BULLETIN 1
Australian Chickpea Pan-genome to Boost National Chickpea Production

 

Figure: CCFI Director Professor Rajeev Varshney and GRDC Senior Manager, Oilseeds and Pulses, Dr Francis Ogbonnaya, inspect Australian chickpeas. Photo Source: Murdoch University
Researchers from the Centre for Crop and Food Innovation (CCFI) at Murdoch University have generated a pan-genome tailored specifically to Australian chickpea varieties, paving the way for improved chickpea production across the country.
The generated pan-genome resource consisted of high-quality assemblies of the 15 most popular chickpea varieties grown by Australian farmers. It revealed previously uncharacterized genetic diversity essential in understanding and improving desirable agronomic traits that will ensure the success of Australia's chickpea production, including yield, flowering time, acid soil tolerance, and drought tolerance.
The pangenome analysis was published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal and conducted in collaboration with Chickpea Breeding Australia, Agriculture Victoria Research, the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the University of Western Australia Institute of Agriculture, and BGI Research. It identified 34,345 gene families, including 13,986 dispensable families enriched for genes associated with key agronomic traits.
The researchers also discovered that Australian chickpea varieties could be further improved through the introduction of the “QTL hotspot” region for drought tolerance. The QTL hotspot has already demonstrated a 15-22% yield advantage after its introgression in elite cultivars in India, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
For more details, read the news article in Murdoch University News.
See https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=21399

 

BULLETIN 2
USask Researchers Discover Pair of Genes that Protect Wheat from Stripe Rust

 

Figure: Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk (PhD), a research officer at USask’s Crop Development Centre (CDC), is studying wild wheat varieties that carry resistance to these harmful pathogens. Photo Source: Chris Hendrickson
In their study of wild wheat varieties that carry resistance to harmful pathogens, University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk and Dr. Curtis Pozniak discovered a unique pair of genes that work together to protect wheat against disease.
From a wild strain of wheat, Klymiuk and Pozniak discovered significant resistance to stripe rust, a fungal disease considered one of the top five concerns for producers. Klymiuk and Pozniak realized that the resistance they identified in this wild strain was behaving differently than the others they had previously studied. While it is typical for one gene to be responsible for the expression of stripe rust, the wild wheat had two genes working together as a pair for full resistance. One gene is responsible for sensing the invading pathogen, while the other activates the immune response of the plant to stop the pathogen in its tracks.
To identify which genes were responsible for resistance, the researchers turned each of the genes “off”. When a gene is switched “off,” the plant can no longer protect itself and becomes susceptible to the pathogen. The researchers thought that only a single gene was responsible for the resistance, but further tests revealed that the two outlier genes interact at a protein level, physically coming together to initiate the resistance response.
For more details, read the article in USask News.
See https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=21400

 

SCIENTIFIC NEWS

OsDUF2488 acts synergistically with OsPrx1.1, regulates ROS metabolism and promotes dehydration tolerance in rice
Dipak Gayen, Sunil Kumar, Pragya Barua, Nilesh Vikram Lande, Subhasis Karmakar, Amit K. Dey, Saurabh Gayali, Tushar Kanti Maiti, Kutubuddin Ali Molla, Snehal Murumkar, Subhra Chakraborty, Niranjan Chakraborty
Plant Biotechnology Journal; 17 June 2025; https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70182

  

Summary
Stress-mediated regulation of energy metabolism and its relation to plant adaptation remain largely unknown. Mitochondrial redox potential is greatly influenced by stress-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS); therefore, we mapped the dehydration-induced alterations in the mitochondrial proteome of a resilient rice cultivar, Rasi, generating a proteome map representing the largest inventory of dehydration-responsive mitochondrial proteins from any plant species. Quantitative proteomic analysis led to the identification of an array of dehydration-responsive proteins (DRPs), associated with various cellular functions, conceivably impinging on the molecular mechanism of adaptation. One DRP identified in the mitochondrial proteome was yeast cadmium factor 54 (YCF54-like), also known as DUF (domain of unknown function) and hereafter referred to as OsDUF2488. We demonstrated that OsDUF2488 localises to mitochondria and preferentially interacts with peroxiredoxin, OsPrx1.1. Overexpression of OsDUF2488 in rice caused enhanced tolerance to dehydration and oxidative stress, while CRISPR/Cas9 knockout mutants of OsDUF2488 showed hypersensitivity to dehydration. Upon exposure to dehydration, OsDUF2488 could rescue mitochondrial dysfunction, contributing to increased ATP production in OsDUF2488-overexpressing rice. Coexpression of OsDUF2488 and OsPrx1.1 in yeast demonstrated a mutual effect on enhanced ROS catabolism, suggesting a cross-kingdom adaptive response of OsDUF2488. Our findings suggest that OsDUF2488 acts synergistically with OsPrx1.1 to regulate redox homeostasis and promote stress tolerance in rice.
See https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.70182

 

  

Figure: Mitochondrial integrity and fraction purity, and dehydration-responsive proteome dynamics. (a) Fluorescence image of Rhodamine-123-stained mitochondria and corresponding bright field image. Scale bar, 10 μm. (b) Cytochrome c oxidase activity in the presence (+) and absence (−) of non-ionic detergent Triton X-100. Data shown are the means ± SE of three independent experiments. (c) Immunoblots demonstrating the purity of mitochondrial fractions probed with mitochondria-specific anti-COX II antibodies, while anti-RuBisCo and anti-Lhcb1 antibodies serve as negative controls. The target proteins were visualised by HRP-conjugated secondary antibody. (d) Hierarchical clustering of the differentially expressed proteins. The columns represent the dehydration time points, while the rows represent proteins. Heat map shows log2-transformed expression ratios of 3-day, 6-day, and 9-day dehydration-responsive proteins with respect to those of unstressed control. Higher and lower abundance are indicated by red and blue, respectively. The red asterisk denotes OsDUF2488. (e, f) Venn diagrams representing upregulated (d) and downregulated (e) proteins shared by 3-day, 6-day, and 9-day dehydration. (g) Venn diagram illustrating the overlap of predicted subcellular localisations of the DRPs.