Browsing by Author "Venkataramani, Sujatha (TTU)"
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Item ANKYRIN REPEAT-CONTAINING PROTEIN 2A Is an essential molecular chaperone for peroxisomal membrane-bound ASCORBATE PEROXIDASE3 in Arabidopsis(2010) Shen, Guoxin (TTU); Kuppu, Sundaram (TTU); Venkataramani, Sujatha (TTU); Wang, Jing (TTU); Yan, Juqiang (TTU); Qiu, Xiaoyun (TTU); Zhang, Hong (TTU)Arabidopsis thaliana ANKYRIN REPEAT-CONTAINING PROTEIN 2A (AKR2A) interacts with peroxisomal membrane-bound ASCORBATE PEROXIDASE3 (APX3). This interaction involves the C-terminal sequence of APX3 (i.e., a transmembrane domain plus a few basic amino acid residues). The specificity of the AKR2A-APX3 interaction suggests that AKR2A may function as a molecular chaperone for APX3 because binding of AKR2A to the transmembrane domain can prevent APX3 from forming aggregates after translation. Analysis of three akr2a mutants indicates that these mutant plants have reduced steady state levels of APX3. Reduced expression of AKR2A using RNA interference also leads to reduced steady state levels of APX3 and reduced targeting of APX3 to peroxisomes in plant cells. Since AKR2A also binds specifically to the chloroplast OUTER ENVELOPE PROTEIN7 (OEP7) and is required for the biogenesis of OEP7, AKR2A may serve as a molecular chaperone for OEP7 as well. The pleiotropic phenotype of akr2a mutants indicates that AKR2A plays many important roles in plant cellular metabolism and is essential for plant growth and development. © 2010 American Society of Plant Biologists.Item Greenhouse Cultivation of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Standard Soilless Media Amended with Biochar and Compost(2023) Venkataramani, Sujatha (TTU); Kafle, Arjun (TTU); Singh, Manpreet (TTU); Singh, Sukhbir (TTU); Simpson, Catherine (TTU); Siebecker, Matthew G. (TTU)Peat is one of the most commonly used substrates in soilless cultivation. However, peat mining produces a negative carbon footprint, which raises the need for alternative sustainable substrate media. To address this, we studied the impact of peat replacement with a combination of various biochars and cotton burr compost on the growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), and nutrient concentration of media, plant leaf, and fruit in greenhouse conditions. Two experiments were conducted from Nov 2020 through Jan 2021 (Trial 1) and from Feb to Apr 2021 (Trial 2). The treatments were control (peat, vermiculite, and perlite at 2:1:1) and in the control peat was either fully replaced (hardwood biochar+ compost, softwood biochar+compost, and hemp biochar+compost) or partially replaced up to 50% (v/v) (hardwood biochar+compost, softwood biochar+compost, and hemp biochar+ compost). The control media was more acidic with lowest electrical conductivity than the other treatments. The leaf chlorophyll content and the photosynthetic assimilation rate varied among the treatments in both trials. The final dry shoot biomass was lowest in peatdominated control treatment suggesting biochar-compost in the substrate media contributed in increased dry biomass of the cucumber plant. The total number of fruits per plant and total yield per plant was significantly increased in all the treatments with the highest in hardwood biochar+compost, compared with the control. The nutrient concentration of media, leaf, and fruit indicates that biochar-compost enhances the nutritional status of the media, which supplies essential nutrients to the plant leaf and fruit while growing in different substrate compositions. Our results suggest that the replacement of peat with full or partial proportions of biochar-compost can produce similar and, in some cases, even better growth, yield, and physiology in potted cucumber than in the unamended control treatment.