Editorial to Special Issue "Plant-Microbe Interactions"

Martin Janda, Tetiana Kalachova

Biologia plantarum 68:50-51, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.006  

Auxins and environmental factors regulate root gravitropism

Z. Tang, Y. Zhang, Y. Ma, D. Zhao, J. Dong, H. Zhang

Biologia plantarum 68:12-21, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2023.016  

Roots are important for plant anchoring, water and nutrient absorption, and other physiological processes. Gravity is a primary determinant of the spatial distribution of plant roots in the soil. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms and biochemical networks of root responses to gravity has both theoretical and practical significance in guiding the genetic improvement of plants. Gravitropism, the process through which plants sense the direction of gravity and respond by making the roots grow downward and the stem grow upward, has been widely studied in roots. The perception of gravity and the gravitational growth of roots, key...

Plant secondary metabolites: flavonoids and their glycosylation modification

A.J. Zhao, R. Li, W.Y. Guo, K. Lei, L.S. Ji, P. Li

Biologia plantarum 68:39-49, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.002  

Flavonoids are a class of phenolic compounds that are widely distributed in nature. They have a variety of physiological and pharmacological activities. They exist in free form or in the form of glycosides. The glycosylation occurs by glycosyltransferases, which is a common modification of plant secondary metabolites and the last step of their biosynthesis. Glycosylation can increase the diversity of the structure and function of flavonoids, and is currently a research hotspot. Based on the classification of flavonoids, this paper describes and summarizes the biotransformation and characteristics of glycosylation modification of flavonoids with different...

Comparative analysis of bioinformatic tools to predict and quantify active circular RNAs during grape cluster development

S. Ranjbar, A. Emamjomeh, M. Ebrahimi, A. Ghorbani, E. Ebrahimie, Y. Shiri

Biologia plantarum 68:1-11, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2023.038  

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are relatively new members of the RNA world and can contribute to crucial biological functions. CircRNAs have tissue-specific expression profiles depending on cell type and developmental stage. In Sistan region cultivated grapes are seedless but have small berries. The compact clusters are another notable characteristic of these grape cultivars, which negatively impacts their marketability. In this study, we aimed to identify the circRNAs that are active in cluster formation and investigated the effects of gibberellin treatment on their expression. Eight detection tools were used to predict the expressed circRNAs. Reliable...

Putrescine priming effects on chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant enzyme activity, and primary metabolite accumulation in maize seedlings under water deficit

C.C. Toledo, A.C.C. Da Silva, M.C. Del Peloso, M.A. Leite, L.A.A. Bressanin, G. EsteveS, P.C. Magalhães, T.C. De Souza, P.R. Dos Santos-Filho

Biologia plantarum 68:22-30, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2023.035  

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of putrescine priming on the initial growth, chlorophyll fluorescence, primary metabolites accumulation, and antioxidant enzyme activities in two maize hybrids with contrasting drought tolerances. Seeds of Zea mays L. hybrids DKB 390 (drought tolerant) and BRS 1030 (drought sensitive) were primed with putrescine (10 or 100 µM). Paper rolls moistened with distilled water or mannitol (-0.6 MPa) were maintened at 30°C for 7 d. The growth parameters were higher in the DKB hybrid than in the BRS hybrid. Putrescine priming (10 µM) promoted the root growth of BRS at levels similar to those of...

Bacillus subtilis var. natto promotes tobacco plant growth under normal conditions and in the presence of sodium bicarbonate

B.H. Cheah, Y.-L. Chen, X.-Y. Zou, K.-T. Lee, Y.-H. Shih, Y.-F. Lin

Biologia plantarum 68:52-59, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2023.024  

The coastal areas of western Taiwan feature acidic and saline soils with low fertility. Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), produced readily by carbon capture and storage technologies, could be suitable for the neutralization of acidic soils, but its effects on plant growth and the ability of Bacillus subtilis var. natto to confer salinity tolerance remain unclear. In this study, we examined the potential of sodium bicarbonate and B. subtilis var. natto (NTU18) to improve the growth of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) under salt stress conditions. We found that salt stress was the main factor affecting tobacco growth,...

Microsatellite markers reveal genetic diversity and population genetic structure of the threatened Martaban camphor [Cinnamomum parthenoxylon (Jack) Meisn]

M.P. Pham, T.T.X. Bui, D.G. Vu, V.S. Nguyen, M.D. Nguyen, D.D. Vu

Biologia plantarum 68:87-96, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.010  

Martaban camphor [Cinnamomum parthenoxylon (Jack) Meisn] is a woody tree in India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam and has been widely utilized for commercial purposes. It is threatened due to fragmented habitats, over-deforestation, and oil extraction. To conserve this species, the investigation of genetic diversity and population structure of this species is essential. Herein, we analyzed 192 adult trees from eight populations covering its natural distribution range in Vietnam using ten polymorphic EST-SSR markers. Medium levels of genetic diversity (R = 2.7, H_o = 0.399, H_e = 0.426) and genetic differences between...

Metabolites profiling of five Eucalyptus species by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis

Alyaa NASR, Ming-Jie BIAN, Xue-Fei CHEN, Bin WEN, Hui WANG, Jian-Wen SHAO, Guo-Ping ZHU

Biologia plantarum 68:97-106, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.011  

An untargeted metabolomic analysis of five Eucalyptus species was used to compare their chemical profiles. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) along with multivariate analyses including principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied to assess variations in the leaf chemical profiles of E. maidenii F. Muell, E. robusta Smith, E. citriodora Hook (syn Corymbia citriodora), E. tereticornis Smith and E. camaldulensis Dehnh. In total, 299 relevant metabolites were identified and subjected to statistical analyses in order to detect either the major common metabolites...

Pod physical traits significantly implicate shattering response of pods in beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Samreen FATIMA, Sujeela RANI, Sadiah SHAFI, Aaqif ZAFFAR, Ishrat RIYAZ, M. Altaf WANI, Sajad M. ZARGAR, P.V. VARA PRASAD, Parvaze A. SOFI

Biologia plantarum 68:107-116, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.009  

Pod shattering is an undesirable process leading to loss of harvestable yields. In the present study, we sought to undertake the first comprehensive phenotyping in 254 bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes for pod shattering including various mechanistic aspects as well as assess natural variation in the germplasm set for 16 seed physical traits including shattering score. There was substantial variability in 16 pod physical traits in the material. Significant diversity of the material in respect of pod traits was indicated by the broad range and coefficient of variation (CV) values. Using Random Impact Assessment (RIA), we found substantial...

Evaluation of silage and grain yield of different maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes in organic and conventional conditions

Á. ÁLDOTT-SIPOS, E. CSEPREGI-HEILMANN, T. SPITKÓ, J. PINTÉR, C. SZŐKE, T. BERZY, A. KOVÁCS, J. NAGY, C.L. MARTON

Biologia plantarum 68:122-127, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.007  

The intensification of agriculture is closely linked to high emissions of greenhouse gases. To address the challenges, the European Commission published the European Green Deal in 2019. The aim of our study was to compare the yield of maize genotypes bred in Martonvásár in three different cropping environments (organic, irrigated conventional, and non-irrigated conventional). The silage and grain yields of different maize hybrids and parental lines were evaluated in a three-replicate small plot experiments. The green mass yield of the organic area was 19 and 15% lower compared to the irrigated conventional and non-irrigated conventional treatments....

Insights into some key parameters involved in the variability of tolerance to phosphorus deficiency in the legume model Medicago truncatula

W. M'SEHLI, H. HOUMANI, N. KALLALA, G. ABID, I. HAMMAMI, H. MHADHBI

Biologia plantarum 68:128-137, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.005  

Phosphorus is a key limiting factor for plant growth. Several approaches are developed to mitigate the impact of P shortage on plants and to the selection of crops with high P mobilizing capacity from P-deficient soils. In this work, four Medicago truncatula genotypes (A17, TN8.20, TN1.11, and TN6.18) were compared for their efficiency to cope with P limiting conditions using several criteria. Significant differences between genotypes, P deficiency treatments, and the interaction of genotypes with P deficiency treatments were found. P limitation resulted in an important decrease in shoot biomass, P content, P use efficiency, and photosynthetic...

Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses provide insights into the response of tobacco axillary buds to exogenous strigolactone

Boxi TANG, Huiyuan TIAN, Wuwei FAN, Zhiyan PAN, Yuanxiu WANG, Jiantao PENG, Guoqin LIU

Biologia plantarum 68:139-151, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.012  

Strigolactones (SL) are crucial plant hormones that regulate plant growth. We investigated genetic and metabolic changes in tobacco axillary flower buds following application of GR24 (SL synthetic analogue), administered 2 and 6 days later. The results indicated that GR24 effectively inhibited the growth of axillary buds. RNA sequencing revealed 1 781 differentially expressed genes in axillary buds after 6 days of GR24 treatment compared to untreated controls. Among them, 882 genes were up-regulated following GR24 treatment, suggesting substantial number of genes experienced significant changes in expression following GR24 treatment. Four carbohydrate...

OsPPR19, a rice pentatricopeptide repeat protein, is essential for mitochondrial biogenesis and seed development

Kwanuk LEE, Su Jung PARK, Yeon-Ok KIM, Jong-Seong JEON, Hunseung KANG

Biologia plantarum 68:152-160, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.014  

Despite the accumulating evidence showing the essential role of pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins in organellar biogenesis and plant development in Arabidopsis thaliana and maize (Zea mays), the functions of most PPR proteins in rice (Oryza sativa) are still unknown. A former study demonstrated that the mitochondria-localized Arabidopsis PPR19 is crucial for mitochondrial function and normal plant growth and development. In this study, we characterized the functional role of a rice ortholog (LOC_Os12g04110) of Arabidopsis PPR19 protein. The loss-of-function osppr19 mutant displayed delayed seed germination...

The effect of mulching materials on the arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi root colonisation, peroxidase activity, and chlorophyll content in Lactuca sativa

K. Fekete, A. Geösel, S. Kecskeméti, Z. Pap

Biologia plantarum 68:31-38, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2023.036  

Lettuce is one of our most important leaf vegetables that can be cultivated safely in organic farming, which is not only pesticide-free, but also aims to maintain and stimulate the presence of naturally occurring beneficial organisms, such as algae, mosses, bacteria, or arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi. These organisms are all beneficial for soil life and nutrient decomposition. The positive effects of beneficial microorganisms could be enhanced by mulching which is a widely used practice in organic farming. Mulching may also increase soil nutrient substance after decomposition and inhibit weed growth. In our experiment, we sought to determine the...

CORRIGENDUM: Correction of the Affiliations
Corrigendum to: Optimized tetraploidization strategies in tissue culture for Lolium, Festuca, and Festulolium

Marlies K.R. PEETERS, Isabelle MARYNS, An GHESQUIERE, Katrijn VAN LAERE, Yves VAN DE PEER, Tom RUTTINK, Leen LEUS

Biologia plantarum 68:138, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.013  

Differential biomass and nutrient accumulation in perennial ryegrass accessions under excess water treatment in field conditions during winter

S. Barth, C.K.Y. Ng, L. Moloney-Finn, J. HumphreyS, S. Alves

Biologia plantarum 68:60-69, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.004  

Excess water is an abiotic stress in plants, but the level at which excess water becomes varies widely between plant species. We conducted a two growing season replicated excess flooding experiment that was planted with 24 accessions of perennial ryegrass which had been vegetatively propagated to ensure equal representation of genotypes within an accession, both cultivars and ecotypes, from various geographical origins. The excess water treatment applied over the winter periods was achieved with irrigation. Yields increased in the winter-flooded treatment in contrast to the non-artificial watered control treatment significantly in 2017. In 2018 the...

A CORRECTION HAS BEEN PUBLISHED
Optimized tetraploidization strategies in tissue culture for Lolium, Festuca, and Festulolium

Marlies K.R. Peeters, Isabelle Maryns, An Ghesquiere, Katrijn Van Laere, Yves Van de Peer, Tom Ruttink, Leen Leus

Biologia plantarum 68:70-76, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.003  

In plant breeding, polyploidization is an established technique to obtain superior phenotypic characteristics. In seed propagated agricultural crops, seed treatments with antimitotic agents are often used to obtain chromosome doubling. Here, we developed a method to induce polyploidization in clonally propagated fodder grasses Lolium, Festuca, and the intergeneric hybrid Festulolium. The aim was to obtain specific genotypes at both the diploid and tetraploid levels. We evaluated different types of plant explants, and the effects of the type, concentration, and application mode of three antimitotic agents (oryzalin, colchicine,...

Implementation of rapid cycle recurrent genomic selection for forage yield in perennial ryegrass

S. Byrne, S.K. Arojju, P. Conaghan, A. Konkolewska, D. Milbourne

Biologia plantarum 68:77-86, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.001  

Opportunities exist to accelerate genetic gain in forage breeding using genome-wide selection approaches. In this study, we evaluated rapid cycle recurrent genomic selection (GS) as a means of improving genetic gain for value of annual forage yield. A small population of tetraploid half-sib families was evaluated for seasonal forage yield over two years, and the maternal parent plants were genotyped and genomic prediction models developed. The GS model for value of annual forage yield had a predictive ability of 0.23. An initial round of among-family selection based on field evaluations and within-family selection using genomic estimated breeding values...

Evaluating root characteristics under field conditions in perennial ryegrass for potential application in commercial breeding programmes

M.C. GRAHAM, L.S. JOHNSTON, A. GORDON, G.K. YOUNG

Biologia plantarum 68:117-121, 2024 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2024.008  

Perennial ryegrass (PRG; Lolium perenne) remains the backbone of grass swards in Northern Ireland due to its improved digestibility persistence, and ease of management compared with other grass species. However, innovative breeding approaches are needed that include positive environmental outcomes, as well as improved productivity in ruminants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of root-trait screening and selection using the in situ coring method under commercial grass breeding field conditions. 108 root cores were sampled over a 2-year period from a field trial sown in autumn 2021. Root cores were washed, scanned,...