{"title":"Cell type-specific control and post-translational regulation of specialized metabolism: opening new avenues for plant metabolic engineering","authors":"Nikolaos Ntelkis , Alain Goossens , Krešimir Šola","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102575","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Although plant metabolic engineering enables the sustainable production of valuable metabolites with many applications, we still lack a good understanding of many multi-layered regulatory networks that govern metabolic pathways at the metabolite, protein, transcriptional and cellular level. As transcriptional regulation is better understood and often reviewed, here we highlight recent advances in the cell type-specific and post-translational regulation of plant specialized metabolism. With the advent of single-cell technologies, we are now able to characterize metabolites and their transcriptional regulators at the cellular level, which can refine our searches for missing biosynthetic enzymes and cell type-specific regulators. Post-translational regulation through enzyme inhibition, protein phosphorylation and ubiquitination are clearly evident in specialized metabolism regulation, but not frequently studied or considered in metabolic engineering efforts. Finally, we contemplate how advances in cell type-specific and post-translational regulation can be applied in metabolic engineering efforts <em>in planta</em>, leading to optimization of plants as metabolite production vehicles.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102575"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141424523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shuixian Li , Jiannan Fan , Cheng Xue , Hongyan Shan , Hongzhi Kong
{"title":"Spur development and evolution: An update","authors":"Shuixian Li , Jiannan Fan , Cheng Xue , Hongyan Shan , Hongzhi Kong","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102573","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Floral spurs, widely recognized as a classic example of key morphological and functional innovation and thought to have promoted the origin and adaptive evolution of many flowering plant lineages, have attracted the attention of researchers for centuries. Despite this, the mechanisms underlying the development and evolution of these structures remain poorly understood. Recent studies have discovered the phytohormones and transcription factor genes that play key roles in regulating patterns of cell division and cell expansion during spur morphogenesis. Spur morphogenesis was also found to be tightly linked with the programs specifying floral zygomorphy, floral organ identity determination, and nectary development. Independent origins and losses of spurs in different flowering plant lineages, therefore, may be attributed to changes in the spur program and/or its upstream ones.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102573"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141424522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cecilia Cermesoni , Christopher Grefen , Martiniano M. Ricardi
{"title":"Where R-SNAREs like to roam - the vesicle-associated membrane proteins VAMP721 & VAMP722 in trafficking hotspots","authors":"Cecilia Cermesoni , Christopher Grefen , Martiniano M. Ricardi","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102571","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>VAMP721 and VAMP722, play crucial roles in membrane fusion at post-Golgi compartments. They are involved in cell plate formation, recycling, endocytosis, and secretion. While individual SNARE actors and regulators exhibit significant overlap, specificity is achieved through distinct combinations of these components. Cytokinesis-related SNAREs traffic as preformed CIS-complexes, which require disassembly by the NSF/αSNAP chaperoning complex to facilitate subsequent homotypic fusion at the cell plate. Recent findings suggest a similar mechanism may operate during secretion. Regulation of VAMP721 activity involves interactions with tethers, GTPases, and Sec1/Munc18 proteins, along with a newly discovered phosphorylation at Tyrosine residue 57. These advances provide valuable insights into the fascinating world of cellular trafficking and membrane fusion.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102571"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141424533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disarming the defenses: Insect detoxification of plant defense-related specialized metabolites","authors":"Kristina Kshatriya, Jonathan Gershenzon","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The ability of certain insects to feed on plants containing toxic specialized metabolites may be attributed to detoxification enzymes. Representatives of a few large families of detoxification enzymes are widespread in insect herbivores acting to functionalize toxins and conjugate them with polar substituents to decrease toxicity, increase water solubility and enhance excretion. Insects have also developed specific enzymes for coping with toxins that are activated upon plant damage. Another source of detoxification potential in insects lies in their microbiomes, which are being increasingly recognized for their role in processing plant toxins. The evolution of insect detoxification systems to resist toxic specialized metabolites in plants may in turn have selected for the great diversity of such metabolites found in nature.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102577"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369526624000682/pdfft?md5=e23c13f2d38ea652baec31be1e2ae144&pid=1-s2.0-S1369526624000682-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141418210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biosynthesis of the triterpenoid withanolides in Withania somnifera","authors":"Ananth Krishna Narayanan , Dinesh A. Nagegowda","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102576","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ashwagandha (<em>Withania somnifera</em> L. Dunal) is a versatile medicinal plant of Solanaceae family, renowned for its potent therapeutic properties, due to which it is extensively used in Indian traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda. The medicinal properties are attributed to specialized metabolites known as withanolides, which are chemically triterpenoid steroidal lactones. Despite their significance, the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides remains poorly understood. It is hypothesized that withanolides are synthesized through the universal sterol pathway, wherein sterol precursors undergo various biochemical modifications such as hydroxylation, oxidation, cyclization, and glycosylation, yielding a diverse array of downstream withanolides and withanosides. Consequently, comprehending the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides is crucial to facilitate advancements in withanolides productivity through metabolic engineering or synthetic biology approaches. This article aims to provide an update on the efforts made toward understanding withanolides formation and regulation and highlights gaps and approaches to elucidate the withanolides biosynthesis in <em>W. somnifera</em>.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102576"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141326187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epigenetic control of gene expression by cellular metabolisms in plants","authors":"Fei Huang , Yuehui He","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102572","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102572","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Covalent modifications on DNA and histones can regulate eukaryotic gene expression and are often referred to as epigenetic modifications. These chemical reactions require various metabolites as donors or co-substrates, such as acetyl coenzyme A, S-adenosyl-l-methionine, and α-ketoglutarate. Metabolic processes that take place in the cytoplasm, nucleus, or other cellular compartments may impact epigenetic modifications in the nucleus. Here, we review recent advances on metabolic control of chromatin modifications and thus gene expression in plants, with a focus on the functions of nuclear compartmentalization of metabolic processes and enzymes in DNA and histone modifications. Furthermore, we discuss the functions of cellular metabolisms in fine-tuning gene expression to facilitate the responses or adaptation to environmental changes in plants.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102572"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141320674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The evolution and development of sporangia—The fundamental reproductive organ of land plant sporophytes","authors":"Barbara A. Ambrose, Dennis Wm. Stevenson","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102563","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A key innovation of land plants is the origin and evolution of the sporangium, the fundamental reproductive structure of the diploid sporophyte. In vascular plants, whether the structure is a cone, fertile leaf, or flower—all are clusters of sporangia. The evolution of morphologically distinct sporangia (heterospory) and retention of the gametophyte evolved three times independently as a prerequisite for the evolution of seeds. This review summarizes the development of vascular plant sporangia, molecular genetics of angiosperm sporangia, and provides a framework to investigate evolution and development in vascular plant sporangia.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102563"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141244988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"HEI10 coarsening, chromatin and sequence polymorphism shape the plant meiotic recombination landscape","authors":"Chris Morgan , Martin Howard , Ian R. Henderson","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Meiosis is a conserved eukaryotic cell division that produces spores required for sexual reproduction. During meiosis, chromosomes pair and undergo programmed DNA double-strand breaks, followed by homologous repair that can result in reciprocal crossovers. Crossover formation is highly regulated with typically few events per homolog pair. Crossovers additionally show wider spacing than expected from uniformly random placement - defining the phenomenon of interference. In plants, the conserved HEI10 E3 ligase is initially loaded along meiotic chromosomes, before maturing into a small number of foci, corresponding to crossover locations. We review the coarsening model that explains these dynamics as a diffusion and aggregation process, resulting in approximately evenly spaced HEI10 foci. We review how underlying chromatin states, and the presence of interhomolog polymorphisms, shape the meiotic recombination landscape, in light of the coarsening model. Finally, we consider future directions to understand the control of meiotic recombination in plant genomes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102570"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136952662400061X/pdfft?md5=18e7c75ce9e20927f8c69030f249874b&pid=1-s2.0-S136952662400061X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141250964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cause or effect: Probing the roles of epigenetics in plant development and environmental responses","authors":"Xuejing Wang, Nobutoshi Yamaguchi","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Epigenetic modifications are inheritable, reversible changes that control gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself. Recent advances in epigenetic and sequencing technologies have revealed key regulatory regions in genes with multiple epigenetic changes. However, causal associations between epigenetic changes and physiological events have rarely been examined. Epigenome editing enables alterations to the epigenome without changing the underlying DNA sequence. Modifying epigenetic information in plants has important implications for causality assessment of the epigenome. Here, we briefly review tools for selectively interrogating the epigenome. We highlight promising research on site-specific DNA methylation and histone modifications and propose future research directions to more deeply investigate epigenetic regulation, including cause-and-effect relationships between epigenetic modifications and the development/environmental responses of <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em>.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102569"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141244153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multifaceted mechanisms controlling grain disarticulation in the Poaceae","authors":"Yunqing Yu , Elizabeth A. Kellogg","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cereal shattering and threshability, both involving disarticulation of grains from the mother plant, are important traits for cereal domestication and improvement. Recent studies highlighted diverse mechanisms influencing shattering and threshability, either through development of the disarticulation zone or floral structures enclosing or supporting the disarticulation unit. Differential lignification in the disarticulation zone is essential for rice shattering but not required for many other grasses. During shattering, the disarticulation zone undergoes either abscission leading to cell separation or cell breakage. Threshability can be affected by the morphology and toughness of the enclosing floral structures, and in some species, by the inherent weakness of the disarticulation zone. Fine-tuning shattering and threshability is essential for breeding wild and less domesticated cereals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102564"},"PeriodicalIF":9.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369526624000554/pdfft?md5=34c6480501b7d29b755555b940500355&pid=1-s2.0-S1369526624000554-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}