TY - JOUR
T1 - Trehalose
T2 - A sugar molecule involved in temperature stress management in plants
AU - Raza, Ali
AU - Bhardwaj, Savita
AU - Atikur Rahman, Md
AU - García-Caparrós, Pedro
AU - Habib, Madiha
AU - Saeed, Faisal
AU - Charagh, Sidra
AU - Foyer, Christine H.
AU - Siddique, Kadambot H.M.
AU - Varshney, Rajeev K.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Trehalose (Tre) is a non-reducing disaccharide found in many species, including bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, yeast, and even plants, where it acts as an osmoprotectant, energy source, or protein/membrane protector. Despite relatively small amounts in plants, Tre concentrations increase following exposure to abiotic stressors. Trehalose-6-phosphate, a precursor of Tre, has regulatory functions in sugar metabolism, crop production, and stress tolerance. Among the various abiotic stresses, temperature extremes (heat or cold stress) are anticipated to impact crop production worldwide due to ongoing climate changes. Applying small amounts of Tre can mitigate negative physiological, metabolic, and molecular responses triggered by temperature stress. Trehalose also interacts with other sugars, osmoprotectants, amino acids, and phytohormones to regulate metabolic reprogramming that underpins temperature stress adaptation. Transformed plants expressing Tre-synthesis genes accumulate Tre and show improved stress tolerance. Genome-wide studies of Tre-encoding genes suggest roles in plant growth, development, and stress tolerance. This review discusses the functions of Tre in mitigating temperature stress—highlighting genetic engineering approaches to modify Tre metabolism, crosstalk, and interactions with other molecules—and in-silico approaches for identifying novel Tre-encoding genes in diverse plant species. We consider how this knowledge can be used to develop temperature-resilient crops essential for sustainable agriculture.
AB - Trehalose (Tre) is a non-reducing disaccharide found in many species, including bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, yeast, and even plants, where it acts as an osmoprotectant, energy source, or protein/membrane protector. Despite relatively small amounts in plants, Tre concentrations increase following exposure to abiotic stressors. Trehalose-6-phosphate, a precursor of Tre, has regulatory functions in sugar metabolism, crop production, and stress tolerance. Among the various abiotic stresses, temperature extremes (heat or cold stress) are anticipated to impact crop production worldwide due to ongoing climate changes. Applying small amounts of Tre can mitigate negative physiological, metabolic, and molecular responses triggered by temperature stress. Trehalose also interacts with other sugars, osmoprotectants, amino acids, and phytohormones to regulate metabolic reprogramming that underpins temperature stress adaptation. Transformed plants expressing Tre-synthesis genes accumulate Tre and show improved stress tolerance. Genome-wide studies of Tre-encoding genes suggest roles in plant growth, development, and stress tolerance. This review discusses the functions of Tre in mitigating temperature stress—highlighting genetic engineering approaches to modify Tre metabolism, crosstalk, and interactions with other molecules—and in-silico approaches for identifying novel Tre-encoding genes in diverse plant species. We consider how this knowledge can be used to develop temperature-resilient crops essential for sustainable agriculture.
KW - Abiotic stress
KW - Gene expression
KW - Genetic engineering
KW - Osmolyte
KW - Trehalose-6-phosphate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177045862&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cj.2023.09.010
DO - 10.1016/j.cj.2023.09.010
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85177045862
SN - 2095-5421
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Crop Journal
JF - Crop Journal
IS - 1
ER -