Phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis reveals early stress responses in transgenic rice expressing Arabidopsis DREB1a

A review on regulatory aspects, challenges and public perception in acceptance of genetically modified foods

A clear vision for the future of the world's food supply must be developed by all stakeholders, including consumers, farmers, and governments, especially in light of the rapid improvements in the production of genetically modified crops. It has been possible through biotechnology and genetic engineering, genetically modified (GM) crops have been engineered to have certain qualities, such as resistance to pests, illnesses, or herbicides. Concerns about risks and unintended effects of GM crops include ecosystem impacts, new pests or diseases, and health effects on humans and animals. There is mounting evidence that consumers may respond unfavourably to the introduction of genetically altered foods. This research focuses at how genetic engineering can raise agricultural yields, improve nutrient content, and lessen the use for hazardous pesticides and herbicides in food production. Regulatory framework for GM foods may impact on perception and acceptance of consumers.

Phenotypic and microarray analysis reveals salinity stress-induced oxidative tolerance in transgenic rice expressing a DEAD-box RNA helicase, OsDB10

Helicases are the motor proteins not only involved in the process of mRNA metabolism but also played a significant role in providing abiotic stresses tolerance. In this study, a DEAD-box RNA helicase OsDB10 was cloned and functionally characterized. The transcript levels of OsDB10 were increased both in shoot and root upon salt, heat, cold, and ABA application and was more prominent in shoot compared to root. Genomic integration of OsDB10 in transgenic rice was confirmed by PCR, Southern blot and qRT-PCR analysis. The transgenic plants showed quicker seed germination, reduced necrosis, higher chlorophyll, more survival rate, better seedling growth, and produced more grain yield under salinity stress. Furthermore, transgenic lines also accumulated less Na+ and high K+ ions and salinity tolerance of the transgenic were also assayed by measuring different bio-physiological indices. Moreover, the OsDB10 transgenic plants showed enhanced tolerance to salinity-induced oxidative stress by scavenging ROS and increased activity of antioxidants enzymes. Microarray analysis showed upregulation of transcriptional regulations and metabolic reprogramming as OsDB10 overexpression modulates the expression of many other genes. Altogether, our results confirmed that OsDB10 is a functional DEAD-box RNA helicase and played vital roles in plant defence response against salinity stress.

Chilling stress drives organ-specific transcriptional cascades and dampens diurnal oscillation in tomato

Improving chilling tolerance in cold-sensitive crops, e.g. tomato, requires knowledge of the early molecular response to low temperature in these under-studied species. To elucidate early responding processes and regulators, we captured the transcriptional response at 30 minutes and 3 hours in the shoots and at 3 hours in the roots of tomato post-chilling from 24°C to 4°C. We used a pre-treatment control and a concurrent ambient temperature control to reveal that majority of the differential expression between cold and ambient conditions is due to severely compressed oscillation of a large set of diurnally regulated genes in both the shoots and roots. This compression happens within 30 minutes of chilling, lasts for the duration of cold treatment, and is relieved within 3 hours of return to ambient temperatures. Our study also shows that the canonical ICE1/CAMTA-to-CBF cold response pathway is active in the shoots, but not in the roots. Chilling stress induces synthesis of known cryoprotectants (trehalose and polyamines), in a CBF-independent manner, and induction of multiple genes encoding proteins of photosystems I and II. This study provides nuanced insights into the organ-specific response in a chilling sensitive plant, as well as the genes influenced by an interaction of chilling response and the circadian clock.