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2016 Research Frontiers in Plant Science
Mar. 2, 2017
According to a report released by the United Nations in 2015, global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. This means global food production must increase by 60–110 percent to meet enhanced demand. Only 12 plant species among over 300,000 total species in nature feed 80 percent of the world’s population, with just three crop species (wheat, rice and maize) accounting for food consumed by 50 percent of the global population.
Crucial to human beings' survival, crops are currently facing many challenges, such as extreme weather caused by climate change – drought and flood; weeds, pests and diseases; nutritional deficiency, etc., which are responsible for crop losses and harvest failure and consequently threaten global food security.
Obviously, overcoming above-mentioned challenges is critical to secure food security. This makes the research conducted by scientists in plant science field particularly important. This article reviews frontier research findings of 2016 in plant science sector, with the main focus on development of new crop varieties, controlling of weeds, pests and diseases, crops nutrition and abiotic stresses.
Plant Health & Nutrition
● Nanoparticles promote crop growth
Scientists created zinc oxide nanoparticles from a fungus around the plant’s root that helps the plant mobilize and take up the nutrients in the soil.
● Saponin insecticide
Researchers from Malaysia have succeeded in creating a green technology Nano-Emulsion Formulation of Saponin, which is an environment-friendly poisonous pesticide to kill apple snails that have been destroying agricultural produce, especially rice crops.
● Diversity as natural pesticide
Scientists from the USA found that restoring plant diversity to farmland could be a key step toward sustainable pest control.
● Using predatory mites to control pest-mites
Scientists from Brazil have developed a biological control system for pest-mites through the introduction of predatory mites.
● Cal Poly to control citrus greening disease
US researchers were breeding Tamarixia, which feed on Asian Citrus Psyllid, to control spread of citrus greening disease.
● Bacillus bacteria can combat bacterial fruit blotch
Researchers from the University of Georgia have discovered that applying a Bacillus bacteria species to the stigmas of female flowers can slow the spread of bacterial fruit blotch from seed to seedling.
● UV light effective treatment against powdery mildew
Researchers found that using UV light could control powdery mildew on many crops.
● A way to increase the yield and quality of soybeans
Scientists designed a novel way to increase the flow of nitrogen, an essential nutrient, from specialized bacteria in soybean root nodules to the seed-producing organs. The greenhouse-grown soybean plants fix twice as much nitrogen from the atmosphere as their natural counterparts, grow larger and produce up to 36 percent more seeds.
● How plants fix N
Scientists at the John Innes Centre discovered a set of critically important proteins, called cyclic nucleotide gated channel 15s (CNGC15s), which are essential for the movement of calcium into the nucleus. This movement of calcium signals to the plant that nitrogen-fixing bacteria are close-by and triggers the development of nodules on its roots to house these bacteria.
● Double nitrogen fixation in soybeans
Scientists increased the number of proteins that help move nitrogen from the rhizobia bacteria to the plant’s leaves, seed producing organs and other areas where it is needed. The additional transport proteins sped up the overall export of nitrogen from the root nodules. This initiated a feedback loop that caused the rhizobia to start fixing more atmospheric nitrogen, which the plant then used to produce more seeds.
● Quickly identify chemicals that influence growth of plants
Russian researchers have devised a way to quickly identify chemicals that influence the rate at which plants grow. This method enables researchers to rapidly identify completely new molecular targets and mechanisms of plant growth that can be used to selectively slow down the growth of unwanted plants and stimulate the growth of cultivated species.
Research on Abiotic Stresses
● A new light protection mechanism
Scientists discovered a feedback mechanism at the heart of photosynthesis that protects plants from damage by light. When leaves close their pores to prevent water loss, this also prevents air exchange so that carbon dioxide cannot enter the system, but light is still generating excess electrons. The trapped electrons trigger the release of a bicarbonate molecule from the enzyme Photosystem II, the central enzyme in photosynthesis, this bicarbonate release not only slows down the water-splitting reaction but crucially also protects the enzyme from light damage due to the harmful back-reactions.
● Molecular conductors help plants respond to drought
Scientists at the Salk Institute found that in the face of environmental hardship, plants employ a small group of proteins that act as conductors to manage their complex responses to stress. The results may help in developing new technologies to optimize water use in plants.
● Grain specific C4 photosynthesis in wheat
Australian scientists found that photosynthesis occurs in wheat seeds as well as in plant leaves. This discovery may help breed faster-growing wheat crops that are better adapted to hotter, drier climates.
● Drought vulnerability of wheat, maize
Researchers from the USA have identified critical information about the environmental variables and agronomic factors that determine the vulnerability of maize and wheat production to drought.
● Importance of WRKYs in stress response
Chinese scientists found that overexpression of TaWRKY1 and TaWRKY33 activated several stress-related downstream genes, increased germination rates, and promoted root growth in Arabidopsis under various stresses.
● Plant’s memory of stress exposure
Scientists from the UK found that plants have evolved ways to remember previous exposures to stress, in this case high salinity conditions, which can help subsequent progeny withstand the same stress in future.
● MfPIP2-7 gene and cold tolerance
Scientists isolated a cold responsive PIP2 named as MfPIP2-7 from Medicago falcate. Overexpression of MfPIP2-7 promotes cold tolerance and growth under NO3− deficiency in transgenic tobacco plants.
● Ta-Ub2 improves abiotic stress tolerance
Chinese scientists found that overexpression of Ta-Ub2 improved the abiotic stress tolerance in both dicot and monocot plants.
● Exogenous melatonin enhances plant’s stress memory
Scientists’ study found that exogenous melatonin application enhances the drought priming induced cold tolerance by modulating sub-cellular antioxidant systems and the level of the plant hormone abscisic acid in barley.
● GhRaf19 regulates resistance to cold stress
Scientists found that a Raf-like MAPKKK gene, GhRaf19, negatively regulates tolerance to drought and salt and positively regulates resistance to cold stress by modulating reactive oxygen species in cotton.
● ERF109 improves salt tolerance in plant
Researchers found that ethylene responsive transcription factor ERF109 could retard programmed cell death and improve salt tolerance in plants.
● AtOxR improves abiotic stresses tolerance
Researchers found that overexpression of AtOxR gene could improve abiotic stresses tolerance and vitamin C content in Arabidopsis thaliana.
GM Crops
● Control cotton disease with gene technology
Chinese scientists discovered that trans-kingdom small RNAs (sRNAs) can be used to protect cotton from infection of a soilborne fungal pathogen Verticillium dahlia. Based on their findings, scientists have cultivated a new strain of cotton that is resistant to verticillium dahliae.
● ‘Dark matter’ in corn genome
Scientists have discovered a different kind of “dark matter” in the maize genome: a tiny percentage of regulatory DNA that accounts for roughly half of the variation in observable traits found in corn.
● New gene-detecting tech creates super wheat
Scientists developed a new technology called ‘MutRenSeq’ which accurately pinpoints the location of disease resistance genes in large plant genomes and which has reduced the time it takes to clone these genes in wheat from 5 to 10 years down to just two.
● Syngenta discovered water-optimizing corn genes
Syngenta discovered water-optimizing corn genes which will be deployed in select Agrisure Artesian® hybrids available for planting in 2017, to help farmers make the most of their available water.
● Non-Bt protein to control corn rootworm
DuPont Pioneer researchers have discovered a protein from a non-Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium source that holds promise as an alternative means for controlling corn rootworm in North America and Europe.
● Marker-free GM hexaploid wheat
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences reported the first successful generation of marker-free transgenic hexaploid wheat using commercial Chinese wheat varieties. Transgenic wheat plants were generated using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.
● Insect resistant cowpea African
scientists have succeeded in developing Maruca insect resistant cowpea which allegedly could produce 1.6 tonnes per hectare against the current 600kg per hectare, and cultivated all year round. The seed will be made public for farmers and seed companies to have access in 2018.
● Increase vitamin E improves availability and longevity of beta-carotene
DuPont Pioneer and Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International researchers have demonstrated that increasing vitamin E and beta-carotene production in sorghum markedly improves the availability and longevity of beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.
● Super plants thru simple genetic modification
Japanese scientists have discovered a simple genetic modification that can lead to more robust plants. Researchers modified a single pseudo-response regulator gene called PRR5VP to delay flowering and resulting to larger plant size and improved adaptability.
● GM rice with high levels of iron and zinc
Scientists have succeeded in increasing iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) levels in rice through biofortification.
● GM banana with long shelf-life
Israeli scientists found that banana MaMADS transcription factors are necessary for fruit ripening and molecular tools to promote shelf-Life and food security.
● GM Arabidopsis that could grow fast
Researchers from Michigan State University modify an Arabidopsis plant by “knocking out” both a defense hormone repressor and a light receptor in the plant. This genetic alteration allowed the plant to grow fast and defend itself from insects at the same time.
Research on Functional Genes
● Gene that makes tomatoes squishy
UK scientists discovered the gene that encodes the enzyme, pectate lyase, responsible for controlling softening in the fruit. The results could pave the way for new varieties of better tasting tomatoes with improved postharvest life through conventional plant breeding.
● Wheat disease-resistance gene Lr67 identified
The gene Lr67 has been identified by an international team of scientists as providing resistance to three of the most important wheat rust diseases, along with powdery mildew, a significant disease in Norway.
● TaCAD12 and wheat sharp eyespot disease
Chinese scientists isolated a wheat cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases gene TaCAD12, and found that TaCAD12 positively contributes to resistance against sharp eyespot through regulation of the expression of certain defense genes and monolignol biosynthesis-related genes in wheat.
● MdMLO19 and powdery mildew
Scientists found that the knock-down of MdMLO19 gene could reduce powdery mildew disease severity by 75%.
● OsSRT1 regulates starch metabolism
Chinese researchers found that OsSRT1-mediated histone deacetylation is involved in starch accumulation and transposon repression to regulate normal seed development.
● Rice Blast Resistance and CRISPR/Cas9
Researchers found that rice blast resistance could be improved by engineering a CRISPR/Cas9 SSN (C-ERF922) targeting the OsERF922 gene in rice.
● Insert enzyme increased seed production
Researchers from the University of Guelph found that inserting a particular corn enzyme caused the plant’s growth rate to skyrocket.
● MtDef4.2 and leaf rust pathogen
Scientists found that the expression of apoplast-targeted plant defensin MtDEF4.2 can provide substantial resistance to leaf rust disease in transgenic wheat without negatively impacting its symbiotic relationship with the beneficial mycorrhizal fungus.
● AtNPR1 gene and rice sheath blight resistance
● AtNPR1 gene and rice sheath blight resistance
Indian researcher’s study results demonstrate that green tissuespecific expression of AtNPR1 in rice is an effective strategy for controlling the sheath blight pathogen.
● Gene to combat crippling wheat disease
American researchers used sophisticated wheat genome sequencing techniques to isolate the broad-spectrum disease resistance gene Fhb1. This discovery has broad implications for the future as a promising source of resistance to not only wheat scab, but a variety of similar host plants affected by Fusarium graminearum.
● Speeding up plant's photosynthesis
Crop leaves exposed to full sunlight absorb more light than they can use, they will protect themselves by making changes within the leaf that dissipate the excess energy as heat, this process is called nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Slow recovery from NPQ reduces crop productivity significantly. Scientists saw increases of 14% to 20% in the productivity of their modified tobacco plants by inserting three genes into the plants and subsequently speed up the recovery from NPQ.
● Genetic basis for rice hybrid performance
Chinese scientists have found the genetic basis of what makes rice hybrids perform better than their inbred parents. They found that the key heterosis-related genes often controlled several yield-related components simultaneously, severing as the major contributors of heterosis.
● Rice developed that could manage their own pH levels
Scientists found that when OsNRT2.3b protein was overexpressed in rice plants, they were better able to buffer themselves against pH changes in their environment. This enabled them to take up much more nitrogen, as well as more iron and phosphorus and gain up to 54 percent more yield.
Please download AgroPages' latest magazine - 2016 Annual Review to see more.
Please download AgroPages' latest magazine - 2016 Annual Review to see more.
Source: AgroNews
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