Exploring the structural requirements for jasmonates and related compounds as novel plant growth regulators

Abstract

Jasmonates and related compounds have been highlighted recently in the field of plant physiology and plant molecular biology due to their significant regulatory roles in the signaling pathway for the diverse aspects of plant development and survival. Though a considerable amount of studies concerning their biological effects in different plants have been widely reported, the molecular details of the signaling mechanism are still poorly understood. This review sheds new light on the structural requirements for the bioactivity/property of jasmonic acid derivatives in current computational perspective, which differs from previous research that mainly focus on their biological evaluation, gene and metabolic regulation and the enzymes in their biosynthesis. The computational results may contribute to further understanding the mechanism of drug-receptor interactions in their signaling pathway and designing novel plant growth regulators as high effective ecological pesticides.

Plant-derived bioactive compounds at sub-lethal concentrations: towards smart biocide-free antibiofilm strategies

“…Recently, the development of new methodologies has revolutionized the screening of natural products: bio-prospecting, development of a streamlined screening process, improved natural product sourcing, advances in chemical methodologies, combinatorial biosynthesis and plant genomics (Lam 2007;Bohlin et al 2010). For instance, rapid and more cost-effective genome sequencing technologies coupled with advanced computational power permits extracting chemical knowledge from genetic information more efficiently (Li et al 2009). Less expensive DNA sequencing allows the identification of gene clusters known to be associated with a production of small molecules.…”

“…These equations may be used by the chemist to make a more informed choice as to which analogues to prepare. Currently, QSAR approach has been successfully applied to many data sets of plant-derived compounds (Wright et al 2006;Chen and Li 2009;Nargotra et al 2009;De-Eknamkul et al 2011;Yao et al 2011). Thus, by applying the QSAR technique, new organic synthetic methodologies and biotransformation for the modification of natural product leads would generate a novel, structurally diverse analogs with improved properties or new activities (Zhou et al 2012).…”

Exploring the pharmacological potential of promiscuous host-defense peptides: from natural screenings to biotechnological applications

“…Even during a pathogen attack, plants are able to deposit callose, otherwise known as the polysaccharide β-1,3-glucan, at the infection site and further synthesize lignin-like polymers, thus reinforcing the wall (Hématy et al, 2009). Callose is a polysaccharide that acts in response to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as during a variety of processes in plant development (Chen and Kim, 2009). When a pathogen crosses through the cell wall, plants can induce a hypersensitive response (HR) or synthesize antibacterial and antifungal compounds for infection control.…”

Plasmodesmata “in Communicado”

“…The latter has been shown to be important in establishing symplasmic domains during development (e.g., Ruan et al, 2004; reviewed in Chen and Kim, 2009; Zavaliev et al, 2011). Callose accumulation results from the balanced activities of β-1,3-glucanases (glycosyl hydrolases) and callose synthases (CALS or glucan synthase-like – GSL) and its variable deposition at the neck of PD serves to regulate the mass symplasmic flow by constriction of the channel.…”