{"title":"Enhancing sweet cherry resilience to spring frost and rain-induced cracking with pre-harvest melatonin treatments","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sweet cherry producers annually confront climatic challenges such as spring frost and fruit cracking. This vulnerability arises primarily from spring frost during bloom or cracking at critical maturity stages during persistent rainfall. With changing climate patterns, innovative strategies are essential to mitigate these adversities. Foliar applications of melatonin (MT) at 0, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 mM were tested on the ‘Prime Giant’ and ‘Sweetheart’ cultivars over four different production cycles (2020–2023) to evaluate the effect on frost resilience on flower buds and fruit cracking reduction. MT-treated flower buds showed reduced malondialdehyde content and increased fruit set in most seasons, reducing their vulnerability to extreme weather events. In addition, MT consistently decreased sweet cherry cracking incidence across all studied seasons, indicating a strong effect between the fruit ripening stage and susceptibility to fruit cracking, which was cultivar dependent. Quality parameters at harvest, including fruit firmness, and colour at harvest, were either delayed or unaffected in MT-treated fruits compared with controls. However, other ripening parameters were stimulated by pre-harvest MT applications in several growing cycles, such as total soluble solids, which slightly reduced total acidity in MT-treated fruits. In summary, pre-harvest MT treatments can be a promising strategy for climate change adaptation and stress mitigation, potentially increasing sweet cherry production under extreme weather conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"LED light treatments enhance neuroprotective properties and differentially impact phenolic compounds and triterpenoid content in Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.)","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100386","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100386","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Due to an array of medicinal properties being attributed to Gotu kola (<em>Centella asiatica</em> (L.) Urb.), there is a growing demand for the incorporation of the plant as an herbal ingredient in drugs, cosmetics but mainly in dietary supplements and herbal drugs, which has been causing a gradual decline on its wild population. A possible way might be the improvement of the content in bioactive constituents that, in this specific matter, have been mainly labelled as being pentacyclic triterpenoids. We hypothesize that using light-emitting diode (LED) treatments can enhance its content in bioactives and improve its neuroprotective effects. Specific LED light treatments caused a metabolic shift, globally reducing the concentrations of the triterpenoids madecassoside, asiaticoside, and their corresponding aglycones. However, LED light treatments caused a pronounced increase in specific phenolic bioactives in comparison with samples obtained under sunlight, mostly pronounced in the concentrations of di-<em>O</em>-caffeoylquinic acids. Principal component analysis corroborated that the improvement on the neuroinflammatory status in BV-2 microglial cells and enhanced inhibition of tyrosinase are correlated with the increase in specific phenolic constituents resulting from LED light treatments. While the anti-neuroinflammatory effects in BV-2 microglial cells are demonstrated here for the first time, our core findings are mostly crucial for meeting the increased demand for <em>C. asiatica</em> in herbal products, as our LED light treatment boosts yields in specific phenolic bioactives and improves neuroprotective effects.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000689/pdfft?md5=cf6666429b78cad8d2021241c394b045&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000689-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142230798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Auxin signaling, transport, and regulation during adventitious root formation","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adventitious roots (ARs) are post-embryonic roots that develop from non-root organs. These roots are vital for plant survival and are crucial for the clonal reproduction of valuable horticultural and forestry species. Despite their significance, ARs remain poorly understood. Research has shown that AR initiation and growth involve combined effects of genetic factors, growth regulators, and environmental stimuli. Cellular and molecular investigations have identified three key requirements for a cell to become an AR progenitor: it must be situated next to vascular tissue, exhibit high transcriptional activity, and undergo a redetermination of cell fate towards AR competency. The development of ARs is largely controlled by the interplay between auxins and other plant growth regulators (PGRs), such as cytokinins, ethylene, and jasmonates. Notably, the establishment of auxin concentration gradients through directional flow is essential for activating cellular processes necessary for AR formation. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of auxin-responsive genes, AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORs (ARFs) and AUXIN/INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID REPRESSORs (Aux/IAAs) that play crucial roles in mediating AR initiation and emergence. Nevertheless, complex interactions between auxins and other PGRs remain the most enigmatic aspect of AR development. This review highlights the multifaceted roles of auxin and other PGRs in AR initiation and development, including biosynthesis, polar auxin transport, and regulation at the transcriptional, proteomic, and metabolomic levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Collaboration of hairy root culture and scale-up strategies for enhancing the biosynthesis of medicinal and defensive alkaloids in Papaver sp.","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The <em>Papaver</em> genus is famous for its ability to biosynthesize a wide variety of secondary metabolites, including benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) which have been prescribed to treat several health issues, ranging from cough to cancer. Plus, they have been evidenced to be powerful antioxidants scavenging free radical that are synthesized and accumulated when plants are striving to relieve biotic and abiotic stresses. Morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, papaverine, and sanguinarine are the most well-known BIAs. The biosynthesis of BIAs is limited to organized tissues, and because the content of BIAs in these tissues is relatively low, the use of differentiated organ culture, hairy root culture, is drown much more attention. Interestingly, the biosynthetic capacity of the hairy root culture is higher than that of native plants, making them an appropriate platform for <em>in vitro</em> BIA production. One of the most attractive options for improving BIAs accumulation in hairy roots for both modest and massive production is to adopt biotechnological strategies. Regarding the latter, however, the bioreactor-based production of plant bioactive compounds is preceded by optimization of some factors related to machinery and culture medium. The purpose of this review is to supply comprehensive information about current and innovative biotechnological approaches which have been employed or have the potential to be applied for elevating BIA production in the <em>Papaver</em> hairy root culture as well as their importance from the medicinal and defensive perspectives.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221466282400063X/pdfft?md5=db4a76248e92286ec75ff39c5025a4e0&pid=1-s2.0-S221466282400063X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142162794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developmental regulators in promoting genetic transformation efficiency in maize and other plants","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Given global agricultural challenges such as population growth, climate change, and limitations on resources and the environment, as well as increasing diversity in breeding goals, relying on traditional breeding methods is inadequate to provide food security requirements and promote sustainable development. Genetic transformation technology has become an effective tool for performing functional genomics research and molecular breeding. In this study, we conducted an in-depth analysis of 1669 literary works to investigate the potential of developmental regulators (DRs) in enhancing the efficiency of plant genetic transformation, with a concentration on their use in maize. Through multi-omics data analysis, we identified 12 homologous DRs from various species that are potentially applicable to maize. We identified a total of 41 possible disease resistances (DRs) for maize genetic transformation. Further experimental verification of ZmWIND1, a novel regulator belonging to the ERF/AP2 transcription factor (TF) family, showed that it significantly improved the efficiency of plant regeneration and transformation efficiency in maize. Specifically, compared to the control group, the callus induction rates for the pG3GB411-<em>ZmWIND1</em> vector increased to 60.22 % and 47.85 % in Xiang249 and Zheng58, respectively. Transformation efficiency increased to 37.5 % in Xiang249 and 16.56 % in Zheng58, both significantly surpassing the control group. These findings have the potential to broaden the range of transformable maize varieties and lines, as well as introduce new genetic transformation methods in agricultural biotechnology, underscoring the immense potential to enhance genetic transformation efficiency through systematic exploration and application of DRs in maize.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000653/pdfft?md5=c58b32f82a568370369ded2d02496615&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000653-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142137314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploration of machine learning approaches for automated crop disease detection","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the era of frequently changing climatic conditions along with ever increasing world population, it becomes imperative to ensure food security. The burden of biotic stresses pose serious threat to crop productivity, therefore, early and accurate detection of plant diseases is essential. Conventional methods exclusively rely on human expertise, and are often labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to errors. Recent advancements in machine learning (ML) offer promising alternatives by automating the disease detection processes with high precision and efficiency. We comprehensively analyze various ML techniques, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Random Forest (RF), and Deep Learning Architectures like ResNet and Inception, among others, highlighting their methodologies, datasets, performance metrics, and real-world applications. This systematic review provides a comprehensive analysis after text mining the most recent literature resources of the last half a decade. The review discusses the proposed models, techniques, accuracy, feature selection, extraction methods, the types of datasets used to perform experiments, and the sources of the datasets. Additionally, this review provides critical analyses of existing models in the context of their limitations and gaps. Our findings suggest that while ML based methods demonstrate substantial potential for enhancing agricultural disease management, there is a urgent need for more robust, scalable, and adaptable solutions to address diverse agricultural conditions and disease complexities. By systematically analyzing the extracted data, this review aspires to provide a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners aiming to develop and implement ML-based systems for crop disease detection, thereby contributing to sustainable agriculture and enhancing food security.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000641/pdfft?md5=7d819a442658104589bfe010c6d1c477&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000641-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deciphering the role of SlWRKY36 and SlWRKY51 in salt stress tolerance via modulating ion homeostasis and proline biosynthesis","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100380","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100380","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Soil salinity caused by NaCl is a major challenge to agricultural crops worldwide. For this, two WRKY transcription factors were evaluated for their role in salt stress tolerance in tomato plants (<em>Solanum lycopersicum</em>; <em>Sl</em>). <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> provided novel insight into the regulatory mechanism in tomato against salt stress via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Salt stress significantly reduced chlorophyll-a, an abundant form of chlorophyll content to 6.0 and 5.1 mg/g and proline content to 0.06 mg/g and 0.09 mg/g respectively in <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> silenced tomato plants. This shows that salt stress affected proline content that act as osmo-protectant and damaged photosynthetic pigments in silenced <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> tomato plants. Similarly, the concentrations of Na<sup>+</sup>/ K<sup>+</sup> ratio also showed a significantly higher trend 14 days after salt stress with 5.5 mg/g and 8.9 mg/g concentration at 200 mM for <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> showing silencing promotes Na+/K+ ion ratio under salt stress. Also, salt stress responsive genes such as salt overly sensitive <em>SOS1</em> and Na+/H+ exchanger <em>NHX1</em> displayed lower transcript level in silenced plants at 200 mM salt stress showing their negative regulation by <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> gene silencing. Collectively, these findings suggest for the first time the role of <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> as positive regulators of salt stress tolerance by managing ion homeostasis, proline content and photosynthetic machinery via transcriptional reprogramming. Overall, <em>SlWRKY36</em> and <em>SlWRKY51</em> were explored as potential candidates for engineering salt tolerance in tomato crop plants.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000628/pdfft?md5=35b5c8d36de1cf9f4d0a67dd6d7a0b82&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000628-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142049672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Physiological characteristics and transcriptomic analysis of response patterns of Gynura divaricata (L.) DC. cultured in vitro under NaCl stress","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Soil salinity, a major environmental stress, restricts agricultural production worldwide. <em>Gynura divaricata</em> (L.) DC. is widely cultivated on tropical islands in China and has both edible and medicinal value. NaCl stress and growth indicators, antioxidant enzyme activity, as well as MDA, proline, and soluble sugar content, were determined. Based on the transcriptomic data of tissue-cultured <em>G. divaricata</em> plantlets grown in control (0 mM NaCl) and salt stress (50 and 200 mM NaCl) conditions, gene expression patterns were examined. KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated significant enrichment of plant hormone signaling, MAPK signaling, and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways. These findings allowed key biological pathways and salt stress-responsive genes to be identified, thus providing a molecular basis for breeding salt-tolerant <em>G. divaricata</em> varieties. This transcriptomic analysis revealed a complex tolerance mechanism of <em>G. divaricata</em> in response to NaCl, laying a foundation for screening and cloning key genes related to NaCl tolerance and studying their interactions. These findings would allow the molecular basis of NaCl tolerance to be explored, with the aim of breeding NaCl-tolerant varieties.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000616/pdfft?md5=936a50b7a3cd144f41f85804ff215d9c&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000616-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141978844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metabolomic analysis of grapes and leaves from symptomatic and asymptomatic Vitis vinifera grapevines with Esca disease","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Esca is a grapevine trunk disease spreading in vineyards worldwide, and of rising concern since no efficient treatment is available to mitigate its impact. Trunks, grapes and leaves from symptomatic and asymptomatic Aragonês vines were collected at harvest stage to characterise plant responses associated with this fungal disease. Presence of Esca associated fungi in the trunks was confirmed by molecular methods using ITS region. Metabolomics of grapes and leaves was analysed by Gas chromatography coupled to electron impact ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-EI/TOF-MS) and GC coupled to an EI/quadrupole MS (GC-EI/QUAD-MS and showed that both organs from symptomatic plants exhibited a different metabolic reprogramming than those from asymptomatic. Symptomatic leaves present lesser content in tricarboxylic and polyhydroxy acids, and this metabolic adjustment may involve salicylic acid metabolism. On the other hand, symptomatic fruits accumulate long-chain fatty acids probably related with cuticle reinforcement to mitigate changes in water transport caused by trunk damage, and defence-related metabolites such as α-tocopherol. Symptomatic berries also presented alterations in volatile aroma compounds such as C6-volatiles, and acetic acid suggesting an impact on subsequent wine quality. Altogether this study, identified putative metabolic markers associated with Esca disease in plants with different symptomatology and contributed to a physiological understanding of this fungal disease that could help in the development of mitigation strategies for its spread.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000604/pdfft?md5=9d5a9970c377cb61acbbc804f8de824b&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000604-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Elicitation and precursor induced approaches for the enhancement of α−tocopherol production using suspension cultures of Solanum lycopersicum","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cpb.2024.100377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Elicitation and precursor feeding are the effective strategies for enhancing the synthesis of bioactive compounds in plant cell suspension cultures. The present study aimed to explore an efficient elicitation and precursor feeding protocol and its effect on inducing the accumulation of α-tocopherol in <em>Solanum lycopersicum</em> (tomato) suspension cell culture. The tomato cell suspension cultures were treated with different elicitors (Methyl Jasmonate, Salicylic acid and Yeast extract) and precursors (Homogentisic acid, Tyrosine, Hydroxypyruvic acid and Phytol) and the effect of α-tocopherol production was studied. Significant increase in the α-tocopherol was observed on day 5 upon methyl jasmonate treatment which represented 17.7 fold increase in comparison to the control. The treatment of precursor in combination <em>viz.,</em> 150 μM Homogentisic acid + 150 μM Phytol showed the maximum enhancement of α-tocopherol up to 22 fold on day 10 compared to the untreated control. These results suggested that the suspension cultures combining with the optimal precursor feeding and elicitors enhanced the production of α-tocopherol in economically important tomato cell cultures.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":38090,"journal":{"name":"Current Plant Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214662824000598/pdfft?md5=f04fdbf0a0dfff3a6639ee1e1c0012b1&pid=1-s2.0-S2214662824000598-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141978977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}