@article{WangKoehlerCaoetal.2012, author = {Wang, Wei-Hong and K{\"o}hler, Barbara and Cao, Feng-Qiu and Liu, Guo-Wei and Gong, Yuan-Yong and Sheng, Song and Song, Qi-Chao and Cheng, Xiao-Yuan and Garnett, Trevor and Okamoto, Mamoru and Qin, Rui and M{\"u}ller-R{\"o}ber, Bernd and Tester, Mark and Liu, Lai-Hua}, title = {Rice DUR3 mediates high-affinity urea transport and plays an effective role in improvement of urea acquisition and utilization when expressed in Arabidopsis}, series = {New phytologist : international journal of plant science}, volume = {193}, journal = {New phytologist : international journal of plant science}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Malden}, issn = {0028-646X}, doi = {10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03929.x}, pages = {432 -- 444}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Despite the great agricultural and ecological importance of efficient use of urea-containing nitrogen fertilizers by crops, molecular and physiological identities of urea transport in higher plants have been investigated only in Arabidopsis. We performed short-time urea-influx assays which have identified a low-affinity and high-affinity (Km of 7.55 mu M) transport system for urea-uptake by rice roots (Oryza sativa). A high-affinity urea transporter OsDUR3 from rice was functionally characterized here for the first time among crops. OsDUR3 encodes an integral membrane-protein with 721 amino acid residues and 15 predicted transmembrane domains. Heterologous expression demonstrated that OsDUR3 restored yeast dur3-mutant growth on urea and facilitated urea import with a Km of c. 10 mu M in Xenopus oocytes. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis revealed upregulation of OsDUR3 in rice roots under nitrogen-deficiency and urea-resupply after nitrogen-starvation. Importantly, overexpression of OsDUR3 complemented the Arabidopsis atdur3-1 mutant, improving growth on low urea and increasing root urea-uptake markedly. Together with its plasma membrane localization detected by green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagging and with findings that disruption of OsDUR3 by T-DNA reduces rice growth on urea and urea uptake, we suggest that OsDUR3 is an active urea transporter that plays a significant role in effective urea acquisition and utilisation in rice.}, language = {en} } @article{AlshareefOtterbachAlluetal.2022, author = {Alshareef, Nouf Owdah and Otterbach, Sophie L. and Allu, Annapurna Devi and Woo, Yong H. and de Werk, Tobias and Kamranfar, Iman and M{\"u}ller-R{\"o}ber, Bernd and Tester, Mark and Balazadeh, Salma and Schm{\"o}ckel, Sandra M.}, title = {NAC transcription factors ATAF1 and ANAC055 affect the heat stress response in Arabidopsis}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {12}, journal = {Scientific reports}, number = {1}, publisher = {Nature Research}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-14429-x}, pages = {15}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Pre-exposing (priming) plants to mild, non-lethal elevated temperature improves their tolerance to a later higher-temperature stress (triggering stimulus), which is of great ecological importance. 'Thermomemory' is maintaining this tolerance for an extended period of time. NAM/ATAF1/2/ CUC2 (NAC) proteins are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) that modulate responses to abiotic stresses, including heat stress (HS). Here, we investigated the potential role of NACs for thermomemory. We determined the expression of 104 Ara bidopsis NAC genes after priming and triggering heat stimuli, and found ATAF1 expression is strongly induced right after priming and declines below control levels thereafter during thermorecovery. Knockout mutants of ATAF1 show better thermomemory than wild type, revealing a negative regulatory role. Differential expression analyses of RNA-seq data from ATAF1 overexpressor, ataf1 mutant and wild-type plants after heat priming revealed five genes that might be priming-associated direct targets of ATAF1: AT2G31260 (ATG9), AT2G41640 (GT61), AT3G44990 (XTH31), AT4G27720 and AT3G23540. Based on co-expression analyses applied to the aforementioned RNA-seq profiles, we identified ANAC055 to be transcriptionally co-regulated with ATAF1. Like atafl, anac055 mutants show improved thermomemory, revealing a potential co-control of both NACTFs over thermomemory. Our data reveals a core importance of two NAC transcription factors, ATAF1 and ANAC055, for thermomemory.}, language = {en} } @article{TabatabaeiAlseekhShahidetal.2022, author = {Tabatabaei, Iman and Alseekh, Saleh and Shahid, Mohammad and Leniak, Ewa and Wagner, Mateusz and Mahmoudi, Henda and Thushar, Sumitha and Fernie, Alisdair R. and Murphy, Kevin M. and Schm{\"o}ckel, Sandra M. and Tester, Mark and M{\"u}ller-R{\"o}ber, Bernd and Skirycz, Aleksandra and Balazadeh, Salma}, title = {The diversity of quinoa morphological traits and seed metabolic composition}, series = {Scientific data}, volume = {9}, journal = {Scientific data}, number = {1}, publisher = {Nature Research}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2052-4463}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-022-01399-y}, pages = {7}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is an herbaceous annual crop of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae). It is increasingly cultivated for its nutritious grains, which are rich in protein and essential amino acids, lipids, and minerals. Quinoa exhibits a high tolerance towards various abiotic stresses including drought and salinity, which supports its agricultural cultivation under climate change conditions. The use of quinoa grains is compromised by anti-nutritional saponins, a terpenoid class of secondary metabolites deposited in the seed coat; their removal before consumption requires extensive washing, an economically and environmentally unfavorable process; or their accumulation can be reduced through breeding. In this study, we analyzed the seed metabolomes, including amino acids, fatty acids, and saponins, from 471 quinoa cultivars, including two related species, by liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry. Additionally, we determined a large number of agronomic traits including biomass, flowering time, and seed yield. The results revealed considerable diversity between genotypes and provide a knowledge base for future breeding or genome editing of quinoa.}, language = {en} }