Brassinosteroids and Response of Plants to Heavy Metals Action

Jasmonic Acid Seed Treatment Stimulates Insecticide Detoxification in Brassica juncea L

The present study focused on assessing the effects of jasmonic acid (JA) seed treatment on the physiology of Brassica juncea seedlings grown under imidacloprid (IMI) toxicity. It has been observed that IMI application declined the chlorophyll content and growth of seedlings. However, JA seed treatment resulted in the significant recovery of chlorophyll content and seedling growth. Contents of oxidative stress markers like superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde were enhanced with IMI application, but JA seed treatment significantly reduced their contents. Antioxidative defense system was activated with IMI application which was further triggered after JA seed treatment. Activities of antioxidative enzymes and contents of non-enzymatic antioxidants were enhanced with the application of IMI as well as JA seed treatment. JA seed treatment also regulated the gene expression of various enzymes under IMI stress. These enzymes included respiratory burst oxidase (RBO), Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO), NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (NADH), carboxylesterase (CXE), chlorophyllase (CHLASE), cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450). JA seed treatment up-regulated the expressions of RUBISCO, NADH, CXE, and P450 under IMI toxicity. However, expressions of RBO and CHLASE were down-regulated in seedlings germinated from JA seed treatment and grown in presence of IMI. Seed soaking with JA also resulted in a significant reduction of IMI residues in B. juncea seedlings. The present study concluded that seed soaking with JA could efficiently reduce the IMI toxicity by triggering the IMI detoxification system in intact plants.

Genomics of Metal Stress-Mediated Signalling and Plant Adaptive Responses in Reference to Phytohormones

INTRODUCTION

As a consequence of a sessile lifestyle, plants often have to face a number of life threatening abiotic and biotic stresses. Plants counteract the stresses through morphological and physiological adaptations, which are imparted through flexible and well-coordinated network of signalling and effector molecules, where phytohormones play important role. Hormone synthesis, signal transduction, perception and cross-talks create a complex network. Omics approaches, which include transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, have opened new paths to understand such complex networks.

OBJECTIVE

This review concentrates on the importance of phytohormones and enzymatic expressions under metal stressed conditions.

CONCLUSION

This review sheds light on gene expressions involved in plant adaptive and defence responses during metal stress. It gives an insight of genomic approaches leading to identification and functional annotation of genes involved in phytohormone signal transduction and perception. Moreover, it also emphasizes on perception, signalling and cross-talks among various phytohormones and other signalling components viz., Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS).

Arabidopsis WRKY46, WRKY54, and WRKY70 Transcription Factors Are Involved in Brassinosteroid-Regulated Plant Growth and Drought Responses

Plant steroid hormones, brassinosteroids (BRs), play important roles in growth and development. BR signaling controls the activities of BRASSINOSTERIOD INSENSITIVE1-EMS-SUPPRESSOR1/BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1 (BES1/BZR1) family transcription factors. Besides the role in promoting growth, BRs are also implicated in plant responses to drought stress. However, the molecular mechanisms by which BRs regulate drought response have just begun to be revealed. The functions of WRKY transcription factors in BR-regulated plant growth have not been established, although their roles in stress responses are well documented. Here, we found that three Arabidopsis thaliana group III WRKY transcription factors, WRKY46, WRKY54, and WRKY70, are involved in both BR-regulated plant growth and drought response as the wrky46 wrky54 wrky70 triple mutant has defects in BR-regulated growth and is more tolerant to drought stress. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed global roles of WRKY46, WRKY54, and WRKY70 in promoting BR-mediated gene expression and inhibiting drought responsive genes. WRKY54 directly interacts with BES1 to cooperatively regulate the expression of target genes. In addition, WRKY54 is phosphorylated and destabilized by GSK3-like kinase BR-INSENSITIVE2, a negative regulator in the BR pathway. Our results therefore establish WRKY46/54/70 as important signaling components that are positively involved in BR-regulated growth and negatively involved in drought responses.

Effect of seed pre-soaking with 24-epibrassinolide on growth and photosynthetic parameters of Brassica juncea L. in imidacloprid soil

Pesticides are widely used to protect crop plants from various insect pests. However, application of pesticides causes phytotoxicity to plants which results in their impaired growth and development. Brassinosteroids are well known to protect plants under abiotic stress conditions. The purpose of the present study was to access the ameliorative role of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) in Brassica juncea L. under imidacloprid (IMI) toxicity. B. juncea plants were raised from seeds soaked in 0.1, 1 and 100nM of EBR, and grown in soils amended with 250, 300 and 350mgkg(-1) IMI pesticide, and observed for growth, pigments and photosynthetic parameters after 30, 60 and 90 days of seed sowing. The plants grown in soil treated with IMI exhibited a significant reduction in shoot length, number of leaves, chlorophyll contents and photosynthetic parameters like photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, inter-cellular CO2 and transpiration rate, when compared with their respective controls. However, pigments which act as antioxidants such as carotenoids, anthocyanins and xanthophylls were increased with IMI stress. Pre-sowing seed treatment with EBR decreased the toxic effects of IMI and increased the growth, pigment biosynthesis and photosynthetic parameters of the plants grown in IMI amended soil. Maximum increase in all the growth and photosynthetic parameters was noticed in plants raised from seeds treated with 100nM EBR and grown in IMI amended soil.