Search

In recent years the world of science and design have been captivated by biomaterials. Now a new material has entered the stage: materials created from the roots of plants. Avena sativa has proven to have excellent material properties, mainly because of its rapid root development and architecture. However, currently these root-grown materials made from oats lack the mechanical strength to be considered as a proper material. The key to enhancing the biomaterial potential of oats lies in promoting the exodermal development. Biopolymers suberin and lignin contribute to the structural stability of roots and by increasing their abundance, increasing the tensile strength might be achieved. The stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is known to play a role in the synthesis of the exodermis. This research aims to map the ABA-suberin-lignin interplay in oats, potentially bolstering root strength. Besides manual application of ABA, this research will also explore the natural response of the exodermis to stress conditions. Drought and salt stress are known to correspond with the synthesis of ABA and are therefore included as a treatment. In addition, the effect of silica on the mechanical strength of oat roots is tested, since silica is known to contribute to the stability of grasses and improve Casparian band formation. ABA appeared to have an effect on the exodermal development of A. sativa, A. strigosa and A. sterilis. When being treated with salt or drought stress A. sativa did not develop an exodermis, nor did it have an effect on the endodermis. However, when treated with both ABA and silica A. sativa showed strong increase in endodermal lignin and exodermal suberin. Therefore, it was expected that treatment of the root-based material would improve the mechanical strength of oats. However, results of the materials did not test positive for improvement of the root tensile strength when receiving different treatments. No correlation could be found between the exodermal developm

Societal Impact Statement: Rice farming is transitioning from transplanting rice seedlings towards the less labour-intensive and less water-demanding method of directly seeding rice. This, however, is accompanied by increased weed proliferation. To tackle this issue, this study seeks to identify how the crop itself can better suppress weeds, with a focus on light competition via shading. Using a rice diversity panel, traits were identified that contribute to enhanced shading capacity, and these traits were encapsulated into a single shading capacity metric. This was followed by the identification of the genetic loci underpinning variation in the core traits. The identified haplotypes can be used in breeding programmes to improve weed suppression by rice, thus contributing to sustainable agriculture. Summary: In modern rice farming, one of the major constraints is weed proliferation and the entailed ecological impact of herbicide application. This requires increased weed competitiveness in current rice varieties, achieved via enhanced shade casting to limit the growth of shade-sensitive weeds. To identify traits that increase rice shading capacity, we exhaustively phenotyped a rice diversity panel of 344 varieties at an early vegetative stage. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) revealed genetic loci underlying variation in canopy architecture traits linked with shading capacity. The screen shows considerable natural variation in shoot architecture for 13 examined traits, of which shading potential is mostly determined by projected shoot area, number of leaves, culm height and canopy solidity. The shading rank, a metric based on these core traits, identifies varieties with the highest shading potential. Five genetic loci were found to be associated with canopy architecture, shading potential and early vigour. Identification of traits contributing to shading capacity and underlying allelic variation will serve future genomic-assisted breeding programmes. Implementi

Pea (Pisum sativum) is a versatile and valuable crop with a wide array of applications, including its role as a food source, forage, and even a potential biofuel crop. Given the increasing interest in pea research, the development of an efficient method for transient transformation holds paramount importance. In this study, we introduce a comprehensive protocol for the isolation and transfection of pea primary root protoplasts. Through exploration of the protoplast isolation technique, enzyme compositions and concentrations, we have successfully achieved the isolation of pea root protoplasts, yielding 7.169E+03 protoplasts · root -1 after 6 hours of digestion. Moreover, we have identified conditions that sustain high protoplast viability for up to 16 hours. Furthermore, by optimizing the polyethylene glycol (PEG) calcium-mediated transformation process, we have achieved an average transfection efficiency of 15.48% by subjecting protoplasts to a 30% (w/v) PEG4000 solution for 5 minutes. In conclusion, we are confident that this protocol will find wide-ranging applications and prove highly beneficial for future research focused on the potential of pea crops for various purposes, enabling investigations such as gene expression and protein subcellular localization, and ultimately advancing our knowledge and utilization of this invaluable plant species.

Nitrogen is one of the key ingredients that organisms require to live. Farmers have been using nitrogen fertilizers to increase their crop yields. The overuse of nitrogen fertilizer has been damaging the ecosystems that are surrounding agricultural areas. If too much nitrogen leaks into the surrounding water ways algal blooms can become harmful problems, with significant damage to the aquatic ecosystem as a result. In the nearby terrestrial ecosystems, an increase in nitrogen is also problematic as plant species that thrive in those conditions outcompete those that are not able to take advantage of the increased nitrogen levels. In order to combat these problems a decrease in nitrogen fertilization is required. These strategies are dependent on the knowledge of plant nitrogen uptake, as plants can take up nitrogen in several different forms which are all dependent on different uptake mechanisms. Several studies have shown that often fertilizers are overused such that a decrease in application would not decrease the yield. In order for farmers to find out whether they have applied enough fertilizer they need to the ability to measure the nitrogen content in the crops that are growing in their fields. The measurement of sun induced fluorescence could allow farmers to do exactly that. By measuring the reflected light from the plants scientists have been able to accurately estimate the nitrogen content in plants at the canopy scale. If applied by farmers this would allow them to measure the nitrogen content of plants, potentially allowing them to only apply fertilizer when and where it is required. The other solutions proposed in this review are based on genetical engineering. Researchers found the zmm28 mutant in maize, called DP202216, to have a higher nitrogen uptake when compared to the wildtype maize strain. In this mutant a transcription factor called zmm28 is fused to a constitutive promoter. It remains unclear however what the molecular mechanism behind this inc

Drought negatively affects crop health and yield and is expected to increase in abundance and duration in the future. Over the last decades, however, countless beneficial microbes have been described that can mitigate the effect of drought stress on plants, providing the plant with an increased tolerance. The assemblage of these beneficial microbes is largely unknown. The aim of this proposed research is to investigate the drought-induced promotion of microbes mitigating drought stress in the Arabidopsis thaliana rhizosphere and endosphere in natural soils. First, new experimental methods will be optimized for examining plant-induced microbiome composition changes under drought stress, bypassing the direct effects of drought on the soil community. Then, the change in microbiome composition is visualized and metabolite fingerprinting is performed in search of the molecular signal promoting specific microbes. Finally, the long-term effect covering several generations called the soil-borne legacy, is examined. The newly gathered knowledge will help future research and crop cultivation in terms of drought tolerance and beneficial microbe selection.

Transcriptome analysis can provide clues to biological processes affected in different genetic backgrounds or/and under various conditions. The price of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has decreased enough so that medium- to large-scale transcriptome analyses in a range of conditions are feasible. However, the price and variety of options for library preparation of RNA-seq can still be daunting to those who would like to use RNA-seq for their first time or for a single experiment. Among the criteria for selecting a library preparation protocol are the method of RNA isolation, nucleotide fragmentation to obtain desired size range, and library indexing to pool sequencing samples for multiplexing. Here, we present a high-quality and a high-throughput option for preparing libraries from polyadenylated mRNA for transcriptome analysis. Both high-quality and high-throughput protocol options include steps of mRNA enrichment through magnetic bead-enabled precipitation of the poly-A tail, cDNA synthesis, and then fragmentation and adapter addition simultaneously through Tn5-mediated 'tagmentation'. All steps of the protocols have been validated with Arabidopsis thaliana leaf and seedling tissues and streamlined to work together, with minimal cost in money and time, thus intended to provide a beginner-friendly start-to-finish RNA-seq library preparation for transcriptome analysis.