Increase in atmospheric CO2 ([CO2]) improves the efficiency of the unsaturated photosynthetic sys... more Increase in atmospheric CO2 ([CO2]) improves the efficiency of the unsaturated photosynthetic system of C3 plants, like rice, which leads to high crop productivity and increased biomass production. Planting geometry using lower than standard planting density has been shown to be an alternative pre-screening technique for phenotypic plasticity as a proxy of [CO2] responsiveness. More than 200 indigenous rice genotypes were tested for several traits, such as plant height, tiller number, panicle number, panicle dry weight, straw dry weight, total dry weight and harvest index. Their relative response for these phenotypic traits at low density planting versus normal density was determined to assess the plasticity of the genotypes. Ten genotypes were identified as significantly [CO2] responsive based on their higher panicle dry weight and panicle number. Even though it was observed that genotypes with higher days to maturity (DM) were more plastic, rice genotypes with low DM had a signifi...
DNA helicase (PDH45) from the pea plant (Pisum sativum) is a member of the DEAD box protein famil... more DNA helicase (PDH45) from the pea plant (Pisum sativum) is a member of the DEAD box protein family and plays a vital regulatory role in saline stress tolerance in plants. We previously reported that over-expression of PDH45 gene confers both seedling and reproductive stage salinity tolerance to a Bangladeshi rice landrace, Binnatoa (BA). In this study, transgenic BA-containing PDH45 (♂) was crossed with two different farmer-popular BRRI rice varieties (♀), BR28 and BR47, in a contained net house. F1 plants positive for the transgene and having recipient phenotype were advanced from F1 to F5. Expression of the PDH45 gene was detected in all generations. The expression level of PDH45 was 200-fold higher in the donor compared to the two recipient genotypes but without any effect on their salt stress tolerance ability in various assays. Under 120 mM NaCl stress at seedling stage, all rice genotypes showed vigorous growth, higher chlorophyll content, lower electrolyte leakage and lower L...
Nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) regulate a variety of physiological processes and stress ... more Nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) regulate a variety of physiological processes and stress responses; however, their involvement in mitigating Cu toxicity in plants has not been extensively studied. This study investigated the interactive effect of exogenous sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and GSH on Cu homeostasis and Cu-induced oxidative damage in rice seedlings. Hydroponically grown 12-day-old seedlings were subjected to 100 μM CuSO4 alone and in combination with 200 μM SNP (an NO donor) and 200 μM GSH. Cu exposure for 48 h resulted in toxicity symptoms such as stunted growth, chlorosis, and rolling in leaves. Cu toxicity was also manifested by a sharp increase in lipoxygenase (LOX) activity, lipid peroxidation (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), proline (Pro) content, and rapid reductions in biomass, chlorophyll (Chl), and relative water content (RWC). Cu-caused oxidative stress was evident by overaccumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS; superoxide (O2 (•-)) and H2O2). Ascorbate (AsA) content decreased while GSH and phytochelatin (PC) content increased significantly in Cu-stressed seedlings. Exogenous SNP, GSH, or SNP + GSH decreased toxicity symptoms and diminished a Cu-induced increase in LOX activity, O2 (•-), H2O2, MDA, and Pro content. They also counteracted a Cu-induced increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), and glyoxalase I and glyoxalase II activities, which paralleled changes in ROS and MDA levels. These seedlings also showed a significant increase in catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities, and AsA and PC content compared with the seedlings stressed with Cu alone. Cu analysis revealed that SNP and GSH restricted the accumulation of Cu in the roots and leaves of Cu-stressed seedlings. Our results suggest that Cu exposure provoked an oxidative burden while reduced Cu uptake and modulating the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems by adding SNP and GSH play an important role in alleviating Cu toxicity. Furthermore, the protective action of GSH and SNP + GSH was more efficient than SNP alone.
The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and sali... more The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and salinity. It has been reported that the plant‐specific NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) transcription factors play diverse roles in plant development and stress responses. Stress‐specific NAC1 or SNAC1‐overexpressing transgenic rice plants showed significantly improved drought resistance under field conditions and strong tolerance to salt stress. So the purpose of this study was to clone the SNAC1 gene from the salt tolerant rice landrace Pokkali for transformation into a salt sensitive rice variety. SNAC1 cDNA was isolated and successfully cloned in the pENTR vector. Cloning was confirmed by PCR, restriction digestion and sequencing analysis and subsequently mobilized into the Agrobacterium compatible destination vector pH7WG2 for rice transformation. Transgenic status of T0 plants of SNAC1 was confirmed by PCR analysis. T0 plants were advanced to T1 transgenic lines and further confirmed by PCR an...
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a very popular nutritious vegetable of Bangladesh. But its produ... more Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a very popular nutritious vegetable of Bangladesh. But its production is much lower than demand. To enhance its production, varieties resistant to various environmental stresses and pathogens need to be developed. In the present study, to establish a transformation protocol cotyledonary leaves of 7-10 days old tomato plants were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring binary vector pBI121containing nptII gene and uidA gene as selection markers. Integration of the transgene in the explants was confirmed by GUS histochemical assay under kanamycin selection pressure. Effect of transient GUS expression showed that transformation efficiency was modulated by several factors, such as, optical density, infection duration and co-cultivation duration. Transformation with a bacterial solution (OD600 approx. 0.6) followed by 48 hrs of co-culture resulted the highest transient GUS expression tomato varieties collected from both BARI an...
Increase in atmospheric CO2 ([CO2]) improves the efficiency of the unsaturated photosynthetic sys... more Increase in atmospheric CO2 ([CO2]) improves the efficiency of the unsaturated photosynthetic system of C3 plants, like rice, which leads to high crop productivity and increased biomass production. Planting geometry using lower than standard planting density has been shown to be an alternative pre-screening technique for phenotypic plasticity as a proxy of [CO2] responsiveness. More than 200 indigenous rice genotypes were tested for several traits, such as plant height, tiller number, panicle number, panicle dry weight, straw dry weight, total dry weight and harvest index. Their relative response for these phenotypic traits at low density planting versus normal density was determined to assess the plasticity of the genotypes. Ten genotypes were identified as significantly [CO2] responsive based on their higher panicle dry weight and panicle number. Even though it was observed that genotypes with higher days to maturity (DM) were more plastic, rice genotypes with low DM had a signifi...
DNA helicase (PDH45) from the pea plant (Pisum sativum) is a member of the DEAD box protein famil... more DNA helicase (PDH45) from the pea plant (Pisum sativum) is a member of the DEAD box protein family and plays a vital regulatory role in saline stress tolerance in plants. We previously reported that over-expression of PDH45 gene confers both seedling and reproductive stage salinity tolerance to a Bangladeshi rice landrace, Binnatoa (BA). In this study, transgenic BA-containing PDH45 (♂) was crossed with two different farmer-popular BRRI rice varieties (♀), BR28 and BR47, in a contained net house. F1 plants positive for the transgene and having recipient phenotype were advanced from F1 to F5. Expression of the PDH45 gene was detected in all generations. The expression level of PDH45 was 200-fold higher in the donor compared to the two recipient genotypes but without any effect on their salt stress tolerance ability in various assays. Under 120 mM NaCl stress at seedling stage, all rice genotypes showed vigorous growth, higher chlorophyll content, lower electrolyte leakage and lower L...
Nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) regulate a variety of physiological processes and stress ... more Nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) regulate a variety of physiological processes and stress responses; however, their involvement in mitigating Cu toxicity in plants has not been extensively studied. This study investigated the interactive effect of exogenous sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and GSH on Cu homeostasis and Cu-induced oxidative damage in rice seedlings. Hydroponically grown 12-day-old seedlings were subjected to 100 μM CuSO4 alone and in combination with 200 μM SNP (an NO donor) and 200 μM GSH. Cu exposure for 48 h resulted in toxicity symptoms such as stunted growth, chlorosis, and rolling in leaves. Cu toxicity was also manifested by a sharp increase in lipoxygenase (LOX) activity, lipid peroxidation (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), proline (Pro) content, and rapid reductions in biomass, chlorophyll (Chl), and relative water content (RWC). Cu-caused oxidative stress was evident by overaccumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS; superoxide (O2 (•-)) and H2O2). Ascorbate (AsA) content decreased while GSH and phytochelatin (PC) content increased significantly in Cu-stressed seedlings. Exogenous SNP, GSH, or SNP + GSH decreased toxicity symptoms and diminished a Cu-induced increase in LOX activity, O2 (•-), H2O2, MDA, and Pro content. They also counteracted a Cu-induced increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), and glyoxalase I and glyoxalase II activities, which paralleled changes in ROS and MDA levels. These seedlings also showed a significant increase in catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities, and AsA and PC content compared with the seedlings stressed with Cu alone. Cu analysis revealed that SNP and GSH restricted the accumulation of Cu in the roots and leaves of Cu-stressed seedlings. Our results suggest that Cu exposure provoked an oxidative burden while reduced Cu uptake and modulating the antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems by adding SNP and GSH play an important role in alleviating Cu toxicity. Furthermore, the protective action of GSH and SNP + GSH was more efficient than SNP alone.
The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and sali... more The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and salinity. It has been reported that the plant‐specific NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) transcription factors play diverse roles in plant development and stress responses. Stress‐specific NAC1 or SNAC1‐overexpressing transgenic rice plants showed significantly improved drought resistance under field conditions and strong tolerance to salt stress. So the purpose of this study was to clone the SNAC1 gene from the salt tolerant rice landrace Pokkali for transformation into a salt sensitive rice variety. SNAC1 cDNA was isolated and successfully cloned in the pENTR vector. Cloning was confirmed by PCR, restriction digestion and sequencing analysis and subsequently mobilized into the Agrobacterium compatible destination vector pH7WG2 for rice transformation. Transgenic status of T0 plants of SNAC1 was confirmed by PCR analysis. T0 plants were advanced to T1 transgenic lines and further confirmed by PCR an...
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a very popular nutritious vegetable of Bangladesh. But its produ... more Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a very popular nutritious vegetable of Bangladesh. But its production is much lower than demand. To enhance its production, varieties resistant to various environmental stresses and pathogens need to be developed. In the present study, to establish a transformation protocol cotyledonary leaves of 7-10 days old tomato plants were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring binary vector pBI121containing nptII gene and uidA gene as selection markers. Integration of the transgene in the explants was confirmed by GUS histochemical assay under kanamycin selection pressure. Effect of transient GUS expression showed that transformation efficiency was modulated by several factors, such as, optical density, infection duration and co-cultivation duration. Transformation with a bacterial solution (OD600 approx. 0.6) followed by 48 hrs of co-culture resulted the highest transient GUS expression tomato varieties collected from both BARI an...
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