Goodwinbarron5471

These findings suggest RNA silencing signals can be transferred from host to an invasive fungus and that HIGS has potential to generate resistant rice against M. oryzae.China is known for its abundant plant resources, but biodiversity conservation faces unprecedented challenges. To provide feasible suggestions for sustainable conservation, we used the species richness algorithm and complementary algorithm to study distribution patterns of 34,082 seed plants based on 1,007,196 county-level distribution records. We reconstructed a phylogenetic tree for 95.35% of species and estimated the spatial phylogenetics, followed by correlation analyses between different distribution patterns. We identified 264 counties concentrated in southern and south-western mountainous areas as hotspots which covered 10% of the land area of China and harbored 85.22% of the Chinese seed plant species. The biodiversity conservation priorities we identified were highly representative as we have considered multiple conservation indicators. selleck products We evaluated the conservation effectiveness and gaps in the network of nature reserves and identified 31.44, 32.95, and 9.47%, respectively, of the hotspot counties as gaps in the national nature reserves, provincial nature reserves and both together, with respectively 55.77, 61.53, and 28.94% of the species. Analysis of the species composition showed there were a large number of threatened and endemic species occurring in the nature reserves' gaps. The conservation gaps need to be filled by establishing new nature reserves or national parks, especially in south-western China, and more attentions should be paid to strengthen the conservation of specific plant taxa due to the apparent mismatches between different distribution patterns.Vitis vinifera is the most widely cultivated grapevine species. It is highly susceptible to Plasmopara viticola and Erysiphe necator, the causal agents of downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM), respectively. Current strategies to control DM and PM mainly rely on agrochemical applications that are potentially harmful to humans and the environment. Breeding for resistance to DM and PM in wine grape cultivars by introgressing resistance loci from wild Vitis spp. is a complementary and more sustainable solution to manage these two diseases. During the last two decades, 33 loci of resistance to P. viticola (Rpv) and 15 loci of resistance to E. necator (Ren and Run) have been identified. Phenotyping is salient for QTL characterization and understanding the genetic basis of resistant traits. However, phenotyping remains a major bottleneck for research on Rpv and Ren/Run loci and disease resistance evaluation. A thorough analysis of the literature on phenotyping methods used for DM and PM resistance evaluation highlighted phenotyping performed in the vineyard, greenhouse or laboratory with major sources of variation, such as environmental conditions, plant material (organ physiology and age), pathogen inoculum (genetic and origin), pathogen inoculation (natural or controlled), and disease assessment method (date, frequency, and method of scoring). All these factors affect resistance assessment and the quality of phenotyping data. We argue that the use of new technologies for disease symptom assessment, and the production and adoption of standardized experimental guidelines should enhance the accuracy and reliability of phenotyping data. This should contribute to a better replicability of resistance evaluation outputs, facilitate QTL identification, and contribute to streamline disease resistance breeding programs.We report a novel approach for establishing the number and position of CO events in individual homozygous inbred plants by combining low level EMS mutagenesis, speed breeding, whole genome shotgun sequencing and sliding window analysis of the induced molecular variant data. We demonstrate the approach by exploring CO frequency and distribution in self-fertilised progeny of the inbred barley cultivar Bowman and compare these observations to similar data obtained from a Bowman nearly isogenic line (BW230 Hvmlh3) containing a mutation in the DNA mismatch repair gene HvMLH3. We have previously shown that Hvmlh3 decreases both plant fertility and recombination by ~50%. We compare our results to those from previously published traditional genetic analysis of F3 families derived from multiple F2 lines containing WT or mutant alleles of HvMLH3, revealing a high level of correspondence between analyses. We discuss possible applications of the approach in streamlining the assessment of recombination in plant meiosis research.Autotoxicity is a key factor that leads to obstacles in continuous cropping systems. Although Si is known to improve plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, little is known about its role in regulating leaf water status, mineral nutrients, nitrogen metabolism, and root morphology of cucumber under autotoxicity stress. Here, we used cucumber seeds (Cucumis sativus L. cv. "Xinchun No. 4") to evaluate how exogenous Si (1 mmol L-1) affected the leaf water status, mineral nutrient uptake, N metabolism-related enzyme activities, root morphology, and shoot growth of cucumber seedlings under 0.8 mmol L-1 CA-induced autotoxicity stress. We found that CA-induced autotoxicity significantly reduced the relative water content and water potential of leaves and increase their cell sap concentration. CA-induced stress also inhibited the absorption of major (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) and trace elements (Fe, Mn, Zn). However, exogenous Si significantly improved the leaf water status (relative water content and water potential) of cucumber leaves under CA-induced stress. Exogenous Si also promoted the absorption of mineral elements by seedlings under CA-induced stress and alleviated the CA-induced inhibition of N metabolism-related enzyme activities (including nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, glutamate dehydrogenase). Moreover, exogenous Si improved N uptake and utilization, promoted root morphogenesis, and increased the growth indexes of cucumber seedlings under CA-induced stress. Our findings have far-reaching implications for overcoming the obstacles to continuous cropping in cucumber cultivation.Most regions of the Antarctic continent are experiencing increased dryness due to global climate change. Mosses and lichens are the dominant vegetation of the ice-free areas of Antarctica. However, the molecular mechanisms of these Antarctic plants adapting to drought stress are less documented. Here, transcriptome and metabolome analyses were employed to reveal the responses of an Antarctic moss (Pohlia nutans subsp. LIU) to drought stress. We found that drought stress made the gametophytes turn yellow and curled, and enhanced the contents of malondialdehyde and proline, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Totally, 2,451 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were uncovered under drought treatment. The representative DEGs are mainly involved in ROS-scavenging and detoxification, flavonoid metabolism pathway, plant hormone signaling pathway, lipids metabolism pathway, transcription factors and signal-related genes. Meanwhile, a total of 354 differentially changed metabolites (DCMs) were detected in the climate change on Antarctic basal plants.Proper timing of flowering, a phase transition from vegetative to reproductive development, is crucial for plant fitness. The floral repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) is the major determinant of flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. In rapid-cycling A. thaliana accessions, which bloom rapidly, FLC is constitutively repressed by autonomous pathway (AP) genes, regardless of photoperiod. Diverse AP genes have been identified over the past two decades, and most of them repress FLC through histone modifications. However, the detailed mechanism underlying such modifications remains unclear. Several recent studies have revealed novel mechanisms to control FLC repression in concert with histone modifications. This review summarizes the latest advances in understanding the novel mechanisms by which AP proteins regulate FLC repression, including changes in chromatin architecture, RNA polymerase pausing, and liquid-liquid phase separation- and ncRNA-mediated gene silencing. Furthermore, we discuss how each mechanism is coupled with histone modifications in FLC chromatin.In some cases, polyploidy is an important phenomenon in the evolution of fruit crops. Polyploidy can be used in fruit breeding programs to develop varieties with higher yields and better fruit quality, as well as better adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. In this study, three wild species of blackberry were subjected to different degrees of induced polyploidy, and the effects of which were evaluated on morphological, physiological, and phytohormonal traits. With the aim of gaining a deep insight into the generative phase of plant growth and development, different levels of induced polyploidy were evaluated on the three blackberry species, i.e., Rubus persicus Bioss. (2x, 4x, and 8x), R. caesius L. (2x and 4x), and R. hirtus Schreb. (2x and 4x). The results showed that the polyploid plants performed significantly better than their diploid counterparts in terms of morphological traits such as flower count per spike and berry weight, as well as biochemical traits such as total soluble solids in the leaves. Induced polyploidy increased berry weight and drupe count per fruit. Microscopic examinations revealed a smaller number of viable pollen in the polyploids, compared to the diploids. Electron microscopy showed that the octaploid R. persicus had larger conical cells on the flower surface, compared to the diploid R. persicus. Correlation analysis showed that the ratio of indoleacetic acid to jasmonic acid changed synergistically with the total soluble solids in the leaves during the fruit set. The ploidy level correlated significantly with the number of pistils, leaf green index, total soluble solids in the leaves, and glucose content in floral nectar. Overall, induced polyploidy allowed Rubus to develop advantageous traits that can benefit future breeding programs and expand reproductive research in blackberries.We aimed to efficiently enhance plant Hg(II) tolerance by the transgenic approach utilizing a bacterial mercury transporter MerC, an Arabidopsis mesophyll specific promoter pRBCS1A, and a vacuolar membrane targeting syntaxin AtVAM3/SYP22. We generated two independent homozygous Arabidopsis pRBCS1A-TCV lines expressing mT-Sapphire-MerC-AtVAM3 under the control of pRBCS1A. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that the transgene was expressed specifically in shoots of pRBCS1A-TCV lines. Confocal analyses further demonstrated the leaf mesophyll specific expression of mT-Sapphire-MerC-AtVAM3. Confocal observation of the protoplast derived from the F1 plants of the pRBCS1A-TCV line and the tonoplast marker line p35S-GFP-δTIP showed the tonoplast colocalization of mT-Sapphire-MerC-AtVAM3 and GFP-δTIP. These results clearly demonstrated that mT-Sapphire-MerC-AtVAM3 expression in Arabidopsis is spatially regulated as designed at the transcript and the membrane trafficking levels. We then examined the Hg(II) tolerance of the pRBCS1A-TCV lines as well as the p35S-driven MerC-AtVAM3 expressing line p35S-CV under the various Hg(II) stress conditions.