The role of alpha-tocopherol in plant stress tolerance

Environmental stresses trigger a wide variety of plant responses, ranging from altered gene expression to changes in cellular metabolism and growth. A plethora of plant reactions exist to circumvent the potentially harmful effects caused by light, drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, pathogen infections and other stresses. Alpha-tocopherol is the major vitamin E compound found in leaf chloroplasts, where it is located in the chloroplast envelope, thylakoid membranes and plastoglobuli. This antioxidant deactivates photosynthesis-derived reactive oxygen species (mainly 1O2 and OH), and prevents the propagation of lipid peroxidation by scavenging lipid peroxyl radicals in thylakoid membranes. Alpha-tocopherol levels change differentially in response to environmental constraints, depending on the magnitude of the stress and species-sensitivity to stress. Changes in alpha-tocopherol levels result from altered expression of pathway-related genes, degradation and recycling, and it is generally assumed that increases of alpha-tocopherol contribute to plant stress tolerance, while decreased levels favor oxidative damage. Recent studies indicate that compensatory mechanisms exist to afford adequate protection to the photosynthetic apparatus in the absence of alpha-tocopherol, and provide further evidence that it is the whole set of antioxidant defenses (ascorbate, glutathione, carotenoids, tocopherols and other isoprenoids, flavonoids and enzymatic antioxidants) rather than a single antioxidant, which helps plants to withstand environmental stress.     

The ICOS molecule plays a crucial role in the development of mucosal tolerance

The ICOS molecule stimulates production of the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10, suggesting an important role for ICOS in controlling IL-10-producing regulatory T cells and peripheral T cell tolerance. In this study we investigate whether ICOS is required for development of oral, nasal, and high dose i.v. tolerance. Oral administration of encephalitogenic myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35-55 peptide to ICOS-deficient (ICOS-/-) mice did not inhibit experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), T cell proliferation, or IFN-gamma production, in striking contrast to wild-type mice. Similarly, intranasal administration of MOG(35-55) before EAE induction suppressed EAE and T cell responses in wild-type, but not in ICOS-/-, mice. In contrast, ICOS-/- mice were as susceptible as wild-type mice to high dose tolerance. These results indicate that ICOS plays an essential and specific role in mucosal tolerance and that distinct costimulatory pathways differentially regulate different forms of peripheral tolerance. Surprisingly, CD4+ cells from MOG-fed wild-type and ICOS-/- mice could transfer suppression to wild-type recipients, indicating that functional regulatory CD4+ cells can develop in the absence of ICOS. However, CD4+ T cells from MOG-fed wild-type mice could not transfer suppression to ICOS-/- recipients, suggesting that ICOS may have a key role in controlling the effector functions of regulatory T cells. These results suggest that stimulating ICOS may provide an effective therapeutic approach for promoting mucosal tolerance.     

The role of plant mitochondria in the biosynthesis of coenzymes

This last decade, many efforts were undertaken to understand how coenzymes, including vitamins, are synthesized in plants. Surprisingly, these metabolic pathways were often “quartered” between different compartments of the plant cell. Among these compartments, mitochondria often appear to have a key role, catalyzing one or several steps in these pathways. In the present review we will illustrate these new and important biosynthetic functions found in plant mitochondria by describing the most recent findings about the synthesis of two vitamins (folate and biotin) and one non-vitamin coenzyme (lipoate). The complexity of these metabolic routes raise intriguing questions, such as how the intermediate metabolites and the end-product coenzymes are exchanged between the various cellular territories, or what are the physiological reasons, if any, for such compartmentalization.     

The role of plant CCTalpha in salt- and osmotic-stress tolerance

To find key genes essential for salt tolerance in the mangrove plant, Bruguiera sexangula, functional screening was performed using Escherichia coli as the host organism. A transformant expressing a cytosolic chaperonin-containing TCP-1alpha (CCTalpha) homologue displayed enhanced salt tolerance. Analysis in E. coli of the functional region revealed that a sequence of only 218 amino acids, containing the apical domain, is necessary for osmotolerance. Furthermore, this domain shows chaperone activity in vitro. Therefore, CCTalpha facilitates the folding of proteins without ATP or the cage-like structure, and may play an important role in stress tolerance, at least in B. sexangula.     

Predicting drought tolerance from slope aspect preference in restored plant communities

Plants employ strategies of tolerance, endurance, and avoidance to cope with aridity in space and time, yet understanding the differential importance of such strategies in determining patterns of abundance across a heterogeneous landscape is a challenge. Are the species abundant in drier microhabitats also better able to survive drought? Are there relationships among occupied sites and temporal dynamics that derive from physiological capacities to cope with stress or dormancy during unfavorable periods? We used a restoration project conducted on two slope aspects in a subwatershed to test whether species that were more abundant on more water‐limited S‐facing slopes were also better able to survive an extreme drought. The attempt to place many species uniformly on different slope aspects provided an excellent opportunity to test questions of growth strategy, niche preference, and temporal dynamics. Perennial species that established and grew best on S‐facing slopes also had greater increases in cover during years of drought, presumably by employing drought tolerance and endurance techniques. The opposite pattern emerged for annual species that employed drought‐escape strategies, such that annuals that occupied S‐facing slopes were less abundant during the drought than those that were more abundant on N‐facing slopes. Our results clarify how different functional strategies interact with spatial and temporal heterogeneity to influence population and community dynamics and demonstrate how large restoration projects provide opportunities to test fundamental ecological questions.     

园艺植物水分胁迫生理及耐旱机制研究进展

概述了园艺植物在水分胁迫下的生理生化,分子反应及耐旱机制研究进展,并指出尚需进一步研究的问题。     

Beyond isohydricity: The role of environmental variability in determining plant drought responses

Despite the appeal of the iso/anisohydric framework for classifying plant drought responses, recent studies have shown that such classifications can be strongly affected by a plant's environment. Here, we present measured in situ drought responses to demonstrate that apparent isohydricity can be conflated with environmental conditions that vary over space and time. In particular, we (a) use data from an oak species (Quercus douglasii) during the 2012–2015 extreme drought in California to demonstrate how temporal and spatial variability in the environment can influence plant water potential dynamics, masking the role of traits; (b) explain how these environmental variations might arise from climatic, topographic, and edaphic variability; (c) illustrate, through a “common garden” thought experiment, how existing trait‐based or response‐based isohydricity metrics can be confounded by these environmental variations, leading to Type‐1 (false positive) and Type‐2 (false negative) errors; and (d) advocate for the use of model‐based approaches for formulating alternate classification schemes. Building on recent insights from greenhouse and vineyard studies, we offer additional evidence across multiple field sites to demonstrate the importance of spatial and temporal drivers of plants' apparent isohydricity. This evidence challenges the use of isohydricity indices, per se, to characterize plant water relations at the global scale.     

On the role of transposons in balancing drought tolerance and yield

Since their discovery in the 1950s it has been speculated that transposable elements play a role in stabilizing the expression of cardinal genes. Recently, Sun et al. demonstrated that a transposable element-mediated inverted repeats-derived small RNA- and gene-regulatory network is a key player underlying the trade-off between drought tolerance and yield.     

Proteomics uncovers a role for redox in drought tolerance in wheat

Proteomic analysis offers a new approach to identify a broad spectrum of genes that are expressed in living systems. We applied a proteomic approach to study changes in wheat grain in response to drought, a major environmental parameter adversely affecting development and crop yield. Three wheat genotypes differing in genetic background were cultivated in field under well-watered and drought conditions by following a randomized complete block design with four replications. The overall effect of drought was highly significant as determined by grain yield and total dry matter. About 650 spots were reproducibly detected and analyzed on 2-DE gels. Of these, 121 proteins showed significant change under drought condition in at least one of the genotypes. Mass spectrometry analysis using MALDI-TOF/TOF led to the identification of 57 proteins. Two-thirds of identified proteins were thioredoxin (Trx) targets, in accordance with the link between drought and oxidative stress. Further, because of contrasting changes in the tolerant and susceptible genotypes studied, several proteins emerge as key participants in the drought response. In addition to providing new information on the response to water deprivation, the present study offers opportunities to pursue the breeding of wheat with enhanced drought tolerance using identified candidate genetic markers. The 2-DE database of wheat seed proteins is available for public access at http://www.proteome.ir.     

Molecular tailoring of farnesylation for plant drought tolerance and yield protection

Protecting crop yield under drought stress is a major challenge for modern agriculture. One biotechnological target for improving plant drought tolerance is the genetic manipulation of the stress response to the hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Previous genetic studies have implicated the involvement of the beta-subunit of Arabidopsis farnesyltransferase (ERA1) in the regulation of ABA sensing and drought tolerance. Here we show that molecular manipulation of protein farnesylation in Arabidopsis, through downregulation of either the alpha- or beta-subunit of farnesyltransferase enhances the plant's response to ABA and drought tolerance. To test the effectiveness of tailoring farnesylation in a crop plant, transgenic Brassica napus carrying an ERA1 antisense construct driven by a drought-inducible rd29A promoter was examined. In comparison with the non-transgenic control, transgenic canola showed enhanced ABA sensitivity, as well as significant reduction in stomatal conductance and water transpiration under drought stress conditions. The antisense downregulation of canola farnesyltransferase for drought tolerance is a conditional and reversible process, which depends on the amount of available water in the soil. Furthermore, transgenic plants were more resistant to water deficit-induced seed abortion during flowering. Results from three consecutive years of field trial studies suggest that with adequate water, transgenic canola plants produced the same amount of seed as the parental control. However, under moderate drought stress conditions at flowering, the seed yields of transgenic canola were significantly higher than the control. Using protein farnesyltransferase as an effective target, these results represent a successful demonstration of engineered drought tolerance and yield protection in a crop plant under laboratory and field conditions.     

Role of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and their exopolysaccharide in drought tolerance of maize

The present study deals with the isolation and characterization of exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from arid and semiarid regions of Pakistan, and to investigate the drought tolerance potential of these PGPR on maize when used as bioinoculant alone and in combination with their respective EPS. Three bacterial strains Proteus penneri (Pp1), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa2), and Alcaligenes faecalis (AF3) were selected as EPS-producing bacteria on the basis of mucoid colony formation. All these strains were gram negative, motile, and positive for catalase. Strain Pp1 was positive for oxidase test and was phosphate solubilizing, while Pa2 and AF3 were negative. The isolated strains were sequenced using 16SrRNA. Total soluble sugar, protein, uronic acid, emulsification activity, and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy of EPS were determined. Drought stress had significant adverse effects on growth of maize seedlings. Seed bacterization of maize with EPS-producing bacterial strains in combination with their respective EPS improved soil moisture contents, plant biomass, root and shoot length, and leaf area. Under drought stress, the inoculated plants showed increase in relative water content, protein, and sugar though the proline content and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were decreased. The Pa2 strain isolated from semiarid region was most potent PGPR under drought stress. Consortia of inocula and their respective EPS showed greater potential to drought tolerance compared to PGPR inocula used alone.     

植物抗旱和耐重金属基因工程研究进展

干旱和重金属污染严重影响植物的生长发育.植物耐逆相关基因的克隆和功能鉴定研究,为通过基因工程途径提高植物的抗逆性奠定了理论基础.水分亏缺、高盐、低温和重金属胁迫都能诱导LEA(late embryogenesis abundant protein)基因的表达.转基因研究表明,LEA蛋白具有抗旱保护作用、离子结合特性以及抗氧化活性;水孔蛋白存在于细胞膜和液泡膜上,在细胞乃至整个植物体水分吸收和运输过程中发挥重要作用.干旱和盐胁迫促进水孔蛋白基因转录物的积累.过量表达水孔蛋白可增强水分吸收和运输,提高植物的抗旱能力.金属转运蛋白参与重金属离子的吸收、运输和累积等过程.这些蛋白基因在改良草坪草植物的抗旱节水和耐重金属能力等方面具有潜在的应用价值.     

Possible plant mitochondria involvement in cell adaptation to drought stress. A case study: durum wheat mitochondria

Although plant cell bioenergetics is strongly affected by abiotic stresses, mitochondrial metabolism under stress is still largely unknown. Interestingly, plant mitochondria may control reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by means of energy-dissipating systems. Therefore, mitochondria may play a central role in cell adaptation to abiotic stresses, which are known to induce oxidative stress at cellular level. With this in mind, in recent years, studies have been focused on mitochondria from durum wheat, a species well adapted to drought stress. Durum wheat mitochondria possess three energy-dissipating systems: the ATP-sensitive plant mitochondrial potassium channel (PmitoK(ATP)); the plant uncoupling protein (PUCP); and the alternative oxidase (AOX). It has been shown that these systems are able to dampen mitochondrial ROS production; surprisingly, PmitoK(ATP) and PUCP (but not AOX) are activated by ROS. This was found to occur in mitochondria from both control and hyperosmotic-stressed seedlings. Therefore, the hypothesis of a 'feed-back' mechanism operating under hyperosmotic/oxidative stress conditions was validated: stress conditions induce an increase in mitochondrial ROS production; ROS activate PmitoK(ATP) and PUCP that, in turn, dissipate the mitochondrial membrane potential, thus inhibiting further large-scale ROS production. Another important aspect is the chloroplast/cytosol/mitochondrion co-operation in green tissues under stress conditions aimed at modulating cell redox homeostasis. Durum wheat mitochondria may act against chloroplast/cytosol over-reduction: the malate/oxaloacetate antiporter and the rotenone-insensitive external NAD(P)H dehydrogenases allow cytosolic NAD(P)H oxidation; under stress this may occur without high ROS production due to co-operation with AOX, which is activated by intermediates of the photorespiratory cycle.     

The role of antioxidant defense in freezing tolerance of resurrection plant Haberlea rhodopensis

Haberlea rhodopensis Friv. is unique with its ability to survive two extreme environmental stresses—desiccation to air-dry state and subzero temperatures. In contrast to desiccation tolerance, the mechanisms of freezing tolerance of resurrection plants are scarcely investigated. In the present study, the role of antioxidant defense in the acquisition of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in this resurrection plant was investigated comparing the results of two sets of experiments—short term freezing stress after cold acclimation in controlled conditions and long term freezing stress as a part of seasonal temperature fluctuations in an outdoor ex situ experiment. Significant enhancement in flavonoids and anthocyanin content was observed only as a result of freezing-induced desiccation. The total amount of polyphenols increased upon cold acclimation and it was similar to the control in post freezing stress and freezing-induced desiccation. The main role of phenylethanoid glucoside, myconoside and hispidulin 8-C-(2-O-syringoyl-b-glucopyranoside) in cold acclimation and freezing tolerance was elucidated. The treatments under controlled conditions in a growth chamber showed enhancement in antioxidant enzymes activity upon cold acclimation but it declined after subsequent exposure to −10 °C. Although it varied under ex situ conditions, the activity of antioxidant enzymes was high, indicating their important role in overcoming oxidative stress under all treatments. In addition, the activity of specific isoenzymes was upregulated as compared to the control plants, which could be more useful for stress counteraction compared to changes in the total enzyme activity, due to the action of these isoforms in the specific cellular compartments.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-00998-0.     

The rice OsDIL gene plays a role in drought tolerance at vegetative and reproductive stages

Drought is one of the critical factors limiting reproductive yields of rice and other crops globally. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying reproductive development under drought stress in rice. To explore the potential gene function for improving rice reproductive development under drought, a drought induced gene, Oryza sativa Drought-Induced LTP (OsDIL) encoding a lipid transfer protein, was identified from our microarray data and selected for further study. OsDIL was primarily expressed in the anther and mainly responsive to abiotic stresses, including drought, cold, NaCl, and stress-related plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Compared with wild type, the OsDIL-overexpressing transgenic rice plants were more tolerant to drought stress during vegetative development and showed less severe tapetal defects and fewer defective anther sacs when treated with drought at the reproductive stage. The expression levels of the drought-responsive genes RD22, SODA1, bZIP46 and POD, as well as the ABA synthetic gene ZEP1 were up-regulated in the OsDIL-overexpression lines but the ABA degradation gene ABAOX3 was down-regulated. Moreover, overexpression of OsDIL lessened the down-regulation by drought of anther developmental genes (OsC4, CYP704B2 and OsCP1), providing a mechanism supporting pollen fertility under drought. Overexpression of OsDIL significantly enhanced drought resistance in transgenic rice during reproductive development, while showing no phenotypic changes or yield penalty under normal conditions. Therefore, OsDIL is an excellent candidate gene for genetic improvement of crop yield in adaption to unfavorable environments.     

丛枝菌根真菌对植物耐旱性的影响研究进展

丛枝菌根真菌(arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,AMF)能与植物根系形成互惠共生体,对植物的生长发育和抗逆性有积极的影响,在改善植物水分代谢和提高植物耐旱性中发挥了重要作用.本文综述了近年来AMF与植物水分代谢关系的研究进展,从植物的光合作用、蒸腾与气孔导度、水分利用效率、水力导度、渗透调节、内源激素和抗氧化系统等方面说明AMF对植物水分代谢的影响.从4个方面介绍了AMF提高植物耐旱性的机理:1)菌丝网络增加植物根系吸收范围;2)增强植物保水能力和抗氧化能力;3)稳定和改善土壤团聚体;4)促进植物养分吸收.并提出今后研究需注意的问题和建议.     

The regulatory role of riboflavin in the drought tolerance of tobacco plants depends on ROS production

Riboflavin (vitamin B₂) is required for normal plant growth and development. Previous studies have shown that riboflavin application can enhance pathogen resistance in plants. Here, we investigated the role of riboflavin in increasing drought tolerance (10 % PEG6000 treatment) in plants. We treated 4 week-old tobacco plants with five different levels of riboflavin (0, 4, 20, 100 and 500 μM) for 5 days and examined their antioxidant responses and levels of drought tolerance. Compared with the controls, low and moderate levels of riboflavin treatment enhanced drought tolerance in the tobacco plants, whereas higher concentrations of riboflavin (500 μM) impaired drought tolerance. Further analysis revealed that plants treated with 500 μM riboflavin accumulated higher levels of ROS (O₂ ^? and H₂O₂) and lipid peroxide than the control plants or plants treated with low levels of riboflavin. Consistent with this observation, the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) were higher in plants treated with low or moderate (4, 20 and 100 μM) levels of riboflavin compared with the control. We also found that chlorophyll degraded rapidly in control and 500 μM riboflavin-treated plants under drought stress conditions. In addition, the survival times of the riboflavin-treated plants were significantly modified by treatment with reduced glutathione, a well-known ROS scavenger, under drought stress conditions. Thus, riboflavin-mediated ROS production may determine the effects of riboflavin on drought tolerance in tobacco plants.     

The role of plant cation/proton antiporter gene family in salt tolerance

Salinity is one of the major abiotic constraints to agriculture. The physiological and molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance have been studied in plants for many years. The regulation of osmosis and ion homeostasis is crucial. A lot of important components involved in plant responses to salt stress have been identified. Among them, ion transporters and channels take an essential role in ion homeostasis, mainly for Na⁺, Cl^-, and K⁺. Until now, many cation antiporters important for salt tolerance in plants have been characterized. Among them, the monovalent cation/proton antiporters (CPA) family is one of the most important families, including sodium proton exchangers (NHXs), K⁺-efflux antiporters (KEAs), and cation/H⁺ exchangers (CHXs). Here, the current knowledge of the plant CPA family in responses to salt stress is reviewed. The regulation mechanisms were also included and discussed.