Large-scale genomic and phenomic analyses of modern cultivars empower future rice breeding design.

Modern cultivated rice plays a pivotal role in global food security. China accounts for nearly 30% of the world's rice production and has bred numerous cultivated varieties over the last decades that are well adapted to diverse growing regions. However, the genomic bases that underlie the phenotypes of modern cultivars are poorly characterized, limiting access to this vast resource for breeding of specialized, regionally adapted cultivars.

[ pv. Zur is involved in pathogenicity in host and hypersensitive responses in nonhosts].

The zinc uptake regulator (Zur) has highly conserved sequences in the plant pathogen , while its functions are diverse in different strains or races. To elucidate the functions of Zur in pv. (), we constructed a -deleted mutant (Δ) by homologous recombination.

Spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies at a redshift of 14.

The first observations of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revolutionized our understanding of the Universe by identifying galaxies at redshift z ≈ 13 (refs. ). In addition, the discovery of many luminous galaxies at Cosmic Dawn (z > 10) has suggested that galaxies developed rapidly, in apparent tension with many standard models.

A recently quenched galaxy 700 million years after the Big Bang.

Local and low-redshift (z < 3) galaxies are known to broadly follow a bimodal distribution: actively star-forming galaxies with relatively stable star-formation rates and passive systems. These two populations are connected by galaxies in relatively slow transition. By contrast, theory predicts that star formation was stochastic at early cosmic times and in low-mass systems.

[The role of iron-uptake factor PiuB in pathogenicity of soybean pathogen pv. ].

Iron is an essential element for living organisms that plays critical roles in the process of bacterial growth and metabolism. However, it remains to be elucidated whether encoding iron-uptake factor is involved in iron uptake and pathogenicity of pv. ().

A small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe.

Several theories have been proposed to describe the formation of black hole seeds in the early Universe and to explain the emergence of very massive black holes observed in the first thousand million years after the Big Bang. Models consider different seeding and accretion scenarios, which require the detection and characterization of black holes in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang to be validated. Here we present an extensive analysis of the JWST-NIRSpec spectrum of GN-z11, an exceptionally luminous galaxy at z = 10.

Aging Behavior and Mechanism Evolution of Nano-AlO/Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene-Modified Asphalt under Thermal-Oxidative Aging.

The goal of this paper is to analyze the aging behavior and the mechanism evolution of nano-AlO (NA)-reinforced styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) asphalt under different thermal-oxidative aging conditions. First, NA/SBS-modified asphalt and SBS-modified asphalt with different aging levels were prepared. Second, the viscosity and high temperature rheological performance of the specimens were tested and the property-related aging indexes were calculated and compared.

PWL1, a G-type lectin receptor-like kinase, positively regulates leaf senescence and heat tolerance but negatively regulates resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae in rice.

Plant leaf senescence, caused by multiple internal and environmental factors, has an important impact on agricultural production. The lectin receptor-like kinase (LecRLK) family members participate in plant development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, but their roles in regulating leaf senescence remain elusive. Here, we identify and characterize a rice premature withered leaf 1 (pwl1) mutant, which exhibits premature leaf senescence throughout the plant life cycle.

Carbonaceous dust grains seen in the first billion years of cosmic time.

Large dust reservoirs (up to approximately 10M) have been detected in galaxies out to redshift z ≃ 8, when the age of the Universe was only about 600 Myr. Generating substantial amounts of dust within such a short timescale has proven challenging for theories of dust formation and has prompted the revision of the modelling of potential sites of dust production, such as the atmospheres of asymptotic giant branch stars in low-metallicity environments, supernova ejecta and the accelerated growth of grains in the interstellar medium. However, degeneracies between different evolutionary pathways remain when the total dust mass of galaxies is the only available observable.

Study on the high-temperature and aging properties of agricultural waste-modified asphalt based on rheology.

The modifier of road materials from agricultural waste (AW) as raw material has been widely noticed. Considering the environmental impact of AW treatment and the National policy on the promotion of resource reuse, the feasibility of four AW (namely, bamboo powder, rape straw, corn cob, and wheat straw) for styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) asphalt modification is studied from the properties and mechanism perspectives. Through properties evaluation tests (such as the dynamic shear rheometer, multiple stress creep recovery, and rotating thin film oven test), the influence of four AW and different mixing amounts on the properties of SBS modified asphalt pavement is analyzed from the aspects of high-temperature deformation resistance and anti-aging properties.

CRISPR/FnCas12a-mediated efficient multiplex and iterative genome editing in bacterial plant pathogens without donor DNA templates.

CRISPR-based genome editing technology is revolutionizing prokaryotic research, but it has been rarely studied in bacterial plant pathogens. Here, we have developed a targeted genome editing method with no requirement of donor templates for convenient and efficient gene knockout in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), one of the most important bacterial pathogens on rice, by employing the heterologous CRISPR/Cas12a from Francisella novicida and NHEJ proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Development of Designer Transcription Activator-Like Effector-Based Plant Growth Regulator for Higher Yield in Rice.

Recent studies have shown that reprogramming of gene expression in a genome can induce the production of proteins enabling yield increase. The transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) from several species of bacterial have been extensively studied, and a series of research tools, such as genome editing tool TALENs and gene expression activators, have been developed based on the specific protein-nucleic acid recognition and binding mechanisms of TALEs. In this proof-of-principle study, we designed and constructed a designer TALE (dTALE), designated as dTALE-NOG1, to specifically target the promoter of gene in rice, and demonstrated that this dTALE can be used as a new type of plant growth regulator for better crop growth and harvest.

Unveiling a Novel Source of Resistance to Bacterial Blight in Medicinal Wild Rice, .

Bacterial blight (BB) caused by pv. () is among the oldest known bacterial diseases found for rice in Asia. It is the most serious bacterial disease in many rice growing regions of the world.

Ectopic Expression of Executor Gene Enhances Resistance to Both Bacterial and Fungal Diseases in Rice.

Bacterial blight (BB) and bacterial leaf streak (BLS), caused by phytopathogenic bacteria pv. () and pv. (), respectively, are the most serious bacterial diseases of rice, while blast, caused by (.

Controls Chloroplast Development and Leaf Senescence Regulating Reactive Oxygen Species Homeostasis in Rice.

Transmembrane kinases (TMKs) play important roles in plant growth and signaling cascades of phytohormones. However, its function in the regulation of early leaf senescence (ELS) of plants remains unknown. Here, we report the molecular cloning and functional characterization of the gene which encodes a protein belongs to the TMK family and controls chloroplast development and leaf senescence in rice ( L.

Mutation Types of CYP71P1 Cause Different Phenotypes of Mosaic Spot Lesion and Premature Leaf Senescence in Rice.

Lesion mimic mutants (LMMs) are ideal materials for studying programmed cell death and defense response in plants. Here we report investigations on two LMMs ( and ) from the indica rice cultivar JG30 treated by ethyl methyl sulfone. Both of the mutants showed similar mosaic spot lesions at seedling stage, but they displayed different phenotypes along with development of the plants.

Allelic Genes Activate Rice Blight Resistance Suppressed by Interfering TAL Effectors.

pathovar () uses transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) to cause bacterial blight (BB) in rice. In turn, rice has evolved several mechanisms to resist BB by targeting TALEs. One mechanism involves the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) resistance gene and TALEs.