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Different plant hormones are involved in plant adaptation to water deficit. In comparison to angiosperms, little is known about the impact of drought on the pool of phytohormones in gymnosperms. Therefore, we studied the effect of polyethylene glycol-induced water deficit on the changes in content of different phytohormones in Scots pine and Norway spruce seedlings, which are known for their different strategies of adaptation to water deficit. The following hormone classes were analysed cytokinins, auxins, jasmonates, salicylic and benzoic acids, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (an ethylene precursor). No consistent reaction to water stress was observed for the content of well-known stress-related hormones - salicylic acid and jasmonates. In contrast, drought induced a dose-dependent accumulation of cytokinins in pine needles, with less profound changes in spruce needles. The most prominent changes were observed for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid content, which increased several-fold in spruce roots and pine needles under water deficit. Water-deficit-induced changes in the contents of cytokinins and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid were accompanied by the differential regulation of genes involved in the metabolism of these hormones. Possible links between changes in hormone pools and the adaptation of seedlings to water deficit are discussed. Chenopodium quinoa, a halophytic crop belonging to the Amaranthaceae, has remarkable resistance to harsh growth conditions and produces seed with excellent nutritional value. This makes it a suitable crop for marginal soils. However, to date most of the commercial cultivars are susceptible to preharvest sprouting (PHS). Meanwhile, understanding of the PHS regulatory mechanisms is still limited. Abscisic acid (ABA) has been demonstrated to be tightly associated with seed dormancy and germination regulation in many crops. Whether ABA metabolism pathway could be manipulated to prevent PHS in quinoa is worth investigating. In the present study, we tested the inhibitory effects of exogenous ABA on quinoa seed germination. By RNA-seq analysis we investigated the global gene expression changes during seed germination, and obtained 1066 ABA-repressed and 392 ABA-induced genes. Cis-elements enrichment analysis indicated that the promoters of these genes were highly enriched in motifs "AAAAAAAA" and "ACGTGKC (K = G/T)", the specific binding motifs of ABI3/VP1 and ABI5. Transcription factor annotation showed that 13 genes in bHLH, MADS-box, G2-like and NF-YB, and five genes in B3, bZIP, GATA and LBD families were specifically ABA-repressed and -induced, respectively. Furthermore, expression levels of 53 key homologs involved in seed dormancy and germination regulation were markedly changed. Hence, we speculated that the 18 transcription factors and the homologs were potential candidates involved in ABA-mediated seed dormancy and germination regulation, which could be manipulated for molecular breeding of quinoa elites with PHS tolerance in future. Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS, E.C. 2.2.1.6) is the target site of several herbicide classes including imidazolinones. Imidazolinone resistance in wheat is conferred by two major genes AhasL-D1 and AhasL-B1. The objective of this work was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo AHAS activity and plant growth in response to imazamox of nine wheat cultivars. Dose-response curves for two-gene resistant cultivars were significantly different from the single-gene resistant and susceptible cultivars in the in vitro AHAS assay. Resistance levels at the in vivo AHAS and whole-plant assays for resistant cultivars were >10-fold higher than susceptible cultivars. Moreover, in vivo dose-response curves showed differences among cultivars with the same number of resistance genes. It was concluded that in the in vitro AHAS assay cultivar variability was due to differences in target-site sensitivity while the in vivo AHAS assay reflected the resistance at whole-plant level. Both in vitro and in vivo AHAS dose-response curves could be useful tools when exploring mechanisms involved in imidazolinone resistance in different wheat genetic backgrounds and for the selection of higher resistant genotypes. Potassium (K+) has been reported to alleviate ammonium (NH4+) toxicity in rice through some underlying mechanisms, but it still not clear. In addition, K+ is an important cation for activation of plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase activity. Here, we hypothesized that K+ alleviated NH4+ toxicity by mediating PM H+-ATPase function in rice root. Selleck β-Estradiol In this study, rice plants were cultivated in hydroponic solution with various concentrations of K+ and NH4+. By concurrently supplying K+ with NH4+ or re-supplying K+ after NH4+ toxicity, we found that high K+ concentration reduced the NH4+ uptake rate, enhanced the H+ extrusion rate by the roots, and alleviated rice NH4+ toxicity. The gene expression levels of PM H+-ATPase members (OsA1, 3, 7, 8, and 9) were upregulated by application of increasing concentrations of K+ under NH4+ toxicity. The PM H+-ATPase activity and protein expression in rice roots were also enhanced. Furthermore, the enhancement of PM H+-ATPase activity by a specific stimulator (fusicoccin) rescued rice seedlings from NH4+ toxicity. Taken together, these results indicate that K+ can alleviate NH4+ toxicity, possibly by activating PM H+-ATPase to extrude more H+ and inhibit NH4+ uptake by root. Our results may enhance understanding of the strategy of applying K+ fertilizer to mitigate crop NH4+ toxicity in agriculture. Caffeate 3-O-methyltransferase (COMT) catalyzes the methylation of the 3-hydroxyl group of caffeate to produce ferulate, an important precursor of the lignin biosynthesis. As a crucial drawback for biofuel production, lignin limits the enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides to result in fermentable sugars. We hypothesized that a controlled inhibition of maize COMT can be an efficient approach to reduce ferulate and lignin, thus improving the saccharification process. First, we applied in silico techniques to prospect potential inhibitors of ZmaysCOMT, and the nitrocatechol entacapone was selected. Second, in vitro assays confirmed the inhibitory effect of entacapone on maize COMT. Finally, in vivo experiments revealed that entacapone reduced the contents of cell-wall-esterified hydroxycinnamates and increased saccharification of stems (18%) and leaves (70%), without negatively affecting maize growth and lignin biosynthesis. This non-genetically modified approach can be an alternative strategy to facilitate the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass polysaccharides and increase saccharification for bioethanol production.