Musa Kavas

• Professor
• Ondokuz Mayıs University

Synergistic and antagonistic relationships between cytokinins and other plant growth regulators are important in response to changing environmental conditions. Our study aimed to determine the functions of SlHP2 and SlHP3, two members of cytokinin signaling in tomato, in drought stress response using CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated mutagenesis. Ten distinct g...

Climate change and human activities impose severe biotic and abiotic stresses that threaten plant survival. To cope with these extreme conditions, plants have evolved various resistance mechanisms. In recent years, genetic approaches have been increasingly employed to enhance abiotic stress tolerance and develop stress-resistant plants. In this stu...

Plants produce numerous fatty acid derivatives, and some of these compounds have significant regulatory functions, such as governing effector‐induced resistance, systemic resistance, and other defense pathways. This study systematically identified and characterized eight FAT genes (Acyl‐acyl carrier protein thioesterases), four in the Solanum lycop...

Petunias are renowned ornamental species widely cultivated as pot plants for their aesthetic appeal both indoors and outdoors. The preference for pot plants depends on their compact growth habit and abundant flowering. While genome editing has gained significant popularity in many crop plants in addressing growth and development and abiotic and bio...

The GATA transcription factors (TFs) have been extensively studied for its regulatory role in various biological processes in many plant species. The functional and molecular mechanism of GATA TFs in regulating tolerance to abiotic stress has not yet been studied in the common bean. This study analyzed the functional identity of the GATA gene famil...

Genome editing enables precise genetic manipulation in plants, offering hope for tackling global food insecurity and malnutrition by enhancing crop traits and nutritional content. The BMC Methods Collection ‘Genome Editing in Plants’ will showcase advancements in the field, including target selection, delivery systems, off-target effects, and effic...

Changing climatic conditions with rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns pose significant challenges to agricultural productivity, particularly for common bean crops. Transcription factors (TFs) are crucial regulators that can mitigate the impact of biotic and abiotic stresses on crop production. The MADS‐box TFs family has been imp...

In contrast to most autotrophic plants, which produce carbohydrates from carbon dioxide using photosynthesis, parasitic weed plants rely on host plants to form vascular connections through which they withdraw the required nutritive resources and water. Many important crop plants are infested by these heterotrophic plants leading to tremendous yield...

Crop cultivars in commercial use have often been selected because they show high levels of resistance to pathogens. However, widespread cultivation of these crops for many years in the environments favorable to a pathogen requires durable forms of resistance to maintain “healthy crops”. Breeding of new varieties tolerant/resistant to biotic stresse...

Fungal bioremediation is a very attractive tool to cope with environmental pollution. We aimed to decipher the cadmium (Cd) response of Purpureocillium sp. CB1, isolated from polluted soil, at transcriptome level by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). We used 500 and 2500 mg/L of Cd²⁺ concentrations at two time points (t6;36). RNA-seq determined 620 genes th...

The discovery of the CRISPR/Cas genome-editing system has revolutionized our understanding of the plant genome. CRISPR/Cas has been used for over a decade to modify plant genomes for the study of specific genes and biosynthetic pathways as well as to speed up breeding in many plant species, including both model and non-model crops. Although the CRI...

The continuously changing environment has led to devastating effects on the normal growth and development of plants. This necessitates the understanding of different components that can be involved in alleviating these effects. In the last two decades, nitric oxide (NO) has been largely focused on as a molecule whose endogenous production and exoge...

The GATA transcription factor has been extensively studied for its regulatory role in various biological processes in many plant species. The functional and molecular mechanism of GATA TFs in regulating tolerance to abiotic stress has not yet been studied in the common bean, a popular and commercially important crop affected by the intensifying cli...

Beet Curly Top Iran Virus (BCTIV, Becurtovirus) is a dominant and widespread pathogen responsible for great damage and yield reduction in sugar beet production in the Mediterranean and Middle East. CRISPR-based gene editing is a versatile tool that has been successfully used in plants to improve resistance against many viral pathogens. In this stud...

Anthocyanins are responsible for the coloration of common bean seeds, and their accumulation is positively correlated with the expression level of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. The MBW (MYB-bHLH-WD40) complex is thought to regulate the expression of these genes, and MYB proteins, which are a key factor in activating anthocyanin pathway genes, hav...

Anthocyanins are responsible for the coloration of common bean seeds, and their accumulation is positively correlated with the expression level of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. The MBW (MYB-bHLH-WD40) complex is thought to regulate the expression of these genes, and MYB proteins, which are a key factor in activating anthocyanin pathway genes, hav...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most cultivated vegetables in the world due to its consumption in a large variety of raw, cooked, or processed foods. Tomato breeding and productivity highly depend on the use of hybrid seeds and their higher yield, environmental adaption, and disease tolerance. However, the emasculation procedure during...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most cultivated vegetables in the world due to its consumption in a large variety of raw, cooked, or processed foods. Tomato breeding and productivity highly depend on the use of hybrid seeds and their higher yield, environmental adaption, and disease tolerance. However, the emasculation procedure during...

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) technology is a versatile genome editing tool that has been used to improve agriculturally important plant traits. Due to its precision, CRISPR/Cas9 is more effective than either conventional plant breeding methods or standard genetic engineering approaches f...

Tomato is one of the world's most commercially important fruit crops and a critical source of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals in the human diet. In addition to being an important plant for agriculture, the tomato is a model plant for understanding plant gene functions and regulation and for developing plants with beneficial agricultural prop...

Tomato is one of the most commercially important fruit crops in the world, as well as a key source of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals in the human diet. In addition to being an important plant for agriculture, the tomato is a model plant for understanding plant gene functions and regulation and for the development of plants with beneficial a...

The domain of unknown function (DUF221 domain-containing) proteins regulates various aspects of plant growth, development, responses to abiotic stresses, and hormone transduction pathways. A comprehensive genome-wide analysis was performed in its genome to understand the role of DDP genes (DUF221) in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). A total of...

Beet curly top disease (BCTD) is a yield-limiting viral infection of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Two virus species, belonging to two different genera of the family Geminiviridae (Curtovirus and Becurtovirus) had been described as the disease’s causative agents on sugar beet. Despite the detecti...

Plant-specific BURP domain-containing proteins have an essential role in the plant's development and stress responses. Although BURP domain-containing proteins have been identified in several plant species, genome-wide analysis of the BURP gene family has not been investigated in the common bean. In the present study, we identified 11 BURP family m...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is the second most important horticultural crop worldwide that is widely used as a model plant in genetic manipulation of Solanaceae. CRISPR/Cas9 system has been successfully utilized in several studies for genome edition of model tomato cultivars. However, these genome editing systems should be also optimized for comm...

Abstract In present study, a TINY‐like AP2/ERF gene, PvERF35 was amplified from common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), cloned and functionally characterized by overexpressing in tobacco cv. Petite havana. Transgenic plants overexpressing PvERF35 were generated by using Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation and they used to evaluate the possible roles...

Current cultivation and breeding strategy based on selections from local and wild vegetation does not meet the hazelnut demand. This situation would benefit from the development of high-yielding cultivars with greater tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Molecular markers are useful tools to support these breeding efforts. In the curr...

Background RNAs to be used in transcriptome analysis must be of high quality and pure in order to ensure maximum representation of the expressed genes. RNA isolation is difficult in hazelnut tissues containing large amounts of secondary metabolite, phenolic compounds and the cell wall structure. Commonly used protocols for RNA isolation are those t...

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) genome editing system, which is a RNA guided programmable endonuclease system that consist of the Cas9 nuclease and an engineered guide RNA (gRNA) to target any DNA sequence, has already become one of the most important genetic tools in many o...

Agricultural production is greatly affected by environmental stresses, such as cold, drought and high-salinity. It is possible to produce tolerant genotypes by transferring genes encoding protective proteins or enzymes from other organisms. In this regard, the current study was aimed to clone a novel OeSRC1 gene identified during the transcriptome...

Plant DNA viruses, also known as Geminiviruses, are destructive plant pathogens causing severe crop losses on grain, vegetable and fruit harvests, threatening food security worldwide. Geminiviruses possess circular single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), 2.3 and 3 kb in length. During the Geminivirus replication, ssDNA is converted to double–stranded DNA with...

Tomato is an important vegetable and economic crop worldwide, and it is a model plant for fruit development research works. Today, hybrid varieties are widely used in vegetable production. Therefore, the development and adoption of hybrid seed technology has led to dramatic increases in agricultural productivity. Male sterility research has been di...

The control of bud burst process depending on temperature is crucial factor in woody perennial plants to survive in unfavorable ecological conditions. Although it has important economic and agronomic values, little information is available on the molecular mechanism of the bud burst process in Corylus avellana. Here for the first time, we conducted...

Various identification and typing techniques are available for plant pathogens. A newly recognized genetic structure called as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) contains a family of short DNA repeat sequences in combination with Cas (CRISPR-associated) proteins, are considered to provide acquired resistance against...

Abstract Our country, which is the biggest hazelnut producer in the world, needs to increase both the breeding and molecular studies on hazelnut plants. DNA markers provide the most important contribution to the development of abiotic and biotic stress resistant genotypes. Additionally, they are valuable tool for protection of the genetic resources...

Plants are frequently exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, high salt, and low temperature which have to negative effects on growth and productivity of plants. Dehydrins (DHNs), or group 2 LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant) proteins, play a fundamental role in response and adaptation to abiotic stresses of plants. Therefore, it is...

Microorganisms have been extensively used in several fields of biomass production in food and medicinal industries and in genetic transformation studies. Steady increase in world population has forced the scientists to meet the increasing demand in food all over the globe. Crop breeding through conventional methods has historically contributed a la...

Members of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and MYB gene family have crucial roles in various biological process including response to stress and regulation of development. Though, most eukaryotes carry the proteins of this family, biological functions of the most bHLH and MYB family members are not deeply evaluated in plants. In this study, we conduc...

Aims and Scopes: The ubiquity of abiotic stresses such as drought, soil salinity and temperature extremes has driven plants to evolve a variety of survival strategies. A common mechanism includes the regulation of transcription of genes involved in the response to stress [1-3]. AP2/ERF is one of the most important transcription factors families tha...

Aims and Scopes: There are many tissue culture studies with different purposes are carried out in tomatoes. One of the application areas of tissue cultures is the transfer of foreign genes into plants by genetic engineering techniques [1, 2]. Tomato is accepted as a model plant for the transfer of agriculturally important genes in dicotyledons. The...

Abstract:Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important protein-rich pulse crop produced globally. Knowledge on the genetic relationships of plant genetic resources is fundamental for effective selection and conservation. However, information about genetic diversity and nutrient content in field pea is limited. The objective of the present study is t...

Apetala2-ethylene-responsive element binding factor (AP2-ERF) superfamily with common AP2-DNA binding domain have developmentally and physiologically important roles in plants. Since common bean genome project has been completed recently, it is possible to identify all of the AP2-ERF genes in the common bean genome. In this study, a comprehensive g...

Soil salinity is one of the most important limiting factors of agricultural productivity in the world. The Triticum aestivum salt tolerance-related gene (TaSTRG) possesses a functional response to salt and drought stress conditions. A variety of stress factors, such as salt, drought, abscisic acid, and cold, may induce the expression of TaSTRG in w...

In this study, the effects of long-term NaCl treatment were investigated in two cultivars of peanut designated as drought-resistant and drought-sensitive. Growth parameters, changes in the concentrations of MDA, H2O2 and proline, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were determined under salinity stress. Growth parameters indicated the superio...

Members of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene family found in all eukaryotes play crucial roles in response to stress. Though, most eukaryotes carry the proteins of this family, biological functions of the most bHLH family members are not deeply evaluated in plants. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of bHLH transcript...

Apetala2-ethylene-responsive element binding factor (AP2-ERF) superfamily with common AP2-DNA binding domain have developmentally and physiologically important roles in plants. Since common bean genome project has been completed recently, it is possible to identify all of the AP2-ERF genes in the common bean genome. In this study, a comprehensive g...

Drought stress is one of the most serious environmental limitations affecting the growth and productivity of plants. In the current study, oxidative damage and antioxidant responses under polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced osmotic stress were compared in 2 melon cultivars, Kırkağaç and Galia. Melon seedlings were subjected to PEG-6000 solutions of 2...

Gene cloning and vector construction for plant genetic transformation are routine procedures in plant functional genomic studies. The availability of effective transformation vector is one of the pre-requisites for plant transformation studies. Here, we describe the construction of a series of transformation vectors through different genetic engine...

Drought stress is one of the most important yield-reducing factors in crop production. Sunflower, an oilseed crop, is severely affected by abiotic stress. In this study, 2 sunflower cultivars (Musala and Aydın) were evaluated in terms of various biochemical and physiological responses under 2 different polyethylene glycol-mediated drought stress co...

Overcoming the recalcitrance in lignocellulosic biomass for efficient hydrolysis of the polysaccharides cellulose and hemicellulose to fermentable sugars is a research priority for the transition from a fossilfuel-based economy to a renewable carbohydrate economy. Methylglucuronoxylans (MeGXn) are the major components of hemicellulose in woody biof...

Two cultivars of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) which were designated as resistant (Florispan) and sensitive (Gazipasa) according to their growth retardation under drought stress conditions were compared for their oxidative damage and antioxidant responses. Sixteen days-old peanut seedlings were subjected to PEG-6000 solutions of two different osmoti...

Inflorescence explants of two winter wheat cultivars, Triticum durum cv. Kızıltan-91 and T. aestivum cv. Bezostaja-01, were used to evaluate the effects of vernalization period of donor plants, callus age and medium composition on regeneration capacity. Donor plants were grown for 7 d and they were exposed to 4 °C for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks. The m...

Wheat, like other cereal species, shows a common recalcitrance and strong genotypic variation in tissue culture and Agrobacteriummediated transformation. A variety of explant sources have been used for obtaining wheat plants from in vitro cultures and Agrobacterium- mediated transformation. These are: isolated microspores (Mejza et al., 1993), matu...

iv The objective of this study was to optimize tissue culture and regeneration parameters of immature inflorescence culture of Triticum aestivum cv. Bezostaja- 01 and Triticum durum cv. Kýzýltan-91. The effects of callus age and vernalisation time of explants on regeneration success were evaluated. For determination of optimum vernalisation time of...