Translational research in agricultural biology-enhancing crop resistivity against environmental stress alongside nutritional quality.

“Plants Are Smarter Than We Thought” was the headline news recently in a leading journal (Science News, March 6, 2014; http://news.sciencemag.org/signal-noise/2014/03/plants-are-smarter-we-thought), highlighting an article published elsewhere (Meyer et al., 2014), which presented evidence that plants are able to make smart decisions in response to predation and environment. Plants are well known to have evolved a fascinating adaptability to environment likely because of their sessile nature. Among a long list of complex and unique processes that plants have evolved include the oxygen evolving process of photosynthesis (Ort and Yocum, 1996; Demmig-Adams et al., 2006), which is the life force of animal/mammalian kingdoms, carried out by the semi-autonomous organelle, the chloroplast (Wise and Hoober, 2007); totipotency such that any cell from any plant part can divide, differentiate and yield a fully functional plant (Chupeau et al., 2013); the ability of and restoring structural (Meyer et al., 2014) and metabolic memory (Mattoo et al., 2007; Mattoo and Handa, 2008); the differentiated chromoplasts (from chloroplasts) that store important nutrients for animal and human health (Egea et al., 2010); long distance signaling up and down the whole plant (Ruiz-Medrano et al., 2001; Kohler and Mueller-Roeber, 2004); and recognition and communication via the emission of select class of volatiles (Holopainen and Blande, 2012; Das et al., 2013). Although the phenomenology is well described, the molecular and biochemical mechanisms involved in these processes are better known of some than other of these complex processes. The application of chemistry (and physics) principles has considerably added to the progress made in our understanding of plant life thus far. Life on earth became possible some 3.5 billion years ago because “chemistry begat biology” (Aberlin, 2014). However, little is known or understood of what led to the transition from chemistry to biology (Quoted from Jack Szostak, Harvard Medical School, February 2012, as appeared in The Scientist 03-2014). Nonetheless, the past two centuries witnessed a close merger between chemistry (and physics) and biology, producing a distinct platform for biochemistry (Neuberg, 1903 in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Neubergi) to bear on our understanding of the functions of a living cell and its complex nature. Because of its very nature, this discipline unearthed common and distinct alphabets and trends of biochemical processes that led to a concept of “unity in diversity,” exemplifying common principles that underlie the uniformity of life in diverse kingdoms. Kluyver's studies on microorganisms led to the discovery that ecological microbiology has a biochemical basis (Kluyver, 1924 in Florkin, 1924). The discovery that all the diverse organisms harbor same macromolecules and genetic code led to the knowledge that all organisms, from microorganisms to human beings, are built from similar molecular components with some variations (Berg et al., 2002). The past century was a witness to advances in diverse disciplines including genetics, and micro- and macro-elements of biological chemistry. Thus, major discoveries were made on biochemical pathways (by Krebs, encompassing 1932, 1937, and 1957), cofactors (for instance, coenzyme A, by Fritz A. Lippman), enzymes (by Wilhelm Kuhne, as early as 1878), proteins (by Sumner), nucleic acids—DNA (by Watson and Crick) and RNA world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_RNA_biology), cell membrane function and signaling pathways (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_biochemistry). These advances and discoveries brought together pieces of the puzzle(s) and laid the foundation for modern day molecular biology, biotechnology and epigenetic regulation. Progress in the identification and quantification of low abundant molecules led to Metabolome, which delves into the plasticity and/or homeostasis of primary and secondary metabolites, while small RNAs (including snoRNAs and miRNAs) brought to the fore the regulation by non-coding RNAs. Now and again, chemistry is having a bearing on the tremendous progress made in life sciences and our understanding of the biological processes. The application of the innovative recombinant DNA technology enabled transfer of genes across kingdoms, creating the modern day biotechnological intervention to revolutionize research, and changing for good the paradigms in agricultural and medical research (Cohen et al., 1973). Transgenic research is the buzzword for all sorts of remedial measures, be that to prevent/solve diseases, produce recombinant products, or grow more food. Because of the totipotency of the plant cells, plant biologists were able to transform and develop plants engineered with novel, heterologous and endogenous genes. This has enabled unambiguous confirmation of gene function in planta and testing the novel genotypes for global changes in macromolecules and micromolecules alike. The detection, unambiguous identification, quantification and fast analysis of minutest amounts of cellular micromolecules including plant hormones has materialized through high resolution superior gas chromatography, ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy, and this has become instrumental in understanding the chemical footprints during different phases of growth and development of plants. The human genome sequencing was completed ahead of expected time, and this success catalyzed moves to sequence other genomes including crop plants, all expedited by the progress made in Information Technology - mining the data and putting pieces of the puzzle together in shortest time possible. Progress in the Genomics (http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/misc/webfeat/plantgenomes/feature.html) field ushered in the Epigenomics (Schmitz and Zhang, 2011) science, and together they have thrown the whole biological kingdom wide open to new research, furthering our understanding of the fundamental basis of life, development and regulation. The length and breadth of data that accumulate each day is humongous and has led to the active collaboration in the interface of bioinformatics and biology. This merging of two disciplines has enhanced the timely solutions and brought to bear on the way science in this century is being conducted worldwide. More importantly, these advances in technology and biology have prepared the groundwork for the benefit of the humankind by providing reagents and roadmaps to solve the issues world is faced with at this time. This is most applicable and needed for human welfare, to have agricultural sustainability and feed the world, because there clearly is an increasing population growth trend throughout the globe except in Europe. World human population is expected to reach close to 9.6 billion by 2050 (http://esa.un.org/wpp/). The production capacity to grow more food to meet the demands of the burgeoning population gets complicated in view of the limits in the arable land that is less and less available, declining trends in crop yields, less sustainability of resources such as water, and losses due to abiotic and biotic stresses. Added to the challenge in producing more (nutritious) food is the need to fight malnutrition and reduce extensive chemical use in agriculture for a cleaner environment. Breeding strategies employing marker-assisted selection for high yielding varieties as well as for identifying germplasm resistant to abiotic and biotic stresses are already in vogue. Another approach is to introduce agronomically important genes and those that can help crops withstand environmental extremes into major and minor crops using genetic engineering technology.