Whether niche changes promote the evolution of species: a case study of in Asia and North America.

Ecological changes have been observed to promote rates of lineage diversification, yet the precise roles of ecological factors, species evolution, and environmental variability in driving species diversity remain research hot spots. The association between ecological change and lineage diversification, particularly with regard to the size of the time scale, remains poorly understood. To explore whether ecological change facilitates species evolution, we focused on the unique family Paeoniaceae, which encompasses both herbaceous and woody taxa, to investigate the evolutionary rates.

Transcriptional landscape of sweetpotato root tip development at the single-cell level.

Single-cell transcriptome sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a powerful tool for describing the transcriptome dynamics of plant development but has not yet been utilized to analyze the tissue ontology of sweetpotato. This study established a stable method for isolating single protoplast cells for scRNA-seq to reveal the cell heterogeneity of sweetpotato root tip meristems at the single-cell level. The study analyzed 12,172 single cells and 27,355 genes in the root tips of the sweetpotato variety Guangshu 87, which were distributed into 15 cell clusters.

Nutritional and Chemical Quality of Maize Hybrids from Different FAO Maturity Groups Developed and Grown in Serbia.

Maize is a globally significant cereal crop, contributing to the production of essential food products and serving as a pivotal resource for diverse industrial applications. This study investigated the proximate analysis of maize hybrids from different FAO maturity groups in Serbia, exploring variations in polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, tocopherols, and fatty acids with the aim of understanding how agroecological conditions influence the nutritional potential of maize hybrids. The results indicate substantial variations in nutritional composition and antioxidant properties among different maturity groups.

Single-cell technologies: From research to application.

In recent years, more and more single-cell technologies have been developed. A vast amount of single-cell omics data has been generated by large projects, such as the Human Cell Atlas, the Mouse Cell Atlas, the Mouse RNA Atlas, the Mouse ATAC Atlas, and the Plant Cell Atlas. Based on these single-cell big data, thousands of bioinformatics algorithms for quality control, clustering, cell-type annotation, developmental inference, cell-cell transition, cell-cell interaction, and spatial analysis are developed.

Improving bread wheat yield through modulating an unselected AP2/ERF gene.

Crop breeding heavily relies on natural genetic variation. However, additional new variations are desired to meet the increasing human demand. Inflorescence architecture determines grain number per spike, a major determinant of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.

DNA Demethylation Induces Tree Peony Flowering with a Low Deformity Rate Compared to Gibberellin by Inducing Expression under Forcing Culture Conditions.

Gibberellin (GA) is frequently used in tree peony forcing culture, but inappropriate application often causes flower deformity. Here, 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), an efficient DNA demethylating reagent, induced tree peony flowering with a low deformity rate by rapidly inducing expression, whereas GA treatment affected various flowering pathway genes with strong pleiotropy. The 5-azaC treatment, but not GA, significantly reduced the methylation level in the promoter with the demethylation of five CG contexts in a 369 bp CG-rich region, and eight light-responsive related -elements were also predicted in this region, accompanied by enhanced leaf photosynthetic efficiency.

Stochastic gene expression drives mesophyll protoplast regeneration.

Cell pluripotency is fundamental to biology. It has long been known that differentiated somatic plant cells may reacquire pluripotency, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In many plant species, a single isolated mesophyll protoplast may regenerate into an entire plant, which is widely used in gene transformation.

A crosstalk between auxin and brassinosteroid regulates leaf shape by modulating growth anisotropy.

Leaf shape is highly variable within and among plant species, ranging from slender to oval shaped. This is largely determined by the proximodistal axis of growth. However, little is known about how proximal-distal growth is controlled to determine leaf shape.

A gene expression map of shoot domains reveals regulatory mechanisms.

Gene regulatory networks control development via domain-specific gene expression. In seed plants, self-renewing stem cells located in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) produce leaves from the SAM peripheral zone. After initiation, leaves develop polarity patterns to form a planar shape.

Transcriptome Association Identifies Regulators of Wheat Spike Architecture.

The architecture of wheat () inflorescence and its complexity is among the most important agronomic traits that influence yield. For example, wheat spikes vary considerably in the number of spikelets, which are specialized reproductive branches, and the number of florets, which are spikelet branches that produce seeds. The large and repetitive nature of the three homologous and highly similar subgenomes of wheat has impeded attempts at using genetic approaches to uncover beneficial alleles that can be utilized for yield improvement.

Cytokinin Signaling Activates Expression during Axillary Meristem Initiation.

The homeodomain transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) defines the shoot stem cell niche, but the mechanisms underlying the establishment of expression remain unclear. Here, we show that cytokinin signaling precedes expression in leaf axils and activates expression de novo in the leaf axil to promote axillary meristem initiation. Furthermore, type-B Arabidopsis response regulator proteins, which are transcriptional activators in the cytokinin signaling pathway, directly bind to the promoter and activate its expression.

An organ boundary-enriched gene regulatory network uncovers regulatory hierarchies underlying axillary meristem initiation.

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) control development via cell type-specific gene expression and interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and regulatory promoter regions. Plant organ boundaries separate lateral organs from the apical meristem and harbor axillary meristems (AMs). AMs, as stem cell niches, make the shoot a ramifying system.

Suppression of Photosynthetic Gene Expression in Roots Is Required for Sustained Root Growth under Phosphate Deficiency.

Plants cope with inorganic phosphate (Pi) deficiencies in their environment by adjusting their developmental programs and metabolic activities. For Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the developmental responses include the inhibition of primary root growth and the enhanced formation of lateral roots and root hairs. Pi deficiency also inhibits photosynthesis by suppressing the expression of photosynthetic genes.

Inhibition of melanization by a Nasonia defensin-like peptide: implications for host immune suppression.

The parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis suppresses host immune mechanisms that include melanization reactions. Melanization is an important immune response of hosts induced by wasp infection and thus its inhibition represents a successful strategy for parasitism. However, the molecular basis associated with such inhibition is largely unknown in N.

Antimicrobial peptide-like genes in Nasonia vitripennis: a genomic perspective.

Background: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an essential component of innate immunity which can rapidly respond to diverse microbial pathogens. Insects, as a rich source of AMPs, attract great attention of scientists in both understanding of the basic biology of the immune system and searching molecular templates for anti-infective drug design. Despite a large number of AMPs have been identified from different insect species, little information in terms of these peptides is available from parasitic insects.

Gene expression, antiparasitic activity, and functional evolution of the drosomycin family.

Drosophila employs various antimicrobial peptides as effective weapons to defend against diverse pathogens. Drosomycin is an inducible antifungal peptide initially isolated from the Drosophila melanogaster haemolymph. Here we report the expression pattern of seven drosomycin genes in four different developmental stages (egg, larva, pupa and adult).

Positively selected sites of scorpion depressant toxins: possible roles in toxin functional divergence.

Scorpion depressant toxins represent a distinct pharmacological group of sodium channel neurotoxins, identified by their preferential ability in induction of depressant and flaccid paralysis of insects. However, recent observations that some members in this group exhibit anti-mammal activity raise an interesting evolutionary question of whether it is a consequence of adaptive evolution to the early radiation of mammals on earth. By employing the maximum likelihood method, we provided convincing statistical evidence in favor of positive selection driving the evolution of the depressant toxins, and found that two of three positively selected sites are located on the functional surface of the toxins.

Inducible antibacterial response of scorpion venom gland.

Innate immunity is the first line defense of multicellular organisms that rapidly operates to limit aggression upon exposure to pathogen microorganisms. Although the existence of some antibacterial peptides in scorpion venoms suggests that venom gland could be protected by these effector molecules, antibacterial activity of venom itself has not been assessed. In this study, we reported the antibacterial activity of the venom of Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii.