Effects of Nanoparticles on Activity of Lignan Biosynthesis Enzymes in Cell Suspension Culture of Linum usitatissimum L.

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), as an important commercial crops, is a rich source of fatty acids, protein, dietary fiber and lignans. Flax plant has an...     

Prediction of the effect of chitosan on cell suspension culture of Azadirachta indica by response surface methodology

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Azadirachta indica is used to insects repellent, control diabetes, and combat with cancer. In this study, the effect of different...     

Design of tissue culture media for efficient Prunus rootstock micropropagation using artificial intelligence models

Establishing optimized protocols for micropropagation of some economical plants, such as Prunus sp., is still one of the most important challenges for in vitro plant culture researchers. As an example, micropropagation of GF677 hybrid rootstocks (peach × almond) are extremely dependent on the medium ingredients and a large undesirable proportion of GF677 shoots need to be discarded as a result of hyperhydricity and chlorosis. In this study, an artificial intelligence technique—specifically neurofuzzy logic—has been employed, as a modeling tool, to increase knowledge on the effect of 8 ion macronutrients (NH₄ ⁺, NO₃ ^?, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, SO₄ ^2?, PO₄ ^2? and Na⁺; as inputs) on three growth parameters (outputs): total number of shoots per explant, healthy number of shoots per explant, and their bud number. The model delivered new insights, by three sets of IF–THEN rules, pinpointing the key role of NO₃ ^? and their interactions (NO₃ ^? × Ca²⁺ and NO₃ ^? × Ca²⁺ × K⁺) on all growth parameters measured. All growth parameters showed a high correlation ratio between experimental and predicted values being 77.48, 91.78 and 90.78 for total shoots, healthy number and bud number, respectively. Regression coefficients higher than 77 % together with statistical significant ANOVA (p < 0.01) indicated good performance of neurofuzzy logic models. Moreover, The model also can be used for inferring the best combination of ion concentrations to obtain high quality GF677 micropropagated shoots. In conclusion, we assess the utility of neurofuzzy logic technology in modeling complex databases, identifying new complex interactions among macronutrients, and inferring new results and valuable knowledge, which can be applied to design new plant tissue culture media and improve plant micropropagation.     

Ethanol-inducible gene expression: first step towards a new green revolution?

The introduction of dwarf varieties of cereals was fundamental to the green revolution, but in the post-genomic era, the manipulation of plant morphology could be more sophisticated. A recent publication by Tahar Ait-ali et al. describes the use of the ethanol-inducible transgene expression system to re-examine plant architecture, and the genes that determine it. Their findings have implications for the manipulation of plant height and yield, and demonstrate the efficacy of regulated transgene expression for functional genomics.     

Predicting optimal in vitro culture medium for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pistacia vera</Emphasis> micropropagation using neural networks models

In this study, artificial intelligence techniques—specifically artificial neural networks (ANNs) in combination with fuzzy logic (neurofuzzy logic) or with genetic algorithms (ANNs–GA)—have been employed, as modeling tools, to get insight, to predict and to optimize the effect of several independent factors on four growth parameters during Pistacia vera micropropagation. Twenty-six media ingredients, including mineral ions (or salts), glycine, vitamins and plant growth regulators (PGRs) at different concentrations, were used as inputs and four growth parameters: proliferation rate, shoot length, total and healthy fresh weight as outputs on the models. The IF-THEN rules from neurofuzzy logic models have allowed discovering the positive (BAP, nicotinic-acid and pyridoxine-HCl) and negative (NO₃ ^?, Mg²⁺, Ag⁺ and gluconate^?) effects on the growth parameters and the fundamental role of BAP over all of them. Also, ANNs–GA technology has permitted to estimate the best combination of media ingredients to simultaneously maximize the four parameters of growth: 4.4 new shoots per explant; 28.7 mm length; 1.1 and 0.53 g total and healthy fresh weight, respectively, minimizing physiological disorders. In our opinion, the information obtained in this study is extremely useful to improve the massive multiplication of pistachio plant, in particular, but also demonstrate the ability of artificial intelligence technology to design plant tissue culture media with predictable and tailorable characteristics.     

Molecular characterization of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">h</Emphasis>-type thioredoxin gene from grape

Thioredoxins (Trxs), as small ubiquitous proteins, participate in dithiol-disulfide exchange reactions. In contrast to other organisms, plants have a complex family of Trxs, which contains seven different Trx types: f, h, m, o, x, y, and z. The h-type Trx consists of multiple forms that are involved in different processes. A full-length cDNA coding for a Trx h, designated VvTrx h2, was isolated and cloned from grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. White Seedless) berry tissue by RT-PCR technique. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed 561 nucleotides in length encoded for a protein of 114 amino acid residues. The deduced polypeptide sequence harbors a typical catalytic site, WCGPC and its calculated molecular mass and its predicted isoelectric point are 12.79 and 5.06 kDa, respectively. The threedimensional modeling and docking studies allow for the proposal that VvTrx h2 could be reduced by a NADP-thioredoxin reductase rather than glutaredoxin, as shown for its ortholog from Arabidopsis. The deduced amino acid sequence showed a high degree of similarity to Trx h isoforms from other sources. Phylogenetic studies indicated that VvTrx h2 gene is related to h-type Trx subgroup I. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that the VvTrx h2 gene was expressed in all plant tissues at different developmental stages.     

Characterization of the ethanol-inducible alc gene expression system in tomato

The efficacy of the ethanol-inducible alc transgene expression system, derived from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, has been demonstrated in transgenic tomato. Two direct comparisons have been made. First, this study has utilized two transgenic lines carrying distinct reporter genes (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and beta-glucuronidase) to distinguish aspects of induction determined by the nature of the gene/gene product rather than that of the plant. Second, comparisons have been made to data generated in other species in order to identify any species-specific effects. The induction profiles for different genes in different species have shown remarkable similarity indicating the broad applicability of this gene switch. While there are minor differences observed between species, these probably arise from diversity in their metabolism. A series of potential alternative inducers have also been tested, revealing that ethanol (through metabolism to acetaldehyde) is better than other alcohols and ketones included in this study. Expression driven by alc was demonstrated to vary spatially, the upper younger leaves having higher activity than the lower older leaves; this will be important for some applications, and for experimental design. The highest levels of activity from ethanol-inducible transgene expression were determined to be the equivalent of those from the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter. This suggests that the alc system could be an important tool for plant functional genomics.