Publications by authors named "Rensen Zeng"

The release of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) has been recognized to be an important strategy for plant adaptation to herbivore attack. However, whether these induced volatiles are beneficial to insect herbivores, particularly insect larvae, is largely unknown. We used the two important highly polyphagous lepidopteran pests and to evaluate the benefit on xenobiotic detoxification of larval exposure to HIPVs released by the host plant maize ().

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Symbiosis between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plants plays a crucial role in nutrient acquisition and stress resistance for terrestrial plants. microRNAs have been reported to participate in the regulation of mycorrhizal symbiosis by controlling the expression of their target genes. Herein, we found that sly-miR408b was significantly downregulated in response to mycorrhizal colonisation.

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Recent studies have demonstrated that the primary transcript of miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) are able to encode small peptides influencing plant growth and development, as well as responses to various environmental cues. However, their role in plant responses to salt stress is not fully comprehended. Here, we characterized a short peptide encoded by miR172b (miPEP172b) in rice (Oryza sativa L.

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Calcium plays a crucial role in regulating plant senescence. However, the specific effects of increased intranuclear calcium versus cytoplasmic calcium on aging remain unclear. Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGCs), which manage Ca⁺ levels in plant cells, are particularly significant in this context.

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Brassinosteroids (BRs) and jasmonic acid (JA) are known to be involved in regulating plant responses to cadmium (Cd) stress. However, their specific roles and interaction in this process remain unclear. In this study, we discovered that exogenous BR alleviated Cd-mediated growth inhibition of rice seedlings.

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Plant latex is a sticky emulsion exuded from laticifers once the plant is damaged. Latex is an essential component of plant defense against herbivores. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Nitrogen (N) fertilizers, especially at high levels, can enhance the ability of caterpillar larvae (Spodoptera litura) to withstand insecticides by boosting their detoxification enzymes and thickening their cuticles.
  • - Bioassays and genetic analyses revealed that larvae consuming maize with high N levels showed increased tolerance to multiple pesticides, alongside elevated expression of certain genes related to detoxification and cuticle development.
  • - This increase in pesticide tolerance due to high N fertilizer usage might lead to more frequent and intensive use of chemical insecticides, raising concerns about pest management practices.
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The use of secondary metabolites of rice to control pests has become a research hotspot, but little is known about the mechanism of rice self-resistance. In this study, metabolomics analysis was performed on two groups of rice (T1, with insect pests; T2, without pests), indicating that fatty acids, alkaloids, and phenolic acids were significantly up-regulated in T1. The up-regulated metabolites (-value < 0.

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Aluminum toxicity poses a significant constraint on crop production in acidic soils. While phytohormones are recognized for their pivotal role in mediating plant responses to aluminum stress, the specific involvement of gibberellin (GA) in regulating aluminum tolerance remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that external GA exacerbates the inhibitory impact of aluminum stress on root growth of rice seedlings, concurrently promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation.

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This study provided important insights into the complex epigenetic regulatory of H3K9ac-modified genes involved in the jasmonic acid signaling and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways of rice in response to Spodoptera frugiperda infestation. Physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to insect herbivores have been well studied, while epigenetic modifications such as histone acetylation and their potential regulation at the genomic level of hidden genes remain largely unknown. Histone 3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac) is an epigenetic marker widely distributed in plants that can activate gene transcription.

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The composition of (Tai-Zi-Shen, TZS) is greatly influenced by the growing area of the plants, making it significant to distinguish the origins of TZS. However, traditional methods for TZS origin identification are time-consuming, laborious, and destructive. To address this, two or three TZS accessions were selected from four different regions of China, with each of these resources including distinct quality grades of TZS samples.

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that play a vital role in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Recently, it has been discovered that some primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) encode regulatory short peptides called miPEPs. However, the presence of miPEPs in rice, and their functions in response to abiotic stresses, particularly stress induced by heavy metals, remain poorly understood.

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The rhizosphere harbors abundant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that are vital for plant health. In this study, we screened growth-promoting bacteria from tomato rhizosphere soil, verified their functions, and constructed the optimal combination of growth-promoting bacteria for promoting tomato growth. Furthermore, the effects of these bacteria on various physiological and biochemical parameters of tomato plants were evaluated.

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Nitrogen (N) is a limited nutrient for both plants and herbivores. How plants reallocate N upon herbivore attack is vital for plant tolerance to herbivores. Here we investigated N reallocation in rice during a 2-day herbivore attack by a generalist herbivore Spodoptera litura and 2 days after herbivore removal.

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OsSPL10 is a negative regulator of rice defense against BPH, knockout of OsSPL10 enhances BPH resistance through upregulation of defense-related genes and accumulation of secondary metabolites. Rice (Oryza sativa L.), one of the most important staple foods worldwide, is frequently attacked by various herbivores, including brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens).

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Polyamines (PAs) are ubiquitous low-molecular-weight aliphatic polycations in all living organisms, which are crucial for plant response to abiotic and biotic stresses. The role of PAs in plant disease resistance has been well documented. However, their involvement in plant-pest interactions remains unclear.

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Kiwifruit ( spp.) is susceptible to waterlogging stress. Although abundant wild germplasm resources exist among plants for improving the waterlogging tolerance of kiwifruit cultivars, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.

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Clonal plants are interconnected to form clonal plant networks with physiological integration, enabling the reassignment as well as sharing of resources among the members. The systemic induction of antiherbivore resistance via clonal integration may frequently operate in the networks. Here, we used an important food crop rice (), and its destructive pest rice leaffolder (LF; ) as a model to examine defense communication between the main stem and clonal tillers.

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Plant defenses in response to chewing insects are generally regulated by jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway, whereas salicylic acid (SA) signaling is mainly involved in plant defense against biotrophic pathogens and piercing-sucking insects. Previous studies showed that both JA- and SA-related defenses in rice plants were triggered by the infestation of the rice striped stem borer (SSB, Chilo suppressalis), a destructive pest causing severe damage to rice production. Herbivore-associated microbes play an important role in modulating plant-insect interaction, and thus we speculate that the SSB symbiotic microbes acting as a hidden player may cause this anomalous result.

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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are considered biofertilizers for sustainable agriculture due to their ability to facilitate plant uptake of important mineral elements, such as nitrogen (N). However, plant mycorrhiza-dependent N uptake and interplant transfer may be highly context-dependent, and whether it is affected by aboveground herbivory remains largely unknown. Here, we used N labeling and tracking to examine the effect of aboveground insect herbivory by on mycorrhiza-dependent N uptake in maize ( L.

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The sexual morph Yen and Chi and its asexual morph W. H. Hsieh is an important necrotrophic fungal phytopathogen, which causes sugarcane leaf blight, resulting in loss of cane tonnage and sucrose in susceptible sugarcane varieties.

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Alkaline pH can induce triacylglyceride accumulation in microalgae, however its molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here, we investigated the effect of 2-[N-cyclohexylamino]-ethane-sulfonic acid (CHES) -induced intracellular alkalization on the lipid production in . Intracellular pH was increased upon CHES treatment, displaying a high BCECF fluorescence ratio.

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Background: The use of beneficial microorganisms as an alternative for pest control has gained increasing attention. The objective of this study was to screen beneficial rhizosphere bacteria with the ability to enhance tomato anti-herbivore resistance.

Results: Rhizosphere bacteria in tomato field from Fuqing, one of the four locations where rhizosphere bacteria were collected in Fujian, China, enhanced tomato resistance against the tobacco cutworm Spodoptera litura, an important polyphagous pest.

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Plants, grown in the immobile soils, have evolved various strategies in response to environmental stresses, including the "stress memory" and "defense priming" mechanisms. The environmental stresses cannot immediately change the DNA base sequence in plants in the short-term. Therefore, epigenetic inheritance is a key mechanism for stress memory and defense priming.

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More than 80% terrestrial plants establish mutualistic symbiosis with soil-borne arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These fungi not only significantly improve plant nutrient acquisition and stress resistance, but also mitigate heavy metal phytotoxicity, Furthermore, the extraradical mycorrhizal mycelia can form common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) that link roots of multiple plants in a community. Here we show that the networks mediate migration of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) from maize (Zea mays L.

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Synopsis of recent research by authors named "Rensen Zeng"

  • - Rensen Zeng's recent research explores the role of calcium dynamics in plant senescence, specifically focusing on how cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGCs) impact leaf aging in rice and the interaction between hormonal pathways in plants exposed to cadmium stress.
  • - The studies also investigate the defense mechanisms of plants against herbivores, including the role of plant latex in lettuce and the effects of nitrogen application on the insecticide tolerance of Spodoptera litura in maize.
  • - Additionally, his work delves into the molecular and epigenetic responses of rice to both herbivory and abiotic stresses, particularly concerning histone acetylation in jasmonic acid signaling and the functionality of microRNA-derived peptides in metal stress tolerance.