Fine-tuning gibberellin improves rice alkali-thermal tolerance and yield.

Soil alkalinization and global warming are predicted to pose major challenges to agriculture in the future, as they continue to accelerate, markedly reducing global arable land and crop yields. Therefore, strategies for future agriculture are needed to further improve globally cultivated, relatively high-yielding Green Revolution varieties (GRVs) derived from the SEMIDWARF 1 (SD1) gene. Here we propose that precise regulation of the phytohormone gibberellin (GA) to optimal levels is the key to not only confer alkali-thermal tolerance to GRVs, but also to further enhance their yield.

A genetic module at one locus in rice protects chloroplasts to enhance thermotolerance.

How the plasma membrane senses external heat-stress signals to communicate with chloroplasts to orchestrate thermotolerance remains elusive. We identified a quantitative trait locus, (), consisting of two genes, and , that interact together to enhance rice thermotolerance and reduce grain-yield losses caused by heat stress. Upon heat stress, plasma membrane-localized E3 ligase TT3.

Application of metabolomics analysis to aid in understanding the pathogenicity of different lineages and different serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen with high mortality in young children, elderly persons, pregnant women, and immune-compromised individuals. Most human listeriosis cases are associated with four serotypes (1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c and 4b) within lineages I and II. The intracellular metabolic changes in L.