bims-plasge 2018-05-27 papers

Issue of 2018‒05‒27
three papers selected by
Vera S. Bogdanova
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Plant Physiol Biochem. 2018 May 17. pii: S0981-9428(18)30203-1. [Epub ahead of print]128 163-169

Identification of a novel promoter from banana aquaporin family gene (MaTIP1;2) which responses to drought and salt-stress in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana.

Shun Song, Yi Xu, Dongmei Huang, Hongxia Miao, Juhua Liu, Caihong Jia, Wei Hu, Ana Valeria Valarezo, Biyu Xu, Zhiqiang Jin.

Drought and salt stresses often affect plant growth and crop yields. Identification of promoters involved in drought and salt stress responses is of great significance for genetic improvement of crop resistance. Our previous studies showed that aquaporin can respond to drought and salt stresses, but its promoter has not yet been reported in plants. In the present study, cis-acting elements of MaAQP family member promoters were systematically analyzed in banana. Expression of MaTIP1; 2 was induced by drought and salt stresses but not sensitive to cold stress, waterlogging stress, or mechanical damage, and its promoter contained five stress-related cis-acting elements. The MaTIP1; 2 promoter (841 bp upstream of translation initiation site) from banana (Musa acuminata L. AAA group cv. Brazilian) was isolated through genome walking polymerase chain reaction, and found to contain a TATA Box, CAAT box, ABRE element, CCGTCC box, CGTCA motif, and TCA element. Transformation of the MaTIP1; 2 promoter into Arabidopsis to assess its function indicated that it responds to both drought and salt stress treatments. These results suggest that MaTIP1; 2 utilization may improve drought and salt stresses resistance of the transgenic plants by promoting banana aquaporin expression.

Keywords: Abiotic stress; Banana (Musa acuminata L. AAA group cv. Brazilian); Promoter; Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana; β-glucuronidase (GUS)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.05.003

Plant Biol (Stuttg). 2018 May 20.

Linking seed germination and plant height: a case study of a wetland community on the eastern Tibet Plateau.

Kun Liu, Suzhen Cao, Guozhen Du, Jerry M Baskin, Carol C Baskin, Haiyan Bu, Wei Qi, Ting Liang.

Seed germination is the earliest trait expressed in a plant's life history, and it can directly affect the expression of post germination traits. Plant height is central to plant ecological strategies, because it is a major determinant of the ability of a species to compete for light. Thus, linking seed germination and plant height at the community level is very important to understanding plant fitness and community structure. Here, we tested storage condition and temperature requirements for germination of 31 species from a wetland plant community on the eastern Tibet Plateau, and analyzed correlation of germination traits with plant height in relation to storage condition. Germination percentage was positively related to plant height, and this relationship disappeared when seeds were incubated at a low temperature (i.e. 5°C) or after they were stored under wet-cold conditions. The response of seeds to dry+wet-cold storage was negatively related to plant height. Based on the scores of each species on the first two principal components derived from PCA, species were classified into two categories by Hierarchical Clustering, and there was a significant difference between germination and plant height of species in these two categories. These results suggest that the requirements for seed germination together with seasonal change in environmental conditions determine the window for germination and in turn plant growth season and resource utilization and ultimately plant height. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tibet Plateau; plant traits; storage condition; temperature requirement; wetland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12845

Plant Biol (Stuttg). 2018 May 20.

Analysis of intraspecific seeds diversity in Astragalus aquilanus (Fabaceae) endemic species of Central Apennine.

V Di Cecco, M Di Musciano, A A D'Archivio, A R Frattaroli, L Di Martino.

This work aims to study the seeds of the endemic species Astragalus aquilanus from four different populations of Central Italy. We investigated the seed morpho-colorimetric features (shape and size) and chemical differences (through infrared spectroscopy) among populations and between dark and light seeds. Seed morpho-colorimetric quantitative variables, describing shape, size and colour seed traits, were measured using image analysis techniques. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to attempt seed chemical characterization. The measured data were analysed by step-wise linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Moreover, we analysed the correlation between the four most important traits and six climatic variables extracted from WorldClim 2.0. LDA on seeds traits shows a clear differentiation of the four populations, which can be attributed to a different chemical composition, as confirmed by Wilk's lambda test (p<0.001). A strong correlation between morphometric traits and temperature (annual mean temperature, mean temperature of the warmest and coolest quarter), colorimetric traits and precipitation (annual precipitation, and precipitation of wettest and driest quarter) was observed. The characterization of Astragalus aquilanus seeds has shown a large intraspecific plasticity both in morpho-colorimetric and chemical composition. These results confirm the strong relationship between the type of seed produced and the climatic variables. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: IR spectrum; Intraspecific diversity; interpopulation variability; morpho-colorimetric analysis; seed image analysis; trait-environment relationship

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12844