Nitrogen is the mineral nutrient that often limits plant growth and development. In response to changes in nitrogen supply, plants display elaborate responses at both physiological and morphological levels to adjust their growth and development. Because higher plants consist of multiple organs with different functions and nutritional requirements, they rely on local and long-distance signalling pathways to coordinate the responses at the whole-plant level. Phytohormones have been considered as signalling substances of such pathways. Amongst phytohormones, abscisic acid, auxin, and cytokinins have been closely linked to nitrogen signalling. Recent evidence has provided some insights into how nitrogen and the phytohormone signals are integrated to bring about changes in physiology and morphology. In this review, the evidence is summarized, mostly focusing on examples related to nitrogen acquisition.

The maize W22 inbred has served as a platform for maize genetics since the mid twentieth century. To streamline maize genome analyses, we have sequenced and de novo assembled a W22 reference genome using short-read sequencing technologies. We show that significant structural heterogeneity exists in comparison to the B73 reference genome at multiple scales, from transposon composition and copy number variation to single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The generation of this reference genome enables accurate placement of thousands of Mutator (Mu) and Dissociation (Ds) transposable element insertions for reverse and forward genetics studies. Annotation of the genome has been achieved using RNA-seq analysis, differential nuclease sensitivity profiling and bisulfite sequencing to map open reading frames, open chromatin sites and DNA methylation profiles, respectively. Collectively, the resources developed here integrate W22 as a community reference genome for functional genomics and provide a foundation for the maize pan-genome.

During plant development, distantly-located organs must communicate in order to adapt morphological and physiological features in response to environmental inputs. Among the recognized signaling molecules, a class of phytohormones known as the cytokinins functions as both local and long-distance regulatory signals for the coordination of plant development. This cytokinin-dependent communication system consists of orchestrated regulation of the metabolism, translocation, and signal transduction of this phytohormone class. Here, to gain insight into this elaborate signaling system, we summarize current models of biosynthesis, transmembrane transport, and long-distance translocation of cytokinins in higher plants. Kudo T, Kiba T, Sakakibara H (2010) Metabolism and long-distance translocation of cytokinins.

Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are cholesterol-derived specialized metabolites produced in species of the Solanaceae. Here, we report that a group of jasmonate-responsive transcription factors of the ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) family (JREs) are close homologs of alkaloid regulators in Cathranthus roseus and tobacco, and regulate production of SGAs in tomato. In transgenic tomato, overexpression and dominant suppression of JRE genes caused drastic changes in SGA accumulation and in the expression of genes for metabolic enzymes involved in the multistep pathway leading to SGA biosynthesis, including the upstream mevalonate pathway. Transactivation and DNA-protein binding assays demonstrate that JRE4 activates the transcription of SGA biosynthetic genes by binding to GCC box-like elements in their promoters. These JRE-binding elements occur at significantly higher frequencies in proximal promoter regions of the genes regulated by JRE genes, supporting the conclusion that JREs mediate transcriptional co-ordination of a series of metabolic genes involved in SGA biosynthesis.

cis-Zeatin (cZ) is generally regarded as a cytokinin with little or no activity, compared with the highly active trans-zeatin (tZ). Although recent studies suggested possible roles for cZ, its physiological significance remains unclear. In our studies with rice (Oryza sativa), cZ inhibited seminal root elongation and up-regulated cytokinin-inducible genes, and its activities were comparable to those of tZ. Tracer experiments showed that exogenously supplied cZ-riboside was mainly converted into cZ derivatives but scarcely into tZ derivatives, indicating that isomerizations of cZ derivatives into tZ derivatives are a minor pathway in rice cytokinin metabolism. We identified three putative cZ-O-glucosyltransferases (cZOGT1, cZOGT2, and cZOGT3) in rice. The cZOGTs preferentially catalyzed O-glucosylation of cZ and cZ-riboside rather than tZ and tZ-riboside in vitro. Transgenic rice lines ectopically overexpressing the cZOGT1 and cZOGT2 genes exhibited short-shoot phenotypes, delay of leaf senescence, and decrease in crown root number, while cZOGT3 overexpressor lines did not show shortened shoots. These results propose that cZ activity has a physiological impact on the growth and development of rice.