Advances In Plant Genetics Research Articles

Phenotyping in Arabidopsis and Crops-Are We Addressing the Same Traits? A Case Study in Tomato.

The convenient model Arabidopsis thaliana has allowed tremendous advances in plant genetics and physiology, in spite of only being a weed. It has also unveiled the main molecular networks governing, among others, abiotic stress responses. Through the use of the latest genomic tools, Arabidopsis research is nowadays being translated to agronomically interesting crop models such as tomato, but at a lagging pace. Knowledge transfer has been hindered by invariable differences in plant architecture and behaviour, as well as the divergent direct objectives of research in Arabidopsis vs. crops compromise transferability. In this sense, phenotype translation is still a very complex matter. Here, we point out the challenges of “translational phenotyping” in the case study of drought stress phenotyping in Arabidopsis and tomato. After briefly defining and describing drought stress and survival strategies, we compare drought stress protocols and phenotyping techniques most commonly used in the two species, and discuss their potential to gain insights, which are truly transferable between species. This review is intended to be a starting point for discussion about translational phenotyping approaches among plant scientists, and provides a useful compendium of methods and techniques used in modern phenotyping for this specific plant pair as a case study.

An Introduction to Barley: The Crop and the Model.

Barley has a number of unique features among our crop plants. It was one of the earliest plants to be domesticated and continues to play an important role in modern agriculture today. It is a versatile crop, used both for human nutrition and for animal feed, and plays an important role as an experimental model plant allowing advances in plant genetics, plant physiology, plant pathology, plant biochemistry, and more recently in plant biotechnology. In this introductory chapter, the key features of barley as both crop and model plant are considered.

Phyllospheric microflora and its impact on plant growth: A review

The phyllosphere refers to the habitat provided by the aboveground parts of plants and on a global scale supports a large and complex microbial community. Microbial interactions in the phyllosphere can affect the fitness in natural communities and the productivity of agricultural crops. The structure of phyllospheric communities reflects immigration, survival and growth of microbial colonists, which is influenced by numerous environmental factors in addition to leaf physico-chemical properties. Culture-independent microbiological technologies as well advances in plant genetics and biochemistry provide methodological preconditions for exploring the interactions between plants and their microbiome in the phyllosphere. We are trying to focus here on the current knowledge of the composition of the foliar microbiome, its impact on plant growth and techniques for study this science.

A proposed regulatory framework for genome-edited crops.

Sanwen Huang, Detlef Weigel, Roger Beachy and Jiayang Li propose a regulatory framework for precision breeding with genome-edited crops. They argue that society should benefit from the latest advances in plant genetics and genomics.

Structural variations in plant genomes.

Differences between plant genomes range from single nucleotide polymorphisms to large-scale duplications, deletions and rearrangements. The large polymorphisms are termed structural variants (SVs). SVs have received significant attention in human genetics and were found to be responsible for various chronic diseases. However, little effort has been directed towards understanding the role of SVs in plants. Many recent advances in plant genetics have resulted from improvements in high-resolution technologies for measuring SVs, including microarray-based techniques, and more recently, high-throughput DNA sequencing. In this review we describe recent reports of SV in plants and describe the genomic technologies currently used to measure these SVs.

Progress in cultivation-independent phyllosphere microbiology

Most microorganisms of the phyllosphere are nonculturable in commonly used media and culture conditions, as are those in other natural environments. This review queries the reasons for their ‘noncultivability’ and assesses developments in phyllospere microbiology that have been achieved cultivation independently over the last 4 years. Analyses of total microbial communities have revealed a comprehensive microbial diversity. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomic sequencing were applied to investigate plant species, location and season as variables affecting the composition of these communities. In continuation to culture-based enzymatic and metabolic studies with individual isolates, metaproteogenomic approaches reveal a great potential to study the physiology of microbial communities in situ. Culture-independent microbiological technologies as well advances in plant genetics and biochemistry provide methodological preconditions for exploring the interactions between plants and their microbiome in the phyllosphere. Improving and combining cultivation and culture-independent techniques can contribute to a better understanding of the phyllosphere ecology. This is essential, for example, to avoid human–pathogenic bacteria in plant food.

Why the taxpayer profits from plant cell biology—special issue “Applied Plant Cell Biology”

Plant cell biologists are often perceived as the guys that produce esthetically appealing images, and are deeply rooted in the realm of pure science, far away from anything that might be biotechnologically relevant. Why should the taxpayer fund this curiosity-driven type of research? Maybe, because science is a central part of human culture and therefore should be supported in the same manner as the public funds theatres or art exhibitions? This view is frequently encountered in the West. If this view were true, why should a pragmatic country like China invest so much effort to develop plant cell biology—by the way manifested by a rising number of cell-biological publications from China also in this journal. These considerations motivated an exploratory symposium on “Applied Plant Cell Biology” in March 2011 funded by the SinoGerman Science Center, where 40 scientists from both countries highlighted different aspects of the interface between plant cell biology and application. The pronounced developmental and metabolic capacities of plant cells provide the base of agriculture and green biotechnology and have been studied very intensively with respect to its genetic aspects. The so-called Green Revolution has ensured a reliable and cost-efficient supply with food resources to a growing population. A major part of this success story is based on three factors: advances in plant nutrition, advances in plant protection, and advances in plant genetics. The challenge of the coming years will be to reconcile increased agricultural productivity with sustainability. The potential of plant nutrition and plant protection has been basically exploited, what remains, are advances in generating new genotypes with improved productivity, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and improved or even novel metabolic potential. However, it becomes increasingly clear that the potential of applied plant science can only be fully exploited when we understand the cellular mechanisms such as compartmentalisation, intracellular transport, cell differentiation, and communication. To understand biotechnologically relevant molecular mechanisms for stress tolerance and accumulation of interesting compounds, we need a strong background in molecular cell biology. Therefore the current special issue exemplarily has selected three issues from this symposium highly relevant for biotechnological application: control of plant architecture through cytoskeleton and cell wall, control of development by signals, and the impact of cellular compartmentalisation for plant metabolism.

Plant genetics, sustainable agriculture and global food security.

The United States and the world face serious societal challenges in the areas of food, environment, energy, and health. Historically, advances in plant genetics have provided new knowledge and technologies needed to address these challenges. Plant genetics remains a key component of global food security, peace, and prosperity for the foreseeable future. Millions of lives depend upon the extent to which crop genetic improvement can keep pace with the growing global population, changing climate, and shrinking environmental resources. While there is still much to be learned about the biology of plant-environment interactions, the fundamental technologies of plant genetic improvement, including crop genetic engineering, are in place, and are expected to play crucial roles in meeting the chronic demands of global food security. However, genetically improved seed is only part of the solution. Such seed must be integrated into ecologically based farming systems and evaluated in light of their environmental, economic, and social impacts-the three pillars of sustainable agriculture. In this review, I describe some lessons learned, over the last decade, of how genetically engineered crops have been integrated into agricultural practices around the world and discuss their current and future contribution to sustainable agricultural systems.

From genome to wheat: Emerging opportunities for modelling wheat growth and development

Ecophysiological models of crop growth and development sometimes show unrealistic responses that are attributable to our incomplete understanding of the processes the models attempt to describe. Rapid advances in plant genetics, genomics and biochemistry offer important opportunities for improving representations of key processes of growth and development. Research on incorporation of genetic information in models supports this potential, especially in modelling cultivar performance across environments. This paper reviews progress in using information from genetics, genomics and allied fields in modelling and examines approaches suitable for modelling wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. and T. durum Desf.). Efforts to model wheat crops should first focus on the relatively well-understood genetic systems affecting phenology and plant height. A simple gene-based approach using linear equations to estimate cultivar-specific parameters has the advantage that it can easily be implemented in existing wheat models. One requirement is to integrate data on the genetic makeup of wheat cultivars with results from field trials that can be used to estimate genetic effects and evaluate model performance. Concomitantly, modellers should exploit findings from genomics and allied fields on wheat and other plant species in order to improve sub-models of individual processes, using more complex representations of gene action. Advances in these more mechanistic representations require much more detailed and quantitative studies on how gene action varies with specific environmental signals such as temperature and photoperiod.

An everlasting pioneer: the story of Antirrhinum research.

Despite the tremendous success of Arabidopsis thaliana, no single model can represent the vast range of form that is seen in the approximately 250,000 existing species of flowering plants (angiosperms). Here, we consider the history and future of an alternative angiosperm model--the snapdragon Antirrhinum majus. We ask what made Antirrhinum attractive to the earliest students of variation and inheritance, and how its use led to landmark advances in plant genetics and to our present understanding of plant development. Finally, we show how the wide diversity of Antirrhinum species, combined with classical and molecular genetics--the two traditional strengths of Antirrhinum--provide an opportunity for developmental, evolutionary and ecological approaches. These factors make A. majus an ideal comparative angiosperm.

Contemporary methods to investigate seed and bud dormancy

Abstract Dormancy is a state of shifted physiological activities with cessation of growth. It occurs in seeds and vegetative propagules and enables plants to survive in adverse growing conditions. Traditional studies on dormancy-related problems have mostly focused on hormone changes along with environmental factors that have achieved great insight on these processes at the physiological level. The molecular nature and cellular basis of signals that carry out the processes of dormancy or dormancy breaking are largely unknown. Recent advances in plant genetics and genomics have provided assorted ways to investigate questions concerning dormancy. Various approaches such as developing genetic maps with DNA-based markers, e.g., amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), analyzing mutant lines, conducting quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, differential display, microarray, have been performed to res...

Botany in Nigeria : Prof. F. W. Sansome

THE new University College in Nigeria is fortunate to have secured Dr. F. W. Sansome as its first professor of botany. Dr. Sansome received his undergraduate training in Edinburgh as an agriculturist. Upon this foundation he added, at first in Glasgow and later at the John Innes Horticultural Institution, a thorough training in botany and genetics. At this time Dr. Sansome carried out important work on tetraploidy in tomatoes, and published (with Dr. Philp) "Recent Advances in Plant Genetics", which rapidly ran through two editions. He then became senior lecturer in the Botany Department in the University of Manchester, and assistant director of the Experimental Grounds, with responsibilities in horticultural botany and genetics. He devoted his energy, with great success, to the building up of facilities for horticultural research, and the Jodrell Bank Station owes its efficiency to Dr. Sansome‘s work. Dr. Sansome‘s infectious enthusiasm has endeared him to horticulturists and students in the north of England, and his wisdom and wit and generosity are greatly appreciated by his colleagues. The good wishes of professional botanists and a large general public will accompany him on his new venture. It is a pleasure to know that his wife, who is distinguished for her research on cytology, is to be a research fellow in Ibadan, and will continue her work there.

New Vegetable Research Station : Dr. J. Philp

DR. JAMES PHILP has been appointed director of the Vegetable Research Station to be set up in due course in Britain. He Will serve on the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture until the governing body of the new Station is legally constituted and will at first be engaged on the search for a suitable site. Dr. Philp was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and London. He was a cytogeneticist on the staff of the John Innes Horticultural Institution, Merton, during 1927–34. He then became director of the Cereal Division of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture. In 1942 he was appointed forest geneticist with the South African Department of Forestry, and established a tree-breeding station. He has been director of the South African Wattle Research Institute (which he established) at Pietermaritzburg from 1944 until 1947. Dr. Philp is the joint author with Dr. F. W. Sansome of "Recent Advances in Plant Genetics", and the author of many scientific papers on agricultural and horticultural plants and on trees.

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Quantitative Zoology. By G. G. Simpson and A. Roe. Elements of Plant Pathology. By I. E. Melhus and G. C. Kent. Experiments in Plant Physiology. A Laboratory Textbook. By W. E. Loomis and C. A. Shull. Seed and Potting Composts: with Special Reference to Soil Sterilization. By W. J. C. Lawrence and J. Newell. Practical Plant Breeding. By W. J. C. Lawrence. Recent Advances in Plant Genetics. By F. W. Sansome and J. Philp. 2nd edition, revised and rewritten by F. W. Sansome. The Evolution of Genetic Systems. By C. D. Darlington.

Recent Advances in Plant Genetics

WHEN this book first appeared, it filled a gap by providing a valuable summary of the more modern aspects of plant genetics. The new edition,which has been revised and partly rewritten by Dr. Sansome, preserves the main features of the previous one. There is an entirely new chapter onvariegation and chimseras, and the first two chapters have been rearranged with considerable gain in coherence and clarity. Although not designed as a text-book, and in spite of the limitations imposed by the authorsin then preface, it forms a very satisfactory introduction for the student of genetics. Through a logical sequence it succeeds in giving a proper perspective of the principles of modern genetics. The new edition should be even more useful than the first. Recent Advances in Plant Genetics Dr. F. W. Sansome Dr. J. Philp. Second edition, revised and rewritten by Dr. F. W. Sansome. Pp. xii + 412. (London: J. and A. Churchill, Ltd., 1939.) 18s.

Reviews

Recent Advances in Cytology. By C. D. Darlington. Recent Advances in Plant Genetics. By F. W. Sansome and J. Philp The Apple. By Sir A. Daniel Hall and M. B. Crane. Pp. 235, 11 figs, and 12 plates. London: Martin Hopkinson, Ltd., 1933. 10s. 6d. net. Elements of Agriculture. By the late R. Pream, LL.D. Ed. by Prof. Sir Rowland H. Biffen Plant Parasitic Nematodes. By T. Goodey. Phytopathological and Botanical Research Methods. By Thomas Elsworth Rawlins.

PLANT GENETICS IN 1932

Journal Article PLANT GENETICS IN 1932 Get access RECENT ADVANCES IN PLANT GENETICS, by F. W. SANSOME and J. PHILP. Foreword by Daniel Hall. Pp. x + 414. 56 figures, 42 tables. Price, $4.00. P. Blakiston's Son and Co.Philadelphia, 1932. ALFRED E. CLARKE ALFRED E. CLARKE University of California Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Heredity, Volume 24, Issue 8, August 1933, Pages 320–321, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a103814 Published: 01 August 1933

Principles of Genetics; A Text-book, with Problems . By E. W. Sinnott and L. C. Dunn. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Second edition, xvi+ 441. 1932. $3.50.; Recent Advances in Plant Genetics . By F. W. Sansome and J. Philp, with foreword by Sir Daniel Hall. P. Blakiston's Son and Company, Philadelphia. x + 414. 1932. $4.00.

<i>Principles of Genetics; A Text-book, with Problems</i> . By E. W. Sinnott and L. C. Dunn. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Second edition, xvi+ 441. 1932. $3.50.; <i>Recent Advances in Plant Genetics</i> . By F. W. Sansome and J. Philp, with foreword by Sir Daniel Hall. P. Blakiston's Son and Company, Philadelphia. x + 414. 1932. $4.00.

Recent Advances in Plant Genetics

Recent Advances in Plant Genetics

Recent Advances in Plant Genetics

Recent Advances in Plant Genetics