Новости науки и практики // Декабрь 2020

Alternative gene control mechanism based on organization of DNA within nucleus

Genes that give plant nucleus its shape discovered, also regulate copper tolerance.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/uot-agc111820.php

Plants: Scientists solve the mystery behind an enigmatic organelle, the pyrenoid

Researchers have discovered how Rubisco holoenzymes assemble to form the fluid-like matrix of the algal pyrenoid, an organelle that mediates the incorporation of carbon dioxide into sugars.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201125154806.htm

DNA repair meets climate change

A direct link between DNA repair and heat tolerance has been revealed in Arabidopsis thaliana.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-020-00804-x

A network of transcriptional repressors modulates auxin responses

The hormone auxin is a key signal for plant growth and development that acts through the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) transcription factors. A subset of these, the conserved class A ARFs, are transcriptional activators of auxin-responsive target genes that are essential for regulating auxin signalling throughout the plant lifecycle. Although class A ARFs have tissue-specific expression patterns, how their expression is regulated is unknown. Truskina et al. show, by investigating chromatin modifications and accessibility, that loci encoding these proteins are constitutively open for transcription.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2940-2

Tip‐to‐base xylem conduit widening as an adaptation: causes, consequences, and empirical priorities - Olson
In the stems of terrestrial vascular plants studied to date, the diameter of xylem water‐conducting conduits D widens predictably with distance from the stem tip L approximating D ∝ Lb, with b ≈ 0.2. Because conduit diameter is central for conductance, it is essential to understand the cause of this remarkably pervasive pattern. Olson et al. give reason to suspect that tip‐to‐base conduit widening is an adaptation, favored by natural selection because widening helps minimize the increase in hydraulic resistance that would otherwise occur as an individual stem grows longer and conductive path length increases.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16961

Trehalose 6-phosphate promotes seed filling by activating auxin biosynthesis

Numerous studies on the model plant Arabidopsis suggested that the signaling sugar trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) forms an essential part of a signaling network regulating plant performance in general (Figueroa and Lunn, 2016). The small size of Arabidopsis seeds, however, presents practical difficulties in investigating how T6P participates precisely in the regulation of seed filling. Therefore, the researchers made use of the larger size of pea seeds, allowing an easy preparation and compositional analysis of individual embryos.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/liop-t6p110520.php

Ties between Stress and Lipid Droplets Pre-date Seeds

Scientists provide an evo-devo perspective on the deep evolutionary roots of a key trait of seeds: the genetic chassis for LD (lipid droplets) formation.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360138520302478

История дупликаций консервативных генов уточняет начальные этапы эволюции эукариот

Каким было начало эволюции эукариотической клетки? На этот вопрос ответить непросто, так как мы не знаем никаких промежуточных форм, существовавших на ранних этапах развития эукариот от прокариотического предка. Однако определенные сведения об этих древнейших этапах можно получить, анализируя и сравнивая геномы современных эукариот и прокариот. Международная группа генетиков решала эту задачу, выбрав для изучения только консервативные семейства белков и соответствующие им гены.

https://elementy.ru/novosti_nauki/433728/Istoriya_duplikatsiy_konservativnykh_genov_utochnyaet_nachalnye_etapy_evolyutsii_eukariot

A reporter for noninvasively monitoring gene expression and plant transformation
He et al. construct a new reporter RUBY that converts tyrosine to vividly red betalain, which is clearly visible to naked eyes without the need of using special equipment or chemical treatments. They show that RUBY can be used to noninvasively monitor gene expression in plants. Furthermore, they show that RUBY is an effective selection marker for transformation events in both rice and Arabidopsis. The new reporter will be especially useful for monitoring cellular activities in large crop plants such as a fruit tree under field conditions and for observing transformation and gene expression in tissue culture under sterile conditions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41438-020-00390-1

Tweaking carotenoid genes helps tomatoes bring their a-game

A research team led by the University of Tsukuba shows that modern gene editing techniques can help tomato breeders introduce diversity and improve the nutrition and environmental impact of tomato crops.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uot-tcg120120.php

Cell wall remodeling and vesicle trafficking mediate the root clock in Arabidopsis
Lateral roots form at regular intervals in the small mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Wachsman et al. have now identified both pectin and subcellular vesicle trafficking as part of the oscillating signaling system that initiates lateral roots. Esterification of pectin regulates its function at the nascent lateral root site, altering the stiffness of cell walls and the strength of cell-cell adhesion. Because lateral root primordia must push through overlying cell layers, reduced cell adhesion at these sites might aid in the formation of lateral roots.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6518/819

Plant Osmotic Stress Signaling: MAPKKKs Meet SnRK2s

Osmotic stress signaling in higher plants is crucial to cope with abiotic stress. RAF-like MAPKKKs are activated by hyperosmotic stress and activate downstream ABA-unresponsive and ABA-activated SnRK2s, integrating early osmotic stress and ABA signaling cascades. The connection of B2/B3/B4 RAF-like MAPKKKs with SnRK2s is a new paradigm in signal transduction.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360138520302624

Следы древнейших животных оказались следами водорослей

Молекулы водорослей Криогения со временем стали похожи на молекулы губок.

https://nkj.ru/news/39893/

The same mobile protein governs seed size and infloresence structure

The mobile protein connected to the regulation of flowering in Arabidopsis also helps regulate endosperm development in the seed.

https://www.botany.one/2020/11/the-same-mobile-protein-governs-seed-size-and-infloresence-structure/

How do plants colonise new territories?

The research suggests that different categories of species have dissimilar seed germination niches, which contributes to explaining their coexistence.

https://www.botany.one/2020/11/how-do-plants-colonise-new-territories/

The End of Botany
Biologists unable to recognize common plants, and a decline in botany students, faculty, courses, university departments, and herbaria, highlight the current erosion of botany. How did we reach this crisis, knowing that plants form the basis for life? What are the causes? What can we do to reverse it?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360138520302909

Can we harness a plant's ability to synthesize medicinal compounds?

Knowledge could guide development of sustainable production methods for plant-based medicines

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/cifs-cwh112420.php