Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is the second most widely grown premium oilseed crop globally, mainly for its vegetable oil and protein meal.  One of the main goals of breeders is producing high-yield rapeseed cultivars with sustainable production to meet the requirements of the fast-growing population.  Besides the pod number, seeds per silique (SS), and thousand-seed weight (TSW), the ovule number (ON) is a decisive yield determining factor of individual plants and the final seed yield.  In recent years, tremendous efforts have been made to dissect the genetic and molecular basis of these complex traits, but relatively few genes or loci controlling these traits have been reported thus far.  This review highlights the updated information on the hormonal and molecular basis of ON and development in model plants (Arabidopsis thaliana).  It also presents what is known about the hormonal, molecular, and genetic mechanism of ovule development and number, and bridges our understanding between the model plant species (A. thaliana) and cultivated species (B. napus).  This report will open new pathways for primary and applied research in plant biology and benefit rapeseed breeding programs.  This synopsis will stimulate research interest to further understand ovule number determination, its role in yield improvement, and its possible utilization in breeding programs. 

Rice false smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, is a devastating disease that greatly reduces rice yield and quality.  However, controlling rice false smut disease is challenging due to the unique infection mode of U. virens.  Therefore, there is a need for early diagnosis and monitoring techniques to prevent the spread of this disease.  Lateral flow strip-based recombinase polymerase amplification (LF-RPA) overcomes the limitations of current U. virens detection technologies, which are time-consuming, require delicate equipment, and have a high false-positive rate.  In this study, we used a comparative genomics approach to identify Uv_3611, a specific gene of U. virens, as the target for the LF-RPA assay.  The designed primers and probe efffectively detected the genomic DNA (gDNA) of U. virens and demonstrated no cross-reactivity with related pathogens.  Under optimal conditions, the LF-RPA assay demonstrated a sensitivity of 10 pg of U. virens gDNA.  Additionally, by incorporating a simplified PEG-NaOH method for plant DNA extraction, the LF-RPA assay enabled the detection of U. virens in rice spikelets within 30 min, without the need for specialized equipment.  Furthermore, the LF-RPA assay successfully detected U. virens in naturally infected rice and seed samples in the field.  Therefore, the LF-RPA assay is sensitive, efficient, and convenient, and could be developed as a kit for monitoring rice false smut disease in the field.

Fusarium graminearum, the primary pathogenic fungus responsible for Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat, secretes abundant chemical compounds that interact with host plants.  In this study, a secreted protein FgHrip1, isolated from the culture filtrate of F. graminearum, was found to induce typical cell death in tobacco.  The FgHrip1 gene was then cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli.  Further bioassay analysis showed that the recombinant FgHrip1 induced early defense induction events, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, callose deposition, and up-regulation of defense-related genes in tobacco.  Furthermore, FgHrip1 significantly enhanced immunity in tobacco seedlings against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 6605 (Pst. 6605) and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV).  FgHrip1-treated wheat spikes also exhibited defense-related transcript accumulation and developed immunity against FHB infection.  Whereas the expression of FgHrip1 was induced during the infection process, the deletion of the gene impaired the virulence of F. graminearum.  Our results suggest that FgHrip1 triggers immunity and induces disease resistance in tobacco and wheat, thereby providing new insight into strategy for biocontrol of FHB.

Fasting is typically used before feeding metabolizable energy assessment in broilers.  Previous studies have shown that fasting cause atrophy of the intestinal villus.  Whether fasting affects intestinal permeability during refeeding by altering barrier function and nutrient absorption is of concern.  Here, 23-d-old broilers were randomly assigned to 5 treatments, fasted for 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h, respectively, and then refed for 2 d, to study the impact of different duration of fasting on the intestinal regeneration and barrier function during refeeding.  Results showed that the intestinal morphology in fasted birds was recovered in 2 d of refeeding at most.  As fasting durations increased, enterocytes per intestinal villus were linearly and quadratically increased (both P<0.05), whereas goblet cells per intestinal villus was linearly decreased (both P<0.05).  Besides, the mRNA level of lysozyme was linearly decreased as fasting durations increased during refeeding (both P<0.05), while quadratically increased mucin 2 was observed only after 1 d of refeeding (P<0.05).  Linear increase effects were observed for claudin 2 and zonula occludens-1 with increased fasting durations after 1 d of refeeding (all P<0.05), and linear and quadratical effects were observed for claudin 2 at 2 d of refeeding (both P<0.05).  Besides, we found that intestinal permeability to creatinine, 4 and 70 kD dextran were linearly and quadratically decreased with increased fasting durations at 6 h and 1 d of refeeding (all P<0.05).  Furthermore, jejunum proteomic from birds refed for 6 h showed that birds fasted for 36 h showed increased antimicrobial peptides and upregulated retinol metabolism when compared to the nonfasted birds (P<0.05).  Further study showed that retinyl ester catabolism was inhibited during fasting and enhanced during refeeding.  Results of intestinal organoid culture showed that retinol benefits the cell proliferation and enterocyte differentiation.  In conclusion, the intestinal permeability to small and large molecules was decreased during refeeding by strengthening the intestinal barrier function, and the activated retinol metabolism during refeeding is involved in the intestinal regeneration and strengthens the intestinal barrier. 

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are an emerging pollutant due to widespread distribution in environmental mediums that have attracted widespread attention over recent years.  However, there is little information about tea plantation soil PAEs.  A total of 270 soil samples collected from 45 tea plantations in the major high-quality tea-producing regions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces in China were analyzed for seven PAEs.  The detection frequency of PAEs in tea plantation soil was 100%.  DBP, DEHP, and DiBP were the main congeners in tea plantation soil.  The PAEs concentrations in the upper soil were significantly higher than those in the lower soil.  The concentration of tea plantation soil PAEs in Jiangsu Province was significantly lower than those in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces.  Intercropping with chestnuts can effectively reduce the contamination level of PAEs in tea plantation soil.  Correlation analysis, redundancy analysis, partial correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling methods further confirmed the strong direct influence of factors such as chestnut–tea intercropping, temperature, and agricultural chemicals on the variation of PAEs in tea plantation soil.  The health and ecological risk assessments indicated that non-carcinogenic risk was within a safe range and that there was a high carcinogenic risk via the dietary pathway, with DBP posing the highest ecological risk.