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Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Small RNAs in Crop Improvement and Breeding
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Small RNAs in Crop Improvement and Breeding

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 9990

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jason Able

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Interests: breeding and commercialisation of cereal and pulses; micro RNAs (miRNAs) and their role in enhancing crop productivity (through either stress adaptation and/or reproductive fitness); understanding the molecular mechanisms that control meiosis in cereals
Dr. Haipei Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The University of Adelaide, Food and Wine, Adelaide, Australia
Interests: Improvement of cereal crops with enhanced stress tolerance, increased grain yield and high grain quality through epigenetics and SMARTER breeding techniques (Small RNA-Mediated Adaptation of Reproductive Targets in Epigenetic Regulation).

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To build resilience in the crop varieties of tomorrow, pre-breeders and breeders continually aim to improve yield stability and enhance quality attributes. Developing varieties that have broad adaptation has become a key driver in breeding programs, given that we are faced with both climate change and food security concerns. Cutting-edge molecular technologies and platforms are becoming commonplace in breeding programs across the globe, which has enabled significant genetic gains to be realised for some crop species. However, our understanding of processes such as epigenetics and the role they may have in enhancing crop productivity is still very much in its infancy. What we do know is that epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as a powerful regulatory system to control gene expression and biological processes in plants. Epigenetic regulators such as small RNAs (sRNAs) are associated with the regulation of stress adaptation and reproduction in both model plants and major crops. Novel RNA interference (RNAi) technologies utilising sRNAs therefore offer significant and novel opportunities to expand crop diversity with adaptive traits in SMARTER breeding. To achieve this, we need to 1) advance our knowledge of the small RNAs associated with stress response, crop reproduction and yield; and 2) efficiently integrate any epigenetic diversity identified into modern breeding programs.

In this Special Issue we welcome research papers and reviews that report on recent advances on small RNAs involved in the development, stress response and reproduction of major crops (including but not limited to wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum and soybean). Particular attention will be directed to research studies that may be exploited to expand crop diversity, generate new quality traits, modify stress responses and achieve reproductive success in SMARTER breeding.

Prof. Jason Able
Dr. Haipei Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • epigenetic regulators
  • RNA interference (RNAi)
  • MicroRNA (miRNA)
  • small-interfering RNA (siRNA)
  • epigenetic diversity
  • SMARTER breeding
  • crop improvement
  • crop reproduction

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2883 KiB  
Article
Transgenerational Effects of Water-Deficit and Heat Stress on Germination and Seedling Vigour—New Insights from Durum Wheat microRNAs
by Haipei Liu, Amanda J. Able and Jason A. Able
Plants 2020, 9(2), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9020189 - 04 Feb 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4589
Abstract
Water deficiency and heat stress can severely limit crop production and quality. Stress imposed on the parents during reproduction could have transgenerational effects on their progeny. Seeds with different origins can vary significantly in their germination and early growth. Here, we investigated how [...] Read more.
Water deficiency and heat stress can severely limit crop production and quality. Stress imposed on the parents during reproduction could have transgenerational effects on their progeny. Seeds with different origins can vary significantly in their germination and early growth. Here, we investigated how water-deficit and heat stress on parental durum wheat plants affected seedling establishment of the subsequent generation. One stress-tolerant and one stress-sensitive Australian durum genotype were used. Seeds were collected from parents with or without exposure to stress during reproduction. Generally, stress on the previous generation negatively affected seed germination and seedling vigour, but to a lesser extent in the tolerant variety. Small RNA sequencing utilising the new durum genome assembly revealed significant differences in microRNA (miRNA) expression in the two genotypes. A bioinformatics approach was used to identify multiple miRNA targets which have critical molecular functions in stress adaptation and plant development and could therefore contribute to the phenotypic differences observed. Our data provide the first confirmation of the transgenerational effects of reproductive-stage stress on germination and seedling establishment in durum wheat. New insights gained on the epigenetic level indicate that durum miRNAs could be key factors in optimising seed vigour for breeding superior germplasm and/or varieties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small RNAs in Crop Improvement and Breeding)
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Review

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15 pages, 718 KiB  
Review
The Use of Nitrogen and Its Regulation in Cereals: Structural Genes, Transcription Factors, and the Role of miRNAs
by Diana L. Zuluaga and Gabriella Sonnante
Plants 2019, 8(8), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8080294 - 20 Aug 2019
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4726
Abstract
Cereals and, especially, rice, maize, and wheat, are essential commodities, on which human nutrition is based. Expanding population and food demand have required higher production which has been achieved by increasing fertilization, and especially nitrogen supply to cereal crops. In fact, nitrogen is [...] Read more.
Cereals and, especially, rice, maize, and wheat, are essential commodities, on which human nutrition is based. Expanding population and food demand have required higher production which has been achieved by increasing fertilization, and especially nitrogen supply to cereal crops. In fact, nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for the plant, but excessive use poses serious environmental and health issues. Therefore, increasing nitrogen use efficiency in cereals is of pivotal importance for sustainable agriculture. The main steps in the use of nitrogen are uptake and transport, reduction and assimilation, and translocation and remobilization. Many studies have been carried out on the genes involved in these phases, and on transcription factors regulating these genes. Lately, increasing attention has been paid to miRNAs responding to abiotic stress, including nutrient deficiency. Many miRNAs have been found to regulate transcription factors acting on the expression of specific genes for nitrogen uptake or remobilization. Recent studies on gene regulatory networks have also demonstrated that miRNAs can interact with several nodes in the network, functioning as key regulators in nitrogen metabolism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Small RNAs in Crop Improvement and Breeding)
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