PhyCysID: Plant Cystatin Protein Prediction by an Artificial Intelligence Approach.

Phytocystatins are proteinaceous inhibitors found in plants that competitively target various classes of cysteine proteinases, including papain-like enzymes, cathepsins, and legumains. Based on structural characteristics and gene organization, phytocystatins can be classified into four subtypes: intronless (I1 and I2), intron-containing (IwI), and multidomain cystatins containing more than one inhibitory region (II). This work presents PhyCysID, a dedicated web server designed for the rapid classification of phytocystatin subtypes.

Beyond transcription factors: more regulatory layers affecting soybean gene expression under abiotic stress.

Abiotic stresses such as nutritional imbalance, salt, light intensity, and high and low temperatures negatively affect plant growth and development. Through the course of evolution, plants developed multiple mechanisms to cope with environmental variations, such as physiological, morphological, and molecular adaptations. Epigenetic regulation, transcription factor activity, and post-transcriptional regulation operated by RNA molecules are mechanisms associated with gene expression regulation under stress.

HDAC inhibitor affects soybean miRNA482bd expression under salt and osmotic stress.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding molecules that modulate gene expression through targeting mRNA by specific-sequence cleavage, translation inhibition, or transcriptional regulation. miRNAs are key molecules in regulatory networks in abiotic stresses such as salt stress and water deficit in plants. Throughout the world, soybean is a critical crop, the production of which is affected by environmental stress conditions.

Transcriptional analyses of two soybean cultivars under salt stress.

Soybean is an economically important plant, and its production is affected in soils with high salinity levels. It is important to understand the adaptive mechanisms through which plants overcome this kind of stress and to identify potential genes for improving abiotic stress tolerance. RNA-Seq data of two Glycine max cultivars, a drought-sensitive (C08) and a tolerant (Conquista), subjected to different periods of salt stress were analyzed.