1
|
Thingujam D, Pajerowska-Mukhtar KM, Mukhtar MS. Duckweed: Beyond an Efficient Plant Model System. Biomolecules 2024; 14:628. [PMID: 38927032 PMCID: PMC11201744 DOI: 10.3390/biom14060628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2024] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Duckweed (Lemnaceae) rises as a crucial model system due to its unique characteristics and wide-ranging utility. The significance of physiological research and phytoremediation highlights the intricate potential of duckweed in the current era of plant biology. Special attention to duckweed has been brought due to its distinctive features of nutrient uptake, ion transport dynamics, detoxification, intricate signaling, and stress tolerance. In addition, duckweed can alleviate environmental pollutants and enhance sustainability by participating in bioremediation processes and wastewater treatment. Furthermore, insights into the genomic complexity of Lemnaceae species and the flourishing field of transgenic development highlight the opportunities for genetic manipulation and biotechnological innovations. Novel methods for the germplasm conservation of duckweed can be adopted to preserve genetic diversity for future research endeavors and breeding programs. This review centers around prospects in duckweed research promoting interdisciplinary collaborations and technological advancements to drive its full potential as a model organism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Doni Thingujam
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 3100 East Science Hall, 902 14th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA;
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Karolina M. Pajerowska-Mukhtar
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 3100 East Science Hall, 902 14th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA;
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - M. Shahid Mukhtar
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 3100 East Science Hall, 902 14th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA;
- Department of Genetics & Biochemistry, Clemson University, 105 Collings St. Biosystems Research Complex, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Roussin-Léveillée C, Rossi CAM, Castroverde CDM, Moffett P. The plant disease triangle facing climate change: a molecular perspective. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024:S1360-1385(24)00060-8. [PMID: 38580544 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2024.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
Variations in climate conditions can dramatically affect plant health and the generation of climate-resilient crops is imperative to food security. In addition to directly affecting plants, it is predicted that more severe climate conditions will also result in greater biotic stresses. Recent studies have identified climate-sensitive molecular pathways that can result in plants being more susceptible to infection under unfavorable conditions. Here, we review how expected changes in climate will impact plant-pathogen interactions, with a focus on mechanisms regulating plant immunity and microbial virulence strategies. We highlight the complex interactions between abiotic and biotic stresses with the goal of identifying components and/or pathways that are promising targets for genetic engineering to enhance adaptation and strengthen resilience in dynamically changing environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Christina A M Rossi
- Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada
| | | | - Peter Moffett
- Centre SÈVE, Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Islam T, Kalkar S, Tinker-Kulberg R, Ignatova T, Josephs EA. The "Duckweed Dip": Aquatic Spirodela polyrhiza Plants Can Efficiently Uptake Dissolved, DNA-Wrapped Carbon Nanotubes from Their Environment for Transient Gene Expression. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:687-691. [PMID: 38127817 PMCID: PMC10877602 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) are aquatic nongrass monocots that are the smallest and fastest-growing flowering plants in the world. While having simplified morphologies, relatively small genomes, and many other ideal traits for emerging applications in plant biotechnology, duckweeds have been largely overlooked in this era of synthetic biology. Here, we report that Greater Duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza), when simply incubated in a solution containing plasmid-wrapped carbon nanotubes (DNA-CNTs), can directly uptake the DNA-CNTs from their growth media with high efficiency and that transgenes encoded within the plasmids are expressed by the plants─without the usual need for large doses of nanomaterials or agrobacterium to be directly infiltrated into plant tissue. This process, called the "duckweed dip", represents a streamlined, "hands-off" tool for transgene delivery to a higher plant that we expect will enhance the throughput of duckweed engineering and help to realize duckweed's potential as a powerhouse for plant synthetic biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tasmia Islam
- Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2907 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States
| | - Swapna Kalkar
- Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2907 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States
| | - Rachel Tinker-Kulberg
- Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2907 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States
| | - Tetyana Ignatova
- Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2907 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States
| | - Eric A. Josephs
- Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2907 E. Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, North Carolina 27401, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Castel B, El Mahboubi K, Jacquet C, Delaux PM. Immunobiodiversity: Conserved and specific immunity across land plants and beyond. MOLECULAR PLANT 2024; 17:92-111. [PMID: 38102829 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Angiosperms represent most plants that humans cultivate, grow, and eat. However, angiosperms are only one of five major land plant lineages. As a whole lineage, plants also include algal groups. All these clades represent a tremendous genetic diversity that can be investigated to reveal the evolutionary history of any given mechanism. In this review, we describe the current model of the plant immune system, discuss its evolution based on the recent literature, and propose future directions for the field. In angiosperms, plant-microbe interactions have been intensively studied, revealing essential cell surface and intracellular immune receptors, as well as metabolic and hormonal defense pathways. Exploring diversity at the genomic and functional levels demonstrates the conservation of these pathways across land plants, some of which are beyond plants. On basis of the conserved mechanisms, lineage-specific variations have occurred, leading to diversified reservoirs of immune mechanisms. In rare cases, this diversity has been harnessed and successfully transferred to other species by integration of wild immune receptors or engineering of novel forms of receptors for improved resistance to pathogens. We propose that exploring further the diversity of immune mechanisms in the whole plant lineage will reveal completely novel sources of resistance to be deployed in crops.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Castel
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales (LRSV), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Karima El Mahboubi
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales (LRSV), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Christophe Jacquet
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales (LRSV), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Pierre-Marc Delaux
- Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales (LRSV), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse INP, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Anneberg TJ, Turcotte MM, Ashman TL. Plant neopolyploidy and genetic background differentiate the microbiome of duckweed across a variety of natural freshwater sources. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:5849-5863. [PMID: 37750335 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
Whole-genome duplication has long been appreciated for its role in driving phenotypic novelty in plants, often altering the way organisms interface with the abiotic environment. Only recently, however, have we begun to investigate how polyploidy influences interactions of plants with other species, despite the biotic niche being predicted as one of the main determinants of polyploid establishment. Nevertheless, we lack information about how polyploidy affects the diversity and composition of the microbial taxa that colonize plants, and whether this is genotype-dependent and repeatable across natural environments. This information is a first step towards understanding whether the microbiome contributes to polyploid establishment. We, thus, tested the immediate effect of polyploidy on the diversity and composition of the bacterial microbiome of the aquatic plant Spirodela polyrhiza using four pairs of diploids and synthetic autotetraploids. Under controlled conditions, axenic plants were inoculated with pond waters collected from 10 field sites across a broad environmental gradient. Autotetraploids hosted 4%-11% greater bacterial taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity than their diploid progenitors. Polyploidy, along with its interactions with the inoculum source and genetic lineage, collectively explained 7% of the total variation in microbiome composition. Furthermore, polyploidy broadened the core microbiome, with autotetraploids having 15 unique bacterial taxa in addition to the 55 they shared with diploids. Our results show that whole-genome duplication directly leads to novelty in the plant microbiome and importantly that the effect is dependent on the genetic ancestry of the polyploid and generalizable over many environmental contexts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Anneberg
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Martin M Turcotte
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Tia-Lynn Ashman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kumar R, Acharya V. Effector protein structures: a tale of evolutionary relationship. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 28:746-748. [PMID: 37127498 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Effector proteins are highly diverse, often lacking similarity in their protein sequences, making it challenging to determine their biological function. Using AlphaFold2 (AF2), Seong and Krasileva recently found that effector structures, but not sequences, share commonality. This helps further understanding of effector evolution across fungal species and reveals unique sequence-unrelated, structurally similar, effector families.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ravi Kumar
- Functional Genomics and Complex System Lab, Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Vishal Acharya
- Functional Genomics and Complex System Lab, Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Ziegler P, Appenroth KJ, Sree KS. Survival Strategies of Duckweeds, the World's Smallest Angiosperms. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:plants12112215. [PMID: 37299193 DOI: 10.3390/plants12112215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) are small, simply constructed aquatic higher plants that grow on or just below the surface of quiet waters. They consist primarily of leaf-like assimilatory organs, or fronds, that reproduce mainly by vegetative replication. Despite their diminutive size and inornate habit, duckweeds have been able to colonize and maintain themselves in almost all of the world's climate zones. They are thereby subject to multiple adverse influences during the growing season, such as high temperatures, extremes of light intensity and pH, nutrient shortage, damage by microorganisms and herbivores, the presence of harmful substances in the water, and competition from other aquatic plants, and they must also be able to withstand winter cold and drought that can be lethal to the fronds. This review discusses the means by which duckweeds come to grips with these adverse influences to ensure their survival. Important duckweed attributes in this regard are a pronounced potential for rapid growth and frond replication, a juvenile developmental status facilitating adventitious organ formation, and clonal diversity. Duckweeds have specific features at their disposal for coping with particular environmental difficulties and can also cooperate with other organisms of their surroundings to improve their survival chances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Ziegler
- Department of Plant Physiology, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Klaus J Appenroth
- Matthias Schleiden Institute-Plant Physiology, University of Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - K Sowjanya Sree
- Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Kerala, Periye 671320, India
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Pasaribu B, Acosta K, Aylward A, Liang Y, Abramson BW, Colt K, Hartwick NT, Shanklin J, Michael TP, Lam E. Genomics of turions from the Greater Duckweed reveal its pathways for dormancy and re-emergence strategy. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023. [PMID: 37149888 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Over 15 families of aquatic plants are known to use a strategy of developmental switching upon environmental stress to produce dormant propagules called turions. However, few molecular details for turion biology have been elucidated due to the difficulties in isolating high-quality nucleic acids from this tissue. We successfully developed a new protocol to isolate high-quality transcripts and carried out RNA-seq analysis of mature turions from the Greater Duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza. Comparison of turion transcriptomes to that of fronds, the actively growing leaf-like tissue, were carried out. Bioinformatic analysis of high confidence, differentially expressed transcripts between frond and mature turion tissues revealed major pathways related to stress tolerance, starch and lipid metabolism, and dormancy that are mobilized to reprogram frond meristems for turion differentiation. We identified the key genes that are likely to drive starch and lipid accumulation during turion formation, as well as those in pathways for starch and lipid utilization upon turion germination. Comparison of genome-wide cytosine methylation levels also revealed evidence for epigenetic changes in the formation of turion tissues. Similarities between turions and seeds provide evidence that key regulators for seed maturation and germination were retooled for their function in turion biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Buntora Pasaribu
- Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
- Marine Science Department, Faculty of Fishery and Marine Science, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, 40600, Indonesia
| | - Kenneth Acosta
- Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| | - Anthony Aylward
- The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Yuanxue Liang
- Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - Bradley W Abramson
- The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Kelly Colt
- The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Nolan T Hartwick
- The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - John Shanklin
- Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - Todd P Michael
- The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Eric Lam
- Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| |
Collapse
|