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aureus was shown to be the most sensitive to T. zygis EO. For the antifungal activity test, T. zygis EO showed the best inhibition diameters compared to T. willdenowii EO. These results showed that T. zygis EO has more powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial activities than T. willdenowii EO, therefore, we deduce that thyme EOs are excellent antioxidants, they have strong antimicrobial properties, and may in the future represent new sources of natural antiseptics that can be used in pharmaceutical and food industry.Volatile benzenoid compounds are found in diverse aromatic bouquets emitted by most moth-pollinated flowers. The night-blooming Jasminum sambac is widely cultivated worldwide in the tropics and subtropics for ornamental and industrial purposes owing to its fragrant flowers. Benzylacetate is a characteristic constituent in jasmine scent which makes up to approximately 20-30% of the total emission in the headspace or extract, but the biosynthesis enzymes and the encoding genes have not yet been described. Here, we identify two cytosolic BAHD acyltransferases specifically expressed in the petals with a positive correlation closely to the emission pattern of the volatile benzenoids. Both JsBEAT1 and JsBEAT2 could use benzylalcohol and acetate-CoA as substrates to make benzylacetate in vitro. The recombinant GST-JsBEAT1 has an estimated apparent Km of 447.3 μM for benzylalcohol and 546.0 μM for acetate-CoA, whereas in the instance of the His-JsBEAT2, the Km values are marginally lower, being 278.7 and 317.3 μM, respectively. However, the catalytic reactions by the GST-JsBEAT1 are more efficient than that by the His-JsBEAT2, based on the steady-state kcat parameters. Furthermore, ectopic expression of JsBEAT1 and JsBEAT2 in the transgenic P. hybrida plants, driven by a flower-specific promotor, significantly enhances the biosynthesis of benzylbenzoate and benzylacetate, as well as the total VOCs.Calcium and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are two of the earliest second messengers in response to environmental stresses in plants. The rise and sequestration of these messengers in the cytosol and apoplast are formed by various channels, transporters, and enzymes that are required for proper defense responses. It remains unclear how calcium and ROS signals regulate each other during pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). In the present study, we examined the effects of perturbing one signal on the other in Arabidopsis leaves upon the addition of flg22, a well-studied microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP). To this end, a variety of pharmacological agents were used to suppress either calcium or ROS signaling. Our data suggest that cytosolic calcium elevation is required to initiate and regulate apoplastic ROS production generated by respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs). In contrast, ROS has no effect on the initiation of the calcium signal, but is required for forming a sufficient amplitude of the calcium signal. This finding using pharmacological agents is corroborated by the result of using a genetic double mutant, rbohd rbohf. Our study provides an insight into the mutual interplay of calcium and ROS signals during the MAMP-induced PTI response in plants.Cultivated beets (sugar beets, fodder beets, leaf beets, and garden beets) belonging to the species Beta vulgaris L. are important sources for many products such as sugar, bioethanol, animal feed, human nutrition, pulp residue, pectin extract, and molasses. Beta maritima L. (sea beet or wild beet) is a halophytic wild ancestor of all cultivated beets. With a requirement of less water and having shorter growth period than sugarcane, cultivated beets are preferentially spreading from temperate regions to subtropical countries. The beet cultivars display tolerance to several abiotic stresses such as salt, drought, cold, heat, and heavy metals. However, many environmental factors adversely influence growth, yield, and quality of beets. Hence, selection of stress-tolerant beet varieties and knowledge on the response mechanisms of beet cultivars to different abiotic stress factors are most required. The present review discusses morpho-physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of cultivated beets (B. vulgaris L.) to different abiotic stresses including alkaline, cold, heat, heavy metals, and UV radiation. Additionally, we describe the beet genes reported for their involvement in response to these stress conditions.Duckweed plants play important roles in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. They rapidly accumulate biomass and have potential uses in bioremediation of water polluted by fertilizer runoff or other chemicals. Here we studied the assimilation of two major sources of inorganic nitrogen, nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+), in six duckweed species Spirodela polyrhiza, Landoltia punctata, Lemna aequinoctialis, Lemna turionifera, Lemna minor, and Wolffia globosa. All six duckweed species preferred NH4+ over NO3- and started using NO3- only when NH4+ was depleted. Using the available genome sequence, we analyzed the molecular structure and expression of eight key nitrogen assimilation genes in S. polyrhiza. The expression of genes encoding nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase increased about 10-fold when NO3- was supplied and decreased when NH4+ was supplied. NO3- and NH4+ induced the glutamine synthetase (GS) genes GS1;2 and the GS2 by 2- to 5-fold, respectively, but repressed GS1;1 and GS1;3. NH4+ and NO3- upregulated the genes encoding ferredoxin- and NADH-dependent glutamate synthases (Fd-GOGAT and NADH-GOGAT). A survey of nitrogen assimilation gene promoters suggested complex regulation, with major roles for NRE-like and GAATC/GATTC cis-elements, TATA-based enhancers, GA/CTn repeats, and G-quadruplex structures. RZ-2994 These results will inform efforts to improve bioremediation and nitrogen use efficiency.Latania scale insect is a pest of global significance affecting kiwifruit. The sessile insect (life stage settled crawler-mature adult) is covered with a waxy cap that protects it from topical pesticides, so increasingly, a selection of resistant cultivars and application of elicitors are being used in pest control. Thus far, the application of a salicylic acid (SA) phytohormone pathway elicitor, acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), has been shown to reduce insect development (as indicated by cap size) on one kiwifruit cultivar ('Hayward'). To investigate how cultivar-associated resistance is affected by the ability to respond to different elicitors, we measured phytohormones (by LCMS) and gene expression (by qPCR and NanoString) on latania scale-tolerant 'Hort16A' and susceptible 'Hayward' kiwifruit over two seasons. Potted plants in the presence/absence of settled latania scales were treated with ASM (0.2 g/L) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA, 0.05% v/v), representing elicitors of the SA and JA signalling pathways, respectively. 'Hort16A' cultivar resistance to latania scale was associated with elevated expression of SA and SA-related defence genes (PR1 and two PR2 family genes) in the ASM treatment. MeJA treatments did not significantly affect insect development in 'Hayward' (latania scale did not survive on 'Hort16A') and did not correlate with phytohormone and gene expression measurements in either cultivar. 'Hayward' had greater concentrations than 'Hort16A' of inert storage forms of both SA and JA across all treatments. This information contributes to the selection of tolerant cultivars and the effective use of elicitors for control of latania scale in kiwifruit.Plant natriuretic peptides (PNPs) are hormones that have been extracted from many different species, with the Arabidopsis thaliana PNP (AtPNP-A) being the most studied among them. AtPNP-A is a signaling molecule that consists of 130 residues and is secreted into the apoplast, under conditions of biotic or abiotic stress. AtPNP-A has distant sequence homology with human ANP, a protein that forms amyloid fibrils in vivo. In this work, we investigated the amyloidogenic properties of a 34-residue-long peptide, located within the AtPNP-A sequence, in three different pH conditions, using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray fiber diffraction, ATR FT-IR spectroscopy, Congo red and Thioflavin T staining assays. We also utilize bioinformatics tools to study its association with known plant amyloidogenic proteins and other A. thaliana proteins. Our results reveal a new case of a pH-dependent amyloid forming peptide in A. thaliana, with a potential functional role.Trans-lycopene is a functional phytochemical abundant in red-fleshed watermelons, and its contents vary among cultivars. In this study, the genetic basis of high trans-lycopene contents in scarlet red flesh was evaluated. Three near-isogenic lines (NILs) with high trans-lycopene contents were derived from the scarlet red-fleshed donor parent DRD and three coral red-fleshed (low trans-lycopene contents) recurrent parents. The lycopene contents of DRD (589.4 ± 71.8 µg/g) were two times higher than that of the recurrent parents, and values for NILs were intermediate between those of the parents. Coral red-fleshed lines and F1 cultivars showed low trans-lycopene contents (135.7 ± 18.0 µg/g to 213.7 ± 39.5 µg/g). Whole-genome resequencing of two NILs and their parents and an analysis of genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms revealed three common introgressed regions (CIRs) on chromosomes 6, 9, and 10. Twenty-eight gene-based cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers were developed from the CIRs. The CAPS markers derived from CIR6 on chromosome 6, spanning approximately 1 Mb, were associated (R2 = 0.45-0.72) with the trans-lycopene contents, particularly CIR6-M1 and CIR6-M4. Our results imply that CIR6 is a major genomic region associated with variation in the trans-lycopene contents in red-fleshed watermelon, and CIR6-M1 and CIR6-M4 may be useful for marker-assisted selection.The Annonaceae family is one of the oldest angiosperms. The genus Annona is the one with the most species and, together with Asimina, the only ones that contain edible fruits. In the last 10 years, interest in these fruit species has increased, mainly due to their nutritional properties and their application in the treatment of human diseases. Mexico is the center of origin for most of them. However, at present much of the basic agronomic information, postharvest handling of the fruits, and their potential as new crops for areas with poor soils in organic matter or semi-dry climates is unknown. It is considered that these custard apple species may be an option to change towards instead of crops that have lost profitability and sustainability. A review of the current state of knowledge in different areas of the species A. muricata, A. macroprophyllata, A. reticulata, A. squamosa, and A. cherimola was carried out and to focus research efforts on the topics of greatest interest and on those where is required to achieve a sustainable production and use of these resources in Mexico. However, knowledge about the cultivation and potential uses of these species is needed to increase their commercialization; the integration of interdisciplinary and interinstitutional groups is required.Lemon wormwood Artemisia balchanorum was recently introduced to southern Russia as a new aromatic plant. Based on biological and chemical characteristics, several populations with dominant citral, linalool, and geraniol production were selected for further development and maintained by seed propagation. Chemical analysis of five outstanding populations at three stages of annual development vegetative, flower buds, and full flowering, confirmed that the seed populations retain the distinct dynamics of the dominant and minor components during the annual cycle and can be used for the commercial production of citral, linalool, and geraniol. Micropropagation in vitro allows for efficient clonal micropropagation and mass reproduction of elite cultivars and promising forms of A. balchanorum on a commercial scale but cannot serve as a source of direct and efficient production of secondary metabolites.