Insights into Marker Assisted Selection and Its Applications in Plant Breeding

Burgeoning the human population with its required food demand created a burden on ever-decreasing cultivated land and our food production systems. This situation prompted plant scientists to breed crops in a short duration with specific traits. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has emerged as a potential tool to achieve desirable results in plants with the help of molecular markers and improves the traits of interest in a short duration. The MAS has comprehensively been used in plant breeding to characterize germplasm, diversity analysis, trait stacking, gene pyramiding, multi-trait introgression, and genetic purity of different cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and fiber crops, etc. Mapping studies pointed out several marker-trait associations from different crop species, which specifies the potential application of MAS in accelerating crop improvement. This chapter presents an overview of molecular markers, their genesis, and potential use in plant breeding

Artificial Light at Night: A Global Threat to Plant Biological Rhythms and Eco-Physiological Processes

Light is crucial environmental factor for primary resource and signalling in plants and provide optimum fitness under fluctuating environments from millions of year. However, due to urbanization, and human development activities lot of excess light generated in environment during night time and responsible for anthropogenic generated pollution (ALAN; artificial night light pollution). This pollution has cause for serious problem in plants as it affects their processes and functions which are under the control of light or diurnal cycle. Plant biorhythms mostly diurnal rhythms such as stomatal movements, photosynthetic activity, and many more metabolic processes are under the control of period of light and dark, which are crucially affected by artificial light at night. Similarly, the crucial plant processes such as pollination, flowering, and yield determining processes are controlled by the diurnal cycle and ALAN affects these processes and ultimately hampers the plant fitness and development. To keep in mind the effect of artificial light at night on plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes, this chapter will focus on the status of global artificial night light pollution and the responsible factors. Further, we will explore the details mechanisms of plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes under artificial light at night and how this mechanism can be a global threat. Then at the end we will focus on the ANLP reducing strategies such as new light policy, advanced lightening technology such as remote sensing and lightening utilisation optimisation

Combined Abiotic Stresses: Challenges and Potential for Crop Improvement

Abiotic stressors are major constraints that affect agricultural plant physio-morphological and biochemical attributes, resulting in a loss of normal functioning and, eventually, a severe decline in crop productivity. The co-occurrence of different abiotic stresses, rather than a specific stress situation, can alter or trigger a wide range of plant responses, such as altered metabolism, stunted growth, and restricted development. Therefore, systematic and rigorous studies are pivotal for understanding the impact of concurrent abiotic stress conditions on crop productivity. In doing so, this review emphasizes the implications and potential mechanisms for controlling/managing combined abiotic stresses, which can then be utilized to identify genotypes with combined stress tolerance. Furthermore, this review focuses on recent biotechnological approaches in deciphering combined stress tolerance in plants. As a result, agronomists, breeders, molecular biologists, and field pathologists will benefit from this literature in assessing the impact of interactions between combined abiotic stresses on crop performance and development of tolerant/resistant cultivars

The intertwining of Zn-finger motifs and abiotic stress tolerance in plants: Current status and future prospects

Environmental stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature can adversely modulate the field crop’s ability by altering the morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes of the plants. It is estimated that about 50% + of the productivity of several crops is limited due to various types of abiotic stresses either presence alone or in combination (s). However, there are two ways plants can survive against these abiotic stresses; a) through management practices and b) through adaptive mechanisms to tolerate plants. These adaptive mechanisms of tolerant plants are mostly linked to their signalling transduction pathway, triggering the action of plant transcription factors and controlling the expression of various stress-regulated genes. In recent times, several studies found that Zn-finger motifs have a significant function during abiotic stress response in plants. In the first report, a wide range of Zn-binding motifs has been recognized and termed Zn-fingers. Since the zinc finger motifs regulate the function of stress-responsive genes. The Zn-finger was first reported as a repeated Zn-binding motif, comprising conserved cysteine (Cys) and histidine (His) ligands, in Xenopus laevis oocytes as a transcription factor (TF) IIIA (or TFIIIA). In the proteins where Zn2+ is mainly attached to amino acid residues and thus espousing a tetrahedral coordination geometry. The physical nature of Zn-proteins, defining the attraction of Zn-proteins for Zn2+, is crucial for having an in-depth knowledge of how a Zn2+ facilitates their characteristic function and how proteins control its mobility (intra and intercellular) as well as cellular availability. The current review summarized the concept, importance and mechanisms of Zn-finger motifs during abiotic stress response in plants

Plant photosynthesis under abiotic stresses: Damages, adaptive, and signaling mechanisms

Photosynthesis is crucial for sustaining life on this planet and necessary for plant growth and development. Abiotic stresses such as high and low temperatures, and excess, or deficit of water limit the crucial plant processes, thus threatening the global food security. However, recent molecular approaches allowed elucidation of the photosynthetic components/compounds and their efficiency under stress conditions. In the present scenario, these approaches are not enough to reduce the yield penalty due to the reduction in photosynthetic efficiency. Therefore, comprehensive data on plant behavior and stress crosstalk networks could assist in understanding the in-depth mechanism of photosynthesis. In recent years, information regarding crosstalk, signaling characterization of candidate genes, and responses to multiple stressors have advanced our knowledge to understand the mechanism of photosynthesis. Therefore, in this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of various studies conducted on photosynthesis under multiple abiotic stress factors that affect the photosynthetic efficiency of a plant. We also discuss the role of crosstalk signaling compounds (plant growth regulators and micro RNAs) for an in-depth understanding of the photosynthesis mechanism. Finally, based on our gathered data set, the mechanism of damage and adaptive response of photosynthesis under multiple stressors are explained to enhance the scientific community's knowledge toward boosting photosynthesis and to accelerate stress tolerance strategies for crop improvement

Nutrient-Mediated Perception and Signalling in Human Metabolism: A Perspective of Nutrigenomics

The interaction between selective nutrients and linked genes involving a specific organ reveals the genetic make-up of an individual in response to a particular nutrient. The interaction of genes with food opens opportunities for the addition of bioactive compounds for specific populations comprising identical genotypes. The slight difference in the genetic blueprints of humans is advantageous in determining the effect of nutrients and their metabolism in the body. The basic knowledge of emerging nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics can be applied to optimize health, prevention, and treatment of diseases. In addition, nutrient-mediated pathways detecting the cellular concentration of nutrients such as sugars, amino acids, lipids, and metabolites are integrated and coordinated at the organismal level via hormone signals. This review deals with the interaction of nutrients with various aspects of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics along with pathways involved in nutrient sensing and regulation, which can provide a detailed understanding of this new leading edge in nutrition research and its potential application to dietetic practice