Genome-level responses to the environment: plant desiccation tolerance

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana A. Silva Artur ◽  
Maria-Cecília D. Costa ◽  
Jill M. Farrant ◽  
Henk W.M. Hilhorst
Keyword(s):  
Water Loss ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Reproductive Tissues ◽  
Genome Level ◽  
Sessile Organisms

Abstract Plants being sessile organisms are well equipped genomically to respond to environmental stressors peculiar to their habitat. Evolution of plants onto land was enabled by the ability to tolerate extreme water loss (desiccation), a feature that has been retained within genomes but not universally expressed in most land plants today. In the majority of higher plants, desiccation tolerance (DT) is expressed only in reproductive tissues (seeds and pollen), but some 135 angiosperms display vegetative DT. Here, we review genome-level responses associated with DT, pointing out common and yet sometimes discrepant features, the latter relating to evolutionary adaptations to particular niches. Understanding DT can lead to the ultimate production of crops with greater tolerance of drought than is currently realized.

Desiccation Tolerance: Avoiding Cellular Damage During Drying and Rehydration

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 435-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin J. Oliver ◽  
Jill M. Farrant ◽  
Henk W.M. Hilhorst ◽  
Sagadevan Mundree ◽  
Brett Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Cellular Responses ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Cellular Damage ◽  
Cellular Protection ◽  
Vegetative Tissues ◽  
Tolerant Plants ◽  
Core Set ◽  
Protection Mechanisms

Desiccation of plants is often lethal but is tolerated by the majority of seeds and by vegetative tissues of only a small number of land plants. Desiccation tolerance is an ancient trait, lost from vegetative tissues following the appearance of tracheids but reappearing in several lineages when selection pressures favored its evolution. Cells of all desiccation-tolerant plants and seeds must possess a core set of mechanisms to protect them from desiccation- and rehydration-induced damage. This review explores how desiccation generates cell damage and how tolerant cells assuage the complex array of mechanical, structural, metabolic, and chemical stresses and survive.Likewise, the stress of rehydration requires appropriate mitigating cellular responses. We also explore what comparative genomics, both structural and responsive, have added to our understanding of cellular protection mechanisms induced by desiccation, and how vegetative desiccation tolerance circumvents destructive, stress-induced cell senescence.

scholarly journals Group A PP2Cs evolved in land plants as key regulators of intrinsic desiccation tolerance

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Komatsu ◽  
Norihiro Suzuki ◽  
Mayuri Kuwamura ◽  
Yuri Nishikawa ◽  
Mao Nakatani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Group A

scholarly journals Desiccation tolerance in streptophyte algae and the algae to land plant transition: evolution of LEA and MIP protein families within the Viridiplantae

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (11) ◽  
pp. 3270-3278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkhard Becker ◽  
Xuehuan Feng ◽  
Yanbin Yin ◽  
Andreas Holzinger
Keyword(s):  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Late Embryogenesis Abundant ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Desiccation Stress ◽  
Protein Families ◽  
Intrinsic Protein ◽  
Late Embryogenesis

Abstract The present review summarizes the effects of desiccation in streptophyte green algae, as numerous experimental studies have been performed over the past decade particularly in the early branching streptophyte Klebsormidium sp. and the late branching Zygnema circumcarinatum. The latter genus gives its name to the Zygenmatophyceae, the sister group to land plants. For both organisms, transcriptomic investigations of desiccation stress are available, and illustrate a high variability in the stress response depending on the conditions and the strains used. However, overall, the responses of both organisms to desiccation stress are very similar to that of land plants. We highlight the evolution of two highly regulated protein families, the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins and the major intrinsic protein (MIP) family. Chlorophytes and streptophytes encode LEA4 and LEA5, while LEA2 have so far only been found in streptophyte algae, indicating an evolutionary origin in this group. Within the MIP family, a high transcriptomic regulation of a tonoplast intrinsic protein (TIP) has been found for the first time outside the embryophytes in Z. circumcarinatum. The MIP family became more complex on the way to terrestrialization but simplified afterwards. These observations suggest a key role for water transport proteins in desiccation tolerance of streptophytes.

scholarly journals Comparative Cutaneous Water Loss and Desiccation Tolerance of Four Solenopsis spp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Southeastern United States

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Olufemi S. Ajayi ◽  
Arthur G. Appel ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Henry Y. Fadamiro
Keyword(s):  
Water Loss ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Southeastern Usa ◽  
Cuticular Permeability ◽  
Lethal Time ◽  
Total Body ◽  
Terrestrial Insects

The high surface area to volume ratio of terrestrial insects makes them highly susceptible to desiccation mainly through the cuticle. Cuticular permeability (CP) is usually the most important factor limiting water loss in terrestrial insects. Water loss rate, percentage of total body water (%TBW) content, CP, and desiccation tolerance were investigated in workers of four Solenopsis species in the southeastern USA. We hypothesized that tropical/subtropical ants (S. invicta and S. geminata) will have lower CP values and tolerate higher levels of desiccation than temperate ants (S. richteri and S. invicta × S. richteri). The %TBW content was similar among species. Solenopsis invicta had a 1.3-fold and 1.1-fold lower CP value than S. invicta × S. richteri and S. richteri, respectively. Solenopsis geminata had a 1.3-fold lower CP value than S. invicta × S. richteri, and a 1.2-fold lower CP value than S. richteri. The LT50 values (lethal time to kill 50% of the population) ranged from 1.5 h (small S. geminata) to 8.5 h (large S. invicta). Desiccation tolerance ranged between 36 and 50 %TBW lost at death and was not related to a species’ location of origin. This study is the first report of water relations of S. invicta × S. richteri. It demonstrates that desiccation stress differentially can affect the survival of different Solenopsis species and implies that environmental stress can affect the distribution of these species in the southeastern USA.

Water Loss and Desiccation Tolerance of the Two Yearly Generations of Adult and Nymphal Kudzu Bugs, Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-659
Author(s):  
Gokhan Benk ◽  
Patrick J Thompson ◽  
Xing P Hu ◽  
Arthur G Appel
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Generation Adult ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Soybean Pest ◽  
Cuticular Permeability ◽  
Total Body

Abstract Water loss rate, percentage total body water content (%TBW), cuticular permeability (CP), and desiccation tolerance were investigated in adult and immature stages of the invasive kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (Fab.) (Hemiptera: Plataspidae), a serious soybean pest and an urban nuisance. Adults and all five nymphal instars were weighed prior to and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 24 h after desiccated at 30 ± 1°C and 0–2% RH. Both % initial mass and %TBW loss increased linearly with time of desiccation. Rates of loss ranged from approximately 1–7%/h. Mortality occurred at 10 h after desiccation. Desiccation tolerance (%TBW lost at death) ranged between 25.6% for first-generation adult females and 75% for first-generation fifth-instar nymphs. First-generation first-instar nymphs had significantly greater %TBW (88.9%) than the other generations and instars, whereas second-generation fifth instars had the lowest %TBW (62.4%). The CP value of first-generation adult females (12.3 ± 1.6 µg cm−1 h−1 mmHg−1) was the greatest across generations. First-generation first instars had the greatest mass loss (111.11 mg/g) among all instars and generations, whereas overwintered second-generation adult females had the lowest mass loss (18.39) across generations. This study demonstrated that desiccation stress differentially affected the survival of adult and nymphal kudzu bugs and may imply that environmental stress can affect the relative abundance of this species in the fields and around homes.

scholarly journals In situFTIR Assessment of Desiccation-Tolerant Tissues

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 297-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem F. Wolkers ◽  
Folkert A. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Structure ◽  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Protein Secondary Structure ◽  
Biological Tissues ◽  
Glassy Matrix ◽  
Vibration Band ◽  
Helical Structures ◽  
Ftir Studies ◽  
Stretching Vibration

This essay shows how Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy can be applied to study thermodynamic parameters and conformation of endogenous biomolecules in desiccation-tolerant biological tissues. Desiccation tolerance is the remarkable ability of some organisms to survive complete dehydration. Seed and pollen of higher plants are well known examples of desiccation-tolerant tissues. FTIR studies on the overall protein secondary structure indicate that during the acquisition of desiccation tolerance, plant embryos exhibit proportional increases inα-helical structures and thatµ-sheet structures dominate upon drying of desiccation sensitive-embryos. During ageing of pollen and seeds, the overall protein secondary structure remains stable, whereas drastic changes in the thermotropic response of membranes occur, which coincide with a complete loss of viability. Properties of the cytoplasmic glassy matrix in desiccation-tolerant plant organs can be studied by monitoring the position of the OH-stretching vibration band of endogenous carbohydrates and proteins as a function of temperature. By applying these FTIR techniques to maturation-defective mutant seeds ofArabidopsis thalianawe were able to establish a correlation between macromolecular stability and desiccation tolerance. Taken together,in situFTIR studies can give unique information on conformation and stability of endogenous biomolecules in desiccation-tolerant tissues.

Identification of conserved regions in the plastid genome: implications for DNA barcoding and biological function

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 1434-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gernot G. Presting
Keyword(s):  
Dna Barcoding ◽  
Plastid Genome ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Dna Barcode ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Plastid Genomes ◽  
Starting Point

All oligonucleotides of the sugarcane chloroplast genome that are conserved in one or more of 36 other completed plastid genomes have been identified by computer-assisted sequence comparison. These regions are of interest because they (i) are indicative of strong selection pressures to maintain specific nucleotide sequences that may yield insights into plastid biology and (ii) can be used as priming sites for amplifying intervening sequences that represent potential DNA barcodes for species identification. The majority of conserved sites are located in the inverted repeat (IR) region, but several sites in the single copy region (predominantly in tRNA and psa/psb genes) are conserved among chloroplasts of all higher plants examined here. Of particular interest are protein coding regions that have been conserved at the nucleotide level, as these may be involved in transcript regulation. This analysis also provides the basis for rational design of a DNA barcode for plastids, and several potential barcode regions have been identified. In particular, two oligonucleotides of length 33 and 25, and separated by approximately 362 nucleotides, are found in all cyanobacteria, red, brown and green algae, as well as diatoms, euglenids, apicomplexans and land plants that have been examined to date. Their widespread occurrence makes the intervening sequence a universal marker for all photosynthetic lineages. Analysis of 160 GenBank accessions illustrates that this region discriminates many algae at the species level, but lacks sufficient variation among the more recently diverged land plants to serve as a single DNA barcode for this taxon. However, this marker should be particularly useful for the DNA barcoding of algal lineages and lichens, as well as for environmental sampling. More rapidly evolving regions of the plastid genome also identified here serve as a starting point to design and test barcodes for more narrowly defined lineages, including the more recently diverged angiosperms.

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