Defense guard: strategies of plants in the fight against Cadmium stress.

Soil Cadmium (Cd) contamination is a worldwide problem with negative impacts on human health. Cultivating the Cd-Pollution Safety Cultivar (Cd-PSC) with lower Cd accumulation in edible parts of plants is an environmentally friendly approach to ensure food security with wide application prospects. Specialized mechanisms have been addressed for Cd accumulation in crops.

Mechanism of microbial action of the inoculated nitrogen-fixing bacterium for growth promotion and yield enhancement in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

The use of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in agriculture is increasingly recognized as a sustainable method to boost crop yields, reduce chemical fertilizer use, and improve soil health. However, the microbial mechanisms by which inoculation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria enhance rice production remain unclear. In this study, rice seedlings were inoculated with the nitrogen-fixing bacterium R3 (Herbaspirillum) at the rhizosphere during the seedling stage in a pot experiment using paddy soil.

Comparative study of Mg/Al-LDH and Mg/Fe-LDH on adsorption and loss control of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.

Low efficiency and high surface runoff of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from agricultural field threaten crop yield severely. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) have shown promising adsorption properties for 2,4-D. However, the comparison of two environmentally friendly LDHs (i.

Importance of pre-mRNA splicing and its study tools in plants.

Alternative splicing (AS) significantly enriches the diversity of transcriptomes and proteomes, playing a pivotal role in the physiology and development of eukaryotic organisms. With the continuous advancement of high-throughput sequencing technologies, an increasing number of novel transcript isoforms, along with factors related to splicing and their associated functions, are being unveiled. In this review, we succinctly summarize and compare the different splicing mechanisms across prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Acetylation modification in the regulation of macroautophagy.

Macroautophagy, commonly referred to as autophagy, is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process that plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis. It orchestrates the delivery of dysfunctional or surplus cellular materials to the vacuole or lysosome for degradation and recycling, particularly during adverse conditions. Over the past few decades, research has unveiled intricate regulatory mechanisms governing autophagy through various post-translational modifications (PTMs).

Abscission in plants: from mechanism to applications.

Abscission refers to the natural separation of plant structures from their parent plants, regulated by external environmental signals or internal factors such as stress and aging. It is an advantageous process as it enables plants to shed unwanted organs, thereby regulating nutrient allocation and ensuring the dispersal of fruits and seeds from the parent. However, in agriculture and horticulture, abscission can severely reduce crop quality and yield.

Roots to the rescue: how plants harness hydraulic redistribution to survive drought across contrasting soil textures.

Hydraulic redistribution (HR) is a critical ecological process whereby plant roots transfer water from wetter to drier soil layers, significantly impacting soil moisture dynamics and plant water and nutrient uptake. Yet a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism triggering HR and its influencing factors remains elusive. Here, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis to discuss the influence of soil conditions and plant species characteristics on HR occurrence.

Development of a CRISPR-Cas12a based assay for the detection of swine enteric coronaviruses in pig herds in China.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) and Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) rank among the most frequently encountered swine enteric coronaviruses (SECoVs), leading to substantial economic losses to the swine industry. The availability of a rapid and highly sensitive detection method proves beneficial for the monitoring and surveillance of SECoVs. Based on the N genes of four distinct SECoVs, a novel detection method was developed in this study by combining recombinant enzyme polymerase isothermal amplification (RPA) with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated proteins (Cas) 12a.

Growth trajectory of Yiling sheep and its related genetic parameters.

Growth traits are one of the focuses of sheep breeding, and growth curve is an effective method to describe growth traits. The body weight of Yiling sheep at 0, 120, 180, 360 and 540 days of age were fitted with five common nonlinear growth models: Logistic, Gompertz, Von Bertalanffy, Brody and Negative exponential, and the growth models were evaluated by goodness of fit standard. The results showed that the Von Bertalanffy model was suitable for characterizing the growth of Yiling sheep.

Metabolic engineering for single-cell protein production from renewable feedstocks and its applications.

Proteins are indispensable for maintaining a healthy diet and performing crucial functions in a multitude of physiological processes. The growth of the global population and the emergence of environmental concerns have significantly increased the demand for protein-rich foods such as meat and dairy products, exerting considerable pressure on global food supplies. Single-cell proteins (SCP) have emerged as a promising alternative source, characterized by their high protein content and essential amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, inorganic salts, vitamins, and trace elements.

Winter forage crops influence soil properties through establishing different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities in paddy field.

Winter planting is promising for improving the utilization rate of fallow paddy fields in southern China by establishing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities. However, the effects of different winter forage crops on AMF community construction remain unknown. The AMF community establishment of different winter planting forage crops were conducted in oat, rye, Chinese milk vetch, and ryegrass, with winter fallow as a control.

Decoding the genetic blueprint: regulation of key agricultural traits in sorghum.

Sorghum, the fifth most important crop globally, thrives in challenging environments such as arid, saline-alkaline, and infertile regions. This remarkable crop, one of the earliest crops domesticated by humans, offers high biomass and stress-specific properties that render it suitable for a variety of uses including food, feed, bioenergy, and biomaterials. What's truly exciting is the extensive phenotypic variation in sorghum, particularly in traits related to growth, development, and stress resistance.

From trade-off to synergy: how nutrient status modulates plant resistance to herbivorous insects?

The principle of the "growth-defense trade-off" governs how plants adjust their growth and defensive strategies in response to external factors, impacting interactions among plants, herbivorous insects, and their natural enemies. Mineral nutrients are crucial in modulating plant growth and development through their bottom-up effects. Emerging evidence has revealed complex regulatory networks that link mineral nutrients to plant defense responses, influencing the delicate balance between growth and defense against herbivores.

Exploring the challenges of RNAi-based strategies for crop protection.

RNA silencing (or RNA interference, RNAi) initiated by double-stranded RNAs is a conserved mechanism for regulating gene expression in eukaryotes. RNAi-based crop protection strategies, including host-induced gene silencing (HIGS), spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) and microbe-induced gene silencing (MIGS), have been successfully used against various pests and pathogens. Here, we highlight the challenges surrounding dsRNA design, large-scale production of dsRNA and dsRNA delivery systems.

Exploring the plant lipidome: techniques, challenges, and prospects.

Plant lipids are a diverse group of biomolecules that play essential roles in plant architecture, physiology, and signaling. To advance our understanding of plant biology and facilitate innovations in plant-based product development, we must have precise methods for the comprehensive analysis of plant lipids. Here, we present a comprehensive overview of current research investigating plant lipids, including their structures, metabolism, and functions.

The inhibitory effect of Hypericum japonicum on H9N2 avian influenza virus.

The H9N2 subtype of avian influenza virus (AIV) causes severe immunosuppression and high mortality in view of its frequent co-infection with other pathogens, resulting in significant economic losses in the poultry industry. Current vaccines provide suboptimal immune protection against H9N2 AIV owing to antigenic variations, highlighting the urgent need for safe and effective antiviral drugs for the prevention and treatment of this virus. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of Hypericum japonicum extract on H9N2 AIV.

Effects of water ammonia nitrogen on hemolymph and intestinal microbiota of Litopenaeus vannamei.

Ammonia stress was detrimental to shrimp, but how water ammonia nitrogen (ammonia-N) influences the shrimp's health remains unclear. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the effects of water ammonia-N on hemolymph ammonia-N concentration, hepatopancreas structure, and the intestinal microbiota of Litopenaeus vannamei with four experiments. We found that the concentration of ammonia-N in shrimp hemolymph was significantly higher than that in pond water, indicating that water ammonia-N stimulates the accumulation of hemolymph ammonia-N.

Comprehensive evaluation of groundwater quality in population-dense and extensive agricultural regions and study on its relationship with agricultural production and human activities.

Extensive agricultural regions commonly face issues of poor groundwater management, non-standard agricultural production practices, and unordered discharge of domestic pollution, leading to a continuous decline in groundwater quality and a sharp increase in risks. A comprehensive understanding of groundwater conditions and pollution is a crucial step in effectively addressing the water quality crisis. This study employs the Comprehensive Water Quality Index, Irrigation parameter, and Pollution Index to comprehensively investigate the groundwater quality in a typical agricultural area in Shandong, China, and assesses the suitability of groundwater for irrigation and the risks to human health.

Global identification and regulatory network analysis reveal the significant roles of lncRNAs during anther and pollen development in Arabidopsis.

A high-throughput sequencing identified 1283 lncRNAs in anthers at different stages in Arabidopsis and their relationship with protein-coding genes and miRNAs during anther and pollen development were analyzed. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulatory molecules involved in various biological processes. However, their roles in male reproductive development and interactions with miRNAs remained elusive.

In-Cell Mass Spectrometry and Ultraviolet Photodissociation Navigates the Intracellular Protein Heterogeneity.

Directly probing the heterogeneous conformations of intracellular proteins within their native cellular environment remains a significant challenge in mass spectrometry (MS). Here, we establish an in-cell MS and ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) strategy that directly ejects proteins from living cells into a mass spectrometer, followed by 193 nm UVPD for structural analysis. Applying this approach to calmodulin (CaM), we reveal that it adopts more extended conformations within living cells compared with purified samples , highlighting the unique influence of intracellular environments on protein folding.