Effects of high temperature on grain quality and enzyme activity in heat-sensitive versus heat-tolerant rice cultivars.

Background: High-temperature (HT) stress significantly affects the quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.), although the underlying the mechanism remains unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we assessed protein components, amino acids, mineral element levels, starch biosynthesis enzyme activity and gene expression of two heat-sensitive and two heat-tolerant genotypes under HT treatment during early (from 1 to 10 days, T1) and mid-filling (from 11 to 20 days, T2) after anthesis.

Green manure incorporation enhanced soil labile phosphorus and fruit tree growth.

Introduction: The incorporation of green manures substantially enhances the conversion of external phosphorus (P) fertilizers and soil-reserved P into forms readily available to plants. The study aims to evaluate the influence of green manure additions on soil phosphorus dynamics and citrus growth, considering different green manure species and initial soil phosphorus levels. Additionally, the research seeks to elucidate the microbiological mechanisms underlying the observed effects.

Long-term field application of manure induces deep selection of antibiotic resistomes in leaf endophytes of Chinese cabbage.

Antibiotic resistomes in leaf endophytes of vegetables threaten human health through the food chain. However, little is known about the ability of long-term manure fertilization to impact the deep selection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in leaf endophytes of vegetables planted in different types of soils. Here, by high-throughput quantitative PCR, we characterized the ARGs of leaf endophytes of Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis (Lour.

Alternate wetting and drying irrigation and phosphorus rates affect grain yield and quality and heavy metal accumulation in rice.

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation was reported to increase rice root activity and element bioavailability, which results in enhanced heavy metal (HM) absorption and this HM ends up in rice grains. HM uptake was also affected by the levels of phosphorus (P) fertilizer application. HMs enter food chain via consumption of rice grains and cause health problems.

Comprehensive transcriptome and proteome analyses reveal a novel sodium chloride responsive gene network in maize seed tissues during germination.

Germination is a plant developmental process by which radicle of mature seeds start to penetrate surrounding barriers for seedling establishment and multiple environmental factors have been shown to affect it. Little is known how high salinity affects seed germination of C4 plant, Zea mays. Preliminary germination assay suggested that isolated embryo alone was able to germinate under 200 mM NaCl treatment, whereas the intact seeds were highly repressed.

[Effects of land use change on soil organic carbon and its components in karst rocky desertification of southwest China].

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the dynamic medium of carbon transfer and the main pathway of carbon transfer in the karst ecosystem. SOC and its components are the important parts in soil carbon cycling of karst ecosystem. However, few studies have focused on SOC and its components in the karst ecosystem.

Spermidine Enhanced Free Polyamine Levels and Expression of Polyamine Biosynthesis Enzyme Gene in Rice Spikelets under Heat Tolerance before Heading.

High temperatures (HT) before heading strongly inhibit the development of spikelets in rice. Spermidine (Spd) can improve rice's resistance to HT stress; however, the mechanism underlying this effect has not been elucidated. This study investigated several parameters, including yield, superoxide anion (O), protective enzyme activities, and polyamine content, in a heat-sensitive genotype, Shuanggui 1.

Alternative splicing and translation play important roles in hypoxic germination in rice.

Post-transcriptional mechanisms (PTMs), including alternative splicing (AS) and alternative translation initiation (ATI), may explain the diversity of proteins involved in plant development and stress responses. Transcriptional regulation is important during the hypoxic germination of rice seeds, but the potential roles of PTMs in this process have not been characterized. We used a combination of proteomics and RNA sequencing to discover how AS and ATI contribute to plant responses to hypoxia.

Genome-wide identification and functional analysis of the splicing component SYF2/NTC31/p29 across different plant species.

This study systematically identifies plant SYF2/NTC31/p29 genes from 62 plant species by a combinatory bioinformatics approach, revealing the importance of this gene family in phylogenetics, duplication, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional regulation. Alternative splicing is a post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism, which is critical for plant development and stress responses. The entire process is strictly attenuated by a complex of splicing-related proteins, designated splicing factors.

Comparative performance of the BGISEQ-500 and Illumina HiSeq4000 sequencing platforms for transcriptome analysis in plants.

Background: The next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has greatly facilitated genomic and transcriptomic studies, contributing significantly in expanding the current knowledge on genome and transcriptome. However, the continually evolving variety of sequencing platforms, protocols and analytical pipelines has led the research community to focus on cross-platform evaluation and standardization. As a NGS pioneer in China, the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) has announced its own NGS platform designated as BGISEQ-500, since 2016.

Natural variation in the promoter of rice calcineurin B-like protein10 (OsCBL10) affects flooding tolerance during seed germination among rice subspecies.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) has two ecotypes, upland and lowland rice, that have been observed to show different tolerance levels under flooding stress. In this study, two rice cultivars, upland (Up221, flooding-intolerant) and lowland (Low88, flooding-tolerant), were initially used to study their molecular mechanisms in response to flooding germination.

Inhibitory effect of eugenol on seed germination and pre-harvest sprouting of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) is a constrain problem in hybrid rice production. The present study was conducted to investigate the inhibitory effect of eugenol on seed germination and PHS of hybrid rice variety (Qian You 1). The results showed that seed germination speed and the activities of α-amylase were inhibited by eugenol pre-soaking and these effects enhanced with the increasing of eugenol concentrations; while seedling growth was not negatively affected.

Exogenous spermidine improves seed germination of sweet corn via involvement in phytohormone interactions, HO and relevant gene expression.

Background: The low seed vigor and poor field emergence are main factors that restricting the extension of sweet corn in China. Spermidine (Spd) plays an important role in plant growth and development, but little is known about the effect of Spd on sweet corn seed germination. Therefore the effect of exogenous Spd on seed germination and physiological and biochemical changes during seed imbibition of Xiantian No.

Seed priming with polyethylene glycol induces antioxidative defense and metabolic regulation of rice under nano-ZnO stress.

The present study was carried out to investigate the beneficial impact of seed priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG) under different concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnO), i.e., 0, 250, 500, and 750 mg L(-1) in two cultivars of Oryza sativa (Zhu Liang You 06 and Qian You No.

Seed priming with polyethylene glycol regulating the physiological and molecular mechanism in rice (Oryza sativa L.) under nano-ZnO stress.

The present study was designed to highlight the impact of seed priming with polyethylene glycol on physiological and molecular mechanism of two cultivars of Oryza sativa L. under different levels of zinc oxide nanorods (0, 250, 500 and 750 mg L(-1)). Plant growth parameters were significantly increased in seed priming with 30% PEG under nano-ZnO stress in both cultivars.

Physiological changes and sHSPs genes relative transcription in relation to the acquisition of seed germination during maturation of hybrid rice seed.

Background: During the production of early hybrid rice seed, the seeds dehydrated slowly and retained high moisture levels when rainy weather lasted for a couple of days, and the rice seeds easily occurred pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) along with high temperature. Therefore it is necessary to harvest the seeds before the PHS occurred.

Results: The seeds of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.

A strategy for finding the optimal scale of plant core collection based on Monte Carlo simulation.

Core collection is an ideal resource for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). A subcore collection is a subset of a core collection. A strategy was proposed for finding the optimal sampling percentage on plant subcore collection based on Monte Carlo simulation.

Establishing an efficient way to utilize the drought resistance germplasm population in wheat.

Drought resistance breeding provides a hopeful way to improve yield and quality of wheat in arid and semiarid regions. Constructing core collection is an efficient way to evaluate and utilize drought-resistant germplasm resources in wheat. In the present research, 1,683 wheat varieties were divided into five germplasm groups (high resistant, HR; resistant, R; moderate resistant, MR; susceptible, S; and high susceptible, HS).