Genetic Manipulation of Plant Metabolism and Stress Response in Plants

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant, Algae and Fungi Cell Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 11870

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Interests: plant physiology; plant biochemistry; plant growth and development; plant molecular biology; plant biotechnology and metabolic engineering; carbon and nitrogen metabolism; metabolome and transcriptome analyses

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Guest Editor
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Interests: biochemistry; physiology; biotechnology; abiotic and biotic stress in forest trees; acidic deposition; global change; nutrient cycling; soils; ecosystem management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Genetic manipulation (a.k.a. Genetic Engineering) is one of the key approaches to the genetic improvement of plants, making it a multi-trillion-dollar industry with the possibility of continuous global expansion. Broadly speaking, the techniques of plant genetic engineering include:

Cell and tissue culture, gene identification, gene cloning, gene transfer, gene editing, analysis and regulation of gene expression, analyses of the metabolic products, especially those related to plants responses to abiotic and biotic stress, and so on. The role of plant biotechnology and genetic engineering in sustainable agriculture and renewable energy sources, modifying plants for better nutrition and stress responses, the remediation of environmental pollutants and their ability to grow in a changing environment and climate, and the production of unique industrial, pharmaceuticals and medicinal products are just a few examples of where these techniques have been employed.

Examples of topics to be covered in this Special Issue will include (but are not limited to) genetic engineering of plants (including algae) for:

  • Resistance to various forms of biotic stress (insects, viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.)
  • Tolerance to herbicides, salt stress, drought stress, freezing, chilling, heat, and heavy metals
  • Tolerance to pathogens – bacteria, fungi, viruses
  • Manipulation of plant secondary metabolism to produce improved wood quality and renewable energy
  • Changing the life cycle of plants from annual to perennial
  • Additional ideas as suggested by the potential contributors
  • Upcoming challenges and issues

 We look forward to your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Subhash Minocha
Dr. Rakesh Minocha
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • genetic manipulation
  • genetic engineering
  • cell and tissue culture
  • gene identification
  • gene cloning
  • gene transfer
  • gene editing
  • gene expression
  • abiotic stress of salt
  • stress
  • freezing
  • chilling
  • heat
  • heavy metals
  • other biotic stress
  • bacteria
  • fungi
  • viruses
  • sustainable agriculture
  • environment
  • social and legal aspects of genetically modified plants
  • plant secondary metabolism and its manipulation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 7511 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis of the Effects of Exogenous Trehalose on Salt Tolerance in Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)
by Gaopeng Yuan, Dexi Sun, Guolin An, Weihua Li, Wenjing Si, Junpu Liu and Yingchun Zhu
Cells 2022, 11(15), 2338; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11152338 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2614
Abstract
Trehalose can effectively protect the biomolecular structure, maintain the balance of cell metabolism, and improve the tolerance to various abiotic stresses in plants. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the improvement in salt tolerance by exogenous trehalose in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) seedlings is [...] Read more.
Trehalose can effectively protect the biomolecular structure, maintain the balance of cell metabolism, and improve the tolerance to various abiotic stresses in plants. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the improvement in salt tolerance by exogenous trehalose in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) seedlings is still unclear. To understand these molecular mechanisms, in this study, watermelon seedlings under salt stress were treated with various concentrations of exogenous trehalose. An amount of 20 mM exogenous trehalose significantly improved the physiological status; increased the activities of enzymes such as POD, SOD, and CAT; and increased the K+/Na+ ratio in watermelon seedlings under salt stress. RNA-seq and metabolomic analysis were performed to identify the specifically expressed genes and metabolites after trehalose treatment. Watermelon seedlings were divided into salt stress (CK2), control (CK1) and trehalose treatment (T) groups as per the treatment. Overall, 421 shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the two comparison groups, namely CK2–CK1 and T–CK2. Functional annotation and enrichment analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in MAPK signaling pathway for plant hormone signal transduction and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Furthermore, 129 shared differential expressed metabolites (DEMs) were identified in the two comparison groups using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, which were mainly involved in the metabolic pathway and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. The combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and carbohydrate biosynthesis pathways, especially bHLH family transcription factors, played an important role in improving salt tolerance of watermelon seedlings after exogenous trehalose treatment. Full article
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12 pages, 3184 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Antibiotic-Based Selection Methods for Camelina sativa Stable Transformants
by Abraham Ontiveros-Cisneros, Oliver Moss, Alex Van Moerkercke and Olivier Van Aken
Cells 2022, 11(7), 1068; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11071068 - 22 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3355
Abstract
Camelina sativa (Camelina) is an oilseed crop that in recent years has gained importance due to its closeness to the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), its low agronomical requirements, and the ability to grow under temperate conditions. To explore all the agronomical [...] Read more.
Camelina sativa (Camelina) is an oilseed crop that in recent years has gained importance due to its closeness to the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), its low agronomical requirements, and the ability to grow under temperate conditions. To explore all the agronomical and biotechnological possibilities of this crop, it is important to evaluate the usability of the molecular procedures currently available for plants. One of the main tools for plant genetic modification and genetic studies is stable plant transformation. In the case of Arabidopsis, as well as Camelina, floral dipping is the easiest and most used method, which is followed by a selection for stable transformants. Commonly used selection methods for Camelina involve Discosoma sp. red protein (DsRed) fluorescence screening. However, many widely used plant transformation vector systems, for example those used in Arabidopsis and grasses, rely on antibiotic resistance selection. In this study, we evaluated the usability of different antibiotics including kanamycin (Kan), hygromycin (Hyg) and BASTA, and propose optimised protocols for selecting T1 and subsequent generation Camelina transformants, as well as crossing of Camelina lines expressing different transgenes. Finally, we also showed that overexpression of genes encoding enzymes from the seco-iridoid pathway of Catharanthus roseus using Hyg or BASTA-based expression constructs could be successfully achieved in Camelina, demonstrating the potential of these methods for metabolic engineering. Overall, in this study we show an efficient way to sterilize seeds, handle and perform selection of Camelina for use with transformation vectors designed for Arabidopsis thaliana. We also demonstrate a successful method to cross Camelina sativa and provide qRT-PCR results to prove its effectiveness. Full article
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19 pages, 3116 KiB  
Article
Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis and Evaluation of the Biological Activity of Leonotis nepetifolia (L.) R. Br Transformed Roots Extracts Obtained through Rhizobium rhizogenes-Mediated Transformation
by Tomasz Kowalczyk, Anna Merecz-Sadowska, Patricia Rijo, Vera M. S. Isca, Laurent Picot, Marzena Wielanek, Tomasz Śliwiński and Przemysław Sitarek
Cells 2021, 10(5), 1242; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10051242 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4516
Abstract
According to the present knowledge, this is the first report on establishing transformed root cultures of Leonotis nepetifolia after Rhizobium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. The preliminary phytochemical analysis showed differences in the content of phenols and flavonoids in transformed and nontransformed roots. The dominant [...] Read more.
According to the present knowledge, this is the first report on establishing transformed root cultures of Leonotis nepetifolia after Rhizobium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. The preliminary phytochemical analysis showed differences in the content of phenols and flavonoids in transformed and nontransformed roots. The dominant compounds in the analyzed extracts were (+)-catechin (5464 and 6808 µg/g DW), p-coumaric acid (2549 and 4907 µg/g DW), m-coumaric acid (1508 and 2048 µg/g DW) and rosmarinic acid (1844 and 2643 µg/g DW) for nontransformed (LNNR) and transformed (LNTR4) roots, respectively. Initial biological studies carried out on LNNR, and LNTR4 extracts showed a cytotoxic effect on the A549 lung, HCC1937 breast and leukemia NALM-6 cell lines, antioxidants, as well as repair and protection against DNA damage induced by H2O2 in HUVEC cells. Due to the stronger effect of the LNTR4 root extract, which can be a relatively efficient and cheap source of bioactive secondary metabolites, further biological analyses are needed to discover in detail their potentially valuable biological properties. Full article
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