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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
Functional Plant Biology

Functional Plant Biology

Volume 47 Number 3 2020

FP19225Research advances of WRINKLED1 (WRI1) in plants

Wenjie Fei, Shiqian Yang, Jing Hu, Feng Yang, Gaoyi Qu, Dan Peng and Bo Zhou
pp. 185-194

WRINKLED 1 (WRI1) is an AP2/ERBP transcription factors, but previous work on its function has not been systematical. In this review, we systematically summarise the structure of WRI1, the molecular interactions during transcription and translation in plants. At the same time, we elucidated the genetic evolution and regulatory functions of WRI1 at the molecular level. Furthermore, we described a new pathway involving WRI1 that can be used to produce triacylglycerols (TAGs) in plants.


Exposure of plants to various stresses can negatively impact growth and eventually yield. Plants are equipped with protective mechanisms against stresses and we examined the involvement of a transmembrane cysteine-rich short protein in the protection response. We found that mutating the genes encoding such two proteins hampered growth mainly under heat stress and also under UV and concluded that proteins of only 72 amino acids protect plants from an increase in reactive oxygen species, occurring following exposure to heat.

FP18336Large-scale stage-specific regulation of gene expression during host–pathogen interactions in CSP44 bread wheat carrying APR gene Lr48

Neelu Jain, Sushma Rani, Chanchal Sharma, Nivedita Sinha, Anupam Singh, Jai Bhagwan Sharma, Pramod Prasad, Gautam Saripalli, Pradeep Kumar Sharma, Harindra Singh Balyan, Pushpendra Kumar Gupta 0000-0001-7638-6171 and Kumble Vinod Prabhu
pp. 203-225

Leaf rust causes major yield losses in wheat, which is the third most important grain crop worldwide. Using transcriptomics approach, we studied the molecular mechanism of leaf rust resistance due to adult plant resistance (APR) gene Lr48. Some important genes involved in disease resistance, identified during the present study, may prove useful in breeding for APR against leaf rust in wheat.

FP19053Contributions of cryptochromes and phototropins to stomatal opening through the day

Fang Wang 0000-0001-5714-0010, T. Matthew Robson, Jorge J. Casal, Alexey Shapiguzov and Pedro J. Aphalo 0000-0003-3385-972X
pp. 226-238

We studied the times of day at which cryptochromes and phototropins participate in stomatal responses to light, by subjecting Arabidopsis mutants in these two photoreceptors to 11-h exposure to blue, red or green light. Under blue light, phototropins had relatively greater importance at the start of the photoperiod, whereas cryptochromes were important for stomatal opening throughout the photoperiod. This different timing of contributions by two families of photoreceptors to stomatal opening indicates that the mechanism is more complicated than usually assumed.

FP19241Infection with an asymptomatic virus in rice results in a delayed drought response

Jaymee R. Encabo, Reena Jesusa A. Macalalad-Cabral, Jerlie Mhay K. Matres, Sapphire Charlene Thea P. Coronejo, Gilda B. Jonson, Yuji Kishima, Amelia Henry and Il-Ryong Choi
pp. 239-249

Viruses have been previously reported to improve drought tolerance in plants, but few related mechanisms have been described. In this study, an asymptomatic virus, Rice tungro spherical virus, caused delayed drought response in rice as evidenced by physiological parameters and gene expression analysis, but this effect was quite transient, lasting only ~2 days. Based on quantification of the virus in the drought stressed tissue, this response appears more related to survival and reproduction of the virus than to plant growth and productivity.


Cold tolerance in some plant species provides farmers to carry out agricultural activities in wintertime. The responses of winter-type plants to low temperature may represent great variation dependent on the cultivar and developmental manner and our results showed that simultaneous increases in the activities of some antioxidant enzymes led to less oxidative stress and relatively higher photosynthetic activity in the young and mature leaves of Hansen under low temperature. As a result, cultivation of Hansen may provide higher yield.

FP19248The role of ascorbic acid in rice leaf senescence and photo–carbon imbalance

Le Yu 0000-0002-8139-3488, Qilei Zhang, Lina Lu, Hui Gao, Qiang Liu, Yonghai Liu, Chengwei Yang and Changlian Peng
pp. 263-278

The photo–carbon imbalance is an important hypothesis to explain the rice leaf senescence mechanism. In this paper we first verified the photo–carbon imbalance hypothesis to explain the mechanism of rice leaf senescence using transgenic rice plants, which have different endogenous ascorbic acid as materials. Our results show that shading treatment on rice plants results in increased yields significantly, which may be explained by the proposed photo–carbon imbalance hypothesis.

Committee on Publication Ethics

Call for Papers

We are seeking contributions for the following Special Issues. More

Australian Society of Plant Scientists

Official Journal of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (asps.org.au).

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Best Paper Award

Phan Thi Thanh Hoai has been awarded the ASPS-FPB Best Paper Award for 2023.

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