Grain size is one of the most important factors determining rice yield. As a quantitative trait, grain size is predominantly and tightly controlled by genetic factors. Several quantitative trait loci ...(QTLs) for grain size have been molecularly identified and characterized. These QTLs may act in independent genetic pathways and, along with other identified genes for grain size, are mainly involved in the signaling pathways mediated by proteasomal degradation, phytohormones, and G proteins to regulate cell proliferation and cell elongation. Many of these QTLs and genes have been strongly selected for enhanced rice productivity during domestication and breeding. These findings have paved new ways for understanding the molecular basis of grain size and have substantial implications for genetic improvement of crops.
Genetic Regulation of Shoot Architecture Wang, Bing; Smith, Steven M; Li, Jiayang
Annual review of plant biology,
04/2018, Letnik:
69, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Shoot architecture is determined by the organization and activities of apical, axillary, intercalary, secondary, and inflorescence meristems and by the subsequent development of stems, leaves, shoot ...branches, and inflorescences. In this review, we discuss the unifying principles of hormonal and genetic control of shoot architecture including advances in our understanding of lateral branch outgrowth; control of stem elongation, thickness, and angle; and regulation of inflorescence development. We focus on recent progress made mainly in
Arabidopsis thaliana
, rice, pea, maize, and tomato, including the identification of new genes and mechanisms controlling shoot architecture. Key advances include elucidation of mechanisms by which strigolactones, auxins, and genes such as
IDEAL PLANT ARCHITECTURE1
and
TEOSINTE BRANCHED1
control shoot architecture. Knowledge now available provides a foundation for rational approaches to crop breeding and the generation of ideotypes with defined architectural features to improve performance and productivity.
By the end of this century, a 50% increase in agricultural productivity is required to feed the world. Recent studies have demonstrated de novo domestication of wild plants as a new crop breeding ...strategy to meet future food challenges.
Higher plants display a variety of architectures that are defined by the degree of branching, internodal elongation, and shoot determinancy. Studies on the model plants of Arabidopsis thaliana and ...tomato and on crop plants such as rice and maize have greatly strengthened our understanding on the molecular genetic bases of plant architecture, one of the hottest areas in plant developmental biology. The identification of mutants that are defective in plant architecture and characterization of the corresponding and related genes will eventually enable us to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant architecture. The achievements made so far in studying plant architecture have already allowed us to pave a way for optimizing the plant architecture of crops by molecular design and improving grain productivity.
Wound healing is a long‐term, multistage biological process that includes hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and tissue remodeling and requires intelligent designs to provide comprehensive and ...convenient treatment. The complexity of wounds has led to a lack of adequate wound treatment materials, which must systematically regulate unique wound microenvironments. Hydrogels have significant advantages in wound treatment due to their ability to provide spatiotemporal control over the wound healing process. Self‐assembling peptide‐based hydrogels are particularly attractive due to their innate biocompatibility and biodegradability along with additional advantages including ligand‐receptor recognition, stimulus‐responsive self‐assembly, and the ability to mimic the extracellular matrix. The ability of peptide‐based materials to self‐assemble in response to the physiological environment, resulting in functionalized microscopic structures, makes them conducive to wound treatment. This review introduces several self‐assembling peptide‐based systems with various advantages and emphasizes recent advances in self‐assembling peptide‐based hydrogels that allow for precise control during different stages of wound healing. Moreover, the development of multifunctional self‐assembling peptide‐based hydrogels that can regulate and remodel the wound immune microenvironment in wound therapy with spatiotemporal control has also been summarized. Overall, this review sheds light on the future clinical and practical applications of self‐assembling peptide‐based hydrogels.
The main self‐assembling peptide‐based systems, the advantages of self‐assembling peptide‐based hydrogels, and the rational design of peptide‐based materials for different stages of wound healing are reviewed. Advanced self‐assembling peptide‐based materials that can be applied in spatiotemporally controllable, multifunctional wound healing and regulate/remodel the wound microenvironment are discussed. Prospects and challenges related to peptide‐based hydrogels for wound healing are also highlighted.
Copy number variants (CNVs) are associated with changes in gene expression levels and contribute to various adaptive traits. Here we show that a CNV at the Grain Length on Chromosome 7 (GL7) locus ...contributes to grain size diversity in rice (Oryza sativa L.). GL7 encodes a protein homologous to Arabidopsis thaliana LONGIFOLIA proteins, which regulate longitudinal cell elongation. Tandem duplication of a 17.1-kb segment at the GL7 locus leads to upregulation of GL7 and downregulation of its nearby negative regulator, resulting in an increase in grain length and improvement of grain appearance quality. Sequence analysis indicates that allelic variants of GL7 and its negative regulator are associated with grain size diversity and that the CNV at the GL7 locus was selected for and used in breeding. Our work suggests that pyramiding beneficial alleles of GL7 and other yield- and quality-related genes may improve the breeding of elite rice varieties.
Strigolactones （SLs）, a group of carotenoid derived terpenoid lactones, are root-to-shoot phytohormones sup- pressing shoot branching by inhibiting the outgrowth of axillary buds. DWARF 53 （D53）, the ...key repressor of the SL signaling pathway, is speculated to regulate the downstream transcriptional network of the SL response. However, no downstream transcription factor targeted by D53 has yet been reported. Here we report that Ideal Plant Architecture 1 （IPA1）, a key regulator of the plant architecture in rice, functions as a direct downstream component of D53 in reg- ulating tiller number and SL-induced gene expression. We showed that D53 interacts with IPA1 in vivo and in vitro and suppresses the transcriptional activation activity of IPA1. We further showed that IPA1 could directly bind to the D53 promoter and plays a critical role in the feedback regulation of SL-induced D53 expression. These findings re- veal that IPA1 is likely one of the long-speculated transcription factors that act with D53 to mediate the SL-regulated tiller development in rice.
Nature-based solutions that incorporate "smart" technologies to enhance ecosystem services delivery may change the way people experience urban nature in their everyday lives. We lay out a conceptual ...basis for considering such changes and their social impacts. Cities are increasingly recognized as complex social-ecological-technological systems in which sustainability and climate resilience require environmental function to be paired with innovative technology. Smart technologies for real-time monitoring and autonomous operation promise innovations in urban landscape management. However, this promise can be fully realized only with adequate consideration of social impacts. Drawing on literature in landscape studies, environmental psychology, behavioral economics, public health, and aesthetics, we initiate a discussion connecting everyday experiences of urban nature with the social impacts of smart nature-based solutions and with local communities' support for their implementation. We describe what makes pleasant everyday experiences of urban nature and their related well-being benefits and social and cultural values, and we elucidate how these experiences depend on perceivable landscape characteristics that are only sometimes directly linked to environmental functions. Then, based on this literature, we speculate about how adopting smart technologies to manage nature-based solutions may noticeably change the landscape in novel ways and have unintended negative impacts on everyday experiences of urban nature. We illustrate this with an example: smart stormwater management of retention ponds. We conclude that the risk of degraded everyday experiences of nature must be considered and addressed in the development of smart nature-based solutions. If pleasant everyday experiences are ensured through appropriate design, smart nature-based solutions may not only realize societal co-benefits, but also gain acceptance and continued support from the public for the whole set of ecosystem services they deliver.
The challenge of meeting the increasing demand for worldwide rice production has driven a sustained quest for advances in rice breeding for yield. Two breakthroughs that led to quantum leaps in ...productivity last century were the introduction of semidwarf varieties and of hybrid rice. Subsequent gains in yield have been incremental. The next major leap in rice breeding is now upon us through the application of rational design to create defined ideotypes. The exploitation of wide-cross compatibility and intersubspecific heterosis,combined with rapid genome sequencing and the molecular identification of genes for major yield and quality traits have now unlocked the potential for rational design.
Increasing crop yield is a major challenge for modern agriculture. The development of new plant types, which is known as ideal plant architecture (IPA), has been proposed as a means to enhance rice ...yield potential over that of existing high-yield varieties. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of a semidominant quantitative trait locus, IPA1 (Ideal Plant Architecture 1), which profoundly changes rice plant architecture and substantially enhances rice grain yield. The IPA1 quantitative trait locus encodes OsSPL14 (SOUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 14) and is regulated by microRNA (miRNA) OsmiR156 in vivo. We demonstrate that a point mutation in OsSPL14 perturbs OsmiR156-directed regulation of OsSPL14, generating an 'ideal' rice plant with a reduced tiller number, increased lodging resistance and enhanced grain yield. Our study suggests that OsSPL14 may help improve rice grain yield by facilitating the breeding of new elite rice varieties.
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