Project description:Filamentous fungi are promising organisms for lignin degradation and mineralization. However, novel lignin-degrading fungal species are underexplored. Here, we isolated a fungal strain of Curvularia clavata that can utilize lignosulfonate as the carbon source and exhibited a relative high laccase activity during growth on lignosulfonate. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the WT strain grown on glucose and lignosulfonate indicates that lignosulfonate and/or its metabolites have a significant effect on the gene expression profiles of C. clavata J1. Three regulators of laccase activity were identified, including a methyltransferase CcLaeA and two transcription factors, Rpn-4 and Tah-1. When grown on lignosulfonate, the laccase activity of the CclaeA and rpn-4 disrupted mutants (ΔCclaeA and Δrpn-4) increased by 49.2% and 43.5%, respectively, compared to the wild-type (WT) strain, whereas the tah-1 disrupted mutant (Δtah-1) decreased by 59.2%.
Project description:Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an important cash crop, and the size of its leaves significantly influences both yield and quality. However, the upper part of tobacco leaves, due to its dense tissue structure, often faces issues such as narrow and thick leaves during the production of roasted cigarettes. These problems have a severe impact on the yield and quality of the upper leaf. Although the mechanism of leaf size regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana has been extensively studied, it remains unclear for tobacco. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the role of the NtAN3 gene in regulating tobacco leaf size by utilizing the NC82 variety. The researchers created both an overexpression mutant (G27) and a silencing mutant (M21) of the NtAN3 gene and examined their impact on leaf size using cell morphology observation and transcriptome analysis. These research findings offer valuable insights for molecular breeding aimed at improving tobacco yield and enhancing the availability of upper leaves.
Project description:The degree of yellowing in tobacco leaves is an important indicator for determining the maturity and harvesting time of tobacco leaves. Reduction in chlorophyll is of utility for promoting the concentrated maturation of tobacco leaves and achieving mechanised harvesting and mining, and utilising tobacco yellow leaf regulatory genes is of great significance for the selection and breeding of tobacco varieties suitable for mechanised harvesting and the resolution of the molecular mechanisms controlling leaf colouration. In this study, the phenotypes of the yellow-leaf K326 and K326 varieties were analysed, and it was observed that the yellow-leaf K326 variety exhibited a distinct yellow leaf phenotype with a significant reduction in chlorophyll content. Subsequently, using a combination of BSA-seq, transcriptomic sequencing (RNA-seq), and proteomic sequencing approaches, we identified the candidate gene Nitab4.5_0008674g0010 that encodes dihydroneopterin aldolase as a factor associated with tobacco leaf yellowing. Finally, by measuring the folate content in K326 and Huangye K326, the folate content in Huangye K326 was observed to be significantly lower than that in K326, thus indicating that folate synthesis plays a crucial role in phenotypic changes in tobacco yellow leaves. This study is the first to use BSA-seq combined with RNA-seq and proteomic sequencing to identify candidate genes in tobacco yellow leaves. The results provide a theoretical basis for the analysis of the mechanism of tobacco yellow leaf mutations.
Project description:Time course: Interaction of Magnaporthe isolate TH6772 (of the host plant rice) with Hordeum vulgare, Ingrid (leaf epidermis) and Magnaporthe isolate CD180 (of Pennisetum) with Hordeum vulgare, Ingrid (leaf epidermis)