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The Heat shock proteins 90 family plays pivotal roles in root growth and plant development. Its isoforms have been identified in several plant species with transcripts presents in almost all stages of plant growth. However, its functional relevance has not been completely established. Therefore, in this study, we provide evidence about the role of SlHSP90.2 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) root development. Using tomato cultivars with differing root phenotypes, we have shown that SlHSP90.2 transcripts are in accordance with root architecture, i.e. high rooting cultivars had more expression of SlHSP90.2 as compared to low rooting cultivars. Moreover, overexpression of SlHSP90.2 gene in transgenic tomato plants showed significant increase in root biomass and architecture, as evident from the analysis of fresh and dry weights of root and shoot samples, primary root length and length and number of lateral roots. The transgenic lines are also more tolerant to salinity and drought stresses. The results of the present study suggest that genetic manipulation of HSP90.2 homologs in other crops can offer promising leads to develop plant with better root biomass and architecture and improved agronomics traits, like better water and mineral absorption, salinity and drought tolerance potential.

In vitro propagation of Nyactanthes arbor-tristis L. was achieved by culturing N-phenyl-N′-benzothiazol-6-yl-urea (PBU)-pretreated nodal explants in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium without any phytohormones. Pretreatment of nodal explants in liquid MS medium with 100 μM N-phenyl-N′-benzothiazol-6-yl-urea for 4 d showed the highest shoot proliferation by producing maximum number of shoots (17.40 ± 1.02) per explant, with average shoot length of 5.96 ± 0.08 cm at the end of 8 wk. Effective rooting was accomplished by preincubating the cut-end of shoots with half-strength MS medium containing 6 μM indole-3-butyric acid for 1 wk, followed by implantation into half-strength MS medium; an average of 6.20 ± 0.049 roots per shoot were produced. Seventy-eight percent of the plantlets regenerated in vitro were successfully acclimatized and transferred to soil. These plantlets appeared to be morphologically similar to the donor plants. The genetic fidelity of these in vitro-regenerated plantlets was confirmed by start codon targeted polymorphism (SCoT) marker analysis, followed by comparative evaluations of the bioactive metabolites (ursolic acid, rengyolone, arbortristoside-A, and nyctanthoside), antioxidant-rich phytochemicals, and radical scavenging activities. This optimized in vitro propagation protocol should be an aid for the conservation of N. arbor-tristis germplasm, as well as cater to the needs of herbal industries for the production of therapeutic molecules.

The Heat shock proteins 90 family plays pivotal roles in root growth and plant development. Its isoforms have been identified in several plant species with transcripts presents in almost all stages of plant growth. However, its functional relevance has not been completely established. Therefore, in this study, we provide evidence about the role of SlHSP90.2 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) root development. Using tomato cultivars with differing root phenotypes, we have shown that SlHSP90.2 transcripts are in accordance with root architecture, i.e. high rooting cultivars had more expression of SlHSP90.2 as compared to low rooting cultivars. Moreover, overexpression of SlHSP90.2 gene in transgenic tomato plants showed significant increase in root biomass and architecture, as evident from the analysis of fresh and dry weights of root and shoot samples, primary root length and length and number of lateral roots. The transgenic lines are also more tolerant to salinity and drought stresses. The results of the present study suggest that genetic manipulation of HSP90.2 homologs in other crops can offer promising leads to develop plant with better root biomass and architecture and improved agronomics traits, like better water and mineral absorption, salinity and drought tolerance potential.

Present work introduces a Dual Material Gate Extra Insulator Layer (DMG EIL) FinFET for high-performance nanoscale applications. The Dual Material Gate screens the minimum channel potential from the drain voltage variations which reduce the short channel effects (SCEs). The EIL (high-k dielectric) injected in silicon active layer reduces the critical electric field near the drain region which reduces the hot carrier effects. The present device also offers low standby mode current useful for low power applications along with reduced SCEs and hot carrier effects (HCEs). The performance of the proposed device is compared with EIL-FinFET by investigating the output characteristics, electric field, carrier temperature and surface potential. The DMG EIL-FinFET is found to perform better compared to both—conventional FinFET and EIL-FinFET.

The phytoplasma-mediated witches’ broom disease in Parthenium hysterophorus L., a notorious weed, inhibits flower formation and percentage of seed setting. Even the seeds produced from infected plants showed poor viability and reduced rate of germination. Expression analysis of three orthologous genes in P hysterophorus, namely, APETALA-1 (PhAP1), ubiquitin binding protein (PhDA1), and RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase (PhATL80) showed significant variation in their transcription levels. Expression of PhAP1, PhDA1, and PhATL80 was higher in apical shoot bud and inflorescence than in other studied tissues. Infected plants showed suppressed expression of PhAP1 and PhATL80 in the inflorescences while no significant variation was observed in PhDA1 expression. This resulted in floral to vegetative transition, causing phyllody and virescence, and lesser seed setting. These findings suggest that in naturally phytoplasma-infected P. hysterophorus, expression of gene(s) participating in floral development as well as seed setting at onset of the reproductive phase is suppressed.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation is an important mechanism to control protein load in the cells. Ubiquitin binds to a protein on lysine residue and usually promotes its degradation through 26S proteasome system. Abnormal proteins and regulators of many processes, are targeted for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. It allows cells to maintain the response to cellular level signals and altered environmental conditions. The ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation system plays a key role in the plant biology, including abiotic stress, immunity, and hormonal signaling by interfering with key components of these pathways. The involvement of the ubiquitin system in many vital processes led scientists to explore more about the ubiquitin machinery and most importantly its targets. In this review, we have summarized recent discoveries of the plant ubiquitin system and its involvement in critical processes of plant biology.