Project description:Nitrogen is essential for plant growth and development. Improving the ability of plants to acquire and assimilate nitrogen more efficiently is a key agronomic parameter that will augment sustainability in agriculture. A transcription factor approach was pursued to address improvement of nitrogen use efficiency in two major commodity crops. To this end, the Zea mays Dof1 (ZmDof1) transcription factor was expressed in both wheat (Triticum aestivum) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) either constitutively, UBI4 promoter from sugarcane, or in a tissue specific fashion via the maize rbcS1 promoter. The primary transcription activation target of ZmDof1, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), is observed in transgenic wheat events. Expression ZmDof1 under control of the rbcs1 promoter translates to increase in biomass and yield components in wheat. However, constitutive expression of ZmDof1 led to the down-regulation of genes involved in photosynthesis and the functional apparatus of chloroplasts, and an outcome that negatively impacts photosynthesis, height, and biomass in wheat. Similar patterns were also observed in sorghum transgenic events harboring the constitutive expression cassette of ZmDof1. These results indicate that transcription factor strategies to boost agronomic phenotypic outcomes in crops need to consider expression patterns of the genetic elements to be introduced.
Project description:Sorghum is multipurpose crop worldwide serving as food, feed, and feedstock for biofuels, whose floral transition and vegetative growth heavily depend on photoperiod. Although multiple sorghum maturity loci (Ma1-Ma6) have been associated with photoperiod sensitivity in previous QTL studies, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. By functional characterizing sorghum SbGhd7 (Ma6) and integrating RNA-seq analysis of Ghd7 overexpression sorghum, ChIP-seq analysis of SbGhd7 binding sites in protoplasts and molecular studies, we discovered that SbEhd1 and SbFT10 are the direct targets of SbGhd7. SbGhd7 is a transcriptional repressor and inhibits florigen-induced floral transition by repressing SbEhd1 and SbFT10 expression.
Project description:To identify novel miRNA and NAT-siRNAs that are associated with abiotic stresses in sorghum, we generated small RNA sequences from sorghum seedlings that grew under control and under dought, salt, and cold stress treatments.
Project description:This study compared the proteomic differences of rice sorghum GJH1 and rice sorghum BTx623 during seed development in order to reveal the specific proteins of rice sorghum seed development.
Project description:We sequenced three small-RNA (sRNA) libraries constructed from leaves of sorghum subjected to three different treatments, well-watered (CK), mild drought (DR1) and severe drought (DR2). These findings will be useful for research on drought resistance and provide insights into the mechanisms of drought adaptation and resistance in sorghum.
Project description:To identify novel miRNA and NAT-siRNAs that are associated with abiotic stresses in sorghum, we generated small RNA sequences from sorghum seedlings that grew under control and under dought, salt, and cold stress treatments. sequencing of small RNAs in sorghum under control, drought, salt, and cold stress conditions.
Project description:Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important cereal crop in the world. It is an annual C4 crop having a high biomass, used widely, and has a strong resistance to stress. Obviously, there are many benefits of planting sorghum on marginal soils such as saline-alkali land.
Project description:Sugarcane aphids (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari Zehntner) is a key piercing-sucking type pest of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) which cause significant yield losses. While feeding on host plants, complex signaling networks are invoked from recognition of insect attack to induction of plant defenses. Consequently, these signaling networks lead to the production of insecticidal compounds or limited access to nutrients to insects. Previously, several studies are published on the transcriptomics analysis of sorghum in response to SCA infestation, but no information is available on the physiological changes of sorghum at proteome level. We used SCA resistant sorghum genotype SC265 for the global proteomics analysis after 1 and 7 days of SCA infestation using TMT-plex technique.