Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:p> The physiological and molecular mechanisms of tolerance to osmotic and ionic components of salinity stress are reviewed at the cellular, organ, and whole-plant level. Plant growth responds to salinity in two phases: a rapid, osmotic phase that inhibits growth of young leaves, and a slower, ionic phase that accelerates senescence of mature leaves. Plant adaptations to salinity are of three distinct types: osmotic stress tolerance, Na<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> or Cl<jats:sup>−</jats:sup> exclusion, and the tolerance of tissue to accumulated Na<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> or Cl<jats:sup>−</jats:sup>. Our understanding of the role of the HKT gene family in Na<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> exclusion from leaves is increasing, as is the understanding of the molecular bases for many other transport processes at the cellular level. However, we have a limited molecular understanding of the overall control of Na<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> accumulation and of osmotic stress tolerance at the whole-plant level. Molecular genetics and functional genomics provide a new opportunity to synthesize molecular and physiological knowledge to improve the salinity tolerance of plants relevant to food production and environmental sustainability. </jats:p>

<jats:p>Enhanced agricultural production through innovative breeding technology is urgently needed to increase access to nutritious foods worldwide. Recent advances in CRISPR/Cas genome editing enable efficient targeted modification in most crops, thus promising to accelerate crop improvement. Here, we review advances in CRISPR/Cas9 and its variants and examine their applications in plant genome editing and related manipulations. We highlight base-editing tools that enable targeted nucleotide substitutions and describe the various delivery systems, particularly DNA-free methods, that have linked genome editing with crop breeding. We summarize the applications of genome editing for trait improvement, development of techniques for fine-tuning gene regulation, strategies for breeding virus resistance, and the use of high-throughput mutant libraries. We outline future perspectives for genome editing in plant synthetic biology and domestication, advances in delivery systems, editing specificity, homology-directed repair, and gene drives. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for precision plant breeding and its bright future in agriculture.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Research in the past decade has uncovered new and surprising information about the pathways of starch synthesis and degradation. This includes the discovery of previously unsuspected protein families required both for processes and for the long-sought mechanism of initiation of starch granules. There is also growing recognition of the central role of leaf starch turnover in making carbon available for growth across the day-night cycle. Sophisticated systems-level control mechanisms involving the circadian clock set rates of nighttime starch mobilization that maintain a steady supply of carbon until dawn and modulate partitioning of photosynthate into starch in the light, optimizing the fraction of assimilated carbon that can be used for growth. These discoveries also uncover complexities: Results from experiments with Arabidopsis leaves in conventional controlled environments are not necessarily applicable to other organs or species or to growth in natural, fluctuating environments.</jats:p>