Reactive oxygen species and temperature stresses: A delicate balance between signaling and destruction

Temperature stress can have a devastating effect on plant metabolism, disrupting cellular homeostasis, and uncoupling major physiological processes. A direct result of stress-induced cellular changes is the enhanced accumulation of toxic compounds in cells that include reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although a considerable amount of work has shown a direct link between ROS scavenging and plant tolerance to temperature stress, recent studies have shown that ROS could also play a key role in mediating important signal transduction events. Thus, ROS, such as superoxide (O₂^–), are produced by NADPH oxidases during abiotic stress to activate stress-response pathways and induce defense mechanisms. The rates and cellular sites of ROS production during temperature stress could play a central role in stress perception and protection. ROS levels, as well as ROS signals, are thought to be controlled by the ROS gene network of plants. It is likely that in plants this network is interlinked with the different networks that control temperature stress acclimation and tolerance. In this review paper, we attempt to summarize some of the recent studies linking ROS and temperature stress in plants and propose a model for the involvement of ROS in temperature stress sensing and defense.     

菌根真菌提高植物抗旱性机制的研究回顾与展望

菌根真菌与全世界约97％的维管植物具有广泛的共生关系.大量研究结果显示菌根植物相比于非菌根植物对于干旱胁迫具有更高的耐受性,说明菌根真菌在植物抗旱过程中发挥着重要作用.本文对近年来国内外在菌根真菌协助植物抵御干旱作用机制方面的研究进行了归纳和总结,主要包括在干旱胁迫下菌根真菌对植物生理学特性的影响机制、菌根真菌提高植物...     

Molecular communications between plant heat shock responses and disease resistance

As sessile, plants are continuously exposed to potential dangers including various abiotic stresses and pathogen attack. Although most studies focus on plant responses under an ideal condition to a specific stimulus, plants in nature must cope with a variety of stimuli at the same time. This indicates that it is critical for plants to fine-control distinct signaling pathways temporally and spatially for simultaneous and effective responses to various stresses. Global warming is currently a big issue threatening the future of humans. Reponses to high temperature affect many physiological processes in plants including growth and disease resistance, resulting in decrease of crop yield. Although plant heat stress and defense responses share important mediators such as calcium ions and heat shock proteins, it is thought that high temperature generally suppresses plant immunity. We therefore specifically discuss on interactions between plant heat and defense responses in this review hopefully for an integrated understanding of these responses in plants.     

含ACC脱氨酶的根际细菌提高植物抗盐性的研究进展

盐胁迫是抑制植物生长的主要非生物因素之一,高浓度的盐分不利于植物体的生长和发育,严重时会导致植物细胞及植物体死亡.已有大量实验结果显示含ACC脱氨酶的根际细菌可以缓解高盐对植物的危害.ACC脱氨酶可以降解乙烯的直接前体1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸(ACC),从而降低胁迫乙烯的合成量.胁迫乙烯是阻碍植物生长的主要原因.首先介...     

碱蓬属植物耐盐机理研究进展

碱蓬属(Suaeda)植物是一类典型的真盐生植物,属于重要的盐生植物资源,全球广泛分布.人们已经对20种碱蓬属植物进行了观察和盐胁迫实验,研究了不同器官或组织的生理生化特征及其对盐胁迫的反应,并基于这些研究分析了盐胁迫的应答机制.叶片肉质化、细胞内离子区域化、渗透调节物质增加和抗氧化系统能力增强是碱蓬属植物响应和适应盐胁迫的重要方式和途径.但迄今为止的研究工作尚有一定的局限性,主要包括:研究工作主要集中在植物地上部分,而对植物地下部分的研究较少;多是少数生物学指标或生理学现象的单独观察,而缺乏对生理代谢过程的整体和综合分析;针对某种碱蓬的独立分析较多,而与近缘种的比较研究较少;植物对中性盐胁迫的反应研究较多,而对碱性盐的研究较少.为进一步系统阐明碱蓬属植物的耐盐机制,今后的工作应注重碱蓬属植物响应和适应盐胁迫的信号网络和调控机制研究,基于系统生物学研究思路,采用现代组学技术探索该属植物响应盐胁迫的由复杂信号网络调控的特殊生理特征和特异代谢途径.     

Integration of light and temperature signaling pathways in plants

As two of the most important environmental factors, light and temperature regulate almost all aspects of plant growth and development. Under natural conditions, light is accompanied by warm temperatures and darkness by cooler temperatures, suggesting that light and temperature are tightly associated signals for plants. Indeed, accumulating evidence shows that plants have evolved a wide range of mechanisms to simultaneously perceive and respond to dynamic changes in light and temperature. Notably, the photoreceptor phytochrome B (phyB) was recently shown to function as a thermosensor, thus reinforcing the notion that light and temperature signaling pathways are tightly associated in plants. In this review, we summarize and discuss the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms integrating light and temperature signaling pathways in plants, with the emphasis on recent progress in temperature sensing, light control of plant freezing tolerance, and thermomorphogenesis. We also discuss the questions that are crucial for a further understanding of the interactions between light and temperature signaling pathways in plants.     

Microbial amelioration of crop salinity stress

The use of soil and irrigation water with a high content of soluble salts is a major limiting factor for crop productivity in the semi-arid areas of the world. While important physiological insights about the mechanisms of salt tolerance in plants have been gained, the transfer of such knowledge into crop improvement has been limited. The identification and exploitation of soil microorganisms (especially rhizosphere bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi) that interact with plants by alleviating stress opens new alternatives for a pyramiding strategy against salinity, as well as new approaches to discover new mechanisms involved in stress tolerance. Although these mechanisms are not always well understood, beneficial physiological effects include improved nutrient and water uptake, growth promotion, and alteration of plant hormonal status and metabolism. This review aims to evaluate the beneficial effects of soil biota on the plant response to saline stress, with special reference to phytohormonal signalling mechanisms that interact with key physiological processes to improve plant tolerance to the osmotic and toxic components of salinity. Improved plant nutrition is a quite general beneficial effect and may contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis of toxic ions under saline stress. Furthermore, alteration of crop hormonal status to decrease evolution of the growth-retarding and senescence-inducing hormone ethylene (or its precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid), or to maintain source-sink relations, photosynthesis, and biomass production and allocation (by altering indole-3-acetic acid and cytokinin biosynthesis) seem to be promising target processes for soil biota-improved crop salt tolerance.     

植物褪黑素研究进展

褪黑素最初是在动物中发现的一种吲哚类小分子,具有昼夜节律调节、清除自由基等多种生理功能,还具有改善睡眠的保健作用。后来在植物中也检测到了褪黑素,这表明植物也能合成褪黑素。随着对植物褪黑素的深入研究,发现褪黑素在调控植物生长发育、耐受干旱、高温、低温、高盐、重金属等非生物胁迫、抵御细菌和真菌病害方面具有重要作用。从植物褪黑素合成途径、生长发育调控和胁迫应答反应方面的研究进展进行了综述,以期为植物褪黑素研究提供参考。     

植物激素在苔藓生长发育与逆境响应过程中的作用机制研究进展

植物激素是由植物自身代谢产生的一类从产生部位移动到作用部位发挥调控功能的微量小分子有机物质,在植物生长发育、响应环境胁迫过程中起到关键作用.苔藓植物作为早期登陆的非维管植物,处于陆生植物进化早期的阶段,具有许多不同于维管植物的形态和生理特征.大部分苔藓中普遍存在8种主要的植物激素及其衍生物(包括ABA、JA、ET、SA...     

Regulation by arbuscular mycorrhizae of the integrated physiological response to salinity in plants: new challenges in physiological and molecular studies

Excessive salt accumulation in soils is a major ecological and agronomical problem, in particular in arid and semi-arid areas. Excessive soil salinity affects the establishment, development, and growth of plants, resulting in important losses in productivity. Plants have evolved biochemical and molecular mechanisms that may act in a concerted manner and constitute the integrated physiological response to soil salinity. These include the synthesis and accumulation of compatible solutes to avoid cell dehydration and maintain root water uptake, the regulation of ion homeostasis to control ion uptake by roots, compartmentation and transport into shoots, the fine regulation of water uptake and distribution to plant tissues by the action of aquaporins, the reduction of oxidative damage through improved antioxidant capacity and the maintenance of photosynthesis at values adequate for plant growth. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis can help the host plants to cope with the detrimental effects of high soil salinity. There is evidence that AM symbiosis affects and regulates several of the above mentioned mechanisms, but the molecular bases of such effects are almost completely unknown. This review summarizes current knowledge about the effects of AM symbiosis on these physiological mechanisms, emphasizing new perspectives and challenges in physiological and molecular studies on salt-stress alleviation by AM symbiosis.     

植物耐热性及热激信号转导机制研究进展

随着温室效应的加剧,全球气候变暖已经成为现代农业生产体系所面临的严峻挑战．高温灾害性气候是影响作物产量的一种主要的非生物胁迫．因此,对于农作物生产而言,研究植物耐热信号转导机制不仅有重要的科学意义,而且有现实的紧迫性．最近几年,在阐明植物耐热信号转导机制的研究方面取得了很多重要的进展,这些进展涵盖植物高温胁迫的感受机制、热激转录因子和热激蛋白的表达调控、热激转录因子结合蛋白参与耐热性调控的分子机制等几个主要的方面．热胁迫影响细胞膜系统、RNA、蛋白质的稳定性,同时改变酶的活性和细胞骨架系统．当热胁迫来临时,植物的转录组会发生显著变化,所涉及的基因大约占基因组的2％．这些高温胁迫响应基因构成了热激响应网络,是植物抵御热胁迫的第一道防线．植物的耐热性分为基础耐热性和获得性耐热性．基础耐热性是植物固有的耐热性．获得性耐热性是温和的热驯化诱导的耐热性．获得性耐热性状的形成反映了植物在自然生长环境下适应高温胁迫的生理机制．     

植物硅营养的研究进展

阐述了植物吸收硅的机理、硅与其它营养元素的关系及其对非胁迫和胁迫条件下植物生长发育的有益作用 .植物吸收硅的机制目前尚不是很清楚 ,不同植物吸收硅的方式不同 .硅可影响植物中其它营养元素的含量 .在非胁迫条件下 ,硅可促进植物的生长 ;硅也参与了植物抗病、抗虫等生物胁迫 ,以及抗金属毒害、盐害、温度胁迫、干旱、抗倒伏等非生物胁迫的反应 .目前 ,应从多种植物上深入研究硅的吸收方式与机理 ;同时 ,应该改变硅在细胞壁的沉积仅仅起增强组织机械强度作用的观点 ,而应从生理代谢调控的角度进行硅作用机制的研究 ,为生产实践中硅肥的应用奠定理论基础     

Flowering responses to light and temperature

Light and temperature signals are the most important environmental cues regulating plant growth and development. Plants have evolved various strategies to prepare for, and adapt to environmental changes. Plants integrate environmental cues with endogenous signals to regulate various physiological processes, including flowering time. There are at least five distinct pathways controlling flowering in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana: the photoperiod pathway, the vernalization/thermosensory pathway, the autonomous floral initiation, the gibberellins pathway, and the age pathway. The photoperiod and temperature/vernalization pathways mainly perceive external signals from the environment, while the autonomous and age pathways transmit endogenous cues within plants. In many plant species, floral transition is precisely controlled by light signals(photoperiod) and temperature to optimize seed production in specific environments. The molecular mechanisms by which light and temperature control flowering responses have been revealed using forward and reverse genetic approaches. Here we focus on the recent advances in research on flowering responses to light and temperature.     

甲醇对植物的作用及其生理机制

甲醇是植物生长发育和代谢过程中体内产生的最简单的一碳化合物之一,与植物的很多生理过程(如光合作用、C1-四氢叶酸和某些植物激素生物合成以及植物耐逆性等)密切相关。本文对近年来国内外有关植物中甲醇的产生与释放途径、体内代谢、外施甲醇对植物的效应及其生理机制等方面研究进行了综述,并提出存在的问题和今后研究方向。     

Of mast and mean: differential‐temperature cue makes mast seeding insensitive to climate change

Mast‐seeding plants often produce high seed crops the year after a warm spring or summer, but the warm‐temperature model has inconsistent predictive ability. Here, we show for 26 long‐term data sets from five plant families that the temperature difference between the two previous summers (ΔT) better predicts seed crops. This discovery explains how masting species tailor their flowering patterns to sites across altitudinal temperature gradients; predicts that masting will be unaffected by increasing mean temperatures under climate change; improves prediction of impacts on seed consumers; demonstrates that strongly masting species are hypersensitive to climate; explains the rarity of consecutive high‐seed years without invoking resource constraints; and generates hypotheses about physiological mechanisms in plants and insect seed predators. For plants, ΔT has many attributes of an ideal cue. This temperature‐difference model clarifies our understanding of mast seeding under environmental change, and could also be applied to other cues, such as rainfall.     

Regulation of output from the plant circadian clock

Plants, like many other organisms, have endogenous biological clocks that enable them to organize their physiological, metabolic and developmental processes so that they occur at optimal times. The best studied of these biological clocks are the circadian systems that regulate daily (approximately 24 h) rhythms. At the core of the circadian system in every organism are oscillators responsible for generating circadian rhythms. These oscillators can be entrained (set) by cues from the environment, such as daily changes in light and temperature. Completing the circadian clock model are the output pathways that provide a link between the oscillator and the various biological processes whose rhythms it controls. Over the past few years there has been a tremendous increase in our understanding of the mechanisms of the oscillator and entrainment pathways in plants and many useful reviews on the subject. In this review we focus on the output pathways by which the oscillator regulates rhythmic plant processes. In the first part of the review we describe the role of the circadian system in regulation at all stages of a plant's development, from germination and growth to reproductive development as well as in multiple cellular processes. Indeed, the importance of a circadian clock for plants can be gauged by the fact that so many facets of plant development are under its control. In the second part of the review we describe what is known about the mechanisms by which the circadian system regulates these output processes.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and abiotic stress in plants: A review

Abiotic stresses (such as salinity, drought, cold, heat, mineral deficiency and metals/metalloids) have become major threats to the global agricultural production. These stresses in isolation and/or combination control plant growth, development and productivity by causing physiological disorders, ion toxicity, and hormonal and nutritional imbalances. Some soil microorganisms like arbuscular mycorhizal fungi (AMF) inhabit the rhizosphere and develop a symbiotic relationship with the roots of most plant species. AMF can significantly improve resistance of host plants to varied biotic and abiotic stresses. Taking into account recent literature, this paper: (a) overviews major abiotic stresses and introduces the arbuscular mycorrhizae symbiosis (b) appraises the role and underlying major mechanisms of AMF in plant tolerance to major abiotic stresses including salinity, drought, temperature regimes (cold and heat), nutrient-deficiency, and metal/metalloids; (c) discusses major molecular mechanisms potentially involved in AMF-mediated plant-abiotic stress tolerance; and finally (d) highlights major aspects for future work in the current direction.