Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is a widely studied enzyme in plant biology due to its role in connecting primary metabolism to secondary phenylpropanoid metabolism, significantly influencing plant growth, development, and stress response. Although PAL genes have been extensively studied in various plant species but their exploration in cucumber has been limited. This study successfully identified 11 CsPAL genes in Cucumis sativus (cucumber). These CsPAL genes were categorized based on their conserved sequences revealing patterns through MEME analysis and multiple sequence alignment. Interestingly, cis-elements related to stress were found in the promoter regions of CsPAL genes, indicating their involvement in responding to abiotic stress. Furthermore, these gene’s promoters contained components associated with light, development and hormone responsiveness. This suggests that they may have roles in hormone developmental processes. MicroRNAs were identified as a key regulators for the CsPAL genes, playing a crucial role in modulating their expression. This discovery underscores the complex regulatory network involved in the plant’s response to various stress conditions. The influence of these microRNAs further highlights the complicated mechanisms that plants use to manage stress. Gene expression patterns were analyzed using RNA-seq data. The significant upregulation of CsPAL9 during HT3h (heat stress for 3 h) and the heightened upregulation of both CsPAL9 and CsPAL7 under HT6h (heat stress for 6 h) in the transcriptome study suggest a potential role for these genes in cucumber’s tolerance to heat stress. This comprehensive investigation aims to enhance our understanding of the PAL gene family’s versatility, offering valuable insights for advancements in cucumber genetics.

Ion transport is crucial for salt tolerance in plants. Under salt stress, the high-affinity K⁺ transporter (HKT) family is mainly responsible for the long-distance transport of salt ions which help to reduce the deleterious effects of high concentrations of ions accumulated within plants. Kiwifruit is well known for its susceptibility to salt stress. Therefore, a current study was designed to decipher the molecular regulatory role of kiwifruit HKT members in the face of salt stress. The transcriptome data from Actinidia valvata revealed that salt stress significantly induced the expression of AvHKT1. A multiple sequence alignment analysis indicated that the AvHKT1 protein contains three conserved amino acid sites for the HKT family. According to subcellular localization analysis, the protein was primarily present in the cell membrane and nucleus. Additionally, we tested the AvHKT1 overexpression in ‘Hongyang’ kiwifruit, and the results showed that the transgenic lines exhibited less leaf damage and improved plant growth compared to the control plants. The transgenic lines displayed significantly higher SPAD and Fv/Fm values than the control plants. The MDA contents of transgenic lines were also lower than that of the control plants. Furthermore, the transgenic lines accumulated lower Na⁺ and K⁺ contents, proving this protein involvement in the transport of Na⁺ and K⁺ and classification as a type II HKT transporter. Further research showed that the peroxidase (POD) activity in the transgenic lines was significantly higher, indicating that the salt-induced overexpression of AvHKT1 also scavenged POD. The promoter of AvHKT1 contained phytohormone and abiotic stress-responsive cis-elements. In a nutshell, AvHKT1 improved kiwifruit tolerance to salinity by facilitating ion transport under salt stress conditions.

Use of fossil fuels causes environmental issues due to its inefficiency and and imminent depletion. This has led to interest in identifying alternative and renewable energy sources such as biofuel generation from photosynthetic organisms. A wide variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, known as microalgae, have the potential to be economical and ecologically sustainable in the manufacture of biofuels such as bio-hydrogen, biodiesel, bio-oils, and bio-syngas. By using contemporary bioengineering techniques, the innate potential of algae to produce biomass of superior quality may be enhanced. In algal biotechnology, directed genome modification via RNA-guided endonucleases is a new approach. CRISPR/Cas systems have recently been frequently used to modify the genetic makeup of several aquatic and freshwater microalgae. The majority of research has used the Cas9-driven Type II system, one of two classes and six unique kinds of CRISPR systems, to specifically target desired genes in algae, and knock them out and down, or both. Using CRISPR technology to modify its genetic makeup, microalgae has produced more biomass and increased in lipid content. This review highlights the attempts made so far to target microalgae genome modification, discusses the prospects for developing the CRISPR platform for large-scale genome modification of microalgae, and identifies the opportunities and challenges in the development and distribution of CRISPR/Cas9 components.

Cotton crop is considered valuable for its fiber and seed oil. Cotton fiber is a single-celled outgrowth from the ovule epidermis, and it is a very dynamic cell for study. It has four distinct but overlapping developmental stages: initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall synthesis, and maturation. Among the various qualitative characteristics of cotton fiber, the important ones are the cotton fiber staple length, tensile strength, micronaire values, and fiber maturity. Actin dynamics are known to play an important role in fiber elongation and maturation. The current review gives an insight into the cotton fiber developmental stages, the qualitative traits associated with cotton fiber, and the set of genes involved in regulating these developmental stages and fiber traits. This review also highlights some prospects for how biotechnological approaches can improve cotton fiber quality.

The coffee industry holds importance, providing livelihoods for millions of farmers globally and playing a vital role in the economies of coffee-producing countries. Environmental conditions such as drought and temperature fluctuations can adversely affect the quality and yield of coffee crops.Carotenoid cleavage oxygenases (CCO) enzymes are essential for coffee plants as they help break down carotenoids contributing to growth and stress resistance. However, knowledge about the CCO gene family in Coffee arabica was limited. In this study identified 21 CCO genes in Coffee arabica (C. arabica) revealing two subfamilies carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) and 9-cis-epoxy carotenoid dioxygenases (NCED) through phylogenic analysis. These subfamilies exhibited distribution patterns in terms of gene structure, domains, and motifs. The 21 CaCCO genes, comprising 5 NCED and 16 CCD genes were found across chromosomes. Promoter sequencing analysis revealed cis-elements that likely interact with plant stress-responsive, growth-related, and phytohormones, like auxin and abscisic acid. A comprehensive genome-wide comparison, between C. arabica and A. thaliana was conducted to understand the characteristics of CCO genes. RTqPCR data indicated that CaNCED5, CaNCED6, CaNCED12, and CaNCED20 are target genes involved in the growth of drought coffee plants leading to increased crop yield, in a conditions, with limited water availability. This reveals the role of coffee CCOs in responding to abiotic stress and identifies potential genes useful for breeding stress-resistant coffee varieties.