This perspective paper explores the utilization of abiotic stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) from crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants to improve abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. CAM is a specialized type of photosynthetic adaptation that enhances water-use efficiency (WUE) by shifting CO 2 uptake to all or part of the nighttime when evaporative water losses are minimal. Recent studies have shown that TF-based genetic engineering could be a useful approach for improving plant abiotic stress tolerance because of the role of TFs as master regulators of clusters of stress-responsive genes. Here, we explore the use of abiotic stress-responsive TFs from CAM plants to improve abiotic stress tolerance and WUE in crops by controlling the expression of gene cohorts that mediate drought-responsive adaptations. Recent research has revealed several TF families including AP2/ERF , MYB, WRKY, NAC , NF-Y , and bZIP that might regulate water-deficit stress responses and CAM in the inducible CAM plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum under water-deficit stress-induced CAM and in the obligate CAM plant Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi . Overexpression of genes from these families in Arabidopsis thaliana can improve abiotic stress tolerance in A. thaliana in some instances. Therefore, we propose that TF-based genetic engineering with a small number of CAM abiotic stress-responsive TFs will be a promising strategy for improving abiotic stress tolerance and WUE in crop plants in a projected hotter and drier landscape in the 21st-century and beyond.
Plant genetic engineering will be essential to decipher the genomic basis of complex traits, optimize crop genomics, and enable plant-based production of recombinant proteins. However, established plant transformation approaches for...
Muscle aging is a complex dynamic process that adversely affects whole‐animal metabolism and physiology. The molecular regulation of aging muscle that impacts muscle function, performance, and metabolism remains largely unknown because such studies in model organisms are prohibitively time‐ and resource‐intensive. The hawk moth, Manduca sexta, offers a unique opportunity to identify the genes that coordinate the muscle aging process. With a complete lifespan of about ten days and being similar to vertebrate muscle systems, this non‐vertebrate animal model is ideal to conduct a molecular dissection of the regulatory genes underpinning the senescence process in muscles. Here, we characterize the genome‐wide transcriptional changes by profiling gene expression from a high‐resolution time course sampling of muscle tissue from middle age to advanced age moths. Following RNA‐Sequencing of the time course tissues, we not only report differentially expressed genes across the time and day intervals, but also construct gene regulatory networks to identify candidate genes that direct the aging process. This approach will allow us to uncover novel interactions and generate new hypotheses as to the fundamental processes surrounding muscle aging. We will discuss the genes coordinating muscle senescence which include, but are not limited to, the down‐regulation of ribosome biogenesis, upregulation of Z‐band‐associated‐proteins, and down‐regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Our results provide an unprecedented view into the complex molecular regulatory events orchestrating muscle senescence. Support or Funding Information South Dakota Board of Regents Competitive Research Grant #A20‐0013‐001; Nolop Institute of Medical Biology Summer Research Scholarship
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