Peanut is an important oilseed and food legume cultivated as a rain-fed crop in semi-arid tropics. Drought and high salinity are the major abiotic stresses limiting the peanut productivity in this region. Development of drought and salt tolerant peanut varieties with improved yield potential using biotechnological approach is highly desirable to improve the peanut productivity in marginal geogr...

Rhythms produced by the endogenous circadian clock play a critical role in allowing plants to respond and adapt to the environment. While there is a well-established regulatory link between the circadian clock and responses to abiotic stress in model plants, little is known of the circadian system in crop species like soybean. This study examines how drought impacts diurnal oscillation of both ...

The cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) represent a large and important enzyme superfamily in plants. They catalyze numerous monooxygenation/hydroxylation reactions in biochemical pathways, P450s are involved in a variety of metabolic pathways and participate in the homeostasis of phytohormones. The CYP82 family genes specifically reside in dicots and are usually induced by distinct environm...

Calmodulin-like (CML) proteins are important Ca(2+) sensors, which play significant role in mediating plant stress tolerance. In the present study, cold responsive calmodulin-like (ShCML44) gene was isolated from cold tolerant wild tomato (Solanum habrochaites), and functionally characterized. The ShCML44 was differentially expressed in all plant tissues including root, stem, leaf, flower and f...

The WRKY family, a large family of transcription factors (TFs) found in higher plants, plays central roles in many aspects of physiological processes and adaption to environment. However, little information is available regarding the WRKY family in cassava (Manihot esculenta). In the present study, 85 WRKY genes were identified from the cassava genome and classified into three groups according ...

Nitrogen concentration affects growth and bolting of plants, but its regulation mechanism is still unclear. In this work, three nitrate treatments (5%, 100%, 200%) in nutrient solution were conducted to explore the internal relationship between nitrogen flowering Chinese cabbage. The results showed that time was earlier under treatment with low and, lower concentration, flowering. Low-nitrate r...

Cytokinins (CKs) mediate cellular responses to drought stress and targeted control of CK metabolism can be used to develop drought-tolerant plants. Aiming to manipulate CK levels to improve drought tolerance of soybean cultivars through genetic engineering of CK metabolic genes, we surveyed the soybean genome and identified 14 CK biosynthetic (isopentenyltransferase, GmIPT) and 17 CK degradativ...

Molecular analyses of plants have revealed a number of genes whose expression changes in response to high light (HL), including the H2O2 scavenger, ASCORBATE PEROXIDASE 2 (APX2). We carried out a screen in Arabidopsis thaliana for lesions that alter HL-induced expression of APX2 to identify components in abiotic stress signalling pathways. High light was used as it can be instantaneously applie...

Drought causes detrimental effect to growth and productivity of many plants, including crops. NAC transcription factors have been reported to play important role in drought tolerance. In this study, we assessed the expression profiles of 19 dehydration-responsive CaNAC genes in roots and leaves of two contrasting drought-responsive chickpea varieties treated with water (control) and dehydration...

Drought is a major threat to maize growth and production. Understanding the molecular regulation network of drought tolerance in maize is of great importance. In this study, two maize inbred lines with contrasting drought tolerance were tested in the field under natural soil drought and well-watered conditions. In addition, the transcriptomes of their leaves was analyzed by RNA-Seq. In total, 5...