Marek Marzec

• University of Silesia in Katowice

A priority in many crop improvement programmes for a long time has been to enhance the tolerance level of plants to both abiotic and biotic stress. Recognition that the root system is the prime determinant of a plant's ability to extract both water and minerals from the soil implies that its architecture is an important variable underlying a cultiv...

The arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are involved in a range of plant processes, including cell differentiation and expansion. Here, barley root hair mutants and their wild-type parent cultivars were used, as a model system, to reveal the role of AGPs in root hair development. The treatment of roots with different concentrations of βGlcY (a reagent...

The root epidermis of most vascular plants harbours two cell types, namely trichoblasts (capable of producing a root hair) and atrichoblasts. Here, in vivo analysis, confocal laser-scanning microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, histological analysis, and three-dimensional reconstruction were used to characterize the cell types present in th...

It is well known that the process of plant cell differentiation depends on the symplasmic isolation of cells. Before starting the differentiation programme, the individual cell or group of cells should restrict symplasmic communication with neighbouring cells. We tested the symplasmic communication between epidermal cells in the different root zone...

Drought poses a significant threat to global crop productivity and food security. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the impact of drought on transcriptional regulation and alternative splicing in barley (Hordeum vulgare), and to determine whether these transcriptomic alterations correlate with changes in hormonal profiles. We hypothesized that d...

Strigolactones (SLs) are plant hormones that play a crucial role in regulating various aspects of plant architecture, such as shoot and root branching. However, the knowledge of SL-responsive genes and transcription factors (TFs) that control the shaping of plant architecture remains elusive. Here, transcriptomic analysis was conducted using the SL...

Background Drought is a major environmental stress that affects crop productivity worldwide. Although previous research demonstrated links between strigolactones (SLs) and drought, here we used barley (Hordeum vulgare) SL-insensitive mutant hvd14 (dwarf14) to scrutinize the SL-dependent mechanisms associated with water deficit response. Results We...

Strigolactones (SL) are the youngest group of plant hormones responsible for shaping plant architecture, especially the branching of shoots. However, recent studies provided new insights into the functioning of SL, confirming their participation in regulating the plant response to various types of abiotic stresses, including water deficit, soil sal...

Strigolactones (SL) are the youngest class of phytohormones, which synthesis takes place in roots, from where they are transported to the above-ground part of the plant. To date, more than 30 naturally occurring SL have been identified among mono-and dicotyledonous plants serving many roles in plant growth and development. The SL are primarily invo...

Gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, catechol, and pyrogallol are only a few examples of industrially relevant aromatics. Today much attention is paid to the development of new microbial factories for the environmentally friendly biosynthesis of industrially relevant chemicals with renewable resources or organic pollutants as the starting material. Th...

Plants can communicate inter- and intraspecifically using signals transmitted via root exudate and volatiles released into the atmosphere. A recent study by Betti et al. discovered that miRNA is one of the signals used during plant communication. MiRNAs are secreted by plants and change the gene expression in neighbouring plants.

Root hairs play a crucial role in anchoring plants in soil, interaction with microorganisms and nutrient uptake from the rhizosphere. In contrast to Arabidopsis, there is a limited knowledge of root hair morphogenesis in monocots, including barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We have isolated barley mutant rhp1.e with an abnormal root hair phenotype after...

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) guide PIWI proteins to bind and cleave RNAs. Originally, piRNAs were described as a system for transposable element repression. Recently, Anzelon, Choudhury, Hughes et al. uncovered the structural basis for piRNA targeting, whereby they are recognized in a manner distinct from targeting by miRNAs.

DNA mechanical properties play a critical role in different biological processes. Basu and coworkers described a method that measures DNA mechanics on the genome scale. Access to a high-throughput tool for measuring DNA mechanics opens up new possibilities to investigate this phenomenon with respect to establishing the chromatin regulatory landscap...

Background Microspore embryogenesis is potentially the most effective method of obtaining doubled haploids (DH) which are utilized in breeding programs to accelerate production of new cultivars. However, the regeneration of albino plants significantly limits the exploitation of androgenesis for DH production in cereals. Despite many efforts, the pr...

Cytochrome P450 enzymes encoded by MORE AXILLARY GROWTH1 (MAX1)-like genes produce most of the structural diversity of strigolactones during the final steps of strigolactone biosynthesis. The diverse copies of MAX1 in Oryza sativa provide a resource to investigate why plants produce such a wide range of strigolactones. Here we performed in silico a...

Uncovering the mechanisms that recognise a microRNA (miRNA) target is 1 of the biggest challenges because the Ago–miRNA complex is able to overcome different derogations of complementarity when binding targets. However, the recently solved crystallographic structure of Argonaute2 (Ago2) and a high-throughput analysis that used repurposed sequencing...

Strigolactones (SLs) are a group of plant hormones involved in many aspects of plant development and stress adaptation. Here, we investigated the drought response of a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mutant carrying a missense mutation in the gene encoding the SL‐specific receptor HvD14. Our results clearly showed that hvd14.d mutant is hyper‐sensitive...

Prime editing, developed by Anzalone et al., brings genome editing to a new level, because this approach allows introduction of all mutation types, including insertions, deletions, and all putative 12 types of base-to-base conversions. Previously tested in human cells, this technique has been adapted for use in plants by Lin et al.

Precise and efficient use of genome editing tools are hampered by the introduction of DNA double-strand breaks, donor DNA templates, or homology-directed repair. A recent study expands the genome editing toolbox with the introduction of prime editing, which overcomes previous challenges and introduces insertions, deletions, and all putative 12 type...

Developing plants from in vitro culture of microspores or immature pollen grains (androgenesis) is a highly genotype-dependent process whose effectiveness in cereals is significantly reduced by occurrence of albino regenerants. Here, we examined a hypothesis that the molecular differentiation of plastids in barley microspores prior to in vitro cult...

CRISPR is a prokaryotic defence system that was adapted as a tool for genome editing and has become one of the most important discoveries of this century. CRISPR‐associated endonucleases cleave DNA at precise sites, which are marked by complementary short‐guided RNA. The recently developed versions of endonucleases are compatible with a broad range...

The SMC 5/6 complex together with cohesin and condensin is a member of the structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) protein family. In non-plant organisms SMC5/6 is engaged in DNA repair, meiotic synapsis, genome organization and stability. In plants, the function of SMC5/6 is still enigmatic. Therefore, we analyzed the crucial δ-kleisin componen...

The strigolactone (SL) receptor in plants is unusual in that it both binds and hydrolyses SL molecules. Landmark studies had proposed that a product of hydrolysis irreversibly binds the receptor and then activates signalling. However, recent breakthrough articles (Seto et al. Nat. Commun. 2019;10:191 and Shabek et al. Nature 2018;563:652–656) have...

Microscopic investigations of biological objects are an integral part in plant research and most fields of life sciences. They allow the description of morphological, histological, and structural aspects of individual cells or tissues. Based on various cell biological tools and methods it is possible to characterize different plant genotypes or stu...

Use of RNA-guided endonucleases for targeted genome editing is one of the most important breakthrough discoveries of the 21st century. Recent studies have described modifications of this precise base editing technique that open up a new dimension to plant genome editing.

Strigolactones (SLs) constitute a group of plant hormones which are involved in multiple aspects of plant growth and development. Beside their role in shoot and root development and plant architecture in general, SLs are also involved in plant responses to nutrient deficiency by promoting interactions with symbiotic organisms and via promotion of r...

The development and growth of plant organs is regulated by phytohormones, which constitute an important area of plant science. The last decade has seen a rapid increase in the unravelling of the pathways by which phytohormones exert their influence. Phytohormones function as signalling molecules that interact through a complex network to control de...

TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a strategy used for functional analysis of genes that combines the classical mutagenesis and a rapid, high-throughput identification of mutations within a gene of interest. TILLING has been initially developed as a discovery platform for functional genomics, but soon it has become a valuable t...

Tannins and hydroxylated aromatic acids, such as gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid), are plant secondary metabolites which protect plants against herbivores and plant-associated microorganisms. Some microbes, such as the yeast Arxula adeninivorans are resistant to these antimicrobial substances and are able to use tannins and gallic acid as...

Strigolactones (SLs) and gibberellins (GAs) are plant hormones that share some unique aspects of their perception and signalling pathways. Recent discoveries indicate that these two phytohormones may act together in processes of plant development and that SL biosynthesis is regulated by GAs.

Background In recent years the production of biobased biodegradable plastics has been of interest of researchers partly due to the accumulation of non-biodegradable plastics in the environment and to the opportunity for new applications. Commonly investigated are the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) poly(hydroxybutyrate) and poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hyd...

CBP20 (Cap-Binding Protein 20) encodes a small subunit of the cap-binding complex (CBC), which is involved in the conserved cell processes related to RNA metabolism in plants and, simultaneously, engaged in the signaling network of drought response, which is dependent on ABA. Here, we report the enhanced tolerance to drought stress of barley mutant...

Since the development of the Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genome (TILLING) strategy, it has been applied in both plants and animals in many studies. The creation of an appropriate population is the first and most crucial step of TILLING. The goal is to obtain a highly mutagenized population that allows many mutations in any gene of interest t...

Table 1. Summary of the Role of SLs in Plant Defence against Specific Pathogens

Strigolactones (SLs), a recently discovered class of phytohormones, are important regulators of plant growth and development. While the biosynthetic pathway of these molecules is well documented, until recently there was not much known about the molecular mechanisms underlying SL perception and signal transduction in plants. Certain aspects of thei...

In the present study, the barley HvD14 gene encoding α/β hydrolase, which is involved in strigolactone (SL) signaling, was identified. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the identified gene is an orthologue of the D14, AtD14 and PhDAD2 genes that have been described in rice, Arabidopsis thaliana and petunia, respectively. Using TILLING strategy,...

Strigolactones were described as a new group of phytohormones in 2008 and since then notable large number of their functions has been uncovered, including the regulation of plant growth and development, interactions with other organisms and a plant’s response to different abiotic stresses. In the last year, investigations of the strigolactone biosy...

Reduced plant height and culm robustness are quantitative characteristics important for assuring cereal crop yield and quality under adverse weather conditions. A very limited number of short-culm mutant alleles were introduced into commercial crop cultivars during the “Green Revolution”. We identified phenotypic traits, including sturdy culm, spec...

In the last century, the mechanism for establishing the root epidermal pattern in grasses was proposed as a differentiating trait that can be used in taxonomic studies and as a useful tool to indicate the relationships between genera. However, knowledge about root hair differentiation in monocots is still scarce. During the last few years, this pro...

Symplasmic communication via plasmodesmata (PD) is part of the system of information exchange between plant cells. Molecules that pass through the PD include ions, some hormones, minerals, amino acids, and sugars but also proteins, transcription factors, and different classes of RNA, and as such PD can participate in the coordination of plant growt...

Strigolactones (SLs) are a new group of plant hormones, which have been intensively investigated during the last few years. The wide spectrum of SLs actions, including the regulation of shoot/root architecture, and the stimulation of the interactions between roots and fungi or bacteria, as well as the stimulation of germination of parasitic plants,...

The high level of conservation of genes that regulate DNA replication and repair indicates that they may serve as a source of information on the origin and evolution of the species and makes them a reliable system for the identification of cross-species homologs. Studies that had been conducted to date shed light on the processes of DNA replication...

Extracellular nucleotides (eNTP) occur outside the cytoplasm in the extracellular matrix, were discovered almost 100 years ago in animal cells. These studies showed that the nucleotides are not only building a strand of DNA/RNA or constitute reservoir of energy (eg ATP or GTP) for various biochemical processes, but also may play role in cell growth...

Strigolactones, are the new regulators of plant growth and development. The first information about strigolactones came from experiments verifying the interactions between host plants and parasites of the Orobanchaceae family. In these interactions some substances from root exudates play critical role in the induction of parasitic plants seed germi...

Recent advances in large-scale genome sequencing projects have opened up new possibilities for the application of conventional mutation techniques in not only forward but also reverse genetics strategies. TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) was developed a decade ago as an alternative to insertional mutagenesis. It takes advantage...

The unique feature of plant organisms is the presence of plasmodesmata (PD) between neighboring cells. Such plasmodesmatal continuum which exists within the plant body is termed symplasm. Classical view of plasmodesmata as static structures within the cell walls between neighboring cells must be reevaluated. According to our recent knowledge sympla...