RETRACTED: The plant is neither dumb nor deaf; it talks and hearsEl‐Sappah, Ahmed H.; Yan, Kuan; Li, Jia
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16650pmid: 38281239
Animals and insects communicate using vibrations that are frequently too low or too high for human ears to detect. Plants and trees can communicate and sense sound. Khait et al. used a dependable recording system to capture airborne sounds produced by stressed plants. In addition to allowing plants to communicate their stress, sound aids in plant defense, development, and resilience. It also serves as a warning that danger is approaching. Demey et al. and others discussed the audit examinations that were conducted to investigate sound discernment in plants at the atomic and biological levels. The biological significance of sound in plants, the morphophysiological response of plants to sound, and the airborne noises that plants make and can hear from a few meters away were all discussed.
Multi‐scale mechanisms driving root regeneration: From regeneration competence to tissue repatterningGarcía‐Gómez, Monica L.; Tusscher, Kirsten
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16860pmid: 38824611
Plants possess an outstanding capacity to regenerate enabling them to repair damages caused by suboptimal environmental conditions, biotic attacks, or mechanical damages impacting the survival of these sessile organisms. Although the extent of regeneration varies greatly between localized cell damage and whole organ recovery, the process of regeneration can be subdivided into a similar sequence of interlinked regulatory processes. That is, competence to regenerate, cell fate reprogramming, and the repatterning of the tissue. Here, using root tip regeneration as a paradigm system to study plant regeneration, we provide a synthesis of the molecular responses that underlie both regeneration competence and the repatterning of the root stump. Regarding regeneration competence, we discuss the role of wound signaling, hormone responses and synthesis, and rapid changes in gene expression observed in the cells close to the cut. Then, we consider how this rapid response is followed by the tissue repatterning phase, where cells experience cell fate changes in a spatial and temporal order to recreate the lost stem cell niche and columella. Lastly, we argue that a multi‐scale modeling approach is fundamental to uncovering the mechanisms underlying root regeneration, as it allows to integrate knowledge of cell‐level gene expression, cell‐to‐cell transport of hormones and transcription factors, and tissue‐level growth dynamics to reveal how the bi‐directional feedbacks between these processes enable self‐organized repatterning of the root apex.
Emerging roles of plant transcriptional gene silencing under heatTorres, José Roberto; Sanchez, Diego H.
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16875pmid: 38864847
Plants continuously endure unpredictable environmental fluctuations that upset their physiology, with stressful conditions negatively impacting yield and survival. As a contemporary threat of rapid progression, global warming has become one of the most menacing ecological challenges. Thus, understanding how plants integrate and respond to elevated temperatures is crucial for ensuring future crop productivity and furthering our knowledge of historical environmental acclimation and adaptation. While the canonical heat‐shock response and thermomorphogenesis have been extensively studied, evidence increasingly highlights the critical role of regulatory epigenetic mechanisms. Among these, the involvement under heat of heterochromatic suppression mediated by transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) remains the least understood. TGS refers to a multilayered metabolic machinery largely responsible for the epigenetic silencing of invasive parasitic nucleic acids and the maintenance of parental imprints. Its molecular effectors include DNA methylation, histone variants and their post‐translational modifications, and chromatin packing and remodeling. This work focuses on both established and emerging insights into the contribution of TGS to the physiology of plants under stressful high temperatures. We summarized potential roles of constitutive and facultative heterochromatin as well as the most impactful regulatory genes, highlighting events where the loss of epigenetic suppression has not yet been associated with corresponding changes in epigenetic marks.
Over‐accumulation of chloroplast‐nucleus located WHIRLY1 in barley leads to a decrease in growth and an enhanced stress resistanceFrank, Susann; Saeid Nia, Monireh; Schäfer, Anke; Desel, Christine; Mulisch, Maria; Voigt, Ulrike; Nowara, Daniela; Tandron Moya, Yudelsy Antonia; Wiren, Nicolaus; Bilger, Wolfgang; Hensel, Götz; Krupinska, Karin
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16819pmid: 38843114
WHIRLY1 is a chloroplast‐nucleus located DNA/RNA‐binding protein with functions in development and stress tolerance. By overexpression of HvWHIRLY1 in barley, one line with a 10‐fold and two lines with a 50‐fold accumulation of the protein were obtained. In these lines, the relative abundance of the nuclear form exceeded that of the chloroplast form. Growth of the plants was shown to be compromised in a WHIRLY1 abundance‐dependent manner. Over‐accumulation of WHIRLY1 in chloroplasts had neither an evident impact on nucleoid morphology nor on the composition of the photosynthetic apparatus. Nevertheless, oeW1 plants were found to be compromised in the light reactions of photosynthesis as well as in carbon fixation. The reduction in growth and photosynthesis was shown to be accompanied by a decrease in the levels of cytokinins and an increase in the level of jasmonic acid. Gene expression analyses revealed that in nonstress conditions the oeW1 plants had enhanced levels of pathogen response (PR) gene expression indicating activation of constitutive defense. During growth in continuous light of high irradiance PR gene expression increased indicating that under stress conditions oeW1 are capable to further enhance defense.
Psb28 protein is indispensable for stable accumulation of PSII core complexes in ArabidopsisZhao, Yuwei; Deng, Linbin; Last, Robert L.; Hua, Wei; Liu, Jun
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16844pmid: 38796842
Enhancing the efficiency of photosynthesis represents a promising strategy to improve crop yields, with keeping the steady state of PSII being key to determining the photosynthetic performance. However, the mechanisms whereby the stability of PSII is maintained in oxygenic organisms remain to be explored. Here, we report that the Psb28 protein functions in regulating the homeostasis of PSII under different light conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana. The psb28 mutant is much smaller than the wild‐type plants under normal growth light, which is due to its significantly reduced PSII activity. Similar defects were seen under low light and became more pronounced under photoinhibitory light. Notably, the amounts of PSII core complexes and core subunits are specifically decreased in psb28, whereas the abundance of other representative components of photosynthetic complexes remains largely unaltered. Although the PSII activity of psb28 was severely reduced when subjected to high light, its recovery from photoinactivation was not affected. By contrast, the degradation of PSII core protein subunits is dramatically accelerated in the presence of lincomycin. These results indicate that psb28 is defective in the photoprotection of PSII, which is consistent with the observation that the overall NPQ is much lower in psb28 compared to the wild type. Moreover, the Psb28 protein is associated with PSII core complexes and interacts mainly with the CP47 subunit of PSII core. Taken together, these findings reveal an important role for Psb28 in the protection and stabilization of PSII core in response to changes in light environments.
MYB24, MYB144, and MYB168 positively regulate suberin biosynthesis at potato tuber wounds during healingHan, Ye; Yang, Ruirui; Zhang, Xuejiao; Wang, Qihui; Wang, Yi; Li, Yongcai; Prusky, Dov; Bi, Yang
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16845pmid: 38776519
The essence of wound healing is the accumulation of suberin at wounds, which is formed by suberin polyphenolic (SPP) and suberin polyaliphatic (SPA). The biosynthesis of SPP and SPA monomers is catalyzed by several enzyme classes related to phenylpropanoid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism, respectively. However, how suberin biosynthesis is regulated at the transcriptional level during potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber wound healing remains largely unknown. Here, 6 target genes and 15 transcription factors related to suberin biosynthesis in tuber wound healing were identified by RNA‐seq technology and qRT‐PCR. Dual luciferase and yeast one‐hybrid assays showed that StMYB168 activated the target genes StPAL, StOMT, and St4CL in phenylpropanoid metabolism. Meanwhile, StMYB24 and StMYB144 activated the target genes StLTP, StLACS, and StCYP in fatty acid metabolism, and StFHT involved in the assembly of SPP and SPA domains in both native and wound periderms. More importantly, virus‐induced gene silencing in S. tuberosum and transient overexpression in Nicotiana benthamiana assays confirmed that StMYB168 regulates the biosynthesis of free phenolic acids, such as ferulic acid. Furthermore, StMYB24/144 regulated the accumulation of suberin monomers, such as ferulates, α, ω‐diacids, and ω‐hydroxy acids. In conclusion, StMYB24, StMYB144, and StMYB168 have an elaborate division of labor in regulating the synthesis of suberin during tuber wound healing.
Knockout of stigmatic ascorbate peroxidase 1 (APX1) delays pollen rehydration and germination by mediating ROS homeostasis in Brassica napus L.Liang, Xiaomei; Li, Yuanyuan; Wang, Lulin; Yi, Bin; Fu, Tingdong; Ma, Chaozhi; Dai, Cheng
doi: 10.1111/tpj.16846pmid: 38804089
The successful interaction between pollen and stigma is a critical process for plant sexual reproduction, involving a series of intricate molecular and physiological events. After self‐compatible pollination, a significant reduction in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production has been observed in stigmas, which is essential for pollen grain rehydration and subsequent pollen tube growth. Several scavenging enzymes tightly regulate ROS homeostasis. However, the potential role of these ROS‐scavenging enzymes in the pollen‐stigma interaction in Brassica napus remains unclear. Here, we showed that the activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the detoxification of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), was modulated depending on the compatibility of pollination in B. napus. We then identified stigma‐expressed APX1s and generated pentuple mutants of APX1s using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. After compatible pollination, the BnaAPX1 pentuple mutants accumulated higher levels of H2O2 in the stigma, while the overexpression of BnaA09.APX1 resulted in lower levels of H2O2. Furthermore, the knockout of BnaAPX1 delayed the compatible response‐mediated pollen rehydration and germination, which was consistent with the effects of a specific APX inhibitor, ρ‐Aminophenol, on compatible pollination. In contrast, the overexpression of BnaA09.APX1 accelerated pollen rehydration and germination after both compatible and incompatible pollinations. However, delaying and promoting pollen rehydration and germination did not affect the seed set after compatible and incompatible pollination in APX1 pentuple mutants and overexpression lines, respectively. Our results demonstrate the fundamental role of BnaAPX1 in pollen rehydration and germination by regulating ROS homeostasis during the pollen‐stigma interaction in B. napus.