Plants are immobile and, to overcome harsh environmental conditions such as drought, salt, and cold, they have evolved complex signaling pathways. Abscisic acid (ABA), an isoprenoid phytohormone, is a critical signaling mediator that regulates diverse biological processes in various organisms. Significant progress has been made in the determination and characterization of key ABA-mediated molecular factors involved in different stress responses, including stomatal closure and developmental processes, such as seed germination and bud dormancy. Since ABA signaling is a complex signaling network that integrates with other signaling pathways, the dissection of its intricate regulatory network is necessary to understand the function of essential regulatory genes involved in ABA signaling. In the present review, we focus on two aspects of ABA signaling. First, we examine the perception of the stress signal (abiotic and biotic) and the response network of ABA signaling components that transduce the signal to the downstream pathway to respond to stress tolerance, regulation of stomata, and ABA signaling component ubiquitination. Second, ABA signaling in plant development processes, such as lateral root growth regulation, seed germination, and flowering time regulation is investigated. Examining such diverse signal integration dynamics could enhance our understanding of the underlying genetic, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms of ABA signaling networks in plants. 592 2 of 20 and developmental stages, plants were experiencing drought stress [5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Therefore, ABA is a misnomer [18], even though it plays a role in leaf senescence and seed dormancy, potentially via osmotic effects [19][20][21]. It has been observed that drought-stressed vegetative tissues of numerous plants accumulate ABA (40-fold induction) within hours of osmotic stress and then it decreases after rehydration. In addition, ABA has been considered a long-distance stress signal between shoots and roots [22]. Therefore, the study of spatiotemporal expression of genes that control ABA metabolism's rate-limiting steps is essential for understanding how plants adapt to stress. Other than its role in adaptation to abiotic stress, ABA has been shown to be a key regulator of pathogen virulence [23][24][25][26][27], which could offer insights into the basis of the ABA-synthesizing ability of numerous bio-and necrotrophic microbes [24,[28][29][30].Gene products acting in the vicinity of the cell wall or at the interface of the plasma membrane/cytoskeleton/cell wall are considered the most likely elements to participate in initial stress perception. For instance, gated aquaporins (plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs)) and osmo-/ion channels at the cell wall-plasma membrane interface may be implicated in the upstream perception [31][32][33]. The receptor of ABA remained unknown until 2009. Before then, several ABA receptors had been reported [34][35][36][37][38][39][40]; however, further investigations did not substantiate any o...

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Brassinosteroids (BRs) play crucial roles in various biological processes, including plant developmental processes and response to diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. However, no information is currently available about this gene family in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In the present investigation, we identified the BZR gene family in wheat to understand the evolution and their role in diverse developmental processes and under different stress conditions. In this study, we performed the genome-wide analysis of the BZR gene family in the bread wheat and identified 20 TaBZR genes through a homology search and further characterized them to understand their structure, function, and distribution across various tissues. Phylogenetic analyses lead to the classification of TaBZR genes into five different groups or subfamilies, providing evidence of evolutionary relationship with Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays, Glycine max, and Oryza sativa. A gene exon/intron structure analysis showed a distinct evolutionary path and predicted the possible gene duplication events. Further, the physical and biochemical properties, conserved motifs, chromosomal, subcellular localization, and cis-acting regulatory elements were also examined using various computational approaches. In addition, an analysis of public RNA-seq data also shows that TaBZR genes may be involved in diverse developmental processes and stress tolerance mechanisms. Moreover, qRT-PCR results also showed similar expression with slight variation. Collectively, these results suggest that TaBZR genes might play an important role in plant developmental processes and various stress conditions. Therefore, this work provides valuable information for further elucidate the precise role of BZR family members in wheat.

Pleurotus eryngii has recently become a major cultivated mushroom; it uses tetrapolar heterothallism as a part of its reproductive process. Sexual development progresses only when the A and B mating types are compatible. Such mating incompatibility occasionally limits the efficiency of breeding programs in which crossing within loci-shared strains or backcrossing strategies are employed. Therefore, understanding the mating system in edible mushroom fungi will help provide a short cut in the development of new strains. We isolated and identified pheromone and receptor genes in the B3 locus of P. eryngii and performed a functional analysis of the genes in the mating process by transformation. A genomic DNA library was constructed to map the entire mating-type locus. The B3 locus was found to contain four pheromone precursor genes and four receptor genes. Remarkably, receptor PESTE3.3.1 has just 34 amino acid residues in its C-terminal cytoplasmic region; therefore, it seems likely to be a receptor-like gene. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR (real-time qRT-PCR) revealed that most pheromone and receptor genes showed significantly higher expression in monokaryotic cells than dikaryotic cells. The pheromone genes PEphb3.1 and PEphb3.3 and the receptor gene PESTE3.3.1 were transformed into P5 (A3B4). The transformants were mated with a tester strain (A4B4), and the progeny showed clamp connections and a normal fruiting body, which indicates the proposed role of these genes in mating and fruiting processes. This result also confirms that PESTE3.3.1 is a receptor gene. In this study, we identified pheromone and receptor genes in the B3 locus of P. eryngii and found that some of those genes appear to play a role in the mating and fruiting processes. These results might help elucidate the mechanism of fruiting differentiation and improve breeding efficiency.

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Genetic transformation using foreign genes and the subsequent development of transgenic plants has been employed to develop enhanced elite germplasm. Although some skepticism exits regarding pollen tube-mediated gene transfer (PTT), reports demonstrating improved transformation efficiency with PTT systems are increasing and encouraging and the adoption of increasingly refined pollenmediated methodologies may lead to species-dependent improvements in breeding. Here, we highlight PTT technology as an alternative to genetic transformation.

Plants are immobile, and, to overcome harsh environmental conditions, such as drought, salt, and cold, they have evolved complex signaling pathways. Abscisic acid (ABA), an isoprenoid phytohormone, is a critical signaling mediator that regulates diverse biological processes in various organisms. Significant progress has been made in the determination and characterization of key ABA-mediated molecular factors involved in different stress responses, including stomatal closure and developmental processes, such as seed germination and bud dormancy. Since ABA-signaling is a complex signaling network that integrates with other signaling pathways, the dissection of its intricate regulatory network is necessary to understand the function of essential regulatory genes involved in ABA signaling. In the present review, we focus on two aspects of ABA signaling. First, the perception of the stress signal (abiotic and biotic) and the response network of ABA-signaling components that transduce the signal to the downstream pathway to respond to stress tolerance, regulation of stomata, and ABA signaling component ubiquitination. Second, ABA-signaling in plant development processes, such as lateral root growth regulation, seed germination, and flowering time regulation. Examining such diverse signal integration dynamics could enhance our understanding of the underlying genetic, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms of ABA signaling networks in plants.decreases after rehydration. In addition, ABA has been considered a long-distance stress signal between shoots and roots [22]. Therefore, the study of spatiotemporal expression of genes that control ABA metabolism rate-limiting steps is essential for understanding how plants adapt to stress. Other than its role in adaptation to abiotic stress, ABA has been shown to be a key regulator of pathogen-virulence [23][24][25][26][27], which could offer insights into the basis of the ABA-synthesizing ability of numerous bio-and necrotrophic microbes [24,[28][29][30].Gene products acting in the vicinity of the cell wall or at the interface of the plasma membrane/cytoskeleton/cell wall are considered the most likely elements to participate in initial stress perception. For instance, gated aquaporins (PIPs, plasma membrane intrinsic proteins) and osmo-/ion channels at the cell wall-plasma membrane interface may be implicated in the upstream perception [31][32][33]. The receptor of ABA remained unknown until 2009. Before 2009, several ABA receptors had been reported [34][35][36][37][38][39][40]; however, further investigations, did not substantiate any of them. In 2009, two independent studies reported the START (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid-transfer) domain of the significant Bet v1 (birch pollen allergen) superfamily of proteins as candidate ABA receptors [41][42][43][44]. All 14 members of the protein family are named Regulatory Component of ABA Receptor, RCAR1-RCAR14, [41], or Pyrabactin Resistance 1 and PYR1-like 1-13 [42]. The discovery of PYR1-like components ...

Abstract. DNA markers can determine the genotype of many species. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection is difficult without sequencing but it becomes easier with sdCAPS method. Here an experiment was performed for developing molecular markers using two SNPs, CSatpB-SNP and CSycf1-SNP, of chloroplast in cucumber plants. Properly designed primers with nucleotide sequences for restriction enzymes proved success of PCR and efficacy of digestion by the restriction enzymes. Then these markers were used to study the genotyping of cucumber breeding lines and cultivars obtained from various sources in respect of their chilling stress response. We confirmed that a U.S. cucumber line, 'NC76' known to possess a nuclear factor for the chilling tolerance showed the chloroplast genotypes related to chilling tolerance. However all Korean cucumber cultivars tested in this study showed the chloroplast genotypes related to chilling susceptibility. In conclusion, to develop chilling tolerant cucumber, both maternal and a nuclear factors related to chilling tolerance should be transferred from 'NC76' when 'NC76' is used as a female source and other elite lines as recurrent parents.