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Recent Advancements and Current Challenges in Crop Improvement: A Physiological and Molecular Persepective

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 November 2021) | Viewed by 6103

Special Issue Editors

Genomics Division, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Rural Development Administration, Jeollabuk-do, Korea
Interests: Next generation sequencing, Genomics; Proteomics; Evolutionary developmental genetics; Plant molecular interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Current challenges on plant adaptability towards world population, global climate changes, reduced agricultural land, yield loss, abiotic stresses such as salt, drought, and temperature, and biotic stresses such as insects and pests can be solved only by deeper understanding on plant molecular mechanisms. Molecular biology-based approaches widen the perceptions of complex plant biochemical and metabolic pathway. Forward and reverse genetics are inevitable to determine the role of genes to the phenotype in crop improvement. Advancements in high-throughput sequencing offer a comprehensive knowledge on evolution, polyploidization, and domestication of plants. Gene targeting, transduction, and RNA interference followed by CRISPR-Cas9 are the modern cutting-edge techniques which can greatly assist the enhancement of crop yield and quality. Furthermore, in plant biology the big data sets produced by computational techniques are very much helpful in population studies for traits development. Taken together, the present special issue would like to provide a platform for the inter-disciplinary physiological and molecular studies aimed for the enhancement of growth and development of crop improvement.

The purpose of this special issue is collecting the high-quality papers deals with solution to overcome current challenges in crop improvement using recent molecular advancements. Topics of this special issue cover wide-aspects in plant science research but not limited to the following: Plant physiology and development, cell Signaling, epigenetics, omics-based strategies, stress tolerance etc.

Dr. Prabhakaran Soundararajan
Prof. Dr. Byoung Jeong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Plant physiology
  • Molecular biology
  • Plant cell signaling
  • Bioinformatics
  • Genomics
  • Proteomics
  • Polyploidy
  • Evolution
  • Stress response

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2670 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Analysis of MYB10 Transcription Factor in Fragaria and Identification of QTLs Associated with Fruit Color in Octoploid Strawberry
by Abinaya Manivannan, Koeun Han, Sun Yi Lee, Hye-Eun Lee, Jong Pil Hong, Jinhee Kim, Ye-Rin Lee, Eun Su Lee and Do-Sun Kim
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(22), 12587; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212587 - 22 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2031
Abstract
The genus Fragaria encompass fruits with diverse colors influenced by the distribution and accumulation of anthocyanin. Particularly, the fruit colors of strawberries with different ploidy levels are determined by expression and natural variations in the vital structural and regulatory genes involved in the [...] Read more.
The genus Fragaria encompass fruits with diverse colors influenced by the distribution and accumulation of anthocyanin. Particularly, the fruit colors of strawberries with different ploidy levels are determined by expression and natural variations in the vital structural and regulatory genes involved in the anthocyanin pathway. Among the regulatory genes, MYB10 transcription factor is crucial for the expression of structural genes in the anthocyanin pathway. In the present study, we performed a genome wide investigation of MYB10 in the diploid and octoploid Fragaria species. Further, we identified seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with fruit color in octoploid strawberry. In addition, we predicted 20 candidate genes primarily influencing the fruit color based on the QTL results and transcriptome analysis of fruit skin and flesh tissues of light pink, red, and dark red strawberries. Moreover, the computational and transcriptome analysis of MYB10 in octoploid strawberry suggests that the difference in fruit colors could be predominantly influenced by the expression of MYB10 from the F. iinumae subgenome. The outcomes of the present endeavor will provide a platform for the understanding and tailoring of anthocyanin pathway in strawberry for the production of fruits with aesthetic colors. Full article
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16 pages, 2991 KiB  
Article
External dsRNA Downregulates Anthocyanin Biosynthesis-Related Genes and Affects Anthocyanin Accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana
by Konstantin V. Kiselev, Andrey R. Suprun, Olga A. Aleynova, Zlata V. Ogneva, Alexander V. Kalachev and Alexandra S. Dubrovina
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(13), 6749; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22136749 - 23 Jun 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2822
Abstract
Exogenous application of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to plant surfaces has emerged as a promising method for regulation of essential genes in plant pathogens and for plant disease protection. Yet, regulation of plant endogenous genes via external RNA treatments has [...] Read more.
Exogenous application of double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to plant surfaces has emerged as a promising method for regulation of essential genes in plant pathogens and for plant disease protection. Yet, regulation of plant endogenous genes via external RNA treatments has not been sufficiently investigated. In this study, we targeted the genes of chalcone synthase (CHS), the key enzyme in the flavonoid/anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, and two transcriptional factors, MYBL2 and ANAC032, negatively regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Direct foliar application of AtCHS-specific dsRNAs and siRNAs resulted in an efficient downregulation of the AtCHS gene and suppressed anthocyanin accumulation in A. thaliana under anthocyanin biosynthesis-modulating conditions. Targeting the AtMYBL2 and AtANAC032 genes by foliar dsRNA treatments markedly reduced their mRNA levels and led to a pronounced upregulation of the AtCHS gene. The content of anthocyanins was increased after treatment with AtMYBL2-dsRNA. Laser scanning microscopy showed a passage of Cy3-labeled AtCHS-dsRNA into the A. thaliana leaf vessels, leaf parenchyma cells, and stomata, indicating the dsRNA uptake and spreading into leaf tissues and plant individual cells. Together, these data show that exogenous dsRNAs were capable of downregulating Arabidopsis genes and induced relevant biochemical changes, which may have applications in plant biotechnology and gene functional studies. Full article
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