Rhododendron is a well-known genus consisting of commercially valuable ornamental woody plant species.  Heat stress is a major environmental factor that affects rhododendron growth.  Melatonin was recently reported to alleviate the effects of abiotic stress on plants.  However, the role of melatonin in rhododendron plants is unknown.  In this study, the effect of melatonin on rhododendron plants exposed to heat stress and the potential underlying mechanism were investigated.  Analyses of morphological characteristics and chlorophyll a fluorescence indicated 200 µmol L^–1 was the optimal melatonin concentration for protecting rhododendron plants from heat stress.  To elucidate how melatonin limits the adverse effects of high temperatures, melatonin contents, photosynthetic indices, Rubisco activity, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) contents were analyzed at 25, 35, and 40°C, respectively.  Compared with the control, exogenous application of melatonin improved the melatonin contents, electron transport rate, photosystem II and I activities, Rubisco activity, and ATP contents under heat stress.  The transcriptome analysis revealed many of the heat-induced differentially expressed genes were associated with the photosynthetic pathway; the expression of most of these genes was down-regulated by heat stress more in the melatonin-free plants than in the melatonin-treated plants.  We identified RhPGR5A, RhATPB, RhLHCB3, and RhRbsA as key genes.  Thus, we speculate that melatonin promotes photosynthetic electron transport, improves Calvin cycle enzyme activities, and increases ATP production.  These changes lead to increased photosynthetic efficiency and CO₂ assimilation under heat stress conditions via the regulated expression of specific genes, including RhRbsA.  Therefore, the application of exogenous melatonin may increase the tolerance of rhododendron to heat stress.

Molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) can significantly accelerate and improve the efficiency of the breeding process in seedless grape cultivars.  In this study, we developed the KASP_VviAGL11 and VviAGL11_410 markers based on a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) site (Chr18: 26889437 (A/C)) of the VviAGL11 gene, and compared them with previously reported SSR markers p3_VvAGL11 and 5U_VviAGL11 by testing 101 cultivars and 81 F₁ hybrid progenies.  The results showed that both of the proposed markers obtained 100% accuracy rates in detecting allele A, which was closely associated with the seedless trait in grapes, while p3_VvAGL11 and 5U_VviAGL11 had lower accuracy rates due to their tendency to produce false positives.  After careful evaluation of the technical advantages and disadvantages associated with these markers, we concluded that KASP_VviAGL11 was superior in terms of simplicity, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and accuracy.  Thus, we optimized the process of molecular MAS for seedless grapes, focusing on the KASP_VviAGL11 marker as a central component, to provide key technical support for the development of new seedless grape cultivars.

Embryo rescue technology plays an important role in seedless grape breeding.  However, the efficiency of embryo rescue, including the embryo formation, germination, and seedling rates, is closely related to the parental genotypes, degree of abortion, growth medium, and plant growth regulators.  In this study, we investigated the effects of different concentrations of paclobutrazol (PAC), a plant growth regulator, and embryo collection times on the embryo formation, germination, and seedling rates for different hybrid combinations of grape breeding varieties used for their aroma and cold-resistance traits.  The results showed that the different PAC concentrations had varying impacts on the development of ovules and embryos from the different grape varieties.  The embryo formation rates of the ‘Sultanina Rose’בBeibinghong’ and ‘Kunxiang Seedless’בTaishan-2’ crosses were the highest under the 5.1 μmol L^–1 PAC treatment.  The 1.0 μmol L^–1 PAC treatment was optimal for the germination and seedling development of the ‘Sultanina Rose’בBeibinghong’ embryos, whereas the 0.2 μmol L^–1 PAC treatment induced the highest germination rate for the ‘Sultanina Rose’בKunxiang Seedless’ cross.  The optimal sampling times for each cross varied as 39 d after pollination (DAP) for the ‘Flame Seedless’בMuscat Hamburg’ cross, 46 DAP for the ‘Kunxiang Seedless’בBeibinghong’ cross, and 41 DAP for the ‘Ruby Seedless’בBeibinghong’ and ‘Fantasy Seedless’בShuangyou’ crosses.  Moreover, the medium modified with 0.5 g L^–1 of indole-3-butyric acid allowed the malformed seedlings to develop into plantlets and achieve larger progenies.  This study provides a useful basis for further studies into grape embryo rescue and could improve breeding efforts for new seedless grape varieties.

Certain agricultural management practices are known to affect the soil microbial community structure; however, knowledge of the response of the fungal community structure to the long-term continuous cropping and rotation of soybean, maize and wheat in the same agroecosystem is limited.  We assessed the fungal abundance, composition and diversity among soybean rotation, maize rotation and wheat rotation systems and among long-term continuous cropping systems of soybean, maize and wheat as the effect of crop types on fungal community structure.  We compared these fungal parameters of same crop between long-term crop rotation and continuous cropping systems as the effect of cropping systems on fungal community structure.  The fungal abundance and composition were measured by quantitative real-time PCR and Illumina MiSeq sequencing.  The results revealed that long-term continuous soybean cropping increased the soil fungal abundance compared with soybean rotation, and the fungal abundance was decreased in long-term continuous maize cropping compared with maize rotation.  The long-term continuous soybean cropping also exhibited increased soil fungal diversity.  The variation in the fungal community structure among the three crops was greater than that between long-term continuous cropping and rotation cropping.  Mortierella, Guehomyces and Alternaria were the most important contributors to the dissimilarity of the fungal communities between the continuous cropping and rotation cropping of soybean, maize and wheat.  There were 11 potential pathogen and 11 potential biocontrol fungi identified, and the relative abundance of most of the potential pathogenic fungi increased during the long-term continuous cropping of all three crops.  The relative abundance of most biocontrol fungi increased in long-term continuous soybean cropping but decreased in long-term continuous maize and wheat cropping.  Our results indicate that the response of the soil fungal community structure to long-term continuous cropping varies based upon crop types.

Plant cell walls constitute the skeletal structures of plant bodies, and thus confer lodging resistance for grain crops.  While the basic cell wall synthesis machinery is relatively well established now, our understanding of how the process is regulated remains limited and fragmented.  In this study, we report the identification and characterization of the novel rice (Oryza sativa L.) brittle culm16 (brittle node; bc16) mutant.  The brittle node phenotype of the bc16 mutant appears exclusively at nodes, and resembles the previously reported bc5 mutant.  Combined histochemical staining and electron microscopy assays revealed that in the bc16 mutant, the secondary cell wall formation and thickening of node sclerenchyma tissues are seriously affected after heading.  Furthermore, cell wall composition assays revealed that the bc16 mutation led to a significant reduction in cellulose and lignin contents.  Using a map-based cloning approach, the bc16 locus is mapped to an approximately 1.7-Mb region of chromosome 4.  Together, our findings strengthen evidence for discretely spatial differences in the secondary cell wall formation within plant bodies.

Long-term continuous cropping of soybean (Glycine max), spring wheat (Triticum aesativum) and maize (Zea mays) is widely practiced by local farmers in northeast China. A field experiment (started in 1991) was used to investigate the differences in soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under continuous cropping of the three major crops and to evaluate the relationships between CO2 fluxes and soil temperature and moisture for Mollisols in northeast China. Soil CO2 emissions were measured using a closed-chamber method during the growing season in 2011. No remarkable differences in soil organic carbon were found among the cropping systems (P>0.05). However, significant differences in CO2 emissions from soils were observed among the three cropping systems (P<0.05). Over the course of the entire growing season, cumulative soil CO2 emissions under different cropping systems were in the following order: continuous maize ((829±10) g CO2 m-2)>continuous wheat ((629±22) g CO2 m-2)>continuous soybean ((474±30) g CO2 m-2). Soil temperature explained 42-65% of the seasonal variations in soil CO2 flux, with a Q10 between 1.63 and 2.31; water-filled pore space explained 25-47% of the seasonal variations in soil CO2 flux. A multiple regression model including both soil temperature (T, °C) and water-filled pore space (W, %), log(f)=a+bT log(W), was established, accounting for 51-66% of the seasonal variations in soil CO2 flux. The results suggest that soil CO2 emissions and their Q10 values under a continuous cropping system largely depend on crop types in Mollisols of Northeast China.

Basic vegetative period (BVP) is an important trait for determining flowering time and adaptation to variable environments. A short BVP barley mutant is about 30 d shorter than its wild type. Genetic analysis using 557 F2 individuals revealed that the short BVP is governed by a single recessive gene (BVP-1) and was further validated in 2 090 F3 individuals. The BVP-1 gene was first mapped to barley chromosome 1H using SSR markers. Comparative genomic analysis demonstrated that the chromosome region of BVP-1 is syntenic to rice chromosome 5 and Brachypodium chromosome 2. Barley ESTs/genes were identified after comparison with candidate genes in rice and Brachypodium; seven new gene-specific markers were developed and mapped in the mapping populations. The BVP-1 gene co-segregated with the Mot1 and Ftsh4 genes and was flanked by the gene-specific markers AK252360 (0.2 cM) and CA608558 (0.5 cM). Further analysis demonstrated that barley and wheat share the same short BVP gene controlling early flowering.

The host intestinal microbiota has emerged as the third element in the interactions between hosts and enteric viruses, and potentially affects the infection processes of enteric viruses. However, the interaction of porcine enteric coronavirus with intestinal microorganisms during infection remains unclear. In this study, we used 16S-rRNA-based Illumina NovaSeq high-throughput sequencing to identify the changes in the intestinal microbiota of piglets mediated by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection and the effects of the alterations in intestinal bacteria on PEDV infection and its molecular mechanisms. The intestinal microbiota of PEDV-infected piglets had significantly less diversity than the healthy group and different bacterial community characteristics. Among the altered intestinal bacteria, the relative abundance of Clostridium perfringens was significantly increased in the PEDV-infected group. A strain of C. perfringens type A, named DQ21, was successfully isolated from the intestines of healthy piglets. The metabolites of swine C. perfringens type A strain DQ21 significantly enhanced PEDV replication in porcine intestinal epithelial cell clone J2 (IPEC-J2) cells, and PEDV infection and pathogenicity in suckling piglets. Palmitic acid (PA) was identified as one of those metabolites with metabolomic technology, and significantly enhanced PEDV replication in IPEC-J2 cells and PEDV infection and pathogenicity in suckling piglets. PA also increased the neutralizing antibody titer in the immune sera of mice. Furthermore, PA mediated the palmitoylation of the PEDV S protein, which improved virion stability and membrane fusion, thereby enhancing viral infection. Overall, our study demonstrates a novel mechanism of PEDV infection, with implications for PEDV pathogenicity.

Rapeseed mustard (Brassica juncea L.) is the third most important oilseed crop in the world but the genetic mechanism underlying its massive phenotypic variation remains largely unexplored. In this study, specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-Seq) was used to resequence a population comprising 197 F₈ recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from a cross between vegetable-type Qichi881 and oilseed-type YufengZC in B. juncea. In total, 438,895 high-quality SLAFs were discovered, of which 47,644 were polymorphic, and 3,887 of the polymorphic markers met the requirements for genetic map construction. The final map included 3,887 markers on 18 linkage groups and was 1,830.23 cM in length, with an average distance of 0.47 cM between adjacent markers. Using the newly constructed high-density genetic map, a total of 53 QTLs for erucic acid (EA), oleic acid (OA), and linolenic acid (LNA) were detected and integrated into 8 consensus QTLs with two for each of these traits. For each of these three traits, two candidate genes were cloned and sequence analyzed, indicating colocalization with their respective consensus QTLs. The co-dominant allele-specific markers for Bju.FAD3.A03 and Bju.FAD3.B07 were developed and showed co-localization with their consensus QTL and co-segregation with LNA content, further supporting the results of QTL mapping and bioinformatic analysis. The expression level for the cloned homologous genes was also identified, which was tightly correlated with the EA, OA and LNA contents of different lines. The results would facilitate the improvement of fatty acid traits and molecular breeding of B. juncea. More use of the high-density genetic map created in this study is also discussed.