Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. New Phytol. 2024 Dec;244(5):1675-1677. doi: 10.1111/nph.20215.

Marine macrophytes in a changing world: mechanisms underpinning responses and 
resilience to environmental stress - an introduction to a Virtual Issue.

Smale DA(1), King NG(1).

Author information:
(1)Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, 
Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20215
PMID: 39506199


2. New Phytol. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1111/nph.20240. Online ahead of print.

Mapping of drought-induced changes in tissue characteristics across the leaf 
profile of Populus balsamifera.

Momayyezi M(#)(1), Chu C(2), Stobbs JA(3), Soolanayakanahally RY(4), Guy RD(5), 
McElrone AJ(1)(6), Knipfer T(#)(2).

Author information:
(1)Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, CA, 
95616, USA.
(2)Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 
BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
(3)Canadian Light Source Inc., Saskatoon, SK, S7N 2V3, Canada.
(4)Indian Head Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Indian Head, SK, 
S0G 2K0, Canada.
(5)Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, 
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
(6)Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Davis, CA, 95618, USA.
(#)Contributed equally

Leaf architecture impacts the ease of gases diffusion, biochemical process, and 
photosynthetic performance. For balsam poplar, a widespread North American 
species, the influence of water availability on leaf anatomy and subsequent 
photosynthetic performance remains unknown. To address this shortcoming, we 
characterized the anatomical changes across the leaf profile in 
three-dimensional space for saplings subjected to soil drying and rewatering 
using X-ray microcomputed tomography. Our hypothesis was that higher abundance 
of bundle sheet extensions (BSE) minimizes drought-induced changes in 
intercellular airspace volume relative to mesophyll volume (i.e. mesophyll 
porosity, θIAS) and aids recovery by supporting leaf structural integrity. 
Leaves of 'Carnduff-9' with less abundant BSEs exhibited greater θIAS, higher 
spongy mesophyll surface area, reduced palisade mesophyll surface area, and less 
veins compared with 'Gillam-5'. Under drought conditions, Carnduff-9 showed 
significant changes in θIAS across leaf profile while that was little for 
'Gillam-5'. Under rewatered conditions, drought-induced changes in θIAS were 
fully reversible in 'Gillam-5' but not in 'Carnduff-9'. Our data suggest that a 
'robust' leaf structure with higher abundance of BSEs, reduced θIAS, and 
relatively large mesophyll surface area provides for improved photosynthetic 
capacity under drought and supports recovery in leaf architecture after 
rewatering in balsam poplar.

© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20240
PMID: 39506187


3. New Phytol. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1111/nph.20186. Online ahead of print.

StCDF1: A 'jack of all trades' clock output with a central role in regulating 
potato nitrate reduction activity.

Shaikh MA(#)(1), Ramírez-Gonzales L(#)(2), Franco-Zorrilla JM(3), Steiner E(3), 
Oortwijn M(2), Bachem CWB(2)(4), Prat S(1).

Author information:
(1)Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
(2)Plant Breeding, Wageningen University & Research, PO Box 386, Wageningen, AJ, 
6700, the Netherlands.
(3)Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de 
Biotecnología - CSIC, Madrid, 28049, Spain.
(4)Solynta, Dreijenlaan 2, Wageningen, HA, 6703, the Netherlands.
(#)Contributed equally

Transcription factors of the CYCLING DOF FACTOR (CDF) family activate in potato 
the SP6A FT tuberization signal in leaves. In modern cultivars, truncated 
StCDF1.2 alleles override strict SD control by stabilizing the StCDF1 protein, 
which leads to StCOL1 suppression and impaired activation of the antagonic SP5G 
paralog. By using DAP-seq and RNA-seq studies, we here show that StCDF1 not only 
acts as an upstream regulator of the day length pathway but also directly 
regulates several N assimilation and transport genes. StCDF1 directly represses 
expression of NITRATE REDUCTASE (NR/NIA), which catalyses the first reduction 
step in nitrate assimilation, and is encoded by a single potato locus. StCDF1 
knock-down lines performed better in N-limiting conditions, and this phenotype 
correlated with derepressed StNR expression. Also, deletion of the StNR DAP-seq 
region abolished repression by StCDF1, while it did not affect NLP7-dependent 
activation of the StNR promoter. We identified multiple nucleotide polymorphisms 
in the DAP-seq region in potato cultivars with early StCDF1 alleles, suggesting 
that this genetic variation was selected as compensatory mechanism to the 
negative impact of StCDF1 stabilization. Thereby, directed modification of the 
StCDF1-recognition elements emerges as a promising strategy to enhance limiting 
StNR activity in potato.

© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20186
PMID: 39501740


4. New Phytol. 2024 Nov 5. doi: 10.1111/nph.20244. Online ahead of print.

The first intron and promoter of Arabidopsis DIACYLGLYCEROL ACYLTRANSFERASE 1 
exert synergistic effects on pollen and embryo lipid accumulation.

McGuire ST(#)(1), Shockey J(#)(2), Bates PD(1).

Author information:
(1)Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 
99164, USA.
(2)United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 
Southern Regional Research Service, 1100 Allen Toussaint Blvd, New Orleans, LA, 
70124, USA.
(#)Contributed equally

Accumulation of triacylglycerols (TAGs) is crucial during various stages of 
plant development. In Arabidopsis, two enzymes share overlapping functions to 
produce TAGs, namely acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) and 
phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (PDAT1). Loss of function of both 
genes in a dgat1-1/pdat1-2 double mutant is gametophyte lethal. However, the key 
regulatory elements controlling tissue-specific expression of either gene has 
not yet been identified. We transformed a dgat1-1/dgat1-1//PDAT1/pdat1-2 parent 
with transgenic constructs containing the Arabidopsis DGAT1 promoter fused to 
the AtDGAT1 open reading frame either with or without the first intron. Triple 
homozygous plants were obtained, however, in the absence of the DGAT1 first 
intron anthers fail to fill with pollen, seed yield is c. 10% of wild-type, seed 
oil content remains reduced (similar to dgat1-1/dgat1-1), and non-Mendelian 
segregation of the PDAT1/pdat1-2 locus occurs. Whereas plants expressing the 
AtDGAT1pro:AtDGAT1 transgene containing the first intron mostly recover 
phenotypes to wild-type. This study establishes that a combination of the 
promoter and first intron of AtDGAT1 provides the proper context for temporal 
and tissue-specific expression of AtDGAT1 in pollen. Furthermore, we discuss 
possible mechanisms of intron mediated regulation and how regulatory elements 
can be used as genetic tools to functionally replace TAG biosynthetic enzymes in 
Arabidopsis.

© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20244
PMID: 39501618


5. New Phytol. 2024 Nov 5. doi: 10.1111/nph.20249. Online ahead of print.

Asymmetric genome merging leads to gene expression novelty through 
nucleo-cytoplasmic disruptions and transcriptomic shock in Chlamydomonas 
triploids.

Prost-Boxoen L(1)(2)(3), Bafort Q(1)(2)(3), Van de Vloet A(1)(2)(3), 
Almeida-Silva F(1)(2), Paing YT(1)(2), Casteleyn G(1)(2)(3), D'hondt S(3), De 
Clerck O(3), Van de Peer Y(1)(2)(3)(4)(5).

Author information:
(1)Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 
Ghent, 9052, Belgium.
(2)VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, VIB, Ghent, 9052, Belgium.
(3)Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, 9052, Belgium.
(4)Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Centre for Microbial 
Ecology and Genomics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa.
(5)College of Horticulture, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, 
Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.

Genome merging is a common phenomenon causing a wide range of consequences on 
phenotype, adaptation, and gene expression, yet its broader implications are not 
well-understood. Two consequences of genome merging on gene expression remain 
particularly poorly understood: dosage effects and evolution of expression. We 
employed Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model to investigate the effects of 
asymmetric genome merging by crossing a diploid with a haploid strain to create 
a novel triploid line. Five independent clonal lineages derived from this 
triploid line were evolved for 425 asexual generations in a laboratory natural 
selection experiment. Utilizing fitness assays, flow cytometry, and RNA-Seq, we 
assessed the immediate consequences of genome merging and subsequent evolution. 
Our findings reveal substantial alterations in genome size, gene expression, 
protein homeostasis, and cytonuclear stoichiometry. Gene expression exhibited 
expression-level dominance and transgressivity (i.e. expression level higher or 
lower than either parent). Ongoing expression-level dominance and a pattern of 
'functional dominance' from the haploid parent was observed. Despite major 
genomic and nucleo-cytoplasmic disruptions, enhanced fitness was detected in the 
triploid strain. By comparing gene expression across generations, our results 
indicate that proteostasis restoration is a critical component of rapid 
adaptation following genome merging in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and possibly 
other systems.

© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.

DOI: 10.1111/nph.20249
PMID: 39501615