Home plant–soil feedbacks (home-PSFs) typically demonstrate negative effects in vegetable crops, substantially inhibiting their growth.  Phosphorus (P), an essential plant nutrient crucial for growth, influences vegetable crop growth patterns through soil availability levels.  However, the relationship between soil available P levels and home-PSFs in vegetable crops requires further investigation.  This study established a home PSF system incorporating 12 vegetable crops from 6 families to examine growth responses under two P conditions (low P level: 40 mg P kg^–1 soil; high P level: 200 mg P kg^–1 soil).  The findings revealed that low P conditions significantly decreased overall biomass across all vegetables, with preferential biomass allocation to root development.  Furthermore, low P conditions enhanced mycorrhizal colonization and rhizosphere acid phosphatase activity while notably decreasing root length.  While vegetables generally exhibited negative home PSFs, allium and nonmycorrhizal plants demonstrated positive responses under high P conditions.  Wild tomatoes displayed greater variation in feedback values across P levels compared to common tomatoes.  Under high-P conditions, mycorrhizal colonization showed positive correlations with feedback values of biomass and P concentration.  Root diameter and mycorrhizal colonization demonstrated distinct correlations with these feedback values under low-P conditions.  The research concludes that high P levels effectively mitigate negative home-PSFs in vegetables while increasing biomass production.  Additionally, high P levels demonstrated superior efficacy in alleviating negative home-PSFs in wild tomatoes compared to common tomatoes.

Streptococcus suis is a significant zoonotic agent affecting both human and pig health and poses a substantial public health concern. The pathogenicity of S. suis is intricately linked to its ability to form biofilms and express virulence factors, which are regulated by the LuxS/AI-2 quorum sensing (QS) system. Herein, we uncover a novel therapeutic avenue by demonstrating that 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), an FDA-approved anti-cancer agent, effectively mitigates biofilm formation and attenuates the virulence of S. suis. Mechanistically, we observe a significant reduction in capsular polysaccharide and extracellular polysaccharide production upon 5-FU treatment, elucidating a potential mechanism for biofilm weakening. Additionally, 5-FU down-regulates virulence traits, diminishing S. suis's ability to adhere to host cells and evade phagocytosis. Crucially, our study identifies the thymidylate synthase regulatory gene thyA as a key mediator of 5-FU's effects on the LuxS/AI-2 QS system. Virtual molecular docking and gene knockout experiments provide compelling evidence that 5-FU modulates the LuxS/AI-2 QS system by targeting thyA. In vivo experiments further validate the therapeutic potential of 5-FU, showcasing a significant reduction in bacterial load and mitigation of tissue damage in a mouse model. In conclusion, our investigation unveils 5-FU as a potent disruptor of S. suis's biofilm formation and virulence, offering a promising avenue for the control of this devastating pathogen.

The efficient colonization of plant-beneficial Pseudomonas spp. is a prerequisite for their biocontrol capacity.  Prior work revealed that the PcoI/PcoR quorum-sensing (QS) system plays a pivotal role in the root colonization of P. fluorescens 2P24.  During the colonization, strain 2P24 has faced diverse impacts from plant-derived reactive oxygen species and other environmental stress.  However, the molecular mechanism by which the PcoI/PcoR QS system is regulated under unfavored conditions remains unclear.  Thus, in this study, the role of the (p)ppGpp synthetase RelA and the bifunctional (p)ppGpp synthase/hydrolase SpoT in the PcoI/PcoR QS system of P. fluorescens was investigated.  Our data indicated that the deficiency of relA and spoT genes remarkably improved the expression of the pcoI gene, whereas the mutation of the spoT gene significantly repressed the expression of the pcoI gene.  We further demonstrated that the regulation of the PcoI/PcoR QS system by (p)ppGpp was dependent on the function of the trmE gene, which encodes a tRNA modification GTPase.  Furthermore, the mutation of relA, spoT, or both significantly influenced the motility, biofilm formation, oxidative stress, osmotic tolerance, and rhizosphere colonization.  Collectively, our data indicated that the (p)ppGpp signaling pathway mediated by the relA gene and spoT gene was important to the function of the PcoI/PcoR QS system and had important implications for the understanding of the molecular mechanism of (p)ppGpp in epiphytic fitness via TrmE of P. fluorescens.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) quality is a major focus of wheat breeding, which is influenced by multiple factors. The Huang-Huai wheat region, one of the main wheat-producing areas in China, provides favourable conditions for cultivating wheat cultivars with strong-gluten and medium-strong-gluten. In this study, a systematic assessment of seven crucial quality traits and important genetic loci (Glu-1 and Sec-1) in 436 wheat cultivars in the Huang-Huai wheat region of China by principal component analysis (PCA) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) methods showed that the stability time (ST), stretch area (SA), and maximum resistance (MAXR) were identified as three key factors, which significantly influenced wheat quality. Glu-1 and Sec-1 primarily impacted these three traits and subsequently influenced wheat quality. Compared to Glu-A1 and Glu-B1, Glu-D1 has a more significant impact on the comprehensive evaluation value D, principal components PC1-PC3, and the main traits ST, SA and MAXR of PC1. Wheat cultivars carrying the high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) Dx5+Dy10 exhibited a notable improvement in ST, SA, and MAXR traits compared with those carrying HMW-GS Dx2+Dy12, suggesting that Dx5+Dy10 may enhance wheat quality by improving ST, SA, and MAXR. By combining the results of D value, GYT (genotype by yield×trait) index, and HMW-GS score, 20 high-quality and high yield wheat cultivars were identified, which can be used as elite parents for wheat quality breeding.

Seed germination, which initiates the plant life cycle, exhibits high sensitivity to salt stress, a significant environmental factor limiting rice production.  Brassinosteroid (BR), a growth-promoting phytohormone, mitigates various stresses including salt, drought, and extreme temperatures in rice.  However, the mechanisms by which BR alleviates salt stress during seed germination remain inadequately characterized.  This study demonstrates that seed-specific overexpression of OsDWF4, a rate-limiting gene in BR biosynthesis, enhances rice germination.  The DWF4-OX lines, which increase endogenous BR content in seeds, promote germination under salt stress, corroborating results obtained through exogenous BR application.  Antioxidant enzyme analyses demonstrate that BR enhances the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT).  Metabolomic analysis reveals that BR mitigates salt stress primarily through the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids and secondary metabolites.  Transcriptomic analysis indicates that both endogenous and exogenous BR share five co-regulated target genes and utilize a common biosynthetic pathway for stilbenoids, diarylheptanoids, and gingerols.  These findings confirm BR's capacity to enhance seed germination under salt stress and identify several BR-mediated targets for developing salt-tolerant rice varieties suitable for direct seeding cultivation.

Insight into the carbon turnover in soil aggregates and density fractions is essential for reducing the uncertainty in estimating carbon pools on the Tibetan Plateau, and how they vary with land use type is unclear.  In this study, the effect of land use type on carbon storage and fractionation was quantified based on organic carbon and its ¹³C abundance at the microscale of soil aggregates and density fractions in Tibetan alpine ecosystems.  The sequence of soil aggregate destruction in the land use types of plantation (13.1%)<shrubland (32.7%)<grassland (47.9%)<farmland (61.8%) shows that plantations strengthen the soil structure.  Plantation land had a greater contribution of light fraction organic carbon (28.3%) but a lower contribution of mineral-associated organic carbon (40.6%) to the carbon stock compared to farmland (13.5 and 70.3%).  Interestingly, plantation land enhanced the aggregational differentiation of organic carbon and ¹³C in each density fraction, whereas no such phenomenon existed in the soil organic carbon.  Carbon isotope analyses revealed that carbon transfer in the plantation land occurred from the light fraction in macroaggregates (–24.9‰) to the mineral-associated fraction in microaggregates (–19.9‰).  When compared to the other three land use types, the low transferability of carbon in aggregates and density fractions in plantation land provides a stable carbon pool for the Tibetan Plateau.  This study shows that plantations can mitigate global climate change by slowing carbon transfer and increasing carbon storage at the microscale of aggregates and density fractions in alpine regions.

Hair follicle stem cell (HFSC), capable of self-renewal and differentiation in hair follicle, represents an emerging stem cell model for regenerative medicine.  The interaction between HFSC and dermal papilla cell (DPC) governs hair follicle development.  FGF7 functions as a paracrine protein regulating epithelial proliferation, differentiation and migration.  The single-cell transcriptome profiling and immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated that FGF7 localizes at DPC, while FGF7 receptor (FGFR2) expresses in both DPC and HFSC.  Through co-culture experiments of HFSC and DPC, the results indicated that FGF7 secreted from DPC promotes the proliferation of DPC and HFSC via Wnt signaling pathway and induces HFSC differentiation.  Furthermore, CUT&Tag assay revealed genomic colocalization between FGF7 and pluripotency-related genes and GSK3β.  Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) demonstrated that FGF7 interacts with the promoter region of CISH and PRKX.  This research provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the hair cycle.  Understanding the interaction between HFSC and DPC, as well as the role of FGF7, may advance regenerative medicine and hair loss treatment.

N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) plays a key role in mammalian early embryonic development and cell lineage differentiation.  However, the role and mechanisms of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) m⁶A methyltransferase METTL5 in early embryonic development remain unclear.  Here, we found that 18S rRNA m⁶A methyltransferase METTL5 plays an important role in porcine early embryonic development.  METTL5 knockdown and overexpression significantly reduced the developmental efficiency of porcine early embryos and impaired cell lineage allocation.  METTL5 knockdown apparently decreased the global translation efficiency in blastocyst, while METTL5 overexpression increased the global translation efficiency.  Furthermore, METTL5 knockdown did not affect the abundance of CDX2 mRNA, but resulted in a significant reduction in CDX2 protein levels.  Moreover, the low developmental efficiency and abnormal lineage distribution of METTL5 knockdown embryos could be rescued by CDX2 overexpression.  Collectively, our results demonstrated that 18S rRNA methyltransferase METTL5 regulates porcine early embryonic development via modulating the translation of CDX2.

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. 

The use of RNA interference (RNAi) technology to control pests is explored by researchers globally.  Even though RNA is a new class of pest control compound unlike conventional chemical pesticides, the evolution of pest resistance needs to be considered.  Here, we first investigate RNAi-based biopesticide resistance of Fusarium asiaticum, which is responsible for devastating diseases of plants, for example, Fusarium head blight.  Five resistant strains were isolated from 500 strains that treated with UV-mutagenesis.  The mutation common to all of the five resistant mutants occurred in the gene encoding Dicer2 (point mutations at codon 1005 and 1007), which were under strong purifying selection pressure.  To confirm whether the mutations in Dicer2 confer resistance to RNAi, we exchanged the Dicer2 locus between the sensitive strain and the resistant strain by homologous double exchange.  The transformed mutants, Dicer2^R1005D and Dicer2^E1007H, exhibited resistance to dsRNA in vitro.  Further study showed that mutations of R1005D and E1007H affected the intramolecular interactions of Dicer2, resulting in the dysfunction of RNase III domain of Dicer2.  The amount of sRNAs produced by Dicer2^R1005D and Dicer2^E1007H was extremely reduced along with variation of sRNA length.  Together, these findings revealed a new potential mechanism of RNAi resistance and provided insight into RNAi-related biopesticide deployment for fungal control.

Introducing the inherent genetic diversity of wild species into cultivars has become one of the hot topics in crop genetic breeding and genetic resource research.  Fiber- and seed-related traits, which are critical to the global economy and people’s livelihoods, are the principal focus of cotton breeding.  Here, the wild cotton species Gossypium tomentosum was used to broaden the genetic basis of G. hirsutum and identify QTLs for fiber- and seed-related traits.  A population of 559 chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) was established with various chromosome segments from G. tomentosum in a G. hirsutum cultivar background.  Totals of 72, 89, and 76 QTLs were identified for three yield traits, five fiber quality traits, and six cottonseed nutrient quality traits, respectively.  Favorable alleles of 104 QTLs were contributed by G. tomentosum.  Sixty-four QTLs were identified in two or more environments, and candidate genes for three of them were further identified.  The results of this study contribute to further studies on the genetic basis of the morphogenesis of these economic traits, and indicate the great breeding potential of G. tomentosum for improving the fiber- and seed-related traits in G. hirsutum.

Rapid and accurate acquisition of soil organic matter (SOM) information in cultivated land is important for sustainable agricultural development and carbon balance management.  This study proposed a novel approach to predict SOM with high accuracy using multiyear synthetic remote sensing variables on a monthly scale.  We obtained 12 monthly synthetic Sentinel-2 images covering the study area from 2016 to 2021 through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, and reflectance bands and vegetation indices were extracted from these composite images.  Then the random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT) models were tested to investigate the difference in SOM prediction accuracy under different combinations of monthly synthetic variables.  Results showed that firstly, all monthly synthetic spectral bands of Sentinel-2 showed a significant correlation with SOM (P<0.05) for the months of January, March, April, October, and November.  Secondly, in terms of single-monthly composite variables, the prediction accuracy was relatively poor, with the highest R² value of 0.36 being observed in January.  When monthly synthetic environmental variables were grouped in accordance with the four quarters of the year, the first quarter and the fourth quarter showed good performance, and any combination of three quarters was similar in estimation accuracy.  The overall best performance was observed when all monthly synthetic variables were incorporated into the models.  Thirdly, among the three models compared, the RF model was consistently more accurate than the SVM and GBRT models, achieving an R² value of 0.56.  Except for band 12 in December, the importance of the remaining bands did not exhibit significant differences.  This research offers a new attempt to map SOM with high accuracy and fine spatial resolution based on monthly synthetic Sentinel-2 images.

The occurrence of high temperature (HT) in crop production is becoming more frequent and unpredictable with global warming, severely threatening food security.  The state of an organ’s growth and development is largely determined by the temperature conditions it is exposed to over time.  Maize is the main cereal crop, and its stem growth and plant architecture are closely related to lodging resistance, and especially sensitive to temperature.  However, systematic research on the timing effect of HT on the sequentially developing internode and stem is currently lacking.  To identify the timing effect of HT on the morphology and plasticity of the stem in maize, two hybrids (Zhengdan 958 (ZD958), Xianyu 335 (XY335)) characterized by distinct morphological traits in the stem were exposed to a 7-day HT treatment from the V6 to V17 stages (Vn presents the vegetative stage with n leaves fully expanded) in 2019–2020.  The results demonstrated that exposure to HT during V6–V12 accelerated the rapid elongation of stems.  For instance, HT occurring at V7 and V12 specifically promoted the lengths and weights of the 3rd–5th and 9th–11th internodes, respectively.  Meanwhile, HT slowed the growth of internodes adjacent to the promoted internodes.  Interestingly, compared with control, the plant height was significantly increased soon after HT treatment, but the promotion effect became narrower at the subsequent flowering stage, demonstrating a self-adjusting mechanism in the maize plant in response to HT.  Importantly, HT altered the plant architectures, including a rising of the ear position and increase in the ear position coefficient.  XY335 exhibited greater sensitivity in stem development than ZD958 under HT treatment.  These findings improve our systematic understanding of the plasticity of internode and plant architecture in response to the timing of HT exposure.

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. 

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a zoonotic mosquito-borne viral disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The virus is transmitted among adult pigs, causing abortion in sows and orchitis in boars. Vaccination remains the most effective strategy for the prevention and control of this disease. Studies have shown that genotype I (GI) JEV has replaced GIII JEV as the dominant strain in many Asian countries. However, all currently licensed JE vaccines, including the widely used SA14-14-2 live attenuated vaccine, are derived from the GIII strain. It has been reported that GIII-based vaccines do not provide complete protection against the GI strain. In this study, we conducted vaccination-challenge protection assays in mice and boars to evaluate the protective efficacy of live attenuated GI (SD12-F120) derived vaccines against challenge by a homologous genotype. In mice, immunisation with the vaccine induced a potent viral-neutralising response against the homologous GI JEV SD12 strain. The SD12-F120 vaccine provided complete protection against lethal challenge by SD12, whilst also attenuating viraemia. JEV was not detected in the blood, oronasal swabs, or testicles of boars receiving the SD12-F120 vaccine. Vaccination induced high levels of neutralising antibodies against the homologous GI strain in boars, with titers as high as 64. Histopathological analysis showed that interstitial cells of the boar testis and spermatogonia at all levels were well preserved in the vaccine-immunised group, effectively suppressing the occurrence of orchitis. These results showed that the SD12-F120 vaccine provides boars complete protection against challenge by SD12, whilst also protecting against viraemia and testicular damage. Our findings indicate that SD12-F120 is a promising live-attenuated vaccine candidate for controlling the spread of GI JEV.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important food crops globally, and its flour can be processed into a wide variety of foods.  The high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) play a crucial role in determining the flour-processing quality.  In this study, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate eight types of wheat mutants with the silencing of one to four HMW-GS-encoding genes simultaneously.  These mutations were identified in the T₁ generation by PCR-restriction enzyme (PCR-RE) analysis and sequencing.  In the T₂ generation, mutants were confirmed to express one to four HMW-GSs by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC).  Phenotypic analysis showed that the mutants were comparable to the wild-type (WT) in terms of major agronomic and grain traits.  However, glutenin macropolymers (GMP) content in the mutants was significantly lower than in the WT.  Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed a flaky GMP structure in the mutant grain endosperms, indicating that the absence of HMW-GSs did not affect GMP formation. SDS-sedimentation volume (SDS-SV) and bread-baking tests revealed that the contribution of HMW-GSs to processing quality was ranked as 1Dx5>1Dy12>1Ax1 in the genetic background of CB037.  Interestingly, although bread-baking quality deteriorated, the cookie-making and noodle quality of the mutants improved.  The cookie made from the dDx mutant had the thinnest, largest diameter, and the highest spread factor.  Mutants with reduced HMW-GS content may provide a new strategy for wheat breeding tailored for cookie and noodle production.

Global climate change has intensified drought stress, presenting a significant challenge to agricultural production and breeding. The root system, as the primary organ sensing stress signals, plays a crucial role in determining plants' drought adaptability in soil conditions. Consequently, identifying optimal root architecture under drought conditions has become essential in crop breeding. This study employed a HT-ARPP to systematically analyze a natural population of 228 representative upland cotton accessions in specialized root boxes during seedling-stage drought stress. Root phenotypes were monitored 11 times across 20 days, generating over 20,000 images through an automatic root phenotypic robot, which yielded 27 image-based digital underground root traits (i-R_traits). The drought-resistant coefficient (DRC, ratio between drought and control of i-R_traits) was utilized to evaluate phenotypic responses. A comprehensive index of drought adaptability (CIDA) was developed through root traits analysis, and stepwise regression analysis established a model of key i-R_traits, enabling classification of accessions into 5 groups based on root adaptability to water deficiency. An ideal drought-adaptability root architecture was proposed through combined analysis of aboveground and underground phenotypes. The findings indicate that medium and intermediate drought resistant cotton accessions represent optimal breeding materials for maintaining stable growth under variable conditions, offering a novel strategy for future breeding programs focused on optimized root architecture.

Low phosphorus (LP) stress induces tissue-specific anthocyanin biosynthesis and sugar accumulation in plants. However, the relationship between sugar levels and phosphate (Pi) availability in regulating anthocyanin remains unclear. This study investigated the spatiotemporal patterns of sugar accumulation and anthocyanin biosynthesis in maize seedlings, and conducted experiments modifying sugar status to examine the significance of sugar accumulation for LP-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis. The results demonstrated that, under LP conditions, anthocyanin biosynthesis and sucrose accumulation were spatially and temporally coupled, with leaf sheaths exhibiting the lowest Pi content and highest sucrose and anthocyanin levels. Artificially increasing endogenous sucrose through cold-girdling promoted anthocyanin biosynthesis, whereas reducing sucrose via leaf-shading inhibited it. Analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between sucrose and anthocyanin levels. In vitro incubation of leaves and sheaths with different sugars further confirmed that sucrose accumulation was indispensable for LP-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis. Therefore, the temporal and spatial patterns of anthocyanin biosynthesis under LP are determined by both tissue Pi levels and sucrose accumulation, and anthocyanin distribution can be modulated by altering Pi and sucrose patterns. Transcriptome analysis of LP-treated leaf sheaths, with or without sucrose accumulation, suggested that PHR1 may mediate the interaction between sugar and LP signaling pathways in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. These insights elucidate the mechanisms governing tissue-specific anthocyanin biosynthesis under LP conditions, while providing potential targets for improving phosphorus use efficiency via anthocyanin regulation.

Chlorophyll degradation occurs during mango fruit ripening, contributing to the color and commercial value of the fruit. Ethylene response factors (ERFs) are recognized as important regulators of chlorophyll degradation. This study investigated the regulatory effects of MiERF023 on mango coloration through ethylene (ETH) and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatments. ETH treatment increased the activities of chlorophyll degradation-related enzymes (Chlase, MDCase, PPH, and PAO), activated the expression of chlorophyll catabolism genes (MiPPH and MiPAO), accelerated chlorophyll degradation, and promoted coloration of mango. In contrast, the opposite effects were observed after 1-MCP treatment. Meanwhile, the expression of MiERF023 was greatly induced by ethylene and inhibited by 1-MCP, then MiERF023 was isolated and characterized. Yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and dual luciferase reporter (DLR) assays demonstrated that MiERF023 binds to the promoters of MiPPH and MiPAO, upregulating their transcript levels. Transient overexpression of MiERF023 in tomato and mango fruits increased the transcript levels of MiPPH and MiPAO, accelerating chlorophyll degradation and promoting peel coloration. Collectively, these findings reveal a novel regulatory mechanism by which MiERF023 modulates ethylene-mediated pigment metabolism，offering potential targets for improving sensory quality in postharvest mango fruits. 

Asynchronous seed development complicates soybean response to post-flowering high-temperature (HT) stress. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying HT-induced yield reduction after flowering, soybean plants were subjected to a six-day HT treatment in a greenhouse beginning at the opening of the first flower. HT reduced seed number and impaired pod and seed development at the initial flowering nodes, as evidenced by the decline in size and fresh weight. HT downregulated genes related to DNA replication, cell division, lipid metabolism, and secondary metabolism. Notably, auxin signaling and cell cycle factors emerged as central regulatory networks governing seed development. HT downregulated the expression of critical cell cycle components, including cyclins, kinesins, MAD2, and RAD, the latter two containing auxin-responsive elements. Moreover, HT reduced auxin levels in fertilized ovaries, while exogenous auxin (0.1 nM 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid) treatment alleviated HT-induced seed developmental restriction, mainly by increasing cell number and size. Auxin treatment further improved pod set, pod and seed number, and grain weight under HT stress. These results suggest that the cell cycle suppression is determinant for growth retardation in synergy with reduced auxin levels in soybean seeds, and auxin supplementation could enhance soybean adaptation to post-flowering HT stress.