Movement Of Plants Research Articles

12-Hydroxyjasmonic acid glucoside causes leaf-folding of Samanea saman through ROS accumulation

Foliar nyctinasty, a circadian rhythmic movement in plants, is common among leguminous plants and has been widely studied. Biological studies on nyctinasty have been conducted using Samanea saman as a model plant. It has been shown that the circadian rhythmic potassium flux from/into motor cells triggers cell shrinking/swelling to cause nyctinastic leaf-folding/opening movement in S. saman. Recently, 12-hydroxyjasmonic acid glucoside (JAG) was identified as an endogenous chemical factor causing leaf-folding of S. saman. Additionally, SPORK2 was identified as an outward-rectifying potassium channel that causes leaf-movement in the same plant. However, the molecular mechanism linking JAG and SPORK2 remains elusive. Here, we report that JAG induces leaf-folding through accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the extensor motor cells of S. saman, and this occurs independently of plant hormone signaling. Furthermore, we show that SPORK2 is indispensable for the JAG-triggered shrinkage of the motor cell. This is the first report on JAG, which is believed to be an inactivated/storage derivative of JA, acting as a bioactive metabolite in plant.

Changes in sucrose metabolic enzymes to water stress in contrasting rice genotypes

Photosynthesis is the key process that controls metabolic movements in plants. Water stress reduces the rate of photosynthesis, leading to energy depletion and yield loss. Sucrose is the fundamental product of photosynthesis in plants, which acts as an important energy substrate and regulator of plant growth and developmental signals. In this study, two rice varieties, drought tolerant PTB7 (Parambuvattan) and drought susceptible PTB23 (Cheriya Aryan) were subjected to water deficit stress treatments to understand the changes in various physiological, biochemical mechanisms and sucrose metabolizing enzymes. Under water stress conditions, root biomass increased as compared to shoot biomass, which led to an increase in the root to shoot (R/S) ratio. Water stress enhanced the sucrose content in both leaves and roots of the rice plant, which may be due to the increased sucrose metabolism and transport under water stress conditions. Since then, there has been a notable increase in the activity of enzymes (α-amylase and β-amylase) and expression of genes such as sucrose transporter (SUC2) and sucrose synthase (OsSuSy) genes. In conclusion, the results showed that changes in sucrose distribution, metabolism, and transport in plants under water stress conditions contribute to tolerance in rice to water stress conditions.

Stringing, Reconnecting, and Breaking the Colonial “Daisy Chain”: From Botanic Garden to Seed Bank

Transported through colonial technologies such as Wardian cases and imperial ships, or simply popped in envelopes and sent via the postal service, the reproductive bodies of plants have been extracted, commodified, reproduced, and proliferated to satisfy human needs and desires. The ongoing and historical movement of plants and their reproductive capacity—known now through the disembodied clinical term germplasm—for economic, social, political, and agricultural purposes provides a lens through which global fertility chains can be studied. I study one such fertility chain: the movement of seeds of plants into frozen vaults known as “seed banks.” While colonial plant movements are associated with exploitative control, newer plant extractions for seed banking are shielded from rebuke because they embody the unquestionably positive valence of “biodiversity conservation.” The view from Australia captures the awkwardness of seed banking as a reproductive technology because the ongoing tensions between Indigenous struggles and settler-colonial nation building, and the urgency around climate change, are far from resolved. The politics of the Anthropocene are particularly poignant in Australia because anthropogenic destruction looks very different when viewed from the perspective of either Indigenous people or settlers.

Synergism Among the Four Tobacco Bushy Top Disease Casual Agents in Symptom Induction and Aphid Transmission.

Tobacco bushy top disease (TBTD), caused by multiple pathogens including tobacco bushy top virus (TBTV), tobacco vein distorting virus (TVDV), TBTV satellite RNA (TBTVsatRNA), and TVDV-associated RNA (TVDVaRNA), is a destructive disease in tobacco fields. To date, how these causal agents are co-transmitted by aphid vectors in field and their roles in disease symptom induction remain largely unknown, due mainly to the lack of purified causal agents. In this study, we have constructed four full-length infectious clones, representing the Yunnan Kunming isolates of TVDV, TBTV, TBTVsatRNA, and TVDVaRNA (TVDV-YK, TBTV-YK, TBTVsatRNA-YK, and TVDVaRNA-YK), respectively. Co-inoculation of these four causal agents to tobacco K326 plants caused typical TBTD symptoms, including smaller leaves, necrosis, and plant stunting. In addition, inoculation of tobacco K326 plants with TBTV alone caused necrosis in systemic leaves by 7 dpi. Tobacco K326 and Nicotiana benthamiana plants infected by single virus or multiple viruses showed very different disease symptoms at various dpi. RT-PCR results indicated that co-infection of TVDVaRNA-YK could increase TVDV-YK or TBTV-YK accumulation in N. benthamiana plants, suggesting that TVDVaRNA-YK can facilitate TVDV-YK and TBTV-YK replication and/or movement in the infected plants. Aphid transmission assays showed that the successful transmission of TBTV-YK, TBTVsatRNA-YK, and TVDVaRNA-YK by Myzus persicae depended on the presence of TVDV-YK, while the presence of TBTVsatRNA-YK increased the aphid transmission efficiency of TBTV and TVDV. We consider that these four new infectious clones will allow us to further dissect the roles of these four causal agents in TBTD induction as well as aphid transmission.

A spotlight on non-host resistance to plant viruses.

Plant viruses encounter a range of host defenses including non-host resistance (NHR), leading to the arrest of virus replication and movement in plants. Viruses have limited host ranges, and adaptation to a new host is an atypical phenomenon. The entire genotypes of plant species which are imperceptive to every single isolate of a genetically variable virus species are described as non-hosts. NHR is the non-specific resistance manifested by an innately immune non-host due to pre-existing and inducible defense responses, which cannot be evaded by yet-to-be adapted plant viruses. NHR-to-plant viruses are widespread, but the phenotypic variation is often not detectable within plant species. Therefore, molecular and genetic mechanisms of NHR need to be systematically studied to enable exploitation in crop protection. This article comprehensively describes the possible mechanisms of NHR against plant viruses. Also, the previous definition of NHR to plant viruses is insufficient, and the main aim of this article is to sensitize plant pathologists to the existence of NHR to plant viruses and to highlight the need for immediate and elaborate research in this area.

Spatial Considerations Needed when Balancing Land Conservation and Development

Designers, builders, and managers of sustainable urban areas must consider location and proximity of conserved land, built infrastructure, and designed urban ecosystems such as stormwater ponds and ornamental gardens. This publication introduces four key spatial considerations and discusses their implications for conservation of native plants and animals and the biodiversity and ecological benefits provided by urban landscapes. Planners, builders, and managers must recognize and conserve spatial differences in habitat types and understand how the size, shape, and location of conserved lands and urban ecosystems affect plant and animal welfare and movement. The publication lists multiple free tools for visualizing and measuring spatial aspects and stresses that conserved areas and designed ecosystems must be properly managed to reap benefits from good spatial planning. People can use the information to improve the design, construction and management of sustainable urban areas.

Kinematic Evidence of Root-to-Shoot Signaling for the Coding of Support Thickness in Pea Plants.

Simple SummaryA growing body of evidence has reported that climbing plants show the unique ability of being able to locate a support in the environment and recognize some of its features in order to modulate their searching and attachment behavior accordingly. To date, the mechanism underlying the coding of a support’s thickness is yet to be uncovered. Here, we investigate the interaction between the above- (i.e., stem and tendrils) and below-ground (i.e., the root system) organs of pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) to gain information about a support and to modulate their behavior towards it. The results suggest that the coding of a support’s thickness is achieved via a functional equilibrium subtended by crosstalk between the grounded and the aerial components of the plant.Plants such as climbers characterized by stems or tendrils need to find a potential support (e.g., pole, stick, other plants or trees) to reach greater light exposure. Since the time when Darwin carried out research on climbing plants, several studies on plants’ searching and attachment behaviors have demonstrated their unique ability to process some features of a support to modulate their movements accordingly. Nevertheless, the strategies underlying this ability have yet to be uncovered. The present research tries to fill this gap by investigating how the interaction between above- (i.e., stems, tendrils, …) and below-ground (i.e., the root system) plant organs influences the kinematics of their approach-to-grasp movements. Using three-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis, we characterized the movements of pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) as they leaned towards supports whose below- and above-ground parts were characterized by different thicknesses (i.e., thin below- thick above-ground, or the opposite). As a control condition, the plants were placed next to supports with the same thickness below and above ground (i.e., either entirely thin or thick). The results suggest that the information regarding below- and above-ground parts of a support appears to be integrated and modulates the reach-to-grasp behavior of the plant. Information about the support conveyed by the root system seems to be particularly important to achieve the end-goal of movement.

High-speed video and plant ultrastructure define mechanisms of gametophyte dispersal.

Dispersal of gametophytes is critical for land plant survivorship and reproduction. It defines potential colonization and geographical distribution as well as genetic mixing and evolution. C. T. Ingold's classic works on Spore Discharge in Land Plants and Spore Liberation review mechanisms for spore release and dispersal based on real‐time observations, basic histology, and light microscopy. Many mechanisms underlying spore liberation are explosive and have evolved independently multiple times. These mechanisms involve physiological processes such as water gain and loss, coupled with structural features using different plant tissues. Here we review how high‐speed video and analyses of ultrastructure have defined new biomechanical mechanisms for the dispersal of gametophytes through the dissemination of haploid diaspores, including spores, pollen, and asexual reproductive propagules. This comparative review highlights the diversity and importance of rapid movements in plants for dispersing gametophytes and considerations for using combinations of high‐speed video methods and microscopic techniques to understand these dispersal movements. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is crucial not only for understanding gametophyte ecology but also for applied engineering and biomimetic applications used in human technologies.

Pest categorisation of Bagrada hilaris.

The EFSA Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of Bagrada hilaris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) for the EU territory. B. hilaris, known as the bagrada bug or painted bug, is a polyphagous pest feeding on at least 25 plant families including several economically important brassica crops such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Other economically important hosts suffering impacts include beans (Fabaceae), wheat and maize (Poaceae). Young plants are particularly vulnerable to adults and nymphs feeding on tender leaves and growing points, which can cause yield losses. B. hilaris occurs in Africa and Asia and has spread to North America (USA and Mexico) and South America (Chile) where there are multiple generations per year. It is not widely distributed in the EU but has been established in Malta and on the Italian island of Pantelleria, south west of Sicily, since the 1970s where it is an economically important pest of capers. The reasons why it has not spread further within southern Europe are unknown. B. hilaris is not a regulated pest in the EU. It could further enter and spread within the EU via the import and movement of host plants or as a hitchhiking species forming aggregations in conveyances and amongst non‐plant traded goods. Host availability and climate suitability suggest that, in addition to Malta and Pantelleria, southern areas of the EU around the Mediterranean would also be suitable for B. hilaris establishment. The introduction of B. hilaris to other Mediterranean areas of the EU would likely cause impacts in a range of crops, particularly brassicas. Measures to prevent entry and spread are available. B. hilaris satisfies all of the criteria that are within the remit of EFSA to assess for it to be regarded as a potential Union quarantine pest.

Revisiting small RNA movement in plants.

Revisiting small RNA movement in plants.

Phylotranscriptomics of Theaceae: generic-level relationships, reticulation and whole-genome duplication.

Theaceae, with three tribes, nine genera and more than 200 species, are of great economic and ecological importance. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on plastomic data resolved the relationships among the three tribes and the intergeneric relationships within two of those tribes. However, generic-level relationships within the largest tribe, Theeae, were not fully resolved. The role of putative whole-genome duplication (WGD) events in the family and possible hybridization events among genera within Theeae also remain to be tested further. Transcriptomes or low-depth whole-genome sequencing of 57 species of Theaceae, as well as additional plastome sequence data, were generated. Using a dataset of low-copy nuclear genes, we reconstructed phylogenetic relationships using concatenated, species tree and phylogenetic network approaches. We further conducted molecular dating analyses and inferred possible WGD events by examining the distribution of the number of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site (Ks) for paralogues in each species. For plastid protein-coding sequences , phylogenies were reconstructed for comparison with the results obtained from analysis of the nuclear dataset. Based on the 610 low-copy nuclear genes (858 606 bp in length) investigated, Stewartieae was resolved as sister to the other two tribes. Within Theeae, the Apterosperma-Laplacea clade grouped with Pyrenaria, leaving Camellia and Polyspora as sister. The estimated ages within Theaceae were largely consistent with previous studies based mainly on plastome data. Two reticulation events within Camellia and one between the common ancestor of Gordonia and Schima were found. All members of the tea family shared two WGD events, an older At-γ and a recent Ad-β; both events were also shared with the outgroups (Diapensiaceae, Pentaphylacaceae, Styracaceae and Symplocaceae). Our analyses using low-copy nuclear genes improved understanding of phylogenetic relationships at the tribal and generic levels previously proposed based on plastome data, but the phylogenetic position of the Apterosperma-Laplacea clade needs more attention. There is no evidence for extensive intergeneric hybridization within Theeae or for a Theaceae-specific WGD event. Land bridges (e.g. the Bering land bridge) during the Late Oligocene may have permitted the intercontinental plant movements that facilitated the putative ancient introgression between the common ancestor of Gordonia and Schima.

A New Type of Cell for Organ Movement in Plants

A New Type of Cell for Organ Movement in Plants

Rhythmic Leaf and Cotyledon Movement Analysis.

The first descriptions of circadian rhythms were of the rhythmic leaf movements of plants. Rhythmic leaf movements offer a sensitive, noninvasive, nondestructive, and non-transgenic assay of plant circadian rhythms that can be readily automated, greatly facilitating genetic studies. Rhythmic leaf movement is particularly useful for the assessment of standing variation in clock function and can be readily applied to a diverse array of dicotyledonous plants, including both wild species and domesticated crops.

A Novel Shape Based Plant Growth Prediction Algorithm Using Deep Learning and Spatial Transformation

Plant growth prediction is challenging, as the growth rate varies depending on environmental factors. It is an essential task for efficient cultivation in controlled environments, such as in plant factories. In this paper, we propose a novel deep learning network for predicting future plant images from a number of past and current images. In particular, our focus is on the estimation of leaf shape in a plant, because the amount of plant growth is commonly quantified based on the leaf area. A spatial transform is applied to a sequence of plant images within the network, and the growth behavior is measured using a set of affine transform parameters. Instead of conventional sequential image fusion, the affine transform parameters for all pairs of successive images are fused together to predict the shape of the future plant image. Then, an RGB reconstruction subnet divides the plants into multiple patches to make global and local growth predictions based on hierarchical auto-encoders. A variety of experimental results show that the proposed network is robust to dynamic plant movements and can accurately predict the shapes of future plant images.

Intelligent Deep Learning Based Automated Fish Detection Model for UWSN

An exponential growth in advanced technologies has resulted in the exploration of Ocean spaces. It has paved the way for new opportunities that can address questions relevant to diversity, uniqueness, and difficulty of marine life. Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are widely used to leverage such opportunities while these networks include a set of vehicles and sensors to monitor the environmental conditions. In this scenario, it is fascinating to design an automated fish detection technique with the help of underwater videos and computer vision techniques so as to estimate and monitor fish biomass in water bodies. Several models have been developed earlier for fish detection. However, they lack robustness to accommodate considerable differences in scenes owing to poor luminosity, fish orientation, structure of seabed, aquatic plant movement in the background and distinctive shapes and texture of fishes from different genus. With this motivation, the current research article introduces an Intelligent Deep Learning based Automated Fish Detection model for UWSN, named IDLAFD-UWSN model. The presented IDLAFD-UWSN model aims at automatic detection of fishes from underwater videos, particularly in blurred and crowded environments. IDLAFD-UWSN model makes use of Mask Region Convolutional Neural Network (Mask RCNN) with Capsule Network as a baseline model for fish detection. Besides, in order to train Mask RCNN, background subtraction process using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) model is applied. This model makes use of motion details of fishes in video which consequently integrates the outcome with actual image for the generation of fish-dependent candidate regions. Finally, Wavelet Kernel Extreme Learning Machine (WKELM) model is utilized as a classifier model. The performance of the proposed IDLAFD-UWSN model was tested against benchmark underwater video dataset and the experimental results achieved by IDLAFD-UWSN model were promising in comparison with other state-of-the-art methods under different aspects with the maximum accuracy of 98% and 97% on the applied blurred and crowded datasets respectively.

Belowground allocation and dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland

Plant roots and the organisms that surround them are a primary source for stabilized soil organic carbon (SOC). While grassland soils have a large capacity to store organic carbon (C), few field-based studies have quantified the amount of plant-fixed C that moves into soil and persists belowground over multiple years. Yet this characteristic of the soil C cycle is critical to C storage, soil water holding capacity, nutrient provisions, and the management of soil health. We tracked the fate of plant-fixed C following a five-day 13CO2 labeling of a Northern California annual grassland, measuring C pools starting at the end of the labeling period, at three days, four weeks, six months, one year, and two years. Soil organic carbon was fractionated using a density-based approach to separate the free-light fraction (FLF), occluded-light fraction (OLF), and heavy fraction (HF). Using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, we measured 13C enrichment and total C content for plant shoots, roots, soil, soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and the FLF, OLF, and HF. The chemical nature of C in the HF was further analyzed by solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.At the end of the labeling period, a substantial portion of the 13C (40%) was already found belowground in roots, soil, and soil DOC. By 4 weeks, the highest isotope enrichment and 27% of the total amount of 13C remaining in the system was associated with the mineral-rich HF. At the 6-month sampling—after the dry summer period during which plants senesced and died—the amount of label in the FLF increased to an amount similar to that in the HF. The FLF 13C then declined substantially by 1 year and further decreased in the second year. By the end of the 2-year experiment, 67% of remaining label was in the HF, with 19% in the FLF and 14% in the OLF. While the 13C content in the HF was stable over the final year, the chemical forms associated with the HF evolved with time. The relative proportion of aliphatic/alkyl C functional groups declined in the newly formed SOC over the 2 years in the field; simultaneously, aromatic and carbonyl/carboxylic C functional groups increased and the proportion of carbohydrate (O-alkyl C) groups remained relatively constant.Our results indicate that plant-fixed C moved into soil within days of its fixation and was associated with the soil mineral fraction within weeks. While most of the annual plant C input in these grasslands cycles rapidly (<2-year timescale), a sizeable proportion (about 23% of the 13C present at day 0) persisted in the soil for longer than 2 years. While decadal studies would allow improved assessment of the long-term stabilization of newly fixed plant C, our 2-year field study reveals surprisingly rapid movement of plant C into the HF of soil, followed by subsequent evolution of the chemical forms of organic C in the HF.

The Weirdness of Being in Time: Aristotle, Hegel, and Plants

ABSTRACT In this short text, I analyze various senses of being in time. My claim is that time forms a weird interiority through an embrace of whatever is “in” it. I, then, flesh out this claim through a close reading of Book IV in Aristotle's Physics, while grafting each “measure of movement,” through which the Greek philosopher defines time, onto the movements of plants. The result is a twisting and turning, ramified, wayward temporality that holds every sense of being in time in a vegetal embrace.

BERPIHAK PADA YANG MISKIN MELALUI GERAKAN MENANAM DAN MERAWAT SUMBER AIR: SEBUAH BENTUK PASTORAL EKOLOGI DI PAROKI BATURETNO – WONOGIRI – JAWA TENGAH

Water is a life’s symbol. Lack of water means loosing hope and life for the future. Nowadays, water’s scarcity is caused by deforesting. Environmental crisis causes some effect for human life, especially fresh water’s sustainability. Therefore, environmental crisis can be reflected based on human being’s experience facing many good creatures. Planting trees, such as Ficus benjamina, or known as weeping fig trees which held by Baturetno Parish, Wonogiri, Central Java, is one of the example how to reflect, respond, and care for our common home, our mother earth. There are some points that will be achieved through this programs such as reconciliation with nature, solidarity with the poor, and making collaborations in the context of dialogue. This environmental crisis is connected to human beeing’s relation with nature and God, even others. If the relationship between human being and God is broken, which caused by greed and self-centeredness minded we cannot live in harmony. Furthermore, I am trying to do a theological reflection according to Christiana Z. Peppard’s paradigm about “just water” and participation to take care of the earth. On the other hand, Laudato Si will complete this interpretation by inviting human being and institutions to make a self-conversion as a responsibility to take care of our common home. Pope Francis emphasized the commitment to proclaim the Good news through the actions. For God’s creation is a part of the Good news. These paradigms finally are able to be an instrument to make a theological reflection on planting movement in the context of Baturetno Parish.

Promoting virus-induced gene silencing of pepper genes by a heterologous viral silencing suppressor.

Pepper is an important vegetable cultivated worldwide. Pepper fruits accumulate unique metabolites, capsanthin and capsaicin, which are important raw materials for natural pigment and medicine. Pepper plants are rich in genetic diversity and are attractive subjects for fruit developmental studies. The release of pepper reference genomes provided key genetic information for dissecting function of pepper genes underlying various interesting phenotypes (Kim et al., 2014; Qin et al., 2014). However, due to the difficulty in transformation, dissecting genetic mechanisms in pepper remained technically challenging.

An anomalous detection of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus in tomato in New York State.

In August 2020, a New York State vegetable grower sought assistance to identify a malady of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). The plants were grown from saved seed that had been planted annually in NY and/or FL for over 15 years without significant disease problems, but the identity of the cultivar was not known. Submitted photos showed severely stunted plants with distorted leaves (crinkling, cupping, twisting); leaves were reduced in size and showed interveinal yellowing. Although the most likely explanation given the growing region was herbicide damage, the symptoms bore a striking resemblance to those presented by tomato yellow leaf curl (TYLCV)-infected tomato plants. TYLCV has not been reported from NY, as the whitefly vector (Bemisia tabaci) does not overwinter in the region. Stem tissue from a symptomatic plant was grafted onto a greenhouse grown rootstock of tomato breeding line 201231 (Cornell University); shoots emerging from grafted rootstocks showed symptoms consistent with those on the scion within 21 days of grafting. Total nucleic acid was extracted (Gambino et al. 2008), and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect TYLCV was performed using primers AV632 and AC1048 (Martínez-Culebras et al. 2001). Sanger sequencing of the expected size ~460 bp product from a representative sample showed 98% nucleotide identity with the sequence of over 52 isolates of TYLCV (blastn analysis using default parameters; Altschul et al. 1990). The total nucleic acid preparation was subjected to rolling circle ampification followed by restriction enzyme SphI digestion (Haible et al. 2006). An approximately 2.8 kb DNA fragment was resolved by agarose gel electrophoresis, gel purified, inserted into the cloning vector pUC19 and sequenced. Two clones yielded sequence of 2781 nt with only one nt mismatch (accession # MW373746, MW373747). BLAST analysis showed the sequence to be most closely related to TYLCV-IL from papaya in Texas (accession KX024647.1) with 99% identity (2752 of 2781 nt). Further inquiry revealed that the vegetable grower's plants had been seeded and grown in Florida prior to transplanting in NY; Florida is a production region where the virus and vectors are endemic. Although the virus has been shown to be associated with seed (Pérez-Padilla et al. 2020) and seed transmission has been reported (Kil et al. 2016), this subject is controversial and the epidemiology of the disease is not consistent with a seed-transmitted virus (Rojas, et al. 2018). In this reported occurrence, the most plausible explanation is that the virus was introduced into NY with transplants. All of the field grown transplants of this cultivar were infected, but no local disease spread in NY was reported, nor were there reports of the vector. The significance of this report is to highlight the importance of phytosanitation in the movement of plants and plant materials. The long-distance movement of TYLCV via infected transplants in the US and globally is well-established. The presence of a pathogen may be transient and their establishment will depend on the epidemiology of the pathogen, in this case, the presence of the vector.