Institutional Publications
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://ndkr-library.nipgr.ac.in/handle/123456789/11
Browse
9 results
Search Results
Item Navigating heavy metal stress: emerging roles of TOR and SnRK signaling in plant tolerance(Frontiers Media S.A., 2026) Naaz, Sheeba; Laxmi, AshveryaThis review explores emerging insights about how plants regulate their responses to heavy metal stress through the coordinated actions of the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and Sucrose Non-Fermenting-1-Related Kinase (SnRK) signaling pathways. Toxic heavy metals such as As, Pb, Cd and Hg cause severe metabolic and oxidative stress in plants, which reduces their growth and development and ultimately disrupts cellular homeostasis. In this review, we highlight the unique direction of research that focuses on TOR-SnRK interaction under heavy metal exposure, emphasizing their opposite yet interconnected roles in metabolic reprogramming, stress tolerance, and in growth regulation. Under heavy metal stress, SnRK kinases are activated, which triggers the expression of stress-responsive genes and activates autophagy, while downregulating TOR activity to conserve energy and divert resources toward defense, which maintains redox homeostasis, allows plants able to survive. TOR-SnRK pathways interacts with calcium, hormonal, and redox signaling networks, which further strengthen plant stress responses and regulate tolerance mechanisms. Understanding the TOR-SnRK pathway provides a deepened understanding of how plants regulate energy under toxic environmental conditions. In addition to these, targeting these pathways assists in designing crops and agricultural products that are more resilient to heavy metal toxicity, promoting sustainable agriculture in contaminated areas.Item Plant responses to combined abiotic and biotic stresses(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2026) Preethi, V; Senthil, A; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa; Raveendran, M; Anitha, K; Boominathan, P; Johnson, I; Karthikeyan, RClimate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, leading to the widespread occurrence of various abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and temperature. Abiotic challenges often coincide with biotic stresses including pathogen and pest infestations. The frequent occurrence of such stresses, either individually or in combination, hinders crop growth, development, yield and quality. Plants have evolved diverse physiological and molecular adaptations to safeguard themselves against various stresses. However, plant responses to combined biotic and abiotic stresses are more complex and variable than responses to individual stresses, due to the intricate interactions among signaling networks and defense pathways. A clear understanding of how abiotic stresses influence pest and disease incidence as well as their severity is essential for developing strategies to mitigate the effect of combined stresses. Despite progress in individual stresses, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on the alterations in physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of plants under combined stress conditions. This review aims to provide insights into plant responses to combined abiotic and biotic stress interactions and highlights the key morpho-physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms, and presents recent case studies illustrating plant responses and effects under such combined stresses. In addition, this review highlights the integration of mechanistic insights with modern biotechnological and breeding strategies for enhancing plant tolerance to combined abiotic and biotic stresses. By providing a multi-dimensional framework that connects physiological, molecular, and computational analyses, it enables the identification of tolerant genotypes and serves as a comprehensive resource for plant breeders, molecular biologists, and agronomists to develop targeted strategies for improving crop resilience under combined stress conditions.Item Millets for a sustainable future(Oxford University Press, 2025) Ghatak, Arindam; Pierides, Iro; Singh, Roshan Kumar; Srivastava, Rakesh K; Varshney, Rajeev K; Prasad, Manoj; Chaturvedi, Palak; Weckwerth, WolframOur current agricultural system faces a perfect storm-climate change, burgeoning population, and unpredictable outbreaks like COVID-19 disrupt food production, particularly for vulnerable populations in developing countries. A paradigm shift in agriculture practices is needed to tackle these issues. One solution is the diversification of crop production. While ~56% of the protein consumed from plants stems from three major cereal crops (rice, wheat and maize), underutilized crops such as millets, legumes and other cereals are highly neglected by farmers and the research community. Millets are one of the most ancient and versatile orphan crops with attributes like fast-growing, high-yielding, withstanding harsh environments, and rich in micronutrients such as iron and zinc, making them appealing to achieve agronomic sustainability. Here, we highlight the contribution of millet to agriculture and pay attention to the latest research on the genetic diversity of millet, genomic resources, and next-generation omics and their applications under various stress conditions. Additionally, integrative omics technologies could identify and develop millets with desirable phenotypes having high agronomic value and mitigating climate change. Here, we emphasize that biotechnological interventions, such as genome-wide association, genomic selection, genome editing, and artificial intelligence/machine learning, can improve and breed millets more effectively.Item Role of transcriptional regulation in auxin-mediated response to abiotic stresses(Frontiers Media S.A., 2024) Marzi, Davide; Brunetti, Patrizia; Saini, Shashank Sagar; Yadav, Gitanjali; Puglia, Giuseppe Diego; Dello, Ioio RaffaeleGlobal climate change (GCC) is posing a serious threat to organisms, particularly plants, which are sessile. Drought, salinity, and the accumulation of heavy metals alter soil composition and have detrimental effects on crops and wild plants. The hormone auxin plays a pivotal role in the response to stress conditions through the fine regulation of plant growth. Hence, rapid, tight, and coordinated regulation of its concentration is achieved by auxin modulation at multiple levels. Beyond the structural enzymes involved in auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signal transduction, transcription factors (TFs) can finely and rapidly drive auxin response in specific tissues. Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) such as the ARF4, 7, 8, 19 and many other TF families, such as WRKY and MADS, have been identified to play a role in modulating various auxin-mediated responses in recent times. Here, we review the most relevant and recent literature on TFs associated with the regulation of the biosynthetic, transport, and signalling auxin pathways and miRNA-related feedback loops in response to major abiotic stresses. Knowledge of the specific role of TFs may be of utmost importance in counteracting the effects of GCC on future agriculture and may pave the way for increased plant resilience.Item Multi-omics intervention in Setaria to dissect climate-resilient traits: Progress and prospects(Frontiers Media S.A., 2022) Aggarwal, Pooja Rani; Pramitha, Lydia; Choudhary, Pooja; Singh, Roshan Kumar; Shukla, Pooja; Prasad, Manoj; Muthamilarasan , MehanathanMillets constitute a significant proportion of underutilized grasses and are well known for their climate resilience as well as excellent nutritional profiles. Among millets, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and its wild relative green foxtail (S. viridis) are collectively regarded as models for studying broad-spectrum traits, including abiotic stress tolerance, C4 photosynthesis, biofuel, and nutritional traits. Since the genome sequence release, the crop has seen an exponential increase in omics studies to dissect agronomic, nutritional, biofuel, and climate-resilience traits. These studies have provided first-hand information on the structure, organization, evolution, and expression of several genes; however, knowledge of the precise roles of such genes and their products remains elusive. Several open-access databases have also been instituted to enable advanced scientific research on these important crops. In this context, the current review enumerates the contemporary trend of research on understanding the climate resilience and other essential traits in Setaria, the knowledge gap, and how the information could be translated for the crop improvement of related millets, biofuel crops, and cereals. Also, the review provides a roadmap for studying other underutilized crop species using Setaria as a model.Item Combined drought and heat stress influences the root water relation and determine the dry root rot disease development under field conditions: A study using contrasting chickpea genotypes(Frontiers Media S.A., 2022) Chilakala, Aswin Reddy; Mali, Komal Vitthalrao; Irulappan, Vadivelmurugan; Patil, Basavanagouda S.; Pandey, Prachi; Rangappa, Krishnappa; Ramegowda, Venkategowda; Kumar, M. Nagaraj; Puli, Chandra Obul Reddy; Mohan-Raju, Basavaiah; Senthil-Kumar, MuthappaAbiotic stressors such as drought and heat predispose chickpea plants to pathogens of key importance leading to significant crop loss under field conditions. In this study, we have investigated the influence of drought and high temperature on the incidence and severity of dry root rot disease (caused by Macrophomina phaseolina) in chickpea, under extensive on- and off-season field trials and greenhouse conditions. We explored the association between drought tolerance and dry root rot resistance in two chickpea genotypes, ICC 4958 and JG 62, with contrasting resistance to dry root rot. In addition, we extensively analyzed various patho-morphological and root architecture traits altered by combined stresses under field and greenhouse conditions in these genotypes. We further observed the role of edaphic factors in dry root rot incidence under field conditions. Altogether, our results suggest a strong negative correlation between the plant water relations and dry root rot severity in chickpeas, indicating an association between drought tolerance and dry root rot resistance. Additionally, the significant role of heat stress in altering the dynamics of dry root rot and the importance of combinatorial screening of chickpea germplasm for dry root rot resistance, drought, and heat stress have been revealed.Item From plant survival under severe stress to anti-viral human defense - A perspective that calls for common efforts(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Arnholdt-Schmitt, Birgit; Mohanapriya, Gunasekaran; Bharadwaj, Revuru; Noceda, Carlos; Macedo, Elisete Santos; Sathishkumar, Ramalingam; Gupta, Kapuganti Jagadis; Sircar, Debabrata; Kumar, Sarma Rajeev; Srivastava, Shivani; Adholeya, Alok; Thiers, KarineLeitão Lima; Aziz, Shahid; Velada, Isabel; Oliveira, Manuela; Quaresma, Paulo; Achra, Arvind; Gupta, Nidhi; Kumar, Ashwani; Costa, Jose´ He´lioReprogramming of primary virus-infected cells is the critical step that turns viral attacks harmful to humans by initiating super-spreading at cell, organism and population levels. To develop early anti-viral therapies and proactive administration, it is important to understand the very first steps of this process. Plant somatic embryogenesis (SE) is the earliest and most studied model for de novo programming upon severe stress that, in contrast to virus attacks, promotes individual cell and organism survival. We argued that transcript level profiles of target genes established from in vitro SE induction as reference compared to virus-induced profiles can identify differential virus traits that link to harmful reprogramming. To validate this hypothesis, we selected a standard set of genes named 'ReprogVirus'. This approach was recently applied and published. It resulted in identifying 'CoV-MAC-TED', a complex trait that is promising to support combating SARS-CoV-2-induced cell reprogramming in primary infected nose and mouth cells. In this perspective, we aim to explain the rationale of our scientific approach. We are highlighting relevant background knowledge on SE, emphasize the role of alternative oxidase in plant reprogramming and resilience as a learning tool for designing human virus-defense strategies and, present the list of selected genes. As an outlook, we announce wider data collection in a 'ReprogVirus Platform' to support anti-viral strategy design through common efforts.Item Regulation of stress responses in plants by calcium dependent protein kinases(John Wiley & Sons, 2021) Deepika; Mali, Komal Vitthalrao; Kumar, Amit; Singh, AmarjeetCalcium‐dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) represent the group of major calcium (Ca2+) sensors in plants. CDPKs comprise of peculiar structural features due to which they play a dual role of “Ca2+ sensor and responder” and decode the message from specific Ca2+ signature to phosphorylation events. Onset of most of the stresses results in increase in cytosolic Ca2+ level in plant cell. In depth functional analyses across plant species showed regulation of CDPK transcripts, activity, protein interactions and substrate targeting under biotic and abiotic stresses. Thus, vital role of CDPKs is proposed in transduction of stress triggered Ca2+ signaling to adaptive responses in plants. Genetic manipulations using CDPK genes could be vital in the agricultural biotechnology for imparting tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, and better productivity. In this chapter, we provide an overview and update of CDPK gene family organization, CDPK domain structure and regulatory mechanism, the role of various CDPKs in abiotic stress, biotic stress signaling and responses in the model and crop plants.Item Arabidopsis Protein L-Isoaspartyl Methyltransferase repairs isoaspartyl damage to antioxidant enzymes and increases heat and oxidative stress tolerance(American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2020) Ghosh, Shraboni; Kamble, Nitin Uttam; Verma, Pooja; Salvi, Prafull; Petla, Bhanu Prakash; Roy, Shweta; Rao, Venkateswara; Hazra, Abhijit; Varshney, Vishal; Kaur, Harmeet; Majee, ManojStressful environments accelerate the formation of isoaspartyl (isoAsp) residues in proteins, which detrimentally affect protein structure and function. The enzyme Protein L-Isoaspartyl Methyltransferase (PIMT) repairs other proteins by reverting deleterious isoAsp residues to functional aspartyl residues. PIMT function previously has been elucidated in seeds, but its role in plant survival under stress conditions remains undefined. Herein, we used molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches, including protein overexpression and knockdown experiments, in Arabidopsis to investigate the role of PIMTs in plant growth and survival during heat and oxidative stresses. We demonstrate that these stresses increase isoAsp accumulation in plant proteins, that PIMT activity is essential for restricting isoAsp accumulation, and that both PIMT1 and PIMT2 play an important role in this restriction and Arabidopsis growth and survival. Moreover, we show that PIMT improves stress tolerance by facilitating efficient reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and thereby protecting the functionality of antioxidant enzymes from isoAsp-mediated damage during stress. Specifically, biochemical and MS/MS analyses revealed that antioxidant enzymes acquire deleterious isoAsp residues during stress, which adversely affect their catalytic activities, and that PIMT repairs the isoAsp residues and thereby restores antioxidant enzyme function. Collectively, our results suggest that the PIMT-mediated protein repair system is an integral part of the stress tolerance mechanism in plants, in which PIMTs protect antioxidant enzymes that maintain proper ROS homeostasis against isoAsp-mediated damage in stressful environments.