Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 April 2019) | Viewed by 18799

Special Issue Editors

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center-USDA ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Interests: plant biology; metabolomics; molecular biology; polyamines; fruit ripening
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, 625 Agriculture Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2010, USA
Interests: molecular regulation of plant growth and development; postharvest biology and fruit ripening; molecular engineering of fruits to enhance quality attributes; modulating heat stress to enhance crop productivity; production of vaccines in plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms by which plant hormones control growth and development is fundamental to understanding the basic elements of plant biology and regulation. Plant hormones, such as auxins, cytokinins and gibberellic acids that work as messengers for plant development, have been considered as functionally separate from "stress" and/or "defense" hormones, such as ethylene, on global abscisic acid, jasmonic acid and salicylic acid. Because of the limited knowledge at a global scale, such an artificial division of labor for hormone function was convenient. Based on the evolution of scientific thought due to genomic revolution and molecular biological inroads, new developments have demonstrated that many of these plant hormones interact to regulate life and death of a plant. In recent years, new hormones have been identified, hormonal functions of tissues and organs have been identified, hormone measurement and in situ visualization methods have been developed. Receptor mechanisms have been and are being finally identified or discounted, some hormone transport processes have been explained, and some cellular processes with hormonal signaling re-defined. Simple models of the antagonistic hormones, for example gibberellic acid versus abscisic acid, auxin versus cytokinin, have been replaced by the concept of complex hormonal crosstalk. Mapping of hormonal signals to transcriptional and posttranscriptional response networks that deal with programmed and plastic aspects as well as their inroads into genetics, epigenetics, protein modifications and second messengers are the ‘hot’ subjects being defined by recent scientific research. This Special Issue will be dedicated to the science of “Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants” covering subject matter such as mode of action, crosstalk, and regulation of gene expression, as well as hormonal involvement in functioning of target tissues and/or plant organs.

Prof. Autar Mattoo
Prof. Avtar K. Handa
Prof. Ewa Sobieszczuk-Nowicka
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • hormones
  • molecular biology
  • epigenetics
  • genetics
  • signaling
  • regulators
  • transcription

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2566 KiB  
Article
Transcript Abundance Patterns of 9- and 13-Lipoxygenase Subfamily Gene Members in Response to Abiotic Stresses (Heat, Cold, Drought or Salt) in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Highlights Member-Specific Dynamics Relevant to Each Stress
by Rakesh K. Upadhyay, Avtar K. Handa and Autar K. Mattoo
Genes 2019, 10(9), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10090683 - 05 Sep 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4363
Abstract
Lipoxygenases (LOXs; EC 1.13.11.12) catalyze the oxygenation of fatty acids to produce oxylipins including the jasmonate family of plant hormones. The involvement of jasmonates in plant growth and development and during abiotic stress has been documented, however, the response and regulation of each [...] Read more.
Lipoxygenases (LOXs; EC 1.13.11.12) catalyze the oxygenation of fatty acids to produce oxylipins including the jasmonate family of plant hormones. The involvement of jasmonates in plant growth and development and during abiotic stress has been documented, however, the response and regulation of each member of the LOX gene family under various abiotic stresses is yet to be fully deciphered. Previously, we identified fourteen members of the tomato LOX gene family, which were divisible into nine genes representing the 9-LOX family members and five others representing the 13-LOX family members based on the carbon oxidation position specificity of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Here, we have determined the transcript abundance patterns of all the 14 LOX genes in response to four independent abiotic stresses, namely, heat, cold, drought and salt. Our results show that each of these stresses leads to a time-dependent, variable or indifferent response of specific and different set(s) of LOX gene members of both subfamilies, differentiating functional relevance of the 14 LOX genes analyzed. Out of the 14 gene members, three LOX genes were expressed constitutively or were non-responsive to either heat (SlLOX9), cold (SlLOX9) or salt (SlLOX4) stress. An in-silico LOX gene promoter search for stress-responsive elements revealed that only some but not all of the LOX genes indeed are decorated with specific and known stress responsive cis-acting elements. Thus, these data implicate some other, yet to be discovered, cis-acting elements present in the LOX gene family members, which seemingly regulate tomato responses to defined abiotic stresses presented here. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants)
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11 pages, 4341 KiB  
Article
Expression and Regulation of PpEIN3b during Fruit Ripening and Senescence via Integrating SA, Glucose, and ACC Signaling in Pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai. Whangkeumbae)
by Haiyan Shi, Yuxing Zhang and Liang Chen
Genes 2019, 10(6), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10060476 - 21 Jun 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3141
Abstract
The economic value of fruit is reduced by having a short shelf life. Whangkeumbae is a type of sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) considered a climacteric fruit. The pear is famous for its smooth surface and good flavor. However, its shelf life [...] Read more.
The economic value of fruit is reduced by having a short shelf life. Whangkeumbae is a type of sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) considered a climacteric fruit. The pear is famous for its smooth surface and good flavor. However, its shelf life is very short because of senescence and disease after harvest and a burst of ethylene (ET) production prompting the onset of fruit ripening. In plants, ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3) and EIN3like (EIL), located in the nucleus, are important components of the ET signaling pathway and act as transcription factors. EIN3s and EILs belong to a small family involved in regulating the expression of ethylene response factor gene (ERF), whose encoding protein is the final component in the ET signaling pathway. The mutation of these components will cause defects in the ethylene pathway. In this study, one gene encoding an EIN3 was cloned and identified from Whangkeumbae and designated PpEIN3b. The deduced PpEIN3b contained a conserved EIN3 domain, a bipartite nuclear localization signal profile (NLS_BP), and an N-6 adenine-specific DNA methylase signature (N6_MTASE). PpEIN3b belongs to the EIN3 super-family by phylogenetic analysis. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that PpEIN3b was preferentially expressed in fruit. Additionally, its expression was developmentally regulated during fruit ripening and senescence. Furthermore, PpEIN3b transcripts were obviously repressed by salicylic acid (SA) and glucose treatment in pear fruit and in diseased fruit, while it was significantly induced by 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) treatment. Taken together, our results reveal the expression and regulation profiles of PpEIN3b and suggest that PpEIN3b might integrate SA, glucose, and ACC signaling to regulate fruit ripening and senescence in pear, which would provide a candidate gene for this regulation to obtain fruit with a long shelf life and improved economic value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants)
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16 pages, 7066 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Gene Expression Analysis of ABA Receptor Family Genes in Brassica juncea var. tumida
by Chunhong Cheng, Yuanmei Zhong, Zhaoming Cai, Rongbin Su and Changman Li
Genes 2019, 10(6), 470; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10060470 - 20 Jun 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2971
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles in multiple physiological processes, such as plant response to stresses and plant development. The ABA receptors pyrabactin resistance (PYR)/ PYR1-like (PYL)/regulatory components of ABA receptor (RCAR) play a crucial role in ABA perception and signaling. However, little [...] Read more.
Abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles in multiple physiological processes, such as plant response to stresses and plant development. The ABA receptors pyrabactin resistance (PYR)/ PYR1-like (PYL)/regulatory components of ABA receptor (RCAR) play a crucial role in ABA perception and signaling. However, little is known about the details regarding PYL family genes in Brassica juncea var. tumida. Here, 25 PYL family genes were identified in B. juncea var. tumida genome, including BjuPYL3, BjuPYL4s, BjuPYL5s, BjuPYL6s, BjuPYL7s, BjuPYL8s, BjuPYL10s, BjuPYL11s, and BjuPYL13. The results of phylogenic analysis and gene structure showed that the PYL family genes performed similar gene characteristics. By analyzing cis-elements in the promoters of those BjuPYLs, several hormone and stress related cis-elements were found. The results of gene expression analysis showed that the ABA receptor homologous genes were induced by abiotic and biotic stress. The tissue-specific gene expression patterns of BjuPYLs also suggested those genes might regulate the stem swelling during plant growth. These findings indicate that BjuPYLs are involved in plant response to stresses and organ development. This study provides valuable information for further functional investigations of PYL family genes in B. juncea var. tumida. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants)
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15 pages, 4090 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Analysis of Auxin Receptor Family Genes in Brassica juncea var. tumida
by Zhaoming Cai, De-er Zeng, Jingjing Liao, Chunhong Cheng, Zulfiqar Ali Sahito, Meiqin Xiang, Min Fu, Yuanqing Chen and Diandong Wang
Genes 2019, 10(2), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10020165 - 20 Feb 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3700
Abstract
Transport inhibitor response 1/auxin signaling f-box proteins (TIR1/AFBs) play important roles in the process of plant growth and development as auxin receptors. To date, no information has been available about the characteristics of the TIR1/AFB gene family in Brassica juncea var. tumida. [...] Read more.
Transport inhibitor response 1/auxin signaling f-box proteins (TIR1/AFBs) play important roles in the process of plant growth and development as auxin receptors. To date, no information has been available about the characteristics of the TIR1/AFB gene family in Brassica juncea var. tumida. In this study, 18 TIR1/AFB genes were identified and could be clustered into six groups. The genes are located in 11 of 18 chromosomes in the genome of B. juncea var. tumida, and similar gene structures are found for each of those genes. Several cis-elements related to plant response to phytohormones, biotic stresses, and abiotic stresses are found in the promoter of BjuTIR1/AFB genes. The results of qPCR analysis show that most genes have differential patterns of expression among six tissues, with the expression levels of some of the genes repressed by salt stress treatment. Some of the genes are also responsive to pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae treatment. This study provides valuable information for further studies as to the role of BjuTIR1/AFB genes in the regulation of plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants)
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16 pages, 3906 KiB  
Article
The Analysis of Genes and Phytohormone Metabolic Pathways Associated with Leaf Shape Development in Liriodendron chinense via De Novo Transcriptome Sequencing
by Jikai Ma, Lingmin Wei, Jiayu Li and Huogen Li
Genes 2018, 9(12), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9120577 - 27 Nov 2018
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3689
Abstract
The leaf, a photosynthetic organ that plays an indispensable role in plant development and growth, has a certain ability to adapt to the environment and exhibits tremendous diversity among angiosperms. Liriodendron chinense, an ancestral angiosperm species, is very popular in landscaping. The [...] Read more.
The leaf, a photosynthetic organ that plays an indispensable role in plant development and growth, has a certain ability to adapt to the environment and exhibits tremendous diversity among angiosperms. Liriodendron chinense, an ancestral angiosperm species, is very popular in landscaping. The leaf of this species has two lobes and resembles a Qing Dynasty Chinese robe; thus, leaf shape is the most valuable ornamental trait of the tree. In this work, to determine the candidate genes associated with leaf development in L. chinense, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to distinguish the developmental stages of tender leaves. Four stages were clearly separated, and transcriptome sequencing was performed for two special leaf stages. Altogether, there were 48.23 G clean reads in the libraries of the two leaf developmental stages, and 48,107 assembled unigenes were annotated with five databases. Among four libraries, 3118 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in expression profiles. We selected ten DEGs associated with leaf development and validated their expression patterns via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays. Most validation results were closely correlated with the RNA-sequencing data. Taken together, we examined the dynamic process of leaf development and indicated that several transcription factors and phytohormone metabolism genes may participate in leaf shape development. The transcriptome data analysis presented in this work aims to provide basic insights into the mechanisms mediating leaf development, and the results serve as a reference for the genetic breeding of ornamental traits in L. chinense. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hormonal Control of Gene Expression in Plants)
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