Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2023) | Viewed by 11827

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Resources, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Interests: plant nutritional signaling and responses; redox homeostasis in plant cells; nitrate reductase biochemistry; ethylene signaling; circadian clock; photosynthetic and respiratory adaptations to nutritional stresses
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

To cope with nutriental limitations or excessiveness, crops develop both cellular and molecular responses. The mechanisms behind these adaptations are not totally understood, but some hormones (especially auxin, ethylene, gibberellins, brassinosteroids, etc.) and signaling substances (microRNAs, NO, free radicals, NADPH, etc.) have been implicated. To confer specificity to each nutrient deficiency, hormones and signaling substances should interact among them in a specific way or they could act through multiple signaling pathways.

Understating the genetic regulatory mechanisms for nutrient uptake, accumulation, and distribution in plants will make it possible to develop an ideal future crop harboring higher usage efficiency of nutriental elements for adapting to changeable environments. It would be helpful to excavate the germplasms and candidate functional genes and provide new insights into understanding the mechanisms of crop nutritional physiology.

Papers submitted to this Special Issue must report novelty results, new regulation working models, and the latest findings related with the regulation of the nutriental signaling responses, mainly focused on new gene (or QTL) identification, new nutriental signaling pathways, the interactions among hormones or gene regulation networks to confer specificity to the nutriental responses, and the crosstalk between environmental stress and nutritional responses. 

Prof. Dr. Shu Yuan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Crop nutritional physiology
  • Nutriention uptake
  • Nutriention transport and distribution
  • Nutriental signaling
  • Signaling substances
  • Key enzymes
  • Functional genes
  • Gene
  • regulation network
  • Hormones
  • Environment and nutrition crosstalk

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 439 KiB  
Article
Effect of Foliar Silicon Application on Nutrient Content in Early Crop Potato Tubers
by Wanda Wadas
Agronomy 2022, 12(11), 2706; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12112706 - 01 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1340
Abstract
As some trace elements can enhance plant nutrient uptake and assimilation, it was hypothesized that foliar silicon application could enhance nutrient content in early-crop potato tubers. The effect of dosage (23.25 g Si∙ha−1 or 46.50 g Si∙ha−1) and time (the [...] Read more.
As some trace elements can enhance plant nutrient uptake and assimilation, it was hypothesized that foliar silicon application could enhance nutrient content in early-crop potato tubers. The effect of dosage (23.25 g Si∙ha−1 or 46.50 g Si∙ha−1) and time (the leaf development stage—BBCH 14–16, tuber initiation stage—BBCH 40–41, at both the leaf development stage and tuber initiation stage) of the silicon application on the nutrient contents in early crop potato tubers was investigated. Silicon had no effect on the potassium (K), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), or magnesium (Mg) contents in potato tubers, but it reduced sodium (Na) accumulation, especially under water deficit conditions during tuber bulking. This resulted in a reduction in the mass ratios of Na+/Ca2+ and Na+/Mg2+ in tubers. Silicon dosage significantly affected the Na accumulation by potato tubers only in the warm and very dry growing season. Under drought stress, silicon at 46.50 g Si∙ha–1 reduced the Na content in potato tubers more than at 23.25 g Si∙ha1. Under periodic water deficits, the time of silicon application affected the Na accumulation by potato tubers more than the silicon dosage. The Na content in tubers was the highest with two silicon applications. Although silicon reduced the Na accumulation, the ratio of the sum of univalent cations to the sum of bivalent cations (K+ + Na+)/(Ca2+ + Mg2+) in tubers was at the same level, both in cultivations with and without silicon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology)
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14 pages, 2293 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Physiological Response and Productive Performance of Vegetable vs. Conventional Soybean Cultivars for Edamame Production
by Laura Matos Ribera, Eduardo Santana Aires, Caio Scardini Neves, Gustavo do Carmo Fernandes, Filipe Pereira Giardini Bonfim, Roanita Iara Rockenbach, João Domingos Rodrigues and Elizabeth Orika Ono
Agronomy 2022, 12(6), 1478; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12061478 - 20 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1791
Abstract
Because there is a close relationship between plant physiological response and crop performance, the current study aims to evaluate the photosynthetic efficiency and productive performance of vegetable versus conventional soybean cultivars for edamame production. The study was conducted at the School of Agriculture [...] Read more.
Because there is a close relationship between plant physiological response and crop performance, the current study aims to evaluate the photosynthetic efficiency and productive performance of vegetable versus conventional soybean cultivars for edamame production. The study was conducted at the School of Agriculture (FCA UNESP), Botucatu-SP, Brazil. The treatments in this study included soybean cultivars: vegetable-type BRS 267, vegetable-type BRSMG 790A), and type soybean cultivar grain 58HO124 EP RR, with ten repetitions per treatment in a completely randomized block design. Gas exchange and the response of the cultivars to light were evaluated for photosynthetic characterization. The first pod insertion height, plant height, number of pods per plant, and production in immature grains were all assessed for cultivar productive performance. The type of soybean cultivar grain and vegetable types of soybean showed different behaviors on physiology and yield. The vegetable-types BRS 267 and BRSMG 790A had the highest average for first pod insertion height. The vegetable type BRS 267, whose photoassimilates were designated for vegetative development, had the greatest average plant height. The conventional type 58HO124 EP RR showed greater assimilation of CO2; however, the photoassimilates were directed to floral emission because such features are inherent in its ability. Finally, vegetable-type BRSMG 790A produced the most immature grains per plant while also having the greatest first pod insertion height, being the best in converting photoassimilates for edamame production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology)
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14 pages, 2421 KiB  
Article
Relatively Low Light Intensity Promotes Phosphorus Absorption and Enhances the Ethylene Signaling Component EIN3 in Maize, Wheat, and Oilseed Rape
by Meng-Yao Zhang, Xin Cai, Yu-Ting Wan, Yu-Fan Fu, Xin-Yue Yang, Zhong-Wei Zhang and Shu Yuan
Agronomy 2022, 12(2), 427; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12020427 - 09 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1750
Abstract
Previous studies have found that once seedlings break the soil, light can induce the degradation of the key ethylene signaling element ethylene insensitive 3 (EIN3), so as to indirectly inhibit the synthesis of ethylene. Ethylene is the most important hormone in phosphorus absorption [...] Read more.
Previous studies have found that once seedlings break the soil, light can induce the degradation of the key ethylene signaling element ethylene insensitive 3 (EIN3), so as to indirectly inhibit the synthesis of ethylene. Ethylene is the most important hormone in phosphorus absorption by plants, which induces the expression of acid phosphatase (APase) and phosphorus starvation response genes. Therefore, it might be speculated that changes in light intensity could regulate phosphorus absorption to some degree. However, there are few reports on the mechanism by which light intensity regulates phosphorus metabolism. In this study, the effects of different light intensities on phosphorus assimilation and metabolism in plants were studied. The results showed that relatively low light intensity could promote the secretion of APase, so as to increase the concentration of plant total phosphorus and cellular Pi. However, the low light intensity may also inhibit plant growth. Among the three species, oilseed rape was the most sensitive to the low light intensity. The steady-state level of the EIN3 protein decreased significantly under a relatively high light intensity; while the ethylene level also decreased under the high light intensity. Therefore, appropriate reductions in light intensity may simultaneously promote phosphorus assimilation and maintain plant growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology)
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14 pages, 5281 KiB  
Article
Trichoderma-Enriched Vermicompost Extracts Reduces Nematode Biotic Stress in Tomato and Bell Pepper Crops
by Tiago dos Santos Pereira, Alessandra Monteiro de Paula, Luis Henrique Ferrari, Juscimar da Silva, Jadir Borges Pinheiro, Sabrina Magaly Navas Cajamarca, Keiji Jindo, Mirella Pupo Santos, Daniel Basílio Zandonadi and Jader Galba Busato
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1655; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11081655 - 19 Aug 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2969
Abstract
Root-knot nematode (RKN) is a serious threat to crops worldwide due to the difficulty in controlling it and the limited eco-friendly alternatives to deal with the biotic stress it causes. In the present work, water-extractable fractions obtained from vermicompost (WSFv), vermicompost enriched with [...] Read more.
Root-knot nematode (RKN) is a serious threat to crops worldwide due to the difficulty in controlling it and the limited eco-friendly alternatives to deal with the biotic stress it causes. In the present work, water-extractable fractions obtained from vermicompost (WSFv), vermicompost enriched with Trichoderma asperellum (WSFta) and T. virens (WSFtv) were tested as biotechnological tools to reduce the impacts of RKN on gas exchange, water use efficiency (WUE) and nutrient concentration in tomato and bell pepper plants. The plants were infected with 5000 eggs and eventual J2 of RKN and then treated with the water-extractable fractions for seven weeks. It was observed that the addition of WSFta, WSFtv and WSFv increased the CO2 assimilation, stomatal conductance and WUE in the tomato plants. In the bell pepper plants, WSFta, WSFtv, WSFv increased the stomatal conductance, while WUE was higher in the treatment with WSFtv. In fact, the parameters associated with the gas exchange were usually higher in the bell pepper than in the tomato plants. Overall, higher contents of N, Mg, B and Mn were detected when the extracts were applied in both bell pepper and tomato plants. The application of the water-extractable fractions, inoculated or not with Trichoderma, attenuates the RKN damage on the gas exchange parameters and successfully enhanced the nutrient concentration in the infected tomato and bell pepper plants, showing that it could be an important and promising tool for reducing the damage caused by this pathogen. We suggest that both the tomato and pepper plants can cope with the dilemma between growth and stress response via stomata regulation that are modulated by the WSF and Trichoderma. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology)
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21 pages, 5927 KiB  
Article
Novel Loci for Kernel Hardness Appeared as a Response to Heat and Combined Heat-Drought Conditions in Wheat Harboring Aegilops tauschii Diversity
by Gamila Mohamed Idris Elhadi, Nasrein Mohamed Kamal, Yasir Serag Alnor Gorafi, Yuji Yamasaki, Yusuke Ban, Keita Kato, Izzat Sidahmed Ali Tahir, Takayoshi Ishii, Hiroyuki Tanaka and Hisashi Tsujimoto
Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1061; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11061061 - 25 May 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2905
Abstract
Kernel hardness influences the milling and baking quality of wheat. Stress environments such as heat and combined heat-drought can produce harder kernels, thereby affecting the overall wheat quality. Beside puroindoline genes that are known to determine hardness, other QTLs contribute to the hardness. [...] Read more.
Kernel hardness influences the milling and baking quality of wheat. Stress environments such as heat and combined heat-drought can produce harder kernels, thereby affecting the overall wheat quality. Beside puroindoline genes that are known to determine hardness, other QTLs contribute to the hardness. These QTLs, especially under stress conditions, need extensive research. Moreover, understanding the modification or stabilization of hardness under stress condition and the relationship with stress tolerance will facilitate the selection of superior lines that maintain both high yield and quality even under the stress environment. Therefore, in the current work, we aimed to identify the genetic loci and marker trait associations (MTAs) that contributes for hardness under optimum conditions in Japan, and heat and combined heat-drought (HD) conditions in Sudan. We used a panel of multiple synthetic derivatives (MSD) having diverse Aegilops tauschii genome segments and investigated the association between hardness stabilization and stress tolerance. Under stress conditions, we observed that less reduction of kernel weight is associated with either low change or stable kernel hardness. We identified 47 markers associated with hardness under all conditions; the D genome was the main contributor. For the first time, we found a significant association with hardness under stress conditions on chromosome 4D. We dissected several candidate genes associated with the change of hardness under stress conditions. Our results will improve the understanding of the genetic factors that affect wheat hardness stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Researches on Crop Nutritional Molecular Biology)
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