Dorota Kawa

University of California, Davis | UCD · Department of Plant Biology and Genome Centre

This article comments on: Mutinda S, Mobegi FM, Hale B, Dayou O, Ateka E, Wijeratne A, Wicke S, Bellis ES, Runo S. 2023. Resolving intergenotypic Striga resistance in sorghum. Journal of Experimental Botany 74, 5294–5306.

Salinity stress constrains lateral root (LR) growth and severely impacts plant growth. Auxin signaling is indispensable for the regulation of LR formation. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism of how salinity affects root auxin signaling and whether salt would steer alternative pathway(s) to regulate LR development is unknown. Here we show that th...

Sorghum bicolor is one of the most important cereals in the world and a staple crop for smallholder famers in sub Saharan Africa. However approximately 20% of sorghum yield is annually lost on the African continent due to infestation with the root parasitic weed Striga hermonthica . Existing Striga management strategies often show an inconsistent t...

Root responses to environmental stresses show a high level of cell type and developmental stage specificity. Interactions with beneficial and pathogenic organisms – including microbes and parasites – elicit a set of transcriptional responses unique to each root cell type, often dependent on their differentiation state. Localized changes to the cell...

Two sorghum varieties, Shanqui Red (SQR) and SRN39 have distinct levels of susceptibility to the parasitic weed, Striga hermonthica, which have been attributed to different strigolactone composition within their root exudates. Root exudates of the Striga susceptible variety Shanqui Red (SQR) contain primarily 5-deoxystrigol, which has high efficien...

Plant species have evolved myriads of solutions, including complex cell type development and regulation, to adapt to dynamic environments. To understand this cellular diversity, we profiled tomato root cell type translatomes. Using xylem differentiation in tomato, examples of functional innovation, repurposing, and conservation of transcription fac...

Variation in strigolactone composition in sorghum root exudates underlies its resistance to the parasitic weed, Striga hermonthica . Root exudates of the Striga susceptible variety Shanqui Red (SQR) contain primarily 5-deoxystrigol, which has a high efficiency of inducing Striga germination. SRN39 roots primarily exude orobanchol, leading to reduce...

Plant species have evolved myriads of solutions to adapt to dynamic environments, including complex cell type development and regulation. To understand this diversity, we profiled tomato root cell type translatomes and chromatin accessibility. Using xylem differentiation in tomato, relative to Arabidopsis, examples of functional innovation, repurpo...

Defects in RNA processing and degradation pathways often lead to developmental abnormalities, impaired hormonal signaling and altered resistance to abiotic and biotic stress. Here we report that components of the 5′-3′ mRNA decay pathway, DCP5, LSM1-7 and XRN4, contribute to a proper response to a key plant hormone abscisc acid (ABA), albeit in a d...

LSM1 modulates the activity of ABA-dependent SnRK2 protein kinases—supplement to Figure 4. (A) Quantitation of SnRK2.2/3/6 activity (radioactive signals) from blots in Figure 4A relative to the Coomassie blue staining of Rubisco. Data were plotted and normalized to Col-0 using ImageJ software. (B) Protein kinase activity using protein extracts from...

Phenotypic characterization of Col-0, lsm1a lsm1b, dcp5-1, and xrn4-5 leaves after ABA treatment. (A) Detached leaf discs from 3-week-old plants were treated with water (mock) or 15 μM ABA for 2 days. Pictures represent one of three replicas. (B) Chl degradation in leaves shown in (A) was measured as relative Chl content after ABA treatment to cont...

Expression levels of ABA-inducible genes in Col-0, lsm1a lsm1b, dcp5-1, and xrn4-5 plants. RT-qPCR analysis of the expression of selected ABA- and SnRK2-inducible genes (A) and ABFs and DREBs transcription factors (B) in lsm1a lsm1b, dcp5-1, and xrn4-5 plants grown in hydroponic culture. Values are expressed relative to Col-0 set as 1. Error bars r...

Expression of ABA-inducible genes in lsm1a lsm1b following ABA treatments Northern blot analysis of selected ABA-inducible genes in 2-week-old lsm1a lsm1b and Col-0 plants grown in hydroponic culture treated with 50 μM of ABA for the indicated time. 18S rRNA was used as a loading control.

Plant acclimation to environmental stresses requires fast signaling to initiate changes in developmental and metabolic responses. Regulation of gene expression by transcription factors and protein kinases acting upstream are important elements of responses to salt and drought. Gene expression can be also controlled at the post-transcriptional level...

The GOLVEN (GLV) gene family encode small secreted peptides involved in important plant developmental programs. Little is known about the factors required for the production of the mature bioactive GLV peptides. Through a genetic suppressor screen in Arabidopsis thaliana, two related subtilase genes, AtSBT6.1 and AtSBT6.2, were identified that are...

Nutrient availability and salinity of the soil affect growth and development of plant roots. Here, we describe how phosphate availability affects root system architecture (RSA) of Arabidopsis and how phosphate levels modulate responses of the root to salt stress. Phosphate (Pi) starvation reduced main root length and increased the number of lateral...

Phosphatidic acid (PA) is an important signaling lipid involved in various stress-induced signaling cascades. Two SnRK2 protein kinases (SnRK2.4 and SnRK2.10) previously identified as PA-binding proteins, are shown here to prefer binding to PA over other anionic phospholipids and to bind cellular membranes in response to salt stress in Arabidopsis...