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Topic Review
Trichoderma spp. and Cocoa Seed
Isolates of Trichoderma spp., a soil fungus, has been used to control diseases and promote plant growth, reducing the use of chemicals in the production of seedlings of different plant species. We evaluated the effect of some Trichoderma spp. isolates on seed treatment and seedling production of Theobroma cacao. Five isolates from the Amazon region were tested. In laboratory, the following variables were evaluated for seed treatments: germination, germination speed index, radicle and hypocotyl lengths, and fungi incidence. In nursery, the following forms of application were tested: via seeds; in the substrate at pre-planting; monthly in post-planting substrate, and also their combination. The following was evaluated: height, diameter, number of leaves, root length, leaf area, and shoot dry mass and root system. Inoculation with Trichoderma increased the length of the radicle and hypocotyl and showed no fungi in the seeds. In seedlings, some treatments increased height and plant root dry mass. The use of Trichoderma was beneficial for seeds and appeared favorable for T. cacao production.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Walnut Bacterial Blight Disease
The interaction between the plant host, walnut (Juglans regia; Jr), and a deadly pathogen (Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis 417; Xaj) can lead to walnut bacterial blight (WB), which depletes walnut productivity by degrading the nut quality. Here, we dissect this pathosystem using tandem mass tag quantitative proteomics. Walnut hull tissues inoculated with Xaj were compared to mock-inoculated tissues, and 3972 proteins were identified, of which 3296 are from Jr and 676 from Xaj. Proteins with differential abundance include oxidoreductases, proteases, and enzymes involved in energy metabolism and amino acid interconversion pathways. Defense responses and plant hormone biosynthesis were also increased. Xaj proteins detected in infected tissues demonstrate its ability to adapt to the host microenvironment, limiting iron availability, coping with copper toxicity, and maintaining energy and intermediary metabolism. Secreted proteases and extracellular secretion apparatus such as type IV pilus for twitching motility and type III secretion effectors indicate putative factors recognized by the host. Taken together, these results suggest intense degradation processes, oxidative stress, and general arrest of the biosynthetic metabolism in infected nuts. Our results provide insights into molecular mechanisms and highlight potential molecular tools for early detection and disease control strategies.
  • 1.2K
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Breeding Inducer Development
Different approaches that can be used for maize maternal haploid inducer development are explained in this entry. For a complete review on maternal haploid inducers, see: https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/5/614/htm
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Woody Plant Growth and Development under Elevated CO2
Climate change is mainly driven by the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere in the last century. Plant growth is constantly challenged by environmental fluctuations including heat waves, severe drought and salinity, along with ozone accumulation in the atmosphere. The effects of the predicted environment scenario of elevated CO2 concentration (e[CO2]) and more severe abiotic stresses have been scarcely investigated in woody plants, and an integrated view involving physiological, biochemical and molecular data is missing.
  • 1.2K
  • 12 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Molecular Markers in Marker-Assisted Selection in Bread Wheat
As one of the essential cereal crops, wheat provides 20% of the calories and proteins consumed by humans. Due to population expansion, dietary shift and climate change, it is challenging for wheat breeders to develop new varieties for meeting wheat production requirements. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has distinct advantages over conventional selection in plant breeding, such as being time-saving, cost-effective and goal-oriented. Here gives a description of different molecular markers: sequence tagged site (STS), simple sequence repeat (SSR), genotyping by sequencing (GBS), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, exome capture, Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP), cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS), semi-thermal asymmetric reverse PCR (STARP) and genotyping by target sequencing (GBTS).
  • 1.2K
  • 07 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Fagus sylvatica L. mitochondrial genome
Fagus sylvatica L., is one of the most important and widespread deciduous tree species in Central Europe and is widely managed for its hard wood. The complete DNA sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Fagus sylvatica L. was assembled and annotated based on Illumina MiSeq reads and validated using long reads from nanopore MinION sequencing. The genome assembled into a single DNA sequence of 504,715 bp in length containing 58 genes with predicted function, including 35 protein-coding, 20 tRNA and three rRNA genes. Additionally, 23 putative protein-coding genes were predicted supported by RNA-Seq data. Aiming at the development of taxon-specific mitochondrial genetic markers, the tool SNPtax was developed and applied to select genic SNPs potentially specific for different taxa within the Fagales. Further validation of a small SNP set resulted in the development of four CAPS markers specific for Fagus, Fagaceae, or Fagales, respectively, when considering over 100 individuals from a total of 69 species of deciduous trees and conifers from up to 15 families included in the marker validation. The CAPS marker set is suitable to identify the genus Fagus in DNA samples from tree tissues or wood products, including wood composite products. 
  • 1.2K
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Silver lime (Tilia tomentosa)
Silver lime (Tilia tomentosa), a moderately drought-tolerant, thermophilous tree species of South-eastern Europe is considered suitable for the future.
  • 1.2K
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Plant Phenolics in Abiotic Stress Tolerance
Secondary metabolites, such as phenols and salicylic, play a crucial role in the regulation of development and tolerance mechanisms against a wide range of stresses. During adverse conditions such as biotic and abiotic stresses, plants induce the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds to provide tolerance. Phenolics are secondary aromatic metabolites synthesized through the shikimate/phenylpropanoid pathway or polyketide acetate/malonate pathway, which produce monomeric and polymeric phenolics. Phenolic compounds in plants not only take part in preventing stresses but also in regulating physiological activities.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Microalgae Harvesting
This presents the extractions, characterisations, and applications of natural coagulant in microalgae harvesting. The promising future of microalgae as a next-generation energy source is reviewed and the significant drawbacks of conventional microalgae harvesting. The performances of natural coagulant in microalgae harvesting are studied and outperformed alum. The aim of this work is to elucidate the key aspects for extraction of natural coagulants (plant, microbial and animal) and discussed with justifications. This information could contribute to future exploration of novel natural coagulants by providing description of optimised extraction steps for a number of natural coagulants. Besides, the characterisations of natural coagulants have garnered a great deal of attention, and the strategies to enhance the flocculating activity based on their characteristics are discussed. Several important characterisations have been tabulated in this review such as physical aspects, including surface morphology and surface charges; chemical aspects, including molecular weight, functional group and elemental properties; and thermal stability parameters including thermogravimetry analysis and differential scanning calorimetry.
  • 1.1K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Chestnut Gall Wasp and Chestnut
Castanea sativa is an important multipurpose species in Europe for nut and timber production as well as for its role in the landscape and in the forest ecosystem. This species has low tolerance to chestnut gall wasp (Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu), which is a pest that was accidentally introduced into Europe in early 2000 and devastated forest and orchard trees. Resistance to the gall wasp was found in the hybrid cultivar ‘Bouche de Bétizac’ (C. sativa × C. crenata) and studied by developing genetic linkage maps using a population derived from a cross between ‘Bouche de Bétizac’ and the susceptible cultivar ‘Madonna’ (C. sativa). The high-density genetic maps were constructed using double-digest restriction site-associated DNA-seq and simple sequence repeat markers. The map of ‘Bouche de Bétizac’ consisted of 1459 loci and spanned 809.6 cM; the map of ‘Madonna’ consisted of 1089 loci and spanned 753.3 cM. In both maps, 12 linkage groups were identified. A single major QTL was recognized on the ‘Bouche de Bétizac’ map, explaining up to 67–69% of the phenotypic variance of the resistance trait (Rdk1). The Rdk1 quantitative trait loci (QTL) region included 11 scaffolds and two candidate genes putatively involved in the resistance response were identified. This study will contribute to C. sativa breeding programs and to the study of Rdk1 genes.
  • 1.1K
  • 24 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Lithuanian Forest Tree Successional Categorisation
Developing forest harvesting regimes that mimic natural forest dynamics requires knowledge on typical species behaviors and how they respond to environmental conditions. Species regeneration and survival after disturbance depends on a species’ life history traits. The four types of ecologically invariant life-history trajectories of species turnover are a core component to evaluate if the development of the forest community is progressing towards the restoration of the climatic climax.
  • 1.1K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Seed Dormancy/Germination
From embryo development through seedling growth, several molecular pathways control genome stability, environmental signal transduction and the transcriptional landscape.
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Mar 2021
Topic Review
SUMO System in Plants
Due to their sessile nature, plants are constantly subjected to various environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, and pathogen infections. Post-translational modifications (PTMs), like SUMOylation, play a vital role in the regulation of plant responses to their environment. The process of SUMOylation typically involves an enzymatic cascade containing the activation, (E1), conjugation (E2), and ligation (E3) of SUMO to a target protein. Additionally, it also requires a class of SUMO proteases that generate mature SUMO from its precursor and cleave it off the target protein, a process termed deSUMOylation. It is now clear that SUMOylation in plants is key to a plethora of adaptive responses. How this is achieved with an extremely limited set of machinery components is still unclear. One possibility is that novel SUMO components are yet to be discovered. However, current knowledge indicates that only a small set of enzymes seem to be responsible for the modification of a large number of SUMO substrates. It is yet unknown where the specificity lies within the SUMO system. Although this seems to be a crucial question in the field of SUMOylation studies, not much is known about the factors that provide specificity. In this review, we highlight the role of the localisation of SUMO components as an important factor that can play a vital role in contributing to the specificity within the process. This will introduce a new facet to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying such a dynamic process.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Protein Complexes in Plants
The study of protein–protein interactions (PPIs) is fundamental in understanding the unique role of proteins within cells and their contribution to complex biological systems. Affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry (AP-MS) and proximity labeling coupled to mass spectrometry (PL-MS) are two powerful techniques that have significantly enhanced our understanding of PPIs. Relying on the specific binding properties of a protein to an immobilized ligand, AP is a fast, sensitive and targeted approach used to detect interactions between bait (protein of interest) and prey (interacting partners) under near-physiological conditions. 
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Green Revolution Gene SD1
The green revolution gene sd1 in rice has been used for decades, but was not identified for a long time. The SD1 gene encodes the rice Gibberellin 20 oxidase-2 (GA20ox2). As such, the SD1 gene is instrumental in uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying gibberellin biosynthesis There are ten different alleles of SD1.
  • 1.1K
  • 23 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Taccalonolides
Taccalonolides are a new class of microtube-stabilizing agents isolated from plants of the genus Tacca demonstrating effectiveness against drug-resistant tumors in cellular and animal models.
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Greek Tulips
From an ornamental viewpoint, tulips are famous clonally propagated crops. This research focuses on 15 wild-growing Greek tulip species including 11 range-restricted species, i.e., six Greek endemics and five Balkan or Aegean endemics and subendemics, among which seven are currently threatened with extinction (two Critically Endangered, three Endangered and two Vulnerable). The results of this study on the Greek tulips showed that there are both well-established value chains and gaps in the market regarding the “botanical tulips” of Greece.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Singlet Oxygen in Plants
In a recent review published in Int. J. Mol. Sci. (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21093237), we summarize the current understanding of the sites and mechanisms of production of singlet oxygen (1O2) in the plant body, and of emerging physiological roles of 1O2 production in plants. We consider well-characterized mechanisms of 1O2 generation in chloroplast grana cores and novel data on 1O2 formation at grana margins. We discuss signal functions of 1O2 in acclimation to excess light, in chloroplast quality control and in the initiation of programmed cell death (PCD), as well as the less clear roles of stress-related 1O2 production in roots. We argue that infiltration of 1O2-specific membrane-impermeable fluorescent probes in the apoplast provides a useful comparative approach to estimate levels of 1O2 formation in chloroplasts. We present a preliminary overview of cellular mechanisms and signaling pathways leading to 1O2-triggered PCD in plants.
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Catalase (CAT) Gene Family in Wheat
Catalases (CATs) are considered the most potent (reactive oxygen species) ROS scavengers because of their strong affinity for H2O2.
  • 1.1K
  • 10 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Genetic Architecture of Anthracnose Resistance in Maize
Maize (Zea mays), also called corn, is one of the top three staple food crops worldwide and is also utilized as feed (e.g., feed grain and silage) and a source of biofuel (e.g., bioethanol). Maize production is hampered by a myriad of factors, including although not limited to fungal diseases, which reduce grain yield and downgrade kernel quality. One such disease is anthracnose leaf blight and stalk rot (ALB and ASR) caused by the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Colletotrichum graminicola. The pathogen deploys a biphasic infection strategy to colonize susceptible maize genotypes, comprising latent (symptomless) biotrophic and destructive (symptomatic) necrotrophic phases. However, the resistant maize genotypes restrict the C. graminicola infection and in planta fungal proliferation during the biotrophic phase of the infection. Some studies on the inheritance of ASR resistance in the populations derived from biparental resistant and susceptible genotypes reveal that anthracnose is likely a gene-for-gene disease in which the resistant maize genotypes and C. graminicola recognize each other by their matching pairs of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat resistance (NLR) proteins (whose coding genes are localized in disease QTL) and effectors (1–2 effectors/NLR) during the biotrophic phase of infection. The Z. mays genome encodes approximately 144 NLRs, two of which, RCg1 and RCg1b, located on chromosome 4, were cloned and functionally validated for their role in ASR resistance.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Jul 2022
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