Dynamic hydrolase labelling as a marker for seed quality in Arabidopsis seeds

Plant adaptation to climate change

Plants are vital to human health and well-being, as well as helping to protect the environment against the negative impacts of climate change. They are an essential part of the 'One Health' strategy that seeks to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment. Crucially, plants are central to nature-based solutions to climate mitigation, not least because soil carbon storage is an attractive strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and the associated climate change. Agriculture depends on genetically pure, high-quality seeds that are free from pests and pathogens and contain a required degree of genetic purity. This themed collection addresses key questions in the field encompassing the biochemical mechanisms that underlie plant responses and adaptations to a changing climate. This collection encompasses an analysis of the biochemistry and molecular mechanisms underpinning crop and forest resilience, together with considerations of plant adaptations to climate change-associated stresses, including drought, floods and heatwaves, and the increased threats posed by pathogens and pests.

Activity-based protein profiling of rice (Oryza sativa L.) bran serine hydrolases

Rice bran is an underutilized agricultural by-product with economic importance. The unique phytochemicals and fatty acid compositions of bran have been targeted for nutraceutical development. The endogenous lipases and hydrolases are responsible for the rapid deterioration of rice bran. Hence, we attempted to provide the first comprehensive profiling of active serine hydrolases (SHs) present in rice bran proteome by activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) strategy. The active site-directed fluorophosphonate probe (rhodamine and biotin-conjugated) was used for the detection and identification of active SHs. ABPP revealed 55 uncharacterized active-SHs and are representing five different known enzyme families. Based on motif and domain analyses, one of the uncharacterized and miss annotated SHs (Os12Ssp, storage protein) was selected for biochemical characterization by overexpressing in yeast. The purified recombinant protein authenticated the serine protease activity in time and protein-dependent studies. Os12Ssp exhibited the maximum activity at a pH between 7.0 and 8.0. The protease activity was inhibited by the covalent serine protease inhibitor, which suggests that the ABPP approach is indeed reliable than the sequence-based annotations. Collectively, the comprehensive knowledge generated from this study would be useful in expanding the current understanding of rice bran SHs and paves the way for better utilization/stabilization of rice bran.