An increase in temperature and extreme heat stress is responsible for the global reduction in maize yield. Heat stress affects the integrity of the plasma membrane functioning of mitochondria and ...chloroplast, which further results in the over-accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The activation of a signal cascade subsequently induces the transcription of heat shock proteins. The denaturation and accumulation of misfolded or unfolded proteins generate cell toxicity, leading to death. Therefore, developing maize cultivars with significant heat tolerance is urgently required. Despite the explored molecular mechanism underlying heat stress response in some plant species, the precise genetic engineering of maize is required to develop high heat-tolerant varieties. Several agronomic management practices, such as soil and nutrient management, plantation rate, timing, crop rotation, and irrigation, are beneficial along with the advanced molecular strategies to counter the elevated heat stress experienced by maize. This review summarizes heat stress sensing, induction of signaling cascade, symptoms, heat stress-related genes, the molecular feature of maize response, and approaches used in developing heat-tolerant maize varieties.
Wheat (
L.) is a key food crop, accounting for approximately 765 million tons produced worldwide. The present study evaluated 16 wheat genotypes using 19 morphological and phenological traits, 16 ...molecular markers (Inter Simple Sequence Repeats and Start Codon Targeted; ISSR and SCoT) and
and
plastid gene barcoding. The 16 wheat genotypes showed significant genetic variation using the markers assayed. Cell plot of phenological parameters revealed significant differences among the 16-day-old seedlings of wheat genotypes at Z1.1 growth stage. Collectively, W2 genotype had the lowest shoot length (SL), length of first internodes (LFI) and leaf area (LA) values, while W8 genotype had the highest diameter of first internode (DFI) and LA values. Furthermore, W7 genotype had the maximum plant biomass (PB) and leaf width (LW) values. Geometric models grouped wheat kernels into "rounded" and "nearly elongated". Estimates of heritability (H
) for these morphological characters ranged from 4.93 to 100%. The highest H
values were recorded for root number (RN) (100%) followed by SL (88.72%), LFI (88.30%), LA (87.76%) and Feret diameter (86.68%), while the lowest H
value was recorded for DFI (4.93%). Furthermore, highly significant genotypic and phenotypic correlations were also observed among those traits. Reproducible fingerprinting profiles and high levels of polymorphism (PPB%) of SCoT (95.46%) and ISSR (82.41%) were recorded, indicating that they are effective tools for detecting genetic variation levels among wheat genotypes. The informativeness of markers were measured through estimation of polymorphic information content (PIC), resolving power (RP) and marker index (MI). The RP and PPB% of SCoT were significantly higher compared to those of ISSR. Comparatively, the two molecular markers were effective for studying genetic diversity among wheat genotypes, but SCoT markers were more informative. Moreover, based on the two chloroplast DNA regions (
and
),
was found to be more reliable for differentiating among
genotypes. Taken together, using all the studied attributes, a clear taxonomic relationship can be used to identify
species and improve their pragmatic production and development.
Potato plants and their tubers in Egypt are affected by one of the most renowned soil-borne pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearum, that caused brown rot in potato tubers and wilt in plants. There is no ...efficient therapeutic bactericide so; control of bacterial wilt is very rough.
The study investigated three different concentrations of seven essential plant oils under in vitro and in vivo conditions as a result of their effects on Ralstonia solanacearum growth and their possibility use as potato seed pieces dressing for controlling bacterial wilt disease incidence. In vitro, anise oil at the three tested different concentrations (0.04, 0.07, and 0.14% vol/vol) was the most effective one inhibiting the growth of T4 and W9 isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum then pursued by thyme, lemongrass, and clove oils. On the other hand, rocket oil at the tested concentration was the least effective one followed by fennel oil. However, wheat germ oil was not completely effective. In vivo, experiment revealed that anise oil at the three concentrations significantly reduced disease incidence and severity in sponta and hermes potato cultivars and their effect was associated with increase of peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, phenols and the foliar fresh weight of treated plants as well as the weight of tubers/plant followed by thyme and lemongrass oils compared to the infected untreated control.
Morphological differences in bacterial cell structure have been observed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Anise oil at higher concentration caused of cell wall rupture and degraded cellular components.
Artemisia annua
L. is a medicinal plant valued for its ability to produce artemisinin, a molecule used to treat malaria. Plant nutrients, especially phosphorus (P), can potentially influence plant ...biomass and secondary metabolite production. Our work aimed to explore the genetic and metabolic response of
A. annua
to hardly soluble aluminum phosphate (AlPO
4
, AlP), using soluble monopotassium phosphate (KH
2
PO
4
, KP) as a control. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) was used to analyze artemisinin. RNA sequencing, gene ontology (GO), and the
Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes
(KEGG) enrichment analyses were applied to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under poor P conditions. Results showed a significant reduction in plant growth parameters, such as plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf areas, and total biomass of
A. annua
. Conversely, LC–MS analysis revealed a significant increase in artemisinin concentration under the AlP compared to the KP. Transcriptome analysis revealed 762 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the AlP and the KP.
GH3
,
SAUR
,
CRE1
, and
PYL
, all involved in plant hormone signal transduction, showed differential expression. Furthermore, despite the downregulation of
HMGR
in the artemisinin biosynthesis pathway, the majority of genes (
ACAT
,
FPS
,
CYP71AV1
, and
ALDH1
) were upregulated, resulting in increased artemisinin accumulation in the AlP. In addition, 12 transcription factors, including
GATA
and
MYB
, were upregulated in response to AlP, confirming their importance in regulating artemisinin biosynthesis. Overall, our findings could contribute to a better understanding the parallel transcriptional regulation of plant hormone transduction and artemisinin biosynthesis in
A. annua
L. in response to hardly soluble phosphorus fertilizer.
Background
Bacillus thuringiensis
(
Bt
) produces a group of δ-endotoxin proteins designated as
cry
toxins. No doubt that
Bt
isolates are excellent potential candidates for biological control ...strategies.
Results
The present study showed that 12
Bt
strains were isolated and characterized at morphological, biochemical, and molecular levels. All the tested 12
Bt
strains were gram-positive, endospore-forming, and possessing typical
Bt
crystal structures under the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Universal primers direct and reverse of five pairs were used to detect five
Cry
-type genes (
Cry1
,
Cry2
,
Cry3
,
Cry4
,
Cry7
, and
Cry8
) by the PCR sizes produced from the studied
Bt
strains. The 16S rRNA PCR technique, 16S gene primer, DNA template, dNTPs, and
Taq
polymerase produced unique and distinguishable restriction patterns used for the molecular characterization of the studied
Bt
strains. Based on the PCR products, the frequency of
Cry
-gene distribution among the tested strains w
as Cry1
100%,
Cry4
85%, and
Cry3
62%, and
Cry2
and
Cry7
frequency was 54%. Based on the activity of insecticidal of the tested
Bt
strains,
Bt1
,
Bt9
,
Bt10
, and
Bt11
were extremely pathogenic; their pathogenicity ranged from 93 to 100% against dipteran and lepidopteran larvae, compared to the other
Bt
isolates. The nucleotide sequences of amplified 1500 bp conserved region of 16S rRNA genes of four strains blasted using NCBI database compared to NCBI database sequences, and they were reported as native strains of
Bt
showing high homology with the known
Bt
strains (99–100%). The nucleotide sequences of
Bt1
,
Bt9
,
Bt10
, and
Bt11
were placed in the GenBank database under accession numbers MN860017, MN843958, MN843959, and MN843960, respectively.
Conclusion
The strategies of enhancing the sustainability of crops and vegetables that are targeted by a large number of pathogenic insects require a great effort of exploring novel species and strains of
Bt
. Herein, native strains of
Bt
were documented from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia that displayed bio-insecticidal action on larvae of Diptera and Lepidoptera.
Barley production is essential in Egypt. In the present study, 15 different six-rowed Egyptian barley cultivars were studied. To differentiate between the different cultivars under study in terms of ...morphological characteristics and ISSR, molecular characterization reactions were carried out. Moreover, four cultivars (Giza 123, Giza 126, Giza 136, and Giza 138) were selected for further studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Computational analysis of the DNA barcoding sequences of the two plastid markers
L and
K was executed, and the results were deposited in the NCBI database. The morphological traits showed low statistical significance among the different cultivars under study via the data collected from two seasons, suggesting that the mean field performance of these Egyptian cultivars may be equal under these conditions. The results showed that the phylogenetic tree was divided into four groups, one of which contained the most closely related genotypes in the genetic distance, including Giza 124, Giza 130, Giza 138, Giza 136, and Giza 137, which converge in the indicative uses of farmers. The seed coat of the studied cultivars was "rugose". The elevation folding of the rugose pattern ranged from 11 ± 1.73 µm (Giza 126) to 14.67 ± 2.43 µm (Giza 123), suggesting variation in seed quality and its uses in feed and the food industry. According to the similarity matrix of ISSR analysis, the highest similarity value (93%) was recorded between Giza 133 and Giza 132, as well as between Giza 2000 and Giza 126. On the other hand, the lowest similarity value (80%) was recorded between Giza 130 and (Giza 133 and Giza 132), indicating that these cultivars were distantly related. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.26 for the primer ISSR UBC 835 to 0.37 for the primers ISSR UBC 814 and ISSR UBC 840. The current study showed that the
K gene is more mutable than the
L gene among the tested cultivars.
•Phenotypic, grain quality, molecular fingerprinting, and biodiversity for 13 rice varieties were investigated.•SEM scan revealed differences in the outer surface of brown rice (decorated rice) and ...grain coat (rough rice) for the studied genotypes.•Phylogenetic analysis classified the varieties into clusters revealing the wide biodiversity based on grain quality.•DNA barcoding using matK and rpoC1 chloroplast genes was identified and sequences were registered in the NCBI.•This study documented the grain quality among other traits of the thirteen rice varieties based on the UPOV and the IRRI.
As a result of climatic, political, and economic changes, rice has become a major food crop in maintaining global food security. This study is designed to describe the phenotypic and grain quality, make molecular fingerprinting profiles, and assess the biodiversity using DNA barcoding for thirteen high-yielding genotypes. A variety of biochemical parameters and molecular marker techniques were used. The chemical composition was studied and labeled among the genotypes. The results using electronic imaging showed the phenotypic characteristics of rice grains, such as grain dimensions were all significantly different amongst studied genotypes. Furthermore, the SEM scan results revealed differences in the outer surface of brown rice (decorated rice) and grain coat (rough rice) for the studied genotypes. Eighteen start codon-targeted (SCoTs) primers were used to assess the biodiversity of the studied genotypes. Phylogenetic analysis classified the thirteen varieties into three clusters based on SCoTs data, revealing the wide biodiversity among them. DNA barcoding using matK and rpoC1 chloroplast genes was identified and sequences were registered with accession numbers in the NCBI.
PDF
