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Molecular Advances in Resistance and Adaptability of Wheat Crops

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: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 4036

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, #12 South Zhong-Guan Cun Street, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: wheat genetics and breeding; wheat germplasm enhancement; molecular characterization and map-based cloning of wheat; disease resistance genes; resistance to wheat diseases caused by fungi and nematodes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely adapted and grown cereal crop worldwide, and provides approximately 20% of daily calories for more than 4.5 billion people. It is estimated that an increase of 70% in yield will be required by 2050 in order to protect food security for an increasing global population. Wheat production is vulnerable to various biotic and abiotic stresses, such as low or high temperature, drought, high salinity, diseases and insects. There is a need to increase wheat production while reducing losses caused by abiotic and biotic stresses. Therefore, the scope of this Special Issue included advancements and the latest status on the dissection of the genetic basis of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and adaptability to the changing climates, the discovery of new crucial genes and their molecular regulatory networks, as well as molecular breeding for these traits.

Dr. Hongjun Zhang ([email protected]) is co-Guest Editing this Special Issue with me. Please feel free to contact me or Dr. Zhang for details about this Special Issue. 

Prof. Dr. Hongjie Li
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biotic and abiotic stress
  • adaptability
  • gene cloning
  • QTL mapping
  • association analysis
  • molecular mechanism
  • functional verification
  • regulation network
  • resistant genes
  • biological breeding

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 16191 KiB  
Article
Wheat VQ Motif-Containing Protein VQ25-A Facilitates Leaf Senescence via the Abscisic Acid Pathway
by Xiao Meng, Mingyue Lu, Zelin Xia, Huilong Li, Duo Liu, Ke Li, Pengcheng Yin, Geng Wang and Chunjiang Zhou
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(18), 13839; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241813839 - 08 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1110
Abstract
Leaf senescence is an important factor affecting the functional transition from nutrient assimilation to nutrient remobilization in crops. The senescence of wheat leaves is of great significance for its yield and quality. In the leaf senescence process, transcriptional regulation is a committed step [...] Read more.
Leaf senescence is an important factor affecting the functional transition from nutrient assimilation to nutrient remobilization in crops. The senescence of wheat leaves is of great significance for its yield and quality. In the leaf senescence process, transcriptional regulation is a committed step in integrating various senescence-related signals. Although the plant-specific transcriptional regulation factor valine-glutamine (VQ) gene family is known to participate in different physiological processes, its role in leaf senescence is poorly understood. We isolated TaVQ25-A and studied its function in leaf senescence regulation. TaVQ25-A was mainly expressed in the roots and leaves of wheat. The TaVQ25-A-GFP fusion protein was localized in the nuclei and cytoplasm of wheat protoplasts. A delayed senescence phenotype was observed after dark and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment in TaVQ25-A-silenced wheat plants. Conversely, overexpression of TaVQ25-A accelerated leaf senescence and led to hypersensitivity in ABA-induced leaf senescence in Arabidopsis. A WRKY type transcription factor, TaWRKY133, which is tightly related to the ABA pathway and affects the expression of some ABA-related genes, was found to interact with TaVQ25-A both in vitro and in vivo. Results of this study indicate that TaVQ25-A is a positive regulator of ABA-related leaf senescence and can be used as a candidate gene for wheat molecular breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Advances in Resistance and Adaptability of Wheat Crops)
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23 pages, 7037 KiB  
Article
Wheat ABA Receptor TaPYL5 Constitutes a Signaling Module with Its Downstream Partners TaPP2C53/TaSnRK2.1/TaABI1 to Modulate Plant Drought Response
by Yanyang Zhang, Yingjia Zhao, Xiaoyang Hou, Chenyang Ni, Le Han, Pingping Du and Kai Xiao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7969; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097969 - 27 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1302
Abstract
Abscisic acid receptors (ABR) play crucial roles in transducing the ABA signaling initiated by osmotic stresses, which has a significant impact on plant acclimation to drought by modulating stress-related defensive physiological processes. We characterized TaPYL5, a member of the ABR family in [...] Read more.
Abscisic acid receptors (ABR) play crucial roles in transducing the ABA signaling initiated by osmotic stresses, which has a significant impact on plant acclimation to drought by modulating stress-related defensive physiological processes. We characterized TaPYL5, a member of the ABR family in wheat (Triticum aestivum), as a mediator of drought stress adaptation in plants. The signals derived from the fusion of TaPYL5-GFP suggest that the TaPYL5 protein was directed to various subcellular locations, namely stomata, plasma membrane, and nucleus. Drought stress significantly upregulated the TaPYL5 transcripts in roots and leaves. The biological roles of ABA and drought responsive cis-elements, specifically ABRE and recognition sites MYB, in mediating gene transcription under drought conditions were confirmed by histochemical GUS staining analysis for plants harbouring a truncated TaPYL5 promoter. Yeast two-hybrid and BiFC assays indicated that TaPYL5 interacted with TaPP2C53, a clade A member of phosphatase (PP2C), and the latter with TaSnRK2.1, a kinase member of the SnRK2 family, implying the formation of an ABA core signaling module TaPYL5/TaPP2C53/TaSnRK2.1. TaABI1, an ABA responsive transcription factor, proved to be a component of the ABA signaling pathway, as evidenced by its interaction with TaSnRK2.1. Transgene analysis of TaPYL5 and its module partners, as well as TaABI1, revealed that they have an effect on plant drought responses. TaPYL5 and TaSnRK2.1 positively regulated plant drought acclimation, whereas TaPP2C53 and TaABI1 negatively regulated it. This coincided with the osmotic stress-related physiology shown in their transgenic lines, such as stomata movement, osmolytes biosynthesis, and antioxidant enzyme function. TaPYL5 significantly altered the transcription of numerous genes involved in biological processes related to drought defense. Our findings suggest that TaPYL5 is one of the most important regulators in plant drought tolerance and a valuable target for engineering drought-tolerant cultivars in wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Advances in Resistance and Adaptability of Wheat Crops)
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14 pages, 2170 KiB  
Article
The miR166d/TaCPK7-D Signaling Module Is a Critical Mediator of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Tolerance to K+ Deficiency
by Xiaotong Lei, Miaomiao Chen, Ke Xu, Ruoxi Sun, Sihang Zhao, Ningjing Wu, Shuhua Zhang, Xueju Yang, Kai Xiao and Yong Zhao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7926; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097926 - 27 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1051
Abstract
It is well established that potassium (K+) is an essential nutrient for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and development. Several microRNAs (miRNAs), including miR166, are reportedly vital roles related to plant growth and stress responses. In this study, a K [...] Read more.
It is well established that potassium (K+) is an essential nutrient for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and development. Several microRNAs (miRNAs), including miR166, are reportedly vital roles related to plant growth and stress responses. In this study, a K+ starvation-responsive miRNA (miR166d) was identified, which showed increased expression in the roots of wheat seedlings exposed to low-K+ stress. The overexpression of miR166d considerably increased the tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis plants to K+ deprivation treatment. Furthermore, disrupting miR166d expression via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) adversely affected wheat adaptation to low-K+ stress. Additionally, miR166d directly targeted the calcium-dependent protein kinase 7-D gene (TaCPK7-D) in wheat. The TaCPK7-D gene expression was decreased in wheat seedling roots following K+ starvation treatment. Silencing TaCPK7-D in wheat increased K+ uptake under K+ starvation. Moreover, we observed that the miR166d/TaCPK7-D module could affect wheat tolerance to K+ starvation stress by regulating TaAKT1 and TaHAK1 expression. Taken together, our results indicate that miR166d is vital for K+ uptake and K+ starvation tolerance of wheat via regulation of TaCPK7-D. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Advances in Resistance and Adaptability of Wheat Crops)
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