Polystyrene nanoplastics in soil impair drought priming-induced low temperature tolerance in wheat.

Drought priming is known to enhance plant low temperature tolerance, whereas polystyrene nanoplastic contamination exerts detrimental effects on plant growth. This study investigates the less-explored influence of nanoplastic contamination on cold stress tolerance in drought-primed plants. We compared the photosynthetic carbon assimilation, carbohydrate metabolism, reactive oxygen species metabolism, and grain yield between the non-primed and drought-primed wheat grown in both nanoplastic-contaminated and healthy soils.

Integrating Chlorophyll a Fluorescence and Enzymatic Profiling to Reveal the Wheat Responses to Nano-ZnO Stress.

It has been shown that increased concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnO) in the soil are harmful to plant growth. However, the sensitivity of different wheat cultivars to nano-ZnO stress is still unclear. To detect the physiological response process of wheat varieties with different tolerance to nano-ZnO stress, four wheat cultivars (viz.

Effects of biochar amendment and organic fertilizer on microbial communities in the rhizosphere soil of wheat in Yellow River Delta saline-alkaline soil.

The biochar and organic fertilizer amendment have been used as an effective practice to increase soil fertility. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of microbial community response to organic fertilizer and biochar application on saline-alkali soil have not been clarified. This study investigated the effects at different concentrations of organic fertilizer and biochar on the microbial community of wheat rhizosphere soil under field experiment in the Yellow River Delta (China, YRD), using high-throughput sequencing technology.

Does energy cost constitute the primary cause of ammonium toxicity in plants?

Nitrate (NO) and ammonium (NH) are the main nitrogen (N) sources and key determinants for plant growth and development. In recent decades, NH, which is a double-sided N compound, has attracted considerable amounts of attention from researchers. Elucidating the mechanisms of NH toxicity and exploring the means to overcome this toxicity are necessary to improve agricultural sustainability.

Low temperature tolerance is impaired by polystyrene nanoplastics accumulated in cells of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants.

With increasing plastic consumption, the large amount of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) in agricultural soil may not only directly affect the plant growth, but also indirectly affect the abiotic stress tolerance in crops. In this study, the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was irrigated with 2 g L PS-NPs (65.

Systematic analysis of lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation posttranslational modification in wheat leaves.

Lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) is a recently discovered post-translational modification (PTM) showing diverse biological functions and effects in living organisms. However, the study of Khib in plant species is still relatively limited. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.

Global analysis of lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation in wheat root.

Lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) is a novel naturally occurring post-translational modification. The system Khib identification at proteomics level has been performed in various species and tissues to characterize the role of Khib in biological activities. However, the study of Khib in plant species is relatively less.

Polystyrene microplastics disturb the redox homeostasis, carbohydrate metabolism and phytohormone regulatory network in barley.

As emerging contaminants, microplastics (mPS, <5 mm) have been reported to adversely affect the plant growth; however, the mechanisms of mPS-induced growth limitation are rarely known. Here, it was found that the plastic particles were absorbed and accumulated in barley plants, which limited the development of rootlets. The mPS-treated plants had significantly higher concentrations of HO and O in roots than the control.

Induction of Low Temperature Tolerance in Wheat by Pre-Soaking and Parental Treatment with Melatonin.

Low temperatures seriously depress germination and seedling establishment in wheat and it is of great significance to explore approaches to improve wheat tolerance to low temperatures. In this study, the effects of seed pre-soaking and parental treatment with melatonin on seed germination and low temperature tolerance during the early growing stage in wheat were studied. The results showed that pre-soaking with melatonin increased the germination rate, improved antioxidant capacity and accelerated starch degradation under low temperature, which alleviated low temperature-induced damage to the chloroplasts in coleoptiles of wheat seedlings.

Relationship between endophytic microbial diversity and grain quality in wheat exposed to multi-generational CO elevation.

To explore the potential association between the diversity of endophytic microorganisms and modifications of grain quality in wheat exposed to multi-generational elevated CO concentration, the grain quality attributes and microbial diversity were tested after five generations successively grown in ambient CO concentration (F5_A, 400 μmol L) and elevated CO concentration (F5_E, 800 μmol L). Elevated CO concentration significantly increased the grain number and starch concentration, while decreased the grain protein concentration. Multi-generational exposure to elevated CO concentration also led to significant changes in grain amino acid concentration.

Abscisic acid-mimicking ligand AMF4 induced cold tolerance in wheat by altering the activities of key carbohydrate metabolism enzymes.

AMF4, a recently synthetic ABA-mimicking ligand, has been reported to have long-lasting effects in inducing the expression of stress-responsive genes, hence conferring abiotic tolerance in plants. To test the effect of AMF4 on cold tolerance induction, the wheat plants were firstly foliar sprayed with AMF4 (10 μM), then the AMF4 treated and the control plants were exposed to a 24-h low temperature treatment (2/0 °C). Under low temperature stress, the AMF plants possessed significantly higher relative water content, membrane stability index and ATP concentration in leaf, while lower leaf HO concentration, compared with the control plants.

Genome-wide characterization of the abscisic acid-, stress- and ripening-induced (ASR) gene family in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Background: Abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) genes are a class of plant specific transcription factors (TFs), which play important roles in plant development, growth and abiotic stress responses. The wheat ASRs have not been described in genome-wide yet.

Methods: We predicted the transmembrane regions and subcellular localization using the TMHMM server, and Plant-mPLoc server and CELLO v2.

Salt Priming Protects Photosynthetic Electron Transport against Low-Temperature-Induced Damage in Wheat.

Low temperature limits the photochemical efficiency of photosystems in wheat plants. To test the effect of salt priming on the photosynthetic electron transport in wheat under low temperature, the germinating seeds of a winter wheat cv. Jimai44 were primed with varying concentrations of NaCl solutions (0, 10, 30, and 50 mM NaCl, indicated by S0, S10, S30, and S50, respectively) for 6 d, and after 11 d of recovery, the seedlings were subsequently exposed to 24-h low-temperature stress (2 °C).

Comparative analysis of root transcriptome profiles between drought-tolerant and susceptible wheat genotypes in response to water stress.

Water deficit is one of the major factors limiting crop productivity worldwide. Plant roots play a key role in uptaking water, perceiving and transducing of water deficit signals to shoot. Although the mechanisms of drought-tolerance have been reported recently, the transcriptional regulatory network of wheat root response to water stress has not been fully understood.

Cold Priming Induced Tolerance to Subsequent Low Temperature Stress is Enhanced by Melatonin Application during Recovery in Wheat.

Cold priming can alleviate the effects of subsequent cold stress on wheat plant growth. Melatonin plays a key role in cold stress response in plants. In this study, the effects of foliar melatonin application during recovery on the cold tolerance of cold primed wheat plants were investigated.

Excessive nitrogen application dampens antioxidant capacity and grain filling in wheat as revealed by metabolic and physiological analyses.

In this study, field-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was treated with normal (Nn) and excessive (Ne) levels of fertilizer N. Results showed that Ne depressed the activity of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase and increased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde.

Long-term livestock exclusion facilitates native woody plant encroachment in a sandy semiarid rangeland.

The role of livestock grazing in regulating woody cover and biomass in grass-dominant systems is well recognized. However, the way in which woody plant populations in respond when livestock are removed from grazing in the absence of other disturbances, such as fire, remains unclear.We conducted a 10-year, replicated fencing experiment in a sandy semiarid rangeland in northern China (which has a mean annual rainfall of 365 mm), where fires have been actively suppressed for decades.

The effect of PS-341 on pulmonary vascular remodeling in high blood flow-induced pulmonary hypertension.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of PS-341 on vascular remodeling in an experimental rat model of high blood flow-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as to elucidate its mechanisms of action. We established the PAH model by a surgical method that implanted a left-to-right shunt. Three days post-surgery, the animals were randomly assigned to 3 groups (n=15 in each group): sham-operated (control), shunt (model) and PS-341 (treated) groups.

[Seed geography: its concept and basic scientific issues].

In this paper, a new concept 'seed geography' was provided, and its definition, research contents, and scientific issues were put forward. Seed geography is a newly developed interdisciplinary science from plant geography, seed ecology, and phytosociology, which studies the geographic variation patterns of seed biological traits as well as their relationships with environmental factors from macroscopic to microscopic, and the seed formation, development, and change trends. The main research contents would include geography of seed mass, geography of seed chemical components, geography of seed morphology, geography of seed cell biological characteristics, geography of seed physiological characteristics, geography of seed genetic characteristics, and geography of flower and fruit.