Publications by authors named "FangSen Xu"

The quality of cigar tobacco leaves is profoundly affected by the timing of their harvest, with both early and late collections resulting in inferior characteristics. While the relationship between maturity and physiological metabolic processes is acknowledged, a comprehensive understanding of the physiological behavior of cigar leaves harvested at different stages remains elusive. This research investigated the physiological and metabolomic profiles of the cigar tobacco variety CX-014, grown in Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, with leaves sampled at 35 (T1), 42 (T2), 49 (T3), and 56 (T4) days post-inflorescence removal.

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Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for the growth and yield of crops. However, there is limited understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of phosphate (Pi) homeostasis, and its impact on growth, development, and yield-related traits in Brassica napus. Here, we identified four NITROGEN LIMITATION ADAPATATION1 (BnaNLA1) genes in B.

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Plant reproduction is a fundamental requirement for plants to sustain genetic inheritance. In the perspective of plant nutrition, such process is strongly influenced by boron deficiency (-B) and as documented about a century ago. To date, little is known about the mechanism of boron deficiency-induced fertility reduction.

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Article Synopsis
  • * BnaPAP17s play a crucial role in utilizing organic phosphorus by converting it to inorganic phosphorus, which is essential for plant growth in nutrient-deficient soils.
  • * Experimental evidence shows that overexpressing BnaPAP17s boosts APase activity, leading to higher phosphorus uptake when ATP is the only phosphorus source, indicating their importance for increasing nutrient efficiency in plants.
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Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for plant growth and development, but environmental Cu pollution has become increasingly severe, adversely affecting both ecosystems and crop productivity. In this study, we identified the AtNAC002 gene as a positive regulator of Cu toxicity in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that AtNAC002 expression was induced by Cu excess, and the atnac002 mutant was Cu-sensitive, accumulating more Cu than the wild-type.

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Drought stress (DS) is a hazardous abiotic prerequisite that is becoming increasingly severe around the world. As a result, new management measures to reduce the negative effects of DS are desperately needed to ensure improved agricultural productivity. This review focuses primarily on various DS mitigation strategies that can be utilized to overcome DS.

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Boron (B) deficiency has been shown to inhibit root cell growth and division. However, the precise mechanism underlying B deficiency-mediated root tip growth inhibition remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of , a gene encoding a boric acid channel, in ().

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Boron (B) is an essential microelement in plant growth and development. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying B uptake and translocation in Brassica napus are poorly understood. Herein, we identified a low-B (LB)-inducible gene, namely BnaC4.

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Many nucleoside triphosphate-diphosphohydrolases (NTPDases/APYRASEs, APYs) play a key role in modulating extracellular nucleotide levels. However, the Golgi-localized APYs, which help control glycosylation, have rarely been studied. Here, we identified AtAPY1, a gene encoding an NTPDase in the Golgi apparatus, which is required for cell wall integrity and plant growth under boron (B) limited availability.

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  • Overexpression of BnaC02.TPS8 in Arabidopsis enhances anthocyanin levels, essential for protecting photosynthetic tissues from stress caused by low nitrogen and high sucrose.
  • The study shows that BnaC02.TPS8 impacts carbon and nitrogen metabolism, resulting in increased T6P levels, improved carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, and enhanced storage of starch and sucrose.
  • Additionally, BnaC02.TPS8 interacts with other TPS proteins, influencing gene expression related to flavonoid biosynthesis and increasing the overall accumulation of metabolites under conditions of low nitrogen.
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Vacuolar Pi transporters (VPTs) have recently been identified as important regulators of cellular Pi status in and . In the oil crop , and are two homologs of , the vacuolar Pi influx transporter in . Here, we show that Pi deficiency induces the transcription of both homologs of genes in leaves.

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  • Efficient copper (Cu) uptake and distribution are essential for rice flowering and yield, but the regulatory mechanisms are unclear.
  • Researchers identified the OsWRKY37 gene, which increases Cu uptake and transport in rice roots, especially during Cu deficiency.
  • OsWRKY37 enhances the expression of copper transporter genes, impacting pollen development and grain yield, suggesting a genetic strategy for improving rice productivity in low-Cu conditions.
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  • Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is a major oil crop that struggles with low phosphorus availability, which is often found in organic forms in the soil.
  • The study examines the relationship between root-secreted acid phosphatases (APase) and root traits to understand how different B. napus genotypes acquire phosphorus under low availability.
  • Key findings indicate that while seed yield correlates with total root-secreted APase activity, trade-offs exist in root traits influencing phosphorus acquisition strategies among different genotypes.
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Boron (B) is essential for plant growth. However, the molecular mechanism of B transport in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is unknown well.

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  • Transcriptional regulation is important for plant adaptation to various stresses, including low-boron (B) stress, and this study focuses on the role of the STOP1 transcription factor in Arabidopsis under low-B conditions.
  • STOP1 co-localizes with the NIP5;1 boric acid-channel protein in root epidermal cells, and it enhances B uptake by binding to the 5'-untranslated region of NIP5;1 and activating its expression.
  • Overexpression of STOP1 leads to increased tolerance to low-B stress, indicating that the STOP1-NIP5;1 pathway is crucial for improving plant growth in low-B environments.
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  • Boron is essential for plant growth but can be toxic in excess, especially in arid regions, creating agricultural challenges.
  • Research has identified four homologous genes (BnaBOR4.1, BnaBOR4.2, BnaBOR4.3, and BnaBOR4.4) related to boron efflux in Brassica napus, an important oil crop, with three of them showing consistent expression.
  • The study reveals that BnaBOR4.1 and BnaBOR4.2 are crucial for boron transport, and highlights the significance of specific amino acids in these genes that influence their function, suggesting their potential use in improving B. napus resilience to high boron stress.
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Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) functions as a vital proxy for assessing carbohydrate status in plants. While class II T6P synthases (TPS) do not exhibit TPS activity, they are believed to play pivotal regulatory roles in trehalose metabolism. However, their precise functions in carbon metabolism and crop yield have remained largely unknown.

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In natural and agricultural situations, ammonium ( ) is a preferred nitrogen (N) source for plants, but excessive amounts can be hazardous to them, known as toxicity. Nitrate ( ) has long been recognized to reduce toxicity. However, little is known about Brassica napus, a major oil crop that is sensitive to high .

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Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is actively taken up by Pi transporters (PTs) from the soil and transported into the plant. Here, we functionally characterized the gene which belongs to the PHT1 family. BnaPT37 is a plasma membrane-localized protein containing 534 amino acids.

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Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plants, and its remobilization is key for adaptation to deficiency stress. However, there is limited understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of N remobilization in the important crop species Brassica napus (oilseed rape). Here, we report the identification of a transcription factor, BnaA9.

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Boron (B) is an indispensable mineral nutrient for plants and is primarily taken up by roots mainly in the form of boric acid (HBO). Recently, research shows that B has a significant impact on plant growth and productivity due to its narrow range between deficiency and toxicity. Fertilization and other procedures to address B stress (deficiency and toxicity) in soils are generally expensive and time-consuming.

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  • Optimal phosphorus management improves crop yield while maintaining long-term soil phosphorus supply.
  • The study involved rapeseed-rice rotation experiments to assess the impact of five effective phosphorus fertilizer methods, significantly enhancing seed yield and phosphorus recovery efficiency, particularly in low phosphorus soils.
  • The findings indicate that using optimal phosphorus management can stabilize crop yields and enhance phosphorus use efficiency, with the ranking of methods from most to least effective being rooting agents, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, calcium and magnesium phosphate, starter P, and foliar fertilizer.
  • Overall, yields were markedly higher in high phosphorus fertility soils compared to low phosphorus soils, indicating the effectiveness of these management strategies across different soil types.
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Unlabelled: Oilseed rape ( L.; ) is an important oil crop worldwide. However, the genetic mechanisms of adaptations to low phosphate (P) stress are largely unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • Oilseed rape is a key oil crop, and improving its seed yield (SY) is a primary goal in breeding efforts, backed by genetic research.
  • A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 1,773 significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to SY from a panel of 403 natural accessions.
  • Two candidate genes linked to SY were identified, offering insights for future breeding of high-yield cultivars in oilseed rape.
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