Новости науки и практики // Декабрь 2019

Discovery increases chance of improving iron content in plants

Genetic find could benefit health of billions worldwide.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/dc-dic112119.php

How to build a chloroplast

Plants use a single communication route when developing new chloroplasts.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uot-htb111419.php

Flowering mechanism in Brassica rapa leafy vegetables illuminated

Scientists demonstrated that a higher level of FLC gene expression is essential for inhibiting flowering in the absence of a cold period. They also discovered that the rate of repression of FLC expression during a cold exposure affects the flowering time.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/ku-fmi111019.php

Photosynthesis - living laboratories

Biologists have demonstrated for the first time that cyanobacteria and plants employ similar mechanisms and key proteins to regulate cyclic electron flow during photosynthesis.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191127121246.htm

Unraveling gene expression

Chemists have uncovered the first steps in the process of gene expression by showing how the protein Rap1 pries open the tightly wound, compacted structure of DNA in the cell to gain access to specific genes.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191121121736.htm

Бактерии помогли растениям выйти на сушу

Приспособиться к сухопутной жизни растениям помогли гены, заимствованные у бактерий.

https://www.nkj.ru/news/37337/

Physiology and proteomic analysis reveals root, stem and leaf responses to potassium deficiency stress in alligator weed

Study highlights protein changes in alligator weed seedling under LK stress and provides new information on the comprehensive analysis of the protein network in plant potassium nutrition.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-53916-6

Similar and Yet Different: Oxygen Sensing in Animals and Plants   

The ability to perceive oxygen levels and adapt metabolism on the basis of its availability is vital for most eukaryotic cells. Licausi et al. retrace the key steps that led to the identification of oxygen-sensing mechanisms in animals and plants and compare the essential features of the two strategies.

https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(19)30282-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1360138519302821%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

A novel pathway linking plasma membrane and chloroplasts is co-opted by pathogens to suppress salicylic acid-dependent defences

Medina-Puche et al. show that a plant virus-encoded protein re-localizes from the plasma membrane to chloroplasts upon triggering plant defence, interfering with the chloroplast-dependent activation of anti-viral salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis. Strikingly, they have found that plant pathogens from different kingdoms seem to have convergently evolved to target chloroplasts and impair SA-dependent defences following an association with membranes, which is based on the co-existence of two subcellular targeting signals, an N-myristoylation site and a chloroplast transit peptide.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/837955v1

Raising plants to withstand climate change

Proof of concept for changing mitochondrial respiration.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/fu-rpt120319.php

A window into evolution

Modelling the development of C4 photosynthesis.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/liop-awi120219.php

Regulator of plant immunity tagged

A new actor in the immune system of plants has been identified.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/kauo-rop112619.php

Recruitment of a lateral root developmental pathway into root nodule formation of legumes

The researchers explored root nodules development using a model legume, Lotus japonicus, and found that this happened via a gene (ASL18a) involved in the formation of lateral roots. Typically, plants develop lateral roots that spread out instead of deep vertical roots, as water and nutrients tend to be denser in the soil surface.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/nion-roa112519.php

Polyploidy and angiosperm diversification

Comparisons of diversification rates suggest that genome doubling may have led to a dramatic increase in species richness in several angiosperm lineages, including Poaceae, Solanaceae, Fabaceae, and Brassicaceae. However, additional genomic studies are needed to pinpoint the exact phylogenetic placement of the ancient polyploidy events within these lineages.

https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.0800079

How plants handle stress

An international research team including Göttingen University investigates evolutionary development.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uog-hph112019.php

Glucosinolate structural diversity, identification, chemical synthesis and metabolism in plants

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003194221930069X

Researchers highlight progress and challenges of phloem research

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/caos-rhp111119.php