Новости науки и практики // Март 2021

Single cell gene regulatory networks in plants: opportunities for enhancing climate change stress resilience
Tripathi and Wilkins report on recent advances in experimental and analytical methodologies for single cell sequencing assays especially as they have been applied to the study of plants. They highlight recent advances and ongoing challenges for scGRN prediction, and finally, they highlight the opportunity to use scGRN discovery for studying and ultimately enhancing abiotic stress resilience in plants.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pce.14012

Jasmonate biosynthesis arising from altered cell walls is prompted by turgor-driven mechanical compression
Mielke et al. provide compelling genetic evidence that mechanical and osmotic regulation of turgor pressure represents a key elicitor of jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) biosynthesis. After identifying cell wall mutant alleles in KORRIGAN1 (KOR1) with elevated JA-Ile in seedling roots, we found that ectopic JA-Ile resulted from cell nonautonomous signals deriving from enlarged cortex cells compressing inner tissues and stimulating JA-Ile production.

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/7/eabf0356.full

Mitochondrial redox systems as central hubs in plant metabolism and signalling

This review provides an update on the latest research concerning the organisation and operation of plant mitochondrial redox systems, and how they affect cellular metabolism and signalling, plant development and stress responses.

https://academic.oup.com/plphys/advance-article/doi/10.1093/plphys/kiab101/6149139

The molecular and genetic regulation of shoot branching

The key regulatory genes and the role of multiple plant hormones coordinate the process of axillary meristem initiation and subsequent growth into a branch.

https://academic.oup.com/plphys/advance-article/doi/10.1093/plphys/kiab071/6146417

Rice plant resists arsenic

Research team discovered a plant variant that resists the toxin. Although the plants thrive in arsenic-contaminated fields, the grains contain far less arsenic than other rice plants. At the same time, this variant has an elevated content of the trace element selenium.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/uoh-rpr030221.php

Detective work inside plant cells finds a key piece of the C4 photosynthesis puzzle

This research provides several pieces of evidence about the responsibility of suberin on making the leaf cells of C4 plants, gas tight. Suberin forms a layer that keeps CO2 gas inside a layer of cells called the bundle sheath.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/acoe-dwi030121.php

A molecular framework for control of oriented cell division in the Arabidopsis embryo
Vaddepalli et al. show that auxin-dependent division plane control involves alterations in cell geometry, but not in cell polarity or nuclear position. Through transcriptome profiling, they find that auxin regulates genes controlling cell wall and cytoskeleton properties. They confirm the involvement of microtubule (MT)-binding proteins in embryo division control.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.09.430440v1

A plant's nutrient-sensing abilities can modulate its response to environmental stress

Understanding how plants make cellular decisions by integrating environmental and internal information is important for improving plant resilience and productivity in a changing climate.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/cifs-apn021121.php

Perception of a divergent family of phytocytokines by the Arabidopsis receptor kinase MIK2
Rhodes et al. report that the Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase LRR-RK MALE DISCOVERER 1-INTERACTING RECEPTOR LIKE KINASE 2 (MIK2) is the receptor for the SERINE RICH ENDOGENOUS PEPTIDE (SCOOP) phytocytokines. MIK2 is necessary and sufficient for immune responses triggered by multiple SCOOP peptides, suggesting that MIK2 is the receptor for this divergent family of peptides.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-20932-y

Molecular mechanism of cytokinin-activated cell division in Arabidopsis
Yang et al. show, in the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem (SAM), that cytokinin regulates cell division by promoting nuclear shuttling of Myb-domain protein 3R4 (MYB3R4), a transcription factor that activates mitotic gene expression.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/02/24/science.abe2305

Researchers discover how to control zinc in plants

For the first time ever, researchers have demonstrated that, by using a molecular 'switch' in the plant, we can cause the plant to absorb more zinc than it would otherwise, without apparent negative impact on the plant.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/uoc--rdh030421.php

How a plant regulates its growth

The study provides a significant step forward in understanding the mechanism of the molecular machinery of plant polarity. The new findings make it possible to study polar growth more precisely and to understand the molecular mechanism of auxin transport.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/tuom-hap030121.php

Membrane building blocks play decisive role in controlling cell growth

For the current study, Heilmann's team focused on the phospholipids of pollen tubes, which, as the main component of the plasma membrane, are responsible for separating the cell's interior from its surroundings. The scientists have now been able to show that a specific phospholipid called phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate ("PIP2") can control various aspects of cell growth in pollen tubes - depending on its position at the plasma membrane. They did this by labelling the lipid with a fluorescent marker.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/mh-mbb021221.php

Innovative method provides new insight into molecular processes involving RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is key to various fundamental biological processes. It transfers genetic information, translates it into proteins or supports gene regulation. To achieve a more detailed understanding of the precise functions it performs, researchers have devised a new fluorescence imaging method which enables live-cell RNA imaging with unprecedented resolution.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210225113308.htm

How single celled algae rotate as they swim towards the light Scientists have made a pivotal breakthrough in the quest to understand how single-cell green algae are able to keep track of the light as they swim.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210224120355.htm

A boost for plant research

Optogenetics can be used to activate and study cells in a targeted manner using light. Scientists have now succeeded in transferring this technique to plants.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216133434.htm

What rules govern the structure of membraneless organelles?

A study explores how membraneless organelles (MLOs) or biomolecular condensates, form and organize themselves. The research lays out physical rules controlling the arrangement of various types of synthetic MLOs created using just three kinds of building materials: RNA and two different proteins, a prion-like polypeptide (PLP) and an arginine-rich polypeptide (RRP).

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210208114219.htm

Chromatin-based mechanisms to coordinate convergent overlapping transcription

The study reveals chromatin-based mechanisms to cope with overlapping transcription, which may occur by modulating DNA topology. This global mechanism to cope with overlapping transcription could be co-opted for specific epigenetic processes, such as cellular memory of responses to the environment.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-00868-3

WOX9: A jack of all trades

Scientists dissected the activity of a developmental gene, WOX9, in different plants and at different moments in development. Using genome editing, they found that without changing the protein produced by the gene, they could change a plant's traits by changing the gene's regulation.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/cshl-waj030221.php