Papers by Milan Kumar Lal
Journal of Plant Growth Regulation
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Journal of Cereal Science
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Frontiers in Genetics
Over the last decade, remarkable progress has been made in our understanding the phytohormones, c... more Over the last decade, remarkable progress has been made in our understanding the phytohormones, cytokinin’s (CKs) biosynthesis, perception, and signalling pathways. Additionally, it became apparent that interfering with any of these steps has a significant effect on all stages of plant growth and development. As a result of their complex regulatory and cross-talk interactions with other hormones and signalling networks, they influence and control a wide range of biological activities, from cellular to organismal levels. In agriculture, CKs are extensively used for yield improvement and management because of their wide-ranging effects on plant growth, development and physiology. One of the primary targets in this regard is cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKO/CKX), which is encoded by CKX gene, which catalyses the irreversible degradation of cytokinin. The previous studies on various agronomically important crops indicated that plant breeders have targeted CKX directly. In recent yea...
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Agricultural Reviews, 2022
Fruits and vegetables are a rich sources of different nutrients, pigments, secondary metabolites ... more Fruits and vegetables are a rich sources of different nutrients, pigments, secondary metabolites and other nutritional components which are beneficial and fundamental components for human health. In recent years, the consumption of coloured fruits and vegetables has increased significantly due to their superior nutritional characteristics. In this context, purple tomato is now gaining importance due to the high content of the pigment anthocyanins. This article provides knowledge on 1) Tomato in general and anthocyanin-rich purple tomato, 2) Benefits of anthocyanins in plants and human diet, 3) Strategies for development of purple tomato, 4) Better postharvest life of purple tomatoes, 5) Purple tomato in India and 6) Health benefits of purple tomato. Purple tomato fruits provide higher nutraceutical value as compared to the classical red tomato as it combines the health benefits of the anthocyanins along with other usual and known phytochemicals as already present in tomato fruit. Du...
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Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 2021
Potato stands first as a non-cereal food crop for global consumption purposes. During the year 20... more Potato stands first as a non-cereal food crop for global consumption purposes. During the year 2019–20, dry rot disease symptoms were observed on potato tubers of the cultivar ‘Kufri Pukhraj’ kept in a cold store in the Moga district of Punjab State of India. Initial symptoms were observed as wrinkled and shriveled tubers with necrotic lesions on the tuber skin. The cottony white mycelial growth was also evident on some cracked tubers. During the incubation of these tubers at 25 °C for 7 days, the symptoms were more prominent with intensive whitish mycelial growth throughout the tuber. The pure culture of isolated fungus showed sparsely white colonies, which turned violet after 2 weeks. The oval or club-shaped microconidia were abundantly present on monophialides and multiphialides. The slender or straight macroconidia having 3–5 septa were also observed. The long and short chains of microconidia were observed in the fresh colonies. The molecular identification based on translation elongation factor 1 α (TEF1 α ) and internal transcribed spacer region primers revealed the fungus identity as Fusarium proliferatum . The pathogenicity test was also performed to prove the Koch postulates on the initially identified host cultivar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of dry rot disease caused by Fusarium proliferatum in India.
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International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022
Heat stress (HS) is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the production and quality of whe... more Heat stress (HS) is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the production and quality of wheat. Rising temperatures are particularly threatening to wheat production. A detailed overview of morpho-physio-biochemical responses of wheat to HS is critical to identify various tolerance mechanisms and their use in identifying strategies to safeguard wheat production under changing climates. The development of thermotolerant wheat cultivars using conventional or molecular breeding and transgenic approaches is promising. Over the last decade, different omics approaches have revolutionized the way plant breeders and biotechnologists investigate underlying stress tolerance mechanisms and cellular homeostasis. Therefore, developing genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data sets and a deeper understanding of HS tolerance mechanisms of different wheat cultivars are needed. The most reliable method to improve plant resilience to HS must include agronomic management strateg...
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Planta, 2022
MAIN CONCLUSION The present review gives an insight into the salinity stress tolerance responses ... more MAIN CONCLUSION The present review gives an insight into the salinity stress tolerance responses and mechanisms of underground vegetable crops. Phytoprotectants, agronomic practices, biofertilizers, and modern biotechnological approaches are crucial for salinity stress management. Underground vegetables are the source of healthy carbohydrates, resistant starch, antioxidants, vitamins, mineral, and nutrients which benefit human health. Soil salinity is a serious threat to agriculture that severely affects the growth, development, and productivity of underground vegetable crops. Salt stress induces several morphological, anatomical, physiological, and biochemical changes in crop plants which include reduction in plant height, leaf area, and biomass. Also, salinity stress impedes the growth of the underground organs, which ultimately reduces crop yield. Moreover, salt stress is detrimental to photosynthesis, membrane integrity, nutrient balance, and leaf water content. Salt tolerance mechanisms involve a complex interplay of several genes, transcription factors, and proteins that are involved in the salinity tolerance mechanism in underground crops. Besides, a coordinated interaction between several phytoprotectants, phytohormones, antioxidants, and microbes is needed. So far, a comprehensive review of salinity tolerance responses and mechanisms in underground vegetables is not available. This review aims to provide a comprehensive view of salt stress effects on underground vegetable crops at different levels of biological organization and discuss the underlying salt tolerance mechanisms. Also, the role of multi-omics in dissecting gene and protein regulatory networks involved in salt tolerance mechanisms is highlighted, which can potentially help in breeding salt-tolerant underground vegetable crops.
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Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 2022
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Potato, 2020
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International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2017
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The microorganisms which are beneficial for human as well as animal health when consumed in the p... more The microorganisms which are beneficial for human as well as animal health when consumed in the proper amount are known as probiotics. Probiotics control the metabolism of the host. Probiotics are beneficial in improving lactose metabolism, reduction of antimicrobial activities, reduction of gastrointestinal infection, controlling serum cholesterol, have anticarcinogenic properties, antidiarrhoeal properties, and improve inflammatory bowel diseases. The consumer is mainly dependent on the probiotics which are available in the market in the form of fermented dairy products. However, there are two problems regarding the consumption of the fermented dairy product such as lactose intolerance and increase in cholesterol content. In current scenario demand for vegetarian probiotics products has increased. Potato is currently the third most important food crop which is consumed globally. The advantages of using potato along with their low cost are the presence of low fat, high on carbohydr...
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Importance of rice: There is booming demand for rice in Asia and other part of the world due to i... more Importance of rice: There is booming demand for rice in Asia and other part of the world due to intense rise in world’s population. The feed the huge population the production of rice must be increased by 60-70 per cent over the next two decades (Chauhan et al., 2017). The consumption of colored rice is increasingly becoming popular in many Asian countries where black rice is often mixed with non-colored rice prior to cooking to enhance the flavor (Juliano, 1993). In addition, red rice is commonly used as a food colorant e.g. in bread, ice cream and liquor in several Asian countries.
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Plant Molecular Biology, 2021
KEY MESSAGE Melatonin plays a crucial role in the mitigation of plant biotic stress through induc... more KEY MESSAGE Melatonin plays a crucial role in the mitigation of plant biotic stress through induced defense responses and pathogen attenuation. Utilizing the current knowledge of signaling and associated mechanism of this phytoprotectant will be invaluable in sustainable plant disease management. Biotic stress in plants involves complex regulatory networks of various sensory and signaling molecules. In this context, the polyfunctional, ubiquitous-signaling molecule melatonin has shown a regulatory role in biotic stress mitigation in plants. The present review conceptualized the current knowledge concerning the melatonin-mediated activation of the defense signaling network that leads to the resistant or tolerant phenotype of the infected plants. Fundamentals of signaling networks involved in melatonin-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) or reactive nitrogen species (RNS) scavenging through enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants have also been discussed. Increasing evidence has suggested that melatonin acts upstream of mitogen-activated proteinase kinases in activation of defense-related genes and heat shock proteins that provide immunity against pathogen attack. Besides, the direct application of melatonin on virulent fungi and bacteria showed disrupted spore morphology, destabilization of cell ultrastructure, reduced biofilm formation, and enhanced mortality that led to attenuate disease symptoms on melatonin-treated plants. The transcriptome analysis has revealed the down-regulation of pathogenicity genes, metabolism-related genes, and up-regulation of fungicide susceptibility genes in melatonin-treated pathogens. The activation of melatonin-mediated systemic acquired resistance (SAR) through cross-talk with salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) has been essential for viral disease management. The high endogenous melatonin concentration has also been correlated with the up-regulation of genes involved in pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). The present review highlights the versatile functions of melatonin towards direct inhibition of pathogen propagule along with active participation in mediating oxidative burst and simulating PTI, ETI and SAR responses. The hormonal cross-talk involving melatonin mediated biotic stress tolerance through defense signaling network suggests its suitability in a sustainable plant protection system.
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Potato, 2020
The dietary fibre (DF) is both starch and non-starch polysaccharide of our diet having a signific... more The dietary fibre (DF) is both starch and non-starch polysaccharide of our diet having a significant effect on gut physiology. It enhances the fermentation process, nutrifies gut microflora, enriches gut microbiome, and improves large bowel function. The recommended dose of DF in our diet is 20–35 g/day, which shows that how much important is the role of DF in our diet. The DF consumption not only lowers the effect of glycaemic response but also provides a protective role in large bowel cancer, diabetes, and coronary heart diseases. The DF can be classified majorly into two types, viz., water-soluble DF and water-insoluble DF. Water-soluble DF includes gum, pectin, and mucilage, whereas water-insoluble DF includes cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cooked potatoes are a good dietary source of carbohydrates which contains about 1.8% of total dry weight. Consumption of dietary fibre can confer benefits to heart health by influencing both lipid and glucose metabolism.
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Plant Science, 2021
Photorespiration accounts for 20-50 % reduction in grain yield in C3 crops. The process is essent... more Photorespiration accounts for 20-50 % reduction in grain yield in C3 crops. The process is essential to remove 2-phosphoglycolate produced due to the oxygenation activity of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO) enzyme. Attempts were made to improve photosynthesis through enriched CO2 concentration by installing numerous photorespiratory bypass modules in the chloroplast of several crops. In this study, we have introduced Escherichia coli glycolate catabolic pathway (ECGC) into rice chloroplast to bypass photorespiration partially (PB) or completely (FB). Five genes encoding glyoxylate carboligase (GCL), tartronic semialdehyde reductase (TSR), and three subunits of glycolate dehydrogenase (GDH) were introduced to get FB plants, whereas only the three subunits of GDH were introduced to get PB plants. Southern analysis confirmed stable integration of the transgenes and their expression was confirmed by RT-qPCR analysis in the T3 progenies. Both FB and PB transformed lines exhibited increased photosynthetic efficiency, biomass, and grain yield than wild type (WT) with empty vector control. The introduction of ECGC pathway favoured the carboxylase activity of RuBisCO while decreasing its oxygenase activity fostering the functioning of Calvin-Benson cycle and resulting in an increased carbon-assimilation that was manifested in their superior architecture and harvest index. These findings will support rice and related cereal crop breeding programs to increase yield under elevated temperature and arid conditions.
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Scientia Horticulturae, 2020
Abstract Environmental stress and pathogen infection are the major limiting factors in worldwide ... more Abstract Environmental stress and pathogen infection are the major limiting factors in worldwide horticulture production, resulting in huge yield loss. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has gained a great interest in plant science research owing to its multifaceted role in plant systems. Melatonin mediated efficient reactive oxygen species scavenging and activation of antioxidant defence responses is the two major mechanisms to cope with most of the abiotic stresses and pathogen infections. Besides that, the activation of gene expression of stress-specific genes, antioxidant enzyme genes and pathogenesis-related genes make it a master regulator in plant defence responses under pathogen infection and environmental stresses. Additionally, hormonal cross-talk of melatonin with other phytohormones in regulating drought stress and virus infection gives an idea to explore the possibilities of such a mechanism in other stresses in diverse horticultural crops. The complementary effect of melatonin with fungicides is giving new hope in reducing the burden of exhaustive use of toxic chemicals in vegetables and fruit crops. Melatonin can play an essential role in combating sequential and simultaneous combined stresses in crop plants which are an emerging challenge these days. Our review highlighted the functions of melatonin in ameliorating major abiotic (heat, cold, drought, and salt) and biotic (fungi, virus, bacteria, and insects) stresses of horticultural crops and elucidated the resulting physiological and molecular mechanism. The versatile role of this biological molecule in anti-stress regulation showing successful cases of growth promotion and enhanced resistance makes it suitable for environment-friendly horticultural crop production and to ensure food safety.
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Plant Cell Reports, 2021
Increasing temperature is a key component of global climate change, affecting crop growth and pro... more Increasing temperature is a key component of global climate change, affecting crop growth and productivity worldwide. Wheat is a major cereal crop grown in various parts of the globe, which is affected severely by heat stress. The morphological parameters affected include germination, seedling establishment, source-sink activity, leaf area, shoot and root growth. The physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, respiration, leaf senescence, water and nutrient relation are also affected by heat. At the cellular level, heat stress leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species that disrupt the membrane system of thylakoid, chloroplast and plasma membrane. The deactivation of the photosystem, reduction in photosynthesis and inactivation of rubisco affect the production of photoassimilates and their allocation. This ultimately affects anthesis, grain filling, size, number and maturity of wheat grains, which hamper crop productivity. The interplay of various systems comprising antioxidants and hormones plays a crucial role in imparting heat stress tolerance in wheat. Thus, implementation of various omics technologies could foster in-depth insights on heat stress effects, eventually devising heat stress mitigation strategies by conventional and modern breeding to develop heat-tolerant wheat varieties. This review provides an integrative view of heat stress responses in wheat and also discusses approaches to develop heat-tolerant wheat varieties.
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3 Biotech, 2020
Potato dry rot disease caused by Fusarium species is a major threat to global potato production. ... more Potato dry rot disease caused by Fusarium species is a major threat to global potato production. The soil and seed-borne diseases influence the crop stand by inhibiting the development of potato sprouts and cause severe rots in seed tubers, table and processing purpose potatoes in cold stores. The symptoms of the dry rot include sunken and wrinkled brown to black tissue patches on tubers having less dry matter and shriveled flesh. Fungal infection accompanied by toxin development in the rotten tubers raises more concern for consumer health. The widespread dry rot causing fungal species (Fusarium graminearum) is reported to have a hemibiotrophic lifestyle. A cascade of enzymes, toxins and small secreted proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of these hemibiotrophs. With the availability of the genome sequence of the most devastating species Fusarium sambucinum, it is important to identify the potential pathogenicity factors and small secreted proteins that will help in designing management strategies. Limited resistant cultivars and the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains have made it more threatening for potato cultivation and trade. Several novel fungicide molecules (Azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil and fludioxonil), are found very effective as tuber treatment chemicals. Besides, many beneficial bioagents and safer chemicals have shown antibiosis and mycoparasitism against this pathogen. Germplasm screening for dry rot resistance is important to assist the resistance breeding program for the development of resistant cultivars. This review aims to draw attention to the symptomatology, infection process, pathogenomics, the role of toxins and management approaches for potato dry rot disease, which is very much critical in designing better management strategies.
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Physiologia Plantarum, 2021
Drought stress imposes a serious threat to crop productivity and nutritional security. Drought ad... more Drought stress imposes a serious threat to crop productivity and nutritional security. Drought adaptation mechanisms involve complex regulatory network comprising of various sensory and signaling molecules. In this context, melatonin has emerged as a potential signaling molecule playing a crucial role in imparting stress tolerance in plants. Melatonin pretreatment regulates various plant physiological processes such as osmoregulation, germination, photosynthesis, senescence, primary/secondary metabolism, and hormonal cross-talk under water deficit conditions. Melatonin mediated regulation of ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle plays a crucial role to scavenge reactive oxygen species generated in the cells during drought. Here, in this review, the current knowledge on the role of melatonin to ameliorate adverse effects of drought by modulating morphological, physiological and redox regulatory processes are discussed. The role of melatonin to improve water absorption capacity of roots by regulating aquaporin channels and hormonal cross-talk involved in drought stress mitigation are also discussed. Overall, melatonin is a versatile bio-molecule involved in growth promotion and yield enhancement under drought stress that makes it a suitable candidate for eco-friendly crop production to ensure food security.
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Papers by Milan Kumar Lal