植物逆境胁迫耐受性功能基因组研究进展

为了更加高效地利用基因工程技术提高植物对逆境胁迫的耐受性,需要在全基因组水平上对植物逆境胁迫耐受性的复杂机制进行整合性研究.植物逆境胁迫耐受性功能基因组的研究可概括为：利用胁迫特异性的表达序列标签(EST)及cDNA微阵列（或基因芯片）技术筛选与胁迫相关的候选基因,然后利用反向遗传学等技术对候选基因的功能进行研究,利用酵母双杂交、正向遗传学等技术对基因及基因产物间的相互关系进行研究.通过这些研究可以全面地了解植物对胁迫（渗透、干旱、极端温度）响应的复杂机制和相互作用以及相应的信号转导途径,从而为更加高效地利用基因工程技术提高植物对逆境胁迫的耐受性奠定基础.     

植物miRNA的分子特征及其在逆境中的响应机制

逆境胁迫是影响植物生长发育、生物产量与品质形成的主要因素之一。通过诱导表达抗逆有关的编码基因与部分非编码基因是植物响应逆境的主要方式。miRNA作为一种非编码基因在植物生长、发育以及抗逆等过程中起重要的调控作用。研究表明:逆境胁迫下miRNA可以形成miRNA诱导沉默复合物(miRNA-induced silencing complex,miRISC),并与靶mRNA互补配对结合,进而引起靶mRNA的降解或者抑制其翻译,从而实现对下游抗逆相关基因表达的调控,最终引起代谢与信号转导途径的变化实现对逆境的响应。本文从植物逆境胁迫下诱导miRNA的产生、靶基因的识别以及作用机制等方面进行了综述。     

基于基因芯片技术的转Slnac2基因拟南芥差异表达基因分析

NAC转录因子,对植物的生长发育及抵御逆境胁迫起着重要的作用。实验室前期克隆了辽宁碱蓬(Suaeda liaotungensis)Slnac2基因,转Slnac2拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)提高了抵御盐胁迫的能力。本研究利用基因芯片技术筛选转SlNAC2拟南芥差异表达基因,共筛选出差异表达2倍以上的基因1 258个。GO富集度分析结果显示,分子功能相关基因占34.06%,细胞组分相关基因占33.13%,生物学过程相关基因占32.81%。KEGG分析表明,差异表达基因涉及63个信号通路,主要有植物激素信号转导、核糖体、植物病原物相互作用和抗坏血酸代谢等。通过实时荧光定量PCR对部分差异基因进行验证,所得结果与基因芯片结果一致。本研究揭示,SlNAC2可调控多个下游基因的表达,提高植物在逆境胁迫下的生存能力。     

氮代谢参与植物逆境抵抗的作用机理研究进展

近年来,植物所受到的诸如干旱、盐、高温、低氧、重金属胁迫和营养元素缺乏等环境胁迫越来越多,严重影响了植物的生长发育及作物的质量和产量。氮素是植物生长发育所需的必需营养元素,同时也是核酸、蛋白质和叶绿素的重要组成成分,其代谢过程与植物抵抗逆境的能力息息相关。氮代谢是指植物对氮素的吸收、同化和利用的全过程,是植物体内基础代谢途径之一。氮代谢主要从氮素吸收、同化及氨基酸代谢等方面参与植物的抗逆性,并通过调节离子吸收和转运、稳定细胞形态和蛋白质结构、维持激素平衡和细胞代谢水平、减少体内活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)生成以及促进叶绿素合成等生理机制来影响植物抵抗非生物胁迫的能力。因此,提高植物在逆境下的氮代谢水平是减轻外界胁迫对其损伤的一种潜在途径。该文从氮素同化的基本途径出发,分别阐述了氮代谢在干旱胁迫、盐胁迫和高温胁迫等多个方面的逆境抵抗过程中的作用机理,为氮代谢参与植物抗逆性研究提供了有利参考。     

microRNA在植物逆境胁迫应答中的作用

逆境胁迫严重影响着全世界范围内的作物产量。为减少逆境胁迫损伤,植物在长期的进化过程中形成了多级别（转录、转录后和翻译、翻译后）的基因表达调控应答机制。最近研究发现,内源microRNA（miRNA）在植物逆境胁迫应答中具有重要的调节作用。在逆境胁迫发生时,一些miRNA会表达上调,而另一些miRNA会表达下调;miRNA正是通过下调胁迫应答过程的负调节子靶基因和上调胁迫应答过程中的正调节子靶基因,来执行生理调控功能。通过综述miRNA在植物逆境应答中的作用,以期全面的了解逆境胁迫调控网络。     

植物应答非生物胁迫的代谢组学研究进展

代谢组学技术是研究植物代谢的理想平台, 通过现代检测分析技术对胁迫环境下植物中代谢产物进行定性和定量分析, 可以监测其随时间变化的规律。而各种组学平台包括基因组学、转录组学及代谢组学的整合, 更是一个强有力的工具箱, 将所获得的不同组学的信息联系起来, 有利于从整体研究生物系统对基因或环境变化的响应, 如可判断代谢物的变化是从哪一个层面开始发生的, 帮助人们揭开复杂的植物胁迫应答机制。该文对近期代谢组学技术及其与蛋白质组学、基因组学技术相结合探索植物应答非生物胁迫的研究进行了综述。代谢组学的应用, 拓展了对植物耐受非生物胁迫分子机制的认识, 开展更多这方面的研究, 再通过植物代谢组学、转录组学、蛋白质组学和基因组学整合, 有助于从整体水平上把握植物胁迫应答机制。     

植物逆境miRNA研究进展

包括生物和非生物在内的多种逆境胁迫是植物正常生长和作物产量提高的重要限制性因素。植物在长期的进化过程中, 通过诱导表达某些抵御或防卫途径的关键基因来实现对胁迫的响应。研究表明, 逆境胁迫不仅会诱导植物蛋白质编码基因的表达, 也会诱导一些非蛋白质编码基因的表达, 这类非蛋白质编码基因的表达产物在植物的生长、发育和应对逆境胁迫等过程中起到重要的调控作用。miRNA(小分子RNA)就是这类非蛋白质编码基因产物中的重要类群, 研究发现, 多种逆境均会诱导miRNA的产生, 其作用是通过引导目的基因mRNA的降解和阻止翻译过程来调控靶基因, 最终通过形态或生理上的变化达到对逆境的适应。文章主要对植物逆境胁迫下miRNA的研究, 特别是逆境胁迫诱导miRNA的产生、靶基因调控以及miRNA在植物适应逆境胁迫过程中的作用进行了综述, 同时, 文章还对在逆境胁迫下植物miRNA的研究方法进行了初步的探讨。     

植物应答逆境胁迫的蛋白质组学研究进展

逆境胁迫是制约植物生长发育、影响作物产量和质量的关键因子,揭示植物应答胁迫的分子机理一直是人们长期探索的重大课题.随着拟南芥、水稻等模式植物基因组测序的完成,植物基因组学的研究重点已经转变为功能基因组学研究,蛋白质组学是后基因组时代的新兴研究领域,它有助于人们从分子水平上了解植物耐受胁迫的机制.介绍了植物应答非生物胁迫,如盐胁迫、温度胁迫、干旱胁迫、营养胁迫和机械伤害等,以及生物胁迫,如病菌侵害的蛋白质组学最新研究进展,并探讨了利用蛋白质组学技术研究植物抗逆性方面的优势和前景.     

蛋白质组学在研究植物响应逆境机理上的应用

逆境条件下植物可以通过改变其基因表达和相关代谢活动来适应,探讨植物基因和蛋白表达谱的变化就成为植物逆境响应机制研究中的重要内容,蛋白质表达谱反映了植物细胞和组织的实际状态,是植物基因表达和最终代谢的关键环节。随着蛋白质分离技术、质谱鉴定技术和植物生物信息学的迅速发展,蛋白质组学在植物响应逆境方面的研究中的应用已经比较成功,加深了人们对植物响应逆境机制的认识,并为人们提供了新的线索和思维。本文主要对蛋白质组学在植物响应非生物逆境(干旱、盐胁迫、低温胁迫、高温胁迫等)和生物逆境(病虫害)的机制研究的应用上进行了综述。     

WRKY转录因子参与植物抗盐性调控的研究进展

盐胁迫是影响植物生长发育重要的环境因子之一,为了适应及抵御盐胁迫危害的逆境,作物自身会通过一系列变化来适应环境而作出相关性应激性改变,如宏观形态学、生理学改变、微观分子生物学变化等。转录调控是细胞内部调控网络中最重要的一个环节,WRKY转录因子响应并参与多种植物的生物和非生物胁迫。本综述从盐胁迫下作物形态结构的变化、盐胁迫对作物生理代谢的影响以及WRKY转录因子参与作物抗盐调控网络等方面文献,来汇总分析近年来拟南芥、水稻及其他种类植物应对胁迫的响应机制以及WRKY转录因子的功能,为提高园艺作物抗盐性生理作用及分子机制提供帮助,同时为作物抗盐栽培提供新思路。     

昆虫对植物次生物质的代谢适应机制及其对昆虫抗药性的意义

植物次生物质(plant secondary metabolites)对昆虫的取食行为、生长发育及繁殖可以产生不利影响,甚至对昆虫可以产生毒杀作用。为了应对植物次生物质的不利影响,昆虫通过对植物次生物质忌避取食、解毒代谢等多种机制,而对寄主植物产生适应性。其中,昆虫的解毒代谢酶包括昆虫细胞色素P450酶系（P450s）及谷胱甘肽硫转移酶（GSTs）等,在昆虫对植物次生物质的解毒代谢及对寄主植物的适应性中发挥了重要作用。昆虫的解毒酶系统不仅可以代谢植物次生物质,还可能代谢化学杀虫剂,因而昆虫对寄主植物的适应性与其对杀虫剂的耐药性甚至抗药性密切相关。昆虫细胞色素P450s和GSTs等代谢解毒酶活性及相关基因的表达可以被植物次生物质影响,这不仅使昆虫对寄主植物的防御产生了适应性,还影响了昆虫对杀虫剂的解毒代谢,因而改变昆虫的耐药性或抗药性。掌握昆虫对植物次生物质的代谢适应机制及其在昆虫抗药性中的作用,对于明确昆虫的抗药性机制具有重要的参考意义。本文综述了植物次生物质对昆虫的影响、昆虫对寄主植物次生物质的代谢机制、昆虫对植物次生物质的代谢适应性对昆虫耐药性及抗药性的影响等方面的研究进展。     

Mechanisms of metal resistance in plants: aluminum and heavy metals

Plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to deal with toxic levels of metals in the soil. In this paper, an overview of recent progress with regards to understanding fundamental molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying plant resistance to both aluminum (Al) and heavy metals is presented. The discussion of plant Al resistance will focus on recent advances in our understanding of a mechanism based on Al exclusion from the root apex, which is facilitated by Al-activated exudation of organic acid anions. The consideration of heavy metal resistance will focus on research into a metal hyperaccumulating plant species, the Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator, Thlaspi caerulescens, as an example for plant heavy metal research. Based on the specific cases considered in this paper, it appears that quite different strategies are used for Al and heavy metal resistance. For Al, our current understanding of a resistance mechanism based on excluding soil-borne Al from the root apex is presented. For heavy metals, a totally different strategy based on extreme tolerance and metal hyperaccumulation is described for a hyperaccumulator plant species that has evolved on naturally metalliferous soils. The reason these two strategies are the focus of this paper is that, currently, they are the best understood mechanisms of metal resistance in terrestrial plants. However, it is likely that other mechanisms of Al and/or heavy metal resistance are also operating in certain plant species, and there may be common features shared for dealing with Al and heavy resistance. Future research may uncover a number of novel metal resistance mechanisms in plants. Certainly the complex genetics of Al resistance in some crop plant species, such as rice and maize, suggests that a number of presently unidentified mechanisms are part of an overall strategy of metal resistance in crop plants.     

Can tolerance traits impose selection on herbivores?

Plant tolerance reduces the fitness consequences of herbivore and natural enemy damage, while resistance reduces the amount of damage suffered. In contrast to resistance, tolerance is often assumed to not affect herbivore performance and evolution. Evidence from the literature, however, suggests that it is possible for plant tolerance to affect herbivore performance and evolution, and potentially plant–herbivore coevolution. First, for cases when genetic correlations between resistance and tolerance are due to pleiotropy, the genes and loci for tolerance and resistance are the same, and as such both traits will affect herbivore performance directly. Second, it is possible that the physiological basis and mechanisms of plant tolerance – for example, changes in plant physiology and resource allocation – directly alter herbivore fitness characters. In this paper, I review the evidence for these potential effects of plant tolerance on herbivore performance, and suggest straightforward experiments to evaluate these possibilities. More generally, I propose that this untested assumption is constraining our view of plant–herbivore coevolution.     

PIP Aquaporin Gene Expression in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Glycine max and Lactuca sativa Plants in Relation to Drought Stress Tolerance

Although the discovery of aquaporins in plants has resulted in a paradigm shift in the understanding of plant water relations, the relationship between aquaporins and plant responses to drought still remains elusive. Moreover, the contribution of aquaporin genes to the enhanced tolerance to drought in arbuscular mycorrhisal (AM) plants has never been investigated. Therefore, we studied, at a molecular level, whether the expression of aquaporin-encoding genes in roots is altered by the AM symbiosis as a mechanism to enhance host plant tolerance to water deficit. In this study, genes encoding plasma membrane aquaporins (PIPs) from soybean and lettuce were cloned and their expression pattern studied in AM and nonAM plants cultivated under well-watered or drought stressed conditions. Results showed that AM plants responded to drought stress by down-regulating the expression of the PIP genes studied and anticipating its down-regulation as compared to nonAM plants. The possible physiological implications of this down-regulation of PIP genes as a mechanism to decrease membrane water permeability and to allow cellular water conservation is further discussed.     

Chlorogenic Acid Metabolism: The Evolution and Roles in Plant Response to Abiotic Stress

During the evolution, plants acquired the ability to synthesize different phenylpropanoid compounds like chlorogenic acid (CGA), which plays vital roles in resistance mechanisms to abiotic stresses. These environmental factors, including heavy metal, cold, heat, ultraviolet (UV) light, drought, and salinity affect the plant physiological processes, resulting in massive losses of agriculture production. As plants evolve from green algae to bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms, phenylpropanoids are produced and accumulated in different tissues, giving the plant the capacity to counteract the harmful effects of the adverse environments. Studies have been performed on the metabolic evolution of rosmarinic acid, flavonoids and lignin, showing that the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids begins in green algae until the emersion of genes found in angiosperms; however, the evolution of the CGA pathway has not yet been reviewed. We hypothesize that CGA could also be synthesized from algae to angiosperms. In the present review, the evolutionary analysis of CGA pathway and the function of this compound in plant tolerance to abiotic stresses are summarized. Bioinformatics analyzes were carried out on CGA-related genes across 37 plant species and revealed that the metabolic pathway starts in algae and gradually increases until it becomes complete in angiosperms. The key genes exhibited different expression patterns in stress and plant tissues. Interestingly, some genes accumulated rapidly during evolution and were more sensitive to environmental stresses, while others appeared only later in angiosperms. Further studies are needed to better understand the evolution of the CGA metabolic pathway in plants under environmentally stressed conditions.     

酸性土壤上植物应对铝胁迫的过程与机制

铝胁迫是酸性土壤上影响作物产量最重要的因素之一.目前,全球土壤酸化程度进一步加剧了铝胁迫.植物可通过将铝离子与有机酸螯合储藏于液泡和从根系中排出铝毒.排出铝毒主要通过苹果酸转运蛋白ALMT和柠檬酸转运蛋白MATE的跨膜运输来实现.编码ABC转运蛋白和锌指转录因子的基因与植物抗铝胁迫有关.这些抗铝毒基因的鉴别使得通过转基因和分子标记辅助育种等生物技术来提高农作物的抗铝毒能力成为可能.最后提出了植物抗铝胁迫研究中需要解决的关键问题及今后的研究方向.     

Defense Responses in Two Ecotypes of Lotus japonicus against Non-Pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae

Lotus japonicus is a model legume broadly used to study many important processes as nitrogen fixing nodule formation and adaptation to salt stress. However, no studies on the defense responses occurring in this species against invading microorganisms have been carried out at the present. Understanding how this model plant protects itself against pathogens will certainly help to develop more tolerant cultivars in economically important Lotus species as well as in other legumes. In order to uncover the most important defense mechanisms activated upon bacterial attack, we explored in this work the main responses occurring in the phenotypically contrasting ecotypes MG-20 and Gifu B-129 of L. japonicus after inoculation with Pseudomonas syringae DC3000 pv. tomato. Our analysis demonstrated that this bacterial strain is unable to cause disease in these accessions, even though the defense mechanisms triggered in these ecotypes might differ. Thus, disease tolerance in MG-20 was characterized by bacterial multiplication, chlorosis and desiccation at the infiltrated tissues. In turn, Gifu B-129 plants did not show any symptom at all and were completely successful in restricting bacterial growth. We performed a microarray based analysis of these responses and determined the regulation of several genes that could play important roles in plant defense. Interestingly, we were also able to identify a set of defense genes with a relative high expression in Gifu B-129 plants under non-stress conditions, what could explain its higher tolerance. The participation of these genes in plant defense is discussed. Our results position the L. japonicus-P. syringae interaction as a interesting model to study defense mechanisms in legume species.     

Plant cell organelle proteomics in response to abiotic stress

Proteomics is one of the finest molecular techniques extensively being used for the study of protein profiling of a given plant species experiencing stressed conditions. Plants respond to a stress by alteration in the pattern of protein expression, either by up-regulating of the existing protein pool or by the synthesizing novel proteins primarily associated with plants antioxidative defense mechanism. Improved protein extraction protocols and advance techniques for identification of novel proteins have been standardized in different plant species at both cellular and whole plant level for better understanding of abiotic stress sensing and intracellular stress signal transduction mechanisms. In contrast, an in-depth proteome study of subcellular organelles could generate much detail information about the intrinsic mechanism of stress response as it correlates the possible relationship between the protein abundance and plant stress tolerance. Although a wealth of reviews devoted to plant proteomics are available, review articles dedicated to plant cell organelle proteins response under abiotic stress are very scanty. In the present review, an attempt has been made to summarize all significant contributions related to abiotic stresses and their impacts on organelle proteomes for better understanding of plants abiotic stress tolerance mechanism at protein level. This review will not only provide new insights into the plants stress response mechanisms, which are necessary for future development of genetically engineered stress tolerant crop plants for the benefit of humankind, but will also highlight the importance of studying changes in protein abundance within the cell organelles in response to abiotic stress.