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Molecular studies of drought stress in plants use a variety of strategies and include different species subjected to a wide range of water deficits. Initial research has by necessity been largely descriptive, and relevant genes have been identified either by reference to physiological evidence or by differential screening. A large number of genes with a potential role in drought tolerance have been described, and major themes in the molecular response have been established. Particular areas of importance are sugar metabolism and late-embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) proteins. Studies have begun to examine mechanisms that control the gene expression, and putative regulatory pathways have been established. Recent attempts to understand gene function have utilized transgenic plants. These efforts are of clear agronomic importance.

Lipids are one of the major components of biological membranes including the plasma membrane, which is the interface between the cell and the environment. It has become clear that membrane lipids also serve as substrates for the generation of numerous signalling lipids such as phosphatidic acid, phosphoinositides, sphingolipids, lysophospholipids, oxylipins, N-acylethanolamines, free fatty acids and others. The enzymatic production and metabolism of these signalling molecules are tightly regulated and can rapidly be activated upon abiotic stress signals. Abiotic stress like water deficit and temperature stress triggers lipid-dependent signalling cascades, which control the expression of gene clusters and activate plant adaptation processes. Signalling lipids are able to recruit protein targets transiently to the membrane and thus affect conformation and activity of intracellular proteins and metabolites. In plants, knowledge is still scarce of lipid signalling targets and their physiological consequences. This review focuses on the generation of signalling lipids and their involvement in response to abiotic stress. We describe lipid-binding proteins in the context of changing environmental conditions and compare different approaches to determine lipid-protein interactions, crucial for deciphering the signalling cascades.

Two new abscisic acid (ABA)-insensitive mutants of

Leaves of the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum Hochst, can be desiccated up to 1% relative water content and are still viable after rehydration. To clone genes related to this extreme desiccation tolerance, an in-vitro system was first developed which allows the induction of the same resurrection response in callus tissue upon treatment with abscisic acid (ABA). Several proteins and in-vitro-synthesized polypeptides were then identified which can be induced both in desiccation-tolerant, naturally dried leaves and in ABA-treated calli surviving after rehydration. Complementary-DNA clones corresponding to mRNAs expressed only in desiccation-tolerant tissues were obtained and classified into several gene families. In hybrid-selected translation experiments, representative cDNA clones were associated with water stress and ABA-inducible polypeptides abundantly expressed in dried leaves and ABA-treated calli. The expression pattern of several of these abundant transcripts was analyzed in RNA-hybridization experiments. Upon stress or ABA treatment the transcription levels increased rapidly, but they declined after relief from the stress state. This, together with data on genomic copy numbers indicated that a set of abundantly expressed genes are involved in the desiccation process of resurrection plants. Data on endogenous ABA contents before and after stress applications and on the physiological effects of exogenous ABA treatments indicate that in Craterostigma plantagineum the induction of an extreme desiccation tolerance is mediated by this plant hormone.

Plant genomes, and eukaryotic genomes in general, are typically repetitive, polyploid and heterozygous, which complicates genome assembly 1 . The short read lengths of early Sanger and current next-generation sequencing platforms hinder assembly through complex repeat regions, and many draft and reference genomes are fragmented, lacking skewed GC and repetitive intergenic sequences, which are gaining importance due to projects like the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) 2 . Here we report the whole-genome sequencing and assembly of the desiccationtolerant grass Oropetium thomaeum. Using only single-molecule real-time sequencing, which generates long (>16 kilobases) reads with random errors, we assembled 99% (244 megabases) of the Oropetium genome into 625 contigs with an N50 length of 2.4 megabases. Oropetium is an example of a 'near-complete' draft genome which includes gapless coverage over gene space as well as intergenic sequences such as centromeres, telomeres, transposable elements and rRNA clusters that are typically unassembled in draft genomes. Oropetium has 28,466 protein-coding genes and 43% repeat sequences, yet with 30% more compact euchromatic regions it is the smallest known grass genome. The Oropetium genome demonstrates the utility of single-molecule real-time sequencing for assembling high-quality plant and other eukaryotic genomes, and serves as a valuable resource for the plant comparative genomics community.The genomes of Arabidopsis 3 , rice 4 , poplar, grape and Sorghum 5 were first sequenced using high-quality and reiterative Sanger-based approaches producing a series of 'gold standard' reference genomes. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies reduced costs of sequencing substantially, which has enabled sequencing of over 100 plant genomes 1 . The quality of plant genome assemblies depends on genome size, ploidy, heterozygosity and sequence coverage, but most NGS-based genomes have on the order of tens of thousands of short contigs distributed in thousands of scaffolds. The short read lengths of NGS, inherent biases and non-random sequencing errors have resulted in highly fragmented draft genome assemblies that are not complete, which means they are missing biologically meaningful sequences including entire genes, regulatory regions, transposable elements, centromeres, telomeres and haplotype-specific structural variations. It is becoming clear from ENCODE projects that complete genomes are needed to better understand the importance of the non-coding regions of genomes 2 .More than 40% of calories consumed by humans are derived from grasses, and the grass family (Poaceae) is arguably the most important plant family with regard to global food security 6 . The size and complexity of most grass genomes has challenged progress in gene discovery and comparative genomics, although draft genomes are now available for most agriculturally important grasses 1 . The largest genome assemblies, such as maize (2,300 megabases (Mb)) 7 , barley (5,100 Mb) 8 and wheat (hexaploid, 1...

SummaryIn plants, oxidative stress is one of the major causes of damage as a result of various environmental stresses. Oxidative stress is primarily because of the excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ampli®cation of ROS damage is further stimulated by the accumulation of toxic degradation products, i.e. aldehydes, arising from reactions of ROS with lipids and proteins. Previously, the isolation of dehydration-inducible genes encoding aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) was reported from the desiccation-tolerant plant Craterostigma plantagineum and Arabidopsis thaliana. ALDHs belong to a family of NAD(P) -dependent enzymes with a broad substrate speci®city that catalyze the oxidation of various toxic aldehydes to carboxylic acids. Analysis of transcript accumulation revealed that Ath-ALDH3 is induced in response to NaCl, heavy metals (Cu 2 and Cd 2 ), and chemicals that induce oxidative stress (methyl viologen (MV) and H 2 O 2 ). To investigate the physiological role and possible involvement of ALDHs in stress protection, we generated transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing Ath-ALDH3. Transgenic lines show improved tolerance when exposed to dehydration, NaCl, heavy metals (Cu 2 and Cd 2 ), MV, and H 2 O 2 . Tolerance of transgenic plants is correlated with decreased accumulation of lipid peroxidation-derived reactive aldehydes (as measured by malondialdehyde) compared to wild-type plants. Increased activity of Ath-ALDH3 appears to constitute a detoxi®cation mechanism that limits aldehyde accumulation and oxidative stress, thus revealing a novel pathway of detoxi®cation in plants. We suggest that Ath-ALDH3 could be used to obtain plants with tolerance to diverse environmental stresses.

Desiccation is the extreme form of dehydration. Tolerance of desiccation is acquired by seeds and in resurrection plants, a small group of angiosperms. Desiccation tolerance is the result of a complex cascade of molecular events, which can be divided into signal perception, signal transduction, gene activation and biochemical alterations leading to acquisition of tolerance. Many of these molecular processes are also observed during the dehydration of nontolerant plants. Here we try to give an overview of the gene expression programmes that are triggered by dehydration, with particular reference to protective molecules and the regulation of their expression. Potential transgenic approaches to manipulating stress tolerance are discussed.