Showing papers by "Jitendra P. Khurana published in 2020"

HY5-COP1: the central module of light signaling pathway

Abstract: Light acts catalytically to initiate a cascade of events to eventually regulate different aspects of plant development. The cascade of light signal transduction involves several components that can be broadly grouped as photoreceptors, early signaling factors, central integrators and downstream effectors. ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a bZIP transcription factor, is the most well characterized downstream effector in Arabidopsis, which acts as a positive regulator of photomorphogenesis. HY5 acts as a master regulator and binds to promoters of close to 4000 genes, thereby, regulating wide diversity of photomorphogenic responses. It physically interacts with CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1), a negative regulator of photomorphogenesis. HY5-COP1 interaction mediates cross-talk among multiple pathways, thereby, enhancing the phenotypic plasticity of plants. This interaction regulates not only the upstream components of light signaling pathway like photoreceptors but also regulates a number of downstream effectors and early signaling factors, which help to regulate a number of developmental processes in plants. This review highlights the key interaction between HY5 and COP1 and how it regulates seedling photomorphogenesis, shade avoidance, circadian clock, root architecture, flowering, thermomorphogenesis, hormone signaling and stress responses, in conjunction with other signaling components and transcription factors.

Drought-induced protein (Di19-3) plays a role in auxin signaling by interacting with IAA14 in Arabidopsis.

Abstract: The members of early auxin response gene family, Aux/IAA, encode negative regulators of auxin signaling but play a central role in auxin-mediated plant development. Here we report the interaction of an Aux/IAA protein, AtIAA14, with Drought-induced-19 (Di19-3) protein and its possible role in auxin signaling. The Atdi19-3 mutant seedlings develop short hypocotyl, both in light and dark, and are compromised in temperature-induced hypocotyl elongation. The mutant plants accumulate more IAA and also show altered expression of NIT2, ILL5, and YUCCA genes involved in auxin biosynthesis and homeostasis, along with many auxin responsive genes like AUX1 and MYB77. Atdi19-3 seedlings show enhanced root growth inhibition when grown in the medium supplemented with auxin. Nevertheless, number of lateral roots is low in Atdi19-3 seedlings grown on the basal medium. We have shown that AtIAA14 physically interacts with AtDi19-3 in yeast two-hybrid (Y2H), bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and in vitro pull-down assays. However, the auxin-induced degradation of AtIAA14 in the Atdi19-3 seedlings was delayed. By expressing pIAA14::mIAA14-GFP in Atdi19-3 mutant background, it became apparent that both Di19-3 and AtIAA14 work in the same pathway and influence lateral root development in Arabidopsis. Gain-of-function slr-1/iaa14 (slr) mutant, like Atdi19-3, showed tolerance to abiotic stress in seed germination and cotyledon greening assays. The Atdi19-3 seedlings showed enhanced sensitivity to ethylene in triple response assay and AgNO3, an ethylene inhibitor, caused profuse lateral root formation in the mutant seedlings. These observations suggest that AtDi19-3 interacting with AtIAA14, in all probability, serves as a positive regulator of auxin signaling and also plays a role in some ethylene-mediated responses in Arabidopsis. Significance statement This study has demonstrated interaction of auxin responsive Aux/IAA with Drought-induced 19 (Di19) protein and its possible implication in abiotic stress response.

A Rapid and Highly Efficient Method for Transient Gene Expression in Rice Plants.

Abstract: Rice is the model plant system for monocots and the sequencing of its genome has led to the identification of a vast array of genes for characterization. The tedious and time-consuming effort of raising rice transgenics has significantly delayed the pace of rice research. The lack of highly efficient transient assay protocol for rice has only added to the woes which could have otherwise helped in rapid deciphering of the functions of genes. Here, we describe a technique for efficient transient gene expression in rice seedlings. It makes use of co-cultivation of 6-day-old rice seedlings with Agrobacterium in the presence of a medium containing Silwet® L-77, acetosyringone and glucose. Seedlings can be visualized 9 days after co-cultivation for transient expression. The use of young seedlings helps in significantly reducing the duration of the experiment and facilitates the visualization of rice cells under the microscope as young leaves are thinner than mature rice leaves. Further, growth of seedlings at low temperature, and the use of surfactant along with wounding and vacuum infiltration steps significantly increases the efficiency of this protocol and helps in bypassing the natural barriers in rice leaves, which hinders Agrobacterium-based transformation in this plant. This technique, therefore, provides a shorter, efficient and cost-effective way to study transient gene function in intact rice seedling without the need for a specialized device like particle gun.

Satish Chandra Maheshwari (1933-2019)-a brilliant, passionate and an outstanding shining light for all of plant biology.

Abstract: We present here a tribute to Satish Chandra Maheshwari (known to many as SCM, or simply Satish), one of the greatest plant biologists of our time. He was born on October 4, 1933, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, and passed away in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, on June 12, 2019. He is survived by two of his younger sisters (Sushila Narsimhan and Saubhagya Agrawal), a large number of friends and students from around the world. He has not only been the discoverer of pollen haploids in plants but has also contributed immensely to the field of duckweed research and gene regulation. In addition, he has made discoveries in the area of phytochrome research. The scientific community will always remember him as an extremely dedicated teacher and a passionate researcher; and for his wonderful contributions in the field of Plant Biology. See Sopory and Maheshwari (2001) for a perspective on the beginnings of Plant Molecular Biology in India; and see Raghuram (2002a, b) for the growth and contributions of this field in India.