9%), C. fructicola (68 isolates, 31.1%), C. gloeosporioides sensu stricto (74 isolates, 33.8%) and C. siamense (63 isolates, 28.8%). Pathogenicity was confirmed using Koch's postulates, which showed that five species (C. camellia-japonicae, C. endophyticum, C. fructicola, C. gloeosporioides s. s. and C. siamense) caused Q. acutissima anthracnose, four species (C. karstii, C. fructicola, C. gloeosporioides s. s. and C. siamense) caused Q. mongolica anthracnose and six species (C. fioriniae, C. quercicola, C. aenigma, C. fructicola, C. gloeosporioides s. s. and C. siamense) caused Q. variabilis anthracnose. This study demonstrates the pathogenic species diversity of Colletotrichum on Q. acutissima, Q. mongolica and Q. variabilis.

Meta‐analysis of the genetics of resistance to Fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol accumulation in barley and considerations for breeding

Posted on by

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab is a devastating disease of barley that severely reduces the yield and quality of the grain. Additionally, mycotoxins produced by the causal Fusarium species can contaminate harvested grain, resulting in food safety concerns and further economic losses. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, Fusarium graminearum is the primary causal agent, and deoxynivalenol (DON) is the main mycotoxin associated with Fusarium infection. Deployment of resistant cultivars is an important component of an integrated strategy to manage this disease. Unfortunately, few good sources of FHB resistance have been identified from the evaluation of large collections of Hordeum germplasm. Over the past 25 years, many barley mapping populations have been developed with selected resistance sources to identify the number, chromosomal position and allelic effect of quantitative trait loci (QTL) contributing to FHB resistance and DON accumulation. To consolidate the genetic data generated from 14 mapping studies that included 22 bi- or tri-parental mapping populations and three genome-wide association (GWAS) mapping panels, a consensus map was constructed that includes 4145 SNP, SSR, RFLP and AFLP markers. A meta-analysis based on this consensus map revealed 96 QTL for FHB resistance and 57 for DON accumulation scattered across the barley genome. Many of the QTL explained a low percentage (<10%) of variation for the traits and were often found significant in only one or a few environments in multi-year/multi-location field trials. Moreover, many of the FHB/DON QTL mapped to chromosomal positions coincided with various agro-morphological traits that could influence the level of disease (e.g. heading date, height, spike density, and spike angle), raising the important question of whether the former are true resistance factors or are simply the result of pleiotropy with the latter. Considering the magnitude of effect, consistency of detection across environments and independence from agro-morphological traits, only three of 96 QTL for FHB and five of 57 QTL for DON were considered priority targets for marker-assisted selection (MAS). In spite of the challenge for having a limited number of useful QTL for breeding, genomic selection holds promise for increasing the efficiency of developing FHB-resistant barley cultivars, an essential component of the overall management strategy for the disease.

Rat brown adipose tissue thermogenic markers are modulated by estrous cycle phases and short‐term fasting

Posted on by
Rat brown adipose tissue thermogenic markers are modulated by estrous cycle phases and short-term fasting

This study confirmed that BAT exhibits morphological and functional changes in proestrus and diestrus. Moreover, BAT undergoes additional dynamic functional and morphological changes during short-term fasting.


Abstract

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) converts chemical energy into heat to maintain body temperature. Although fatty acids (FAs) represent a primary substrate for uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-dependent thermogenesis, BAT also utilizes glucose for the same purpose. Considering that estrous cycle effects on BAT are not greatly explored, we examined those of 6-h fasting on interscapular BAT (iBAT) thermogenic markers in proestrus and diestrus. We found that the percentage of multilocular adipocytes was lower in proestrus than in diestrus, although it was increased after fasting in both analyzed estrous cycle stages. Furthermore, the percentage of paucilocular adipocytes was increased by fasting, unlike the percentage of unilocular cells, which decreased in both analyzed stages of the estrous cycle. The UCP1 amount was lower in proestrus irrespectively of the examined dietary regimens. Regarding FA transporters, it was shown that iBAT CD36 content was increased in fasted rats in diestrus. In contrast to GLUT1, the level of GLUT4 was interactively modulated by selected estrous cycle phases and fasting. There was no change in insulin receptor and ERK1/2 activation, while AKT activation was interactively modulated by fasting and estrous cycle stages. Our study showed that iBAT exhibits morphological and functional changes in proestrus and diestrus. Moreover, iBAT undergoes additional dynamic functional and morphological changes during short-term fasting to modulate nutrient utilization and adjust energy expenditure.

Mineral nutrients in plants under changing environments: A road to future food and nutrition security

Posted on by

Abstract

Plant nutrition is an important aspect that contributes significantly to sustainable agriculture, whereas minerals enrichment in edible source implies global human health; hence, both strategies need to be bridged to ensure “One Health” strategies. Abiotic stress-induced nutritional imbalance impairs plant growth. In this context, we discuss the molecular mechanisms related to the readjustment of nutrient pools for sustained plant growth under harsh conditions, and channeling the minerals to edible source (seeds) to address future nutritional security. This review particularly highlights interventions on (i) the physiological and molecular responses of mineral nutrients in crop plants under stressful environments; (ii) the deployment of breeding and biotechnological strategies for the optimization of nutrient acquisition, their transport, and distribution in plants under changing environments. Furthermore, the present review also infers the recent advancements in breeding and biotechnology-based biofortification approaches for nutrient enhancement in crop plants to optimize yield and grain mineral concentrations under control and stress-prone environments to address food and nutritional security.