Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oil and edible protein crop.  Its fatty acid composition not only influences the quality of peanut oil but also impacts flavor, shelf life, and consumer health.  Peanut oil is comprised of approximately 80% oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2), 10% palmitic acid (C16:0), and the remaining 10% includes stearic acid (C18:0), arachidic acid (C20:0), gadoleic acid (C20:1), behenic acid (C22:0), and lignoceric acid (C24:0).  To unravel the genetic foundation of fatty acid content and delve into QTL localization, high-density SNP microarrays were used to genotype the RIL population of ‘SunOleic 97R’ × ‘NC94022’.  A genetic linkage map was constructed with 3,141 SNP markers, covering a total genetic distance of 3,051.81 cM.  Sixty quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with fatty acids were distributed in 11 linkage groups, with phenotypic variance explained (PVE) ranging from 1.37 to 44.92%.  Notably, the QTLs qFAT_A05.1 and qFAT_A08.1 are multiple-effect loci contributing to various fatty acid compositions.  Moreover, 15 haplotypes for the QTLs qFAT_A05.1 and qFAT_A08.1 were identified through genotyping 178 peanut germplasms.  Haplotype analysis in a natural population confirmed the close relationship of the QTLs with the contents of oil, oleic acid, lignoceric acid, palmitic acid and behenic acid.  This study serves as a valuable reference for selecting improved peanut genotypes with superior oil quality and desirable fatty acid composition.

The TSJT1 protein belongs to the class-II glutamine amidotransferase (GATase) superfamily.  Research on the functions and underlying mechanisms of TSJT1 in plants is limited.  In this study, the abscisic acid (ABA)-inducible gene IbTSJT1 was isolated from drought-tolerant sweetpotato line Xushu 55-2.  Its expression was strongly induced by PEG6000 and ABA.  The IbTSJT1 protein was localized in the nucleus and cell membrane.  IbTSJT1-overexpressing sweetpotato plants exhibited significantly enhanced drought tolerance.  Their ABA and proline contents and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were increased, and their reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging-related genes were upregulated under drought stress.  The stomatal aperture assay confirmed that the IbTSJT1-overexpressing plants had greater sensitivity to ABA.  The results of yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), luciferase reporter assay and ChIP-qPCR assay indicated that IbABF2 can directly bind to the cis-acting ABA-responsive element (ABRE) in the IbTSJT1 promoter to activate the expression of IbTSJT1.  These findings suggest that IbTSJT1 mediates ABA-dependent drought stress responses and enhances drought tolerance by inducing stomatal closure and activating the ROS scavenging system in transgenic sweetpotato.  Our study provides a novel gene for improving drought tolerance in sweetpotato and other plants. 

Photosynthesis is the basis of crop growth and is sensitive to stress.  Smut (Sporisorium destruens) is the primary disease in the production of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.).  This study evaluated the effects of infection with S. destruens on the photosynthesis of the resistant cultivar (BM) and susceptible cultivar (NF).  After inoculation, there was a decrease in the chlorophyll content, gas exchange parameters, and chlorophyll fluorescence of the two cultivars.  Observation of the ultrastructure of diseased leaves showed that the chloroplasts and mitochondria had abnormal morphology, and some vacuoles appeared.  RNA-seq was performed on the flag leaves after inoculation.  In addition to the resistant and susceptible cultivars, the diseased leaves developed from inflorescences were defined as S2.  The analysis showed that the pathways related to photosynthesis stimulated some differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after infection with S. destruens.  More DEGs were induced in the susceptible broomcorn millet NF than in the resistant broomcorn millet BM, and most of those genes were downregulated.  The number of DEGs induced by S2 was greater than that in susceptible cultivar NF, and most of them were upregulated.  These results indicate that infection with S. destruens affects the normal photosynthetic performance of broomcorn millet.  Understanding the mechanism between S. destruens, photosynthesis, and broomcorn millet is an effective measure to prevent the occurrence of smut and enhance its resistance. 

The velvet protein family serves as a crucial factor in coordinating development and secondary metabolism in numerous pathogenic fungi.  However, no previous research has examined the function of the velvet protein family in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON), a pathogen causing a highly destructive disease in watermelon.  In this study, ∆fovel1 and ∆folae1 deletion mutants and ∆fovel1-C and ∆folae1-C corresponding complementation mutants of FON were validated.  Additionally, the phenotypic, biochemical, and virulence effects of the deletion mutants were investigated.  Compared to the wild-type strains, the ∆fovel1 and ∆folae1 mutants exhibited altered mycelial phenotype, reduced conidiation, and decreased production of bikaverin and fusaric acid.  Furthermore, their virulence on watermelon plant roots significantly decreased.  All these alterations in mutants were restored in corresponding complementation strains.  Notably, yeast two-hybrid results demonstrated an interaction between FoVel1 and FoLae1.  This study reveals that FoVEL1 and FoLAE1 play essential roles in secondary metabolism, conidiation, and virulence in FON.  These findings enhance our understanding of the genetic and functional roles of VEL1 and LAE1 in pathogenic fungi.

Food security is a strategic priority for a country’s economic development.  In China, high-standard farmland construction (HSFC) is an important initiative to stabilize grain production and increase grain production capacity.  Based on panel data from 31 sample provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China from 2005–2017, this study explored the impact of HSFC on grain yield using the difference-in-differences (DID) method.  The results showed that HSFC significantly increased total grain production, which is robust to various checks.  HSFC increased grain yield through three potential mechanisms.  First, it could increase the grain replanting index.  Second, it could effectively reduce yield loss due to droughts and floods.  Last, HSFC could strengthen the cultivated land by renovating the low- and medium-yielding fields.  Heterogeneity analysis found that the HSFC farmland showed a significant increase in grain yield only in the main grain-producing areas and balanced areas.  In addition, HSFC significantly increased the yields of rice, wheat, and maize while leading to a reduction in soybean yields.  The findings suggest the government should continue to promote HSFC, improve construction standards, and strictly control the “non-agriculturalization” and “non-coordination” of farmland to increase grain production further.  At the same time, market mechanisms should be used to incentivize soybean farming, improve returns and stabilize soybean yields.

Brucella spp., an intracellular bacterium, uses its type IV secretion system (T4SS) to regulate host signaling pathways and promote intracellular survival, but the molecular mechanism of this process remains largely unknown. Here we found that increasing the abundance of acetylated protein in host cells promotes the intracellular survival of Brucella. Moreover, our results demonstrated that the Brucella effector protein BspF can impact protein acetylation modification in host cells by interacting with other intracellular proteases. We conducted LC-MS/MS to characterize the protein acetylation mediated by BspF. We identified that SNAP29 K103 was acetylated, and that acetylated SNAP29 inhibited its interaction with STX17, thereby regulating the autophagy and providing an environment for the intracellular survival of Brucella. Furthermore, our results provide the first report of a bacterial effector using acetylation to affect the SNAP29-STX17-VAMP8 complex, and inhibit the host's defense system. Our results suggest a vital role of SNAP29 acetylation in autophagy of host cells under intracellular infection, by specifically regulating the assemble of SNARE.

The universal stress proteins (USPs) play important roles not only in abiotic stress tolerance but also in plant growth and development.  However, the role of USPs in regulating starch biosynthesis has not been reported.  In this research, the IbUSP17 gene was isolated from a sweetpotato line H283 with high starch content.  The IbUSP17 protein was localized in the nucleus. IbUSP17 were highly expressed in the lines with high starch content and during rapid thickening and starch accumulation period of storage roots.  Overexpressing IbUSP17 increased storage root starch content, especially amylopectin proportion, without storage root yield penalty in sweetpotato.  Overexpression of IbUSP17 up-regulated the genes involved in starch biosynthesis and increased the activities of enzymes related to amylopectin biosynthesis.  The contents of components related to starch biosynthesis were also increased in the IbUSP17-overexpressing plants.  Silencing this gene produced opposite effects.  These results suggest that overexpression of IbUSP17 increases starch content through up-regulating the genes involved in starch biosynthesis and increasing the activities of enzymes related to starch biosynthesis, especially amylopectin biosynthesis.  It is the first time to reveal the role of the USP gene in starch biosynthesis.  This gene is expected to be used to increase starch yield and improve starch quality in sweetpotato.

Maize and soybean intercropping improve land use efficiency and plays a crucial role in ensuring food security. However, optimal field configuration parameters for maize and soybean strip intercropping remain unclear, particularly in the North China Plain where the system has been widely adopted. A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of four maize planting densities under two row configurations on the land equivalent ratio (LER), crop yields, and economic benefits. Our results demonstrated that intercropping consistently enhanced land use efficiency across all field configurations, with an average LER of 1.20. Under the M3S4 (three maize rows alternating with four soybean rows) configuration at 90% of the monocropping maize density, maize yields were sustained at up to 93.3% of monocrop, while simultaneously producing an additional 893 kg ha^-1 soybean. Compared to the M2S4 configuration (two maize rows alternating with four soybean rows), the M3S4 increased maize yield by 12.2%, but led to a 17.1% reduction in soybean yield. Further, optimization of maize planting density improved land use efficiency, crop yields, and the net income. The optimal M3S4 configuration at 90% of the monocropping maize density increased the LER by 6.7%, maize yield by 5.6%, soybean yield by 8.1%, and net income by 8% compared to M3S4 at 100% density. These findings indicate that optimizing field configurations can significantly improve crop yields and farmers' economic benefits in maize-soybean strip intercropping. Our study highlights that optimized field configurations improve both yield potential and economic viability of mechanized maize and soybean strip intercropping, providing a scientific basis for its large-scale adoption.