Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are the largest enzyme family involved in NADPH- and/or O 2 -dependent hydroxylation reactions across all the domains of life. In plants and animals, CYPs play a central role in the detoxification of xenobiotics. In addition to this function, CYPs act as versatile catalysts and play a crucial role in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, antioxidants, and phytohormones in higher plants. The molecular and biochemical processes catalyzed by CYPs have been well characterized, however, the relationship between the biochemical process catalyzed by CYPs and its effect on several plant functions was not well established. The advent of next-generation sequencing opened new avenues to unravel the involvement of CYPs in several plant functions such as plant stress response. The expression of several CYP genes are regulated in response to environmental stresses, and they also play a prominent role in the crosstalk between abiotic and biotic stress responses. CYPs have an enormous potential to be used as a candidate for engineering crop species resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses. The objective of this review is to summarize the latest research on the role of CYPs in plant stress response.

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The widely successful use of synthetic herbicides over the past 70 years has imposed strong and widespread selection pressure, leading to the evolution of herbicide resistance in hundreds of weed species. Both target-site resistance (TSR) and nontarget-site resistance (NTSR) mechanisms have evolved to most herbicide classes. TSR often involves mutations in genes encoding the protein targets of herbicides, affecting the binding of the herbicide either at or near catalytic domains or in regions affecting access to them. Most of these mutations are nonsynonymous SNPs, but polymorphisms in more than one codon or entire codon deletions have also evolved. Some herbicides bind multiple proteins, making the evolution of TSR mechanisms more difficult. Increased amounts of protein target, by increased gene expression or by gene duplication, are an important, albeit less common, TSR mechanism. NTSR mechanisms include reduced absorption or translocation and increased sequestration or metabolic degradation. The mechanisms that can contribute to NTSR are complex and often involve genes that are members of large gene families. For example, enzymes involved in herbicide metabolism-based resistances include cytochromes P450, GSH S -transferases, glucosyl and other transferases, aryl acylamidase, and others. Both TSR and NTSR mechanisms can combine at the individual level to produce higher resistance levels. The vast array of herbicide-resistance mechanisms for generalist (NTSR) and specialist (TSR and some NTSR) adaptations that have evolved over a few decades illustrate the evolutionary resilience of weed populations to extreme selection pressures. These evolutionary processes drive herbicide and herbicide-resistant crop development and resistance management strategies.

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A review is provided of the current state of understanding of Colletotrichum systematics, focusing on species-level data and the major clades. The taxonomic placement of the genus is discussed, and the evolution of our approach to species concepts and anamorph-teleomorph relationships is described. The application of multilocus technologies to phylogenetic analysis of Colletotrichum is reviewed, and selection of potential genes/loci for barcoding purposes is discussed. Host specificity and its relation to speciation and taxonomy is briefly addressed. A short review is presented of the current status of classification of the species clusters that are currently without comprehensive multilocus analyses, emphasising the orbiculare and destructivum aggregates. The future for Colletotrichum biology will be reliant on consensus classification and robust identification tools. In support of these goals, a Subcommission on Colletotrichum has been formed under the auspices of the International Commission on Taxonomy of Fungi, which will administer a carefully curated barcode database for sequence-based identification of species within the BioloMICS web environment.

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Understanding of the determinants of species' geographic range limits remains poorly integrated. In part, this is because of the diversity of perspectives on the issue, and because empirical studies have lagged substantially behind developments in theory. Here, I provide a broad overview, drawing together many of the disparate threads, considering, in turn, how influences on the terms of a simple single-population equation can determine range limits. There is theoretical and empirical evidence for systematic changes towards range limits under some circumstances in each of the demographic parameters. However, under other circumstances, no such changes may take place in particular parameters, or they may occur in a different direction, with limitation still occurring. This suggests that (i) little about range limitation can categorically be inferred from many empirical studies, which document change in only one demographic parameter, (ii) there is a need for studies that document variation in all of the parameters, and (iii) in agreement with theoretical evidence that range limits can be formed in the presence or absence of hard boundaries, environmental gradients or biotic interactions, there may be few general patterns as to the determinants of these limits, with most claimed generalities at least having many exceptions.

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There is a long-standing controversy as to whether drought limits photosynthetic CO2 assimilation through stomatal closure or by metabolic impairment in C3 plants. Comparing results from different studies is difficult due to interspecific differences in the response of photosynthesis to leaf water potential and/or relative water content (RWC), the most commonly used parameters to assess the severity of drought. Therefore, we have used stomatal conductance (g) as a basis for comparison of metabolic processes in different studies. The logic is that, as there is a strong link between g and photosynthesis (perhaps co-regulation between them), so different relationships between RWC or water potential and photosynthetic rate and changes in metabolism in different species and studies may be 'normalized' by relating them to g. Re-analysing data from the literature using light-saturated g as a parameter indicative of water deficits in plants shows that there is good correspondence between the onset of drought-induced inhibition of different photosynthetic sub-processes and g. Contents of ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) decrease early in drought development, at still relatively high g (higher than 150 mmol H20 m(-2) s(-1)). This suggests that RuBP regeneration and ATP synthesis are impaired. Decreased photochemistry and Rubisco activity typically occur at lower g (<100 mmol H20 m(-2) s(-1)), whereas permanent photoinhibition is only occasional, occurring at very low g (<50 mmol H20 m(-2) s(-1)). Sub-stomatal CO2 concentration decreases as g becomes smaller, but increases again at small g. The analysis suggests that stomatal closure is the earliest response to drought and the dominant limitation to photosynthesis at mild to moderate drought. However, in parallel, progressive down-regulation or inhibition of metabolic processes leads to decreased RuBP content, which becomes the dominant limitation at severe drought, and thereby inhibits photosynthetic CO2 assimilation.

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