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The Role of Sugars in Plant Responses to Stress and Their Regulatory Function during Development—3rd Edition

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 3054

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Plant Physiology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wołyńska 35, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Interests: metabolic and ultrastructural responses of plants to sugar starvation; the role of saccharides in plant defense response to fungal pathogens; the involvement of sugars in regulation of the level of endogenous signaling molecules; effect of saccharides and nitric oxide on the mechanism regulating flavonoid biosynthesis; sugars and reactive oxygen species; sweet immunity; sugar metabolism and fruit development; the role of signaling molecules in plant defense response to aphids; the cross-talk between the abiotic and biotic factors on the generation of phytohormones and expression of genes involved in their biosynthesis
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Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: molecular, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms of plant responses to pathogens and pests especially reactive oxygen and nitrogen species; enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants; sugars as signaling molecules; regulation of proteolysis and nitrogen metabolism; additional research topics concern the plant abiotic stress especially metallic trace elements and mechanisms of combined stresses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Physiology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wołyńska 35, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Interests: the involvement of sugars in the regulation of the level of endogenous signalling molecules; the effect of saccharides and nitric oxide on the mechanism regulating flavonoid biosynthesis; sweet immunity; the role of signalling molecules in lupine defense response to fungal pathogen
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Owing to their regulatory function, sugars affect all phases of the life cycle of plants, interacting with other signaling molecules, including phytohormones, to control plant growth and development. The level of sugars in plant cells and their transport, utilization, and storage are precisely regulated and strongly dependent on cell physiological activity, plant organ, environmental conditions, and plant developmental stage during ontogenesis; it is also tightly controlled by sugar transporters and enzymes. The plant’s ability to monitor and respond to the cellular level of sugars may act as a controlling mechanism, integrating the influence of environmental conditions with internal developmental programs, directly regulated by phytohormones. Many environmental stimuli may influence various biochemical reactions, frequently interfering with the balanced distribution of these metabolites within plant cells and their transport from source organs to sink organs. Numerous studies have also shown that sugars play a key role in plant defense responses to various stress factors, both abiotic and biotic. It is well documented that sugars are not only the main substrates utilized in respiration processes, supplying energy for cellular defense responses against pathogens, but also provide the carbon skeleton for the synthesis of defense compounds, including secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignins. Moreover, saccharides such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, and trehalose function as metabolic signaling molecules in host plant cells and induce the expression of many genes, including defense genes. Sugar signals may contribute to plant immune responses against pathogens and probably function as priming molecules, leading to pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) in plants. It has been demonstrated that the presence of sucrose and monosaccharides enables plants to stimulate efficient defense mechanisms against fungal pathogens. This is consistent with the novel concept of “sweet immunity” that postulates specific key roles of saccharides, which act as priming agents that induce resistance in higher plants to counteract both biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent progress in sugar research has provided important evidence on the contribution of fructans both in the adaptation of plants to abiotic stress and in plant immune responses against pathogens. Also, lately it has been demonstrated that far red in the light spectrum mediated carbohydrate concentration in the main photosynthetic organs and influences sugar translocation in plants. All papers submitted to this Special Issue will underline the central role of sugars in plant defense responses to stresses as well as the impact of climatic conditions on the relationship between sugar metabolism and yielding. Additionally, papers on the involvement of sugars as signaling molecules in the processes regulating growth and development are welcome. Original and review papers dealing with all the above aspects of sugars are welcome for inclusion in this Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Iwona Morkunas
Prof. Dr. Philippe Jeandet
Dr. Mateusz Labudda
Dr. Magda Formela-Luboińska
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • sugar signaling
  • abiotic stress tolerance
  • biotic stress
  • plant responses
  • developmental regulation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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30 pages, 11155 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Lead and Cross-Talk Between Lead and Pea Aphids on Defence Responses of Pea Seedlings
by Iwona Morkunas, Agnieszka Woźniak, Waldemar Bednarski, Adam Ostrowski, Jacek Kęsy, Paulina Glazińska, Julia Wojciechowska, Jan Bocianowski, Renata Rucińska-Sobkowiak, Van Chung Mai, Zbigniew Karolewski, Mateusz Labudda, Anielkis Batista and Philippe Jeandet
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(21), 11804; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252111804 - 2 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1146
Abstract
The main goal of this study was to investigate the effect of lead (Pb) at various concentrations, as an abiotic factor, and the cross-talk between Pb and pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), as a biotic factor, on the defence responses [...] Read more.
The main goal of this study was to investigate the effect of lead (Pb) at various concentrations, as an abiotic factor, and the cross-talk between Pb and pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), as a biotic factor, on the defence responses of pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L. cv. Cysterski). The analysis of growth parameters for pea seedlings demonstrated that Pb at a low concentration, i.e., 0.025–0.0625 mM Pb(NO3)2, caused a hormesis effect, i.e., stimulation of seedling growth, whereas Pb at higher concentrations, i.e., 0.01–0.325 mM Pb(NO3)2, inhibited growth, which manifested as the inhibition of length and fresh biomass. The differences in the level of the main defence-related phytohormones, such as abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)—an auxin stimulating plant cell growth—depended on the dose of Pb, aphid infestation and direct contact of the stress factor with the organ. A high accumulation of soluble sugars in the organs of pea seedlings both at sublethal doses and hormetic doses at early experimental time points was observed. At 0 h and 24 h of the experiment, the hormetic doses of Pb significantly stimulated invertase activities, especially in the roots. Moreover, an increase was observed in the pisatin concentration in pea seedlings growing in the presence of different concentrations of Pb and in the case of cross-talk between Pb and A. pisum in relation to the control. Additionally, a significant induction of the expressions of isoflavone synthase (IFS) and 6α-hydroxymaackiain 3-O-methyltransferase (HMM) genes, which participate in the regulation of the pisatin biosynthesis pathway, in pea seedlings growing under the influence of sublethal 0.5 mM Pb(NO3)2 and hormetic 0.075 mM Pb(NO3)2 doses of Pb was noted. The obtained results showed that the response of P. sativum seedlings depends on the Pb dose applied, direct contact of the stress factor with the organ and the duration of contact. Full article
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28 pages, 22021 KiB  
Article
Identification and Expression Analysis of Putative Sugar Transporter Gene Family during Bulb Formation in Lilies
by Ziyang Huang, Cong Gao, Yunchen Xu, Jie Liu, Jie Kang, Ziming Ren, Qi Cui, Dongze Li, Si Ma, Yiping Xia and Yun Wu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(6), 3483; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25063483 - 20 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
Sugar transporters play important roles in plant growth and development, flowering and fruiting, as well as responses to adverse abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Lilies (Lilium spp.) are some of the most representative ornamental bulbous flowers. Sugar metabolism is critical for bulb [...] Read more.
Sugar transporters play important roles in plant growth and development, flowering and fruiting, as well as responses to adverse abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Lilies (Lilium spp.) are some of the most representative ornamental bulbous flowers. Sugar metabolism is critical for bulb formation in lilies; therefore, clarifying the amount and expression pattern of sugar transporters is essential for further analyzing their roles in bulb formation. In this study, based on the transcriptome data of the Lilium Oriental hybrid ‘Sorbonne’ and Lilium × formolongi, a total of 69 and 41 sugar transporters were identified in ‘Sorbonne’ and Lilium × formolongi, respectively, by performing bioinformatics analysis. Through phylogenetic analysis, monosaccharide transporters (MSTs) can be divided into seven subfamilies, sucrose transporters (SUTs) can be divided into three subgroups, and sugars will eventually be exported transporters (SWEETs) can be divided into four clades. According to an analysis of conserved motifs, 20, 14, and 12 conserved motifs were predicted in MSTs, SUTs, and SWEETs, respectively. A conserved domain analysis showed that MSTs and SUTs contained a single domain, whereas most of the SWEETs harbored two MtN3/saliva domains, also known as a PQ-loop repeat. The LohINT1, which was predicted to have a smaller number of transmembrane structural domains, was cloned and analyzed for subcellular localization. It was found that the LohINT1 protein is mainly localized in the cell membrane. In addition, the expression analysis indicated that 22 LohMSTs, 1 LohSUTs, and 5 LohSWEETs were upregulated in ‘Sorbonne’ 1 day after scale detachment treatment, suggesting that they may regulate the initiation of the bulblet. A total of 10 LflMSTs, 1 LflSUTs, and 6 LflSWEETs were upregulated 4~6 months after sowing, which corresponds to the juvenile-to-adult transition phase of Lilium × formolongi, suggesting that they may also play a role in the accompanying bulb swelling process. Combined with quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, LohSTP8 and LohSTP12 were significantly overexpressed during the extremely early stage of bulblet initiation, and LflERD6.3 was significantly overexpressed during the growth of the underground bulblet, suggesting that they may be key sugar transporters in the formation of lily bulbs, which needs further functional verification. Full article
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