No abstract

How can you combine professional-quality research with discovery-based undergraduate education? The UCLA Undergraduate Consortium for Functional Genomics provides the answer

Microbial inoculation in drought challenged rice triggered multipronged steps at enzymatic, non-enzymatic and gene expression level. These multifarious modulations in plants were related to stress tolerance mechanisms. Drought suppressed growth of rice plants but inoculation with Trichoderma, Pseudomonas and their combination minimized the impact of watering regime. Induced PAL gene expression and enzyme activity due to microbial inoculation led to increased accumulation of polyphenolics in plants. Enhanced antioxidant concentration of polyphenolics from microbe inoculated and drought challenged plants showed substantially high values of DPPH, ABTS, Fe-ion reducing power and Fe-ion chelation activity, which established the role of polyphenolic extract as free radical scavengers. Activation of superoxide dismutase that catalyzes superoxide (O2−) and leads to the accumulation of H2O2 was linked with the hypersensitive cell death response in leaves. Microbial inoculation in plants enhanced activity of peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase enzymes. This has further contributed in reducing ROS burden in plants. Genes of key metabolic pathways including phenylpropanoid (PAL), superoxide dismutation (SODs), H2O2 peroxidation (APX, PO) and oxidative defense response (CAT) were over-expressed due to microbial inoculation. Enhanced expression of OSPiP linked to less-water permeability, drought-adaptation gene DHN and dehydration related stress inducible DREB gene in rice inoculated with microbial inoculants after drought challenge was also reported. The impact of Pseudomonas on gene expression was consistently remained the most prominent. These findings suggested that microbial inoculation directly caused over-expression of genes linked with defense processes in plants challenged with drought stress. Enhanced enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant reactions that helped in minimizing antioxidative load, were the repercussions of enhanced gene expression in microbe inoculated plants. These mechanisms contributed strongly towards stress mitigation. The study demonstrated that microbial inoculants were successful in improving intrinsic biochemical and molecular capabilities of rice plants under stress. Results encouraged us to advocate that the practice of growing plants with microbial inoculants may find strategic place in raising crops under abiotic stressed environments.

Using a large consortium of undergraduate students in an organized program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), we have undertaken a functional genomic screen in the Drosophila eye. In addition to the educational value of discovery-based learning, this article presents the first comprehensive genomewide analysis of essential genes involved in eye development. The data reveal the surprising result that the X chromosome has almost twice the frequency of essential genes involved in eye development as that found on the autosomes.

In the present study we bioprimed seeds of six vegetable crops (tomato, brinjal, chilli, okra, ridge gourd and guar) with different spore doses of Trichoderma asperellum BHUT8 ranging from 10 to 10 spores ml and the effect of biopriming was seen on seed germination and development. The most effective spore dose for enhancement in seed germination and radicle length was found to be 10 spores ml in tomato and ridge gourd, 10 spores ml in brinjal and okra while 10 spores ml in chilli and guar. At the most effective spore dose, the increase in germination percentage was 5, 146.15, 112.5, 5.4, 28.13 and 0% while increase in radicle length was 73.17, 50.83, 171.6, 107.35, 247.19 and 90.79% in tomato, brinjal, chilli, okra, ridge gourd and guar, respectively, compared to their controls. Higher spore dose i.e. 10-10 spores ml and 10-10 spores ml in tomato and brinjal, respectively, reduced seed germination percentage and radicle growth compared to their controls. Biopriming with T. asperellum BHUT8 also triggered various defense like responses such as high phenylpropanoid activities and lignifications in bioprimed tomato seedlings compared to the non-bioprimed tomato seedlings demonstrating possible use of BHUT8 against phytopathogens.