All Cover Illustrations

Volume 22, Issue 8, Aug. 2023
Schrankia costaestrigalis is a newly-reported potato pest in southern China.  The larvae damage potato tubers by feeding on tubers and foliage, either in the field or during storage.  The pest has caused great economic losses to farmers in the winter and early-spring potato planting areas.  Early-warning monitoring of this pest could protect domestic potato production.  Based on the environmental data (temperature and precipitation variables) and human influence index, the optimal species distribution model was used to estimate the potential geographical distribution in China under climate change.  Results showed that highly suitable habitats of S. ostaestrigalis were mainly located in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Fujian and Hainan.  The potential geographical distribution of S. ostaestrigalis in China will decrease under climate change, which shows a general tendency to move northeast and to the middle-high latitudes in the 2030s.  The agricultural practice of plastic film mulching in potato fields will provide a favorable microclimate for S. ostaestrigalis in the suitable areas.  More attention should be paid to the early warning and monitoring of S. ostaestrigalis in order to prevent its further spread in the China’s winter potato planting regions.  The cover photo depicts the developmental stages of S. ostaestrigalis, which is provided by Dr. Xian Xiaoqing and Ph D student Zhao Haoxiang from Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing.  See pages 2441–2455 for details.

Volume 22, Issue 7, Jul. 2023
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a highly pathogenic infectious disease caused by PRRS virus (PRRSV). In our study, we reported the use of two precise CRISPR/Cas9 editing systems to identify important CD163 residues involved in PRRSV infection. From a dual-sgRNA editing system, we obtained the immortalized porcine alveolar macrophage (IPAM) cell lines with 40-residue (residues 523–562) deletion in CD163. From a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated HDR-based biallelic editing system, we generated precisely-edited cloned pigs with a single arginine (R) to alanine (A) substitution at position 561 of CD163 (CD163^R561A), and PAMs were isolated from these CD163^R561A pigs. PRRSV infection experiments showed that the IPAM cell line with the 40-residue deletion in CD163 were completely resistant to PRRSV-WUH3 (genotype 2 PRRSV) infection, and that CD163-R561A PAMs showed significantly lower susceptibility to PRRSV-WUH3 infection. Through this study, we believe that CD163 residues 523–562 are essential residues that mediate PRRSV infection, and that R561 is an important residue involved in PRRSV infection. Our study offers a valuable reference for exploring the mechanism of CD163-mediated PRRSV infection and provides other potential target sites for the generation of PRRSV-resistant CD163 gene-edited pigs. The cover photo depicts the CD163 specific edited pigs are resistant to PRRSV, which is provided by Dr. Xu Kui from Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing. See pages 2188–2199 for details.

Volume 22, Issue 6, Jun. 2023
High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) are the most critical grain storage proteins that determine the unique processing qualities of wheat. Although it is a part of the superior HMW-GS pair (Dx5+Dy10), the contribution of the Dy10 subunit to wheat processing quality remains unclear. In this study, we elucidated the effect of Dy10 on wheat processing quality by generating and analyzing a deletion mutant (with the Dy10-null allele), and by elucidating the changes to wheat flour following the incorporation of purified Dy10. Based on an analysis of this mutant, we demonstrated that the Dy10 subunit is essential for maintaining dough strength. Furthermore, the Dy10-null allele positively affects the biscuit-making quality of wheat dough, making it potentially useful for soft wheat breeding programs. The cover photo depicts the formation process of wheat end-use quality, provided by the research team of Prof. Qi Pengfei and Dr. Wang Yan from Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, China. See pages 1609–1617 for details.

Volume 22, Issue 5, May 2023
Microwave treatment has been applied to flaxseed to achieve the efficient release of nutrients, inactivation of enzymes and improvement of flavor, etc.  However, it was still undefined how the techno-functionality of flaxseed protein changed upon microwave exposure.  We mainly elucidated how the antioxidant and interface properties changed for flaxseed protein based on the in-situ structural remodeling.  After microwave exposure, the storage protein was subjected to more compact assembly and subsequent permeation by membrane fragments of oil bodies in flaxseed.  Microwave exposure led to the retention of specific phenolic acids and promotion of antioxidant activities for flaxseed protein.  Improving oil–water interface activities of flaxseed protein produced the emulsion droplets with descending sizes and dense interface coating.  The current study could provide theoretical basis for tailoring the application functionality of protein fractions in flaxseed.  The photo depicts the potential changes in gas– and oil–water interface behavior of flaxseed protein after microwave exposure, provided by the research team of Dr. Deng Qianchun from Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.  See pages 1574–1589 for details.  

Volume 22, Issue 4, Apr. 2023
Online automated identification of farmland pests is an important auxiliary means of pest control. In practical applications, the online insect identification system is often unable to locate and identify the target pest accurately due to factors such as small target size, high similarity between species and complex backgrounds. To facilitate the identification of insect larvae, a two-stage segmentation method, MRUNet, was proposed in this study. We conducted model training and comparative testing of MRUNet and previous methods on a semantic segmentation dataset of nine common farmland pest larvae. The experimental results show that the proposed two-stage image segmentation strategy is effective in dealing with small targets in complex backgrounds. This study provides a reliable reference for the automated identification of insect larvae. The cover photo shows the workflow of the proposed two-stage segmentation strategy and the structure of MRUNet, which is provided by Dr. Qiao Xi and Dr. Wang Fukuan from Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. See pages 1117–1130 for more details.

Volume 22, Issue 3, Mar. 2023
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) help plants acquire phosphorus (P) from the soil. Cotton responds poorly to P-fertilizer application and lacks the ability to obtain P from sparingly soluble P sources, making it likely that cotton crucially depends on the AMF symbiosis. In this study, we addressed the role of mycorrhizal root traits and explored the interplay of root and mycorrhizal traits in enhancing P acquisition. We found that the more recent accessions had smaller root diameters, acquired less P, and produced less biomass at intermediate soil P levels, indicating an inadvertent varietal selection for thinner roots that provided less cortical space for AMF which then increased the need for a high P-fertilizer level. We conclude that selection for cotton should consider both morphological and mycorrhizal root traits when breeding for high-yielding cotton varieties. The photo depicts the carbon and P exchange between plants and AMF. The image was provided by MSc Ma Ruonan and Prof. Feng Gu from the College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, China. See pages 701–715 for details.

Volume 22, Issue 2, Feb. 2023
The melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) is a very destructive tephritid pest across the world. Maleness-on-the-Y (MoY) is a primary factor that regulates sex determination in Ceratitis capitata and is supposed to be conserved in tephritid fruit flies. To investigate whether MoY plays a role in male sex determination of Z. cucurbitae, we examined the expression pattern of ZcMoY during embryogenesis and transiently inhibited ZcMoY in early embryos by RNAi. The expression pattern and knockdown phenotypes of ZcMoY indicate that ZcMoY plays a key role in regulating sex determination of Z. cucurbitae males. Our findings will help the understanding of sex determination in Z. cucurbitae and facilitate the development of genetic sexing strains in its biological control. The photo that depicts the morphology of a Z. cucurbitae female adult is provided by Associate Professor Lin Xianwu from the School of Plant Protection, Hainan University, China. See pages 505–513 for details

Volume 22, Issue 1, Jan. 2023
Early defoliation is gradually becoming a major problem that poses a threat to the pear industry in southern China, which is caused by multiple factors including abiotic and biotic stress. Notably, the occurrence of early defoliation induces the out-of-season blooming, which subsequently has negative effects on pear tree vigor, fruit quality, and sustained high yield in the following year. To investigate the cultivars resistant to early defoliation, we performed the resistance and susceptibility evaluation of 155 pear accessions response to early defoliation, which provided the important information for both cultivation protection and future breeding in pear, and the transcriptome analysis provides new insights into potentially essential genes responding to early defoliation in pears for future molecular breeding. The photo is provided by the research team of Dr. Wu Jun from Nanjing Agricultural University, China. See pages 120–138 for details.

Volume 21, Issue 12, Dec. 2022
Crop production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers are often threatened by crop insect pests and diseases worsening the insecurity of food. The goal of this special focus is to share knowledge on integrated pest management of four major crop diseases and one insect pest. The innovative technologies presented in the reviews offer valuable guidance and reference for sustainable control of the devastating diseases and insect pests. The cover photo is a combination of the symptoms caused by rice blast disease, fusarium head blight, maize lethal necrosis disease, potato late blight, and desert locust, which were provided by the corresponding authors of the reviews included in this special focus. See pages 3417–3487 for more details.

Volume 21, Issue 11, Nov. 2022
China has the largest number of sheep in the world. In order to improve the efficiency of sheep production, a complete understanding of the early-life establishment of the gastrointestinal fungal community allows us to develop better management operations and manipulate the gut microbiota for lambs, as well as provide new insight and directions for future studies in this research area. The succession process of the fungal community from birth to 4 months of age can be divided into
3 phases: colonization, transition, and a relatively stable period of maturation. Initially, the gastrointestinal fungal communities are heterogeneous, but they become more homogeneous with the lambs’ progress to maturity. The age-related genera Acremonium, Microascus, Valsonectria, Myrmecridium, Scopulariopsis, Myrothecium, Saccharomyces, and Stephanonectria were presented in both rumen and rectum, indicating that these genera may be important in the maturity process of the fungal community. The cover photo of sheep was provided by Prof. Zhang Yingjie from College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, China. See pages 3314–3328 for more details.

Volume 21, Issue 10, Oct. 2022
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.) is a minor food crop of global importance and a new model for C₄ plants. YABBY genes are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) that function in plant growth and development. To investigate the functions of the YABBY genes in plants’ stress tolerance, we analyzed the YABBY genes in foxtail millet and investigated their functions on plant growth and responses to different stresses. The objective of this study was to analyze the YABBY genes and their functions in this species at the genome-wide level. We also characterized the function of one of the YABBY genes, SiDL, in Arabidopsis. The findings provided a scientific foundation for further analysis of YABBY genes in foxtail millet. The photo is provided by the research team of Dr. Guo Jie from Shanxi Agricultural University, China. See pages 2876–2887 for details.

Volume 21, Issue 9, Sept. 2022
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important tropical crop for starch, biofuel production, and animal feed due to its starch-enriched root. Severe drought stresses affect cassava productivity and quality. In plants, it is known that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in response to abiotic stresses by regulating gene expression. However, the function of cassava lncRNAs in drought response remains largely unknown. The present four-year study demonstrated that DROUGHT-INDUCED INTERGENIC lncRNA (DIR) play a pivotal role in regulating drought stress tolerance in cassava, which may be related to mRNA export and protein quality control pathways. Gain-of-function analysis revealed that DIR overexpression in transgenic cassava seedlings conferred tolerance to drought stress. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis indicated that a range of drought-responsive genes, such as TFs (NAC, WRKY and bHLH), were induced in DIR-overexpressing transgenic lines. Furthermore, we found that DIR interacted directly with proteins that regulate mRNAs or protein metabolisms in cassava cells to cope with drought stress. Taken together, this study greatly extends the repertoire of lncRNAs in plants, and may provide new insights into lncRNA functions conserved among tropical crops in response to drought stress. The cover photo shows the morphology of fieldgrown of cassava plant and the predicted secondary structure of DIR, which was provided by Prof. Ruan Mengbin and Prof. Li Shuxia from Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, China. See pages 2588–2602 for more details.

Volume 21, Issue 8, Aug. 2022
Conservation agriculture (CA) practice systems have been promoted as an effective approach to achieve sustainable agricultural. The present two-year study demonstrated that major rice pests and paddy weeds were effectively controlled by reduced tillage (RT) practice compared to the conventional tillage (CT) treatment, while no tillage (NT) treatment could aggravate the incidence of some weed species. In addition, the diversity of beneficial organisms, such as the pest predators Trichogramma japonicun Ashmead, increased remarkably where either RT or NT was applied, which highlighted the significance of a CA strategy for the promotion of biodiversity in the agroecosystem. More importantly, the rice yield gradually increased after the two-year RT practice, while there was no significant difference in NT. Taken together, this study indicates that the implementation of RT practices could benefit crop protection by enhancing paddy biodiversity and improving crop yield in southern China, which provides a solid basis and novel insights for the establishment of sustainable agro-ecosystems. The cover photo shows the biodiversity of organisms and crop yield differs under three tillage management practices (CT, RT and NT) applied in the present study, which was provided by Prof. Zhong Guohua and Dr. Liu Jie from College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, China. See pages 2345–2356 for more details.

Volume 21, Issue 7, Jul. 2022
H5N1 and H5N8 viruses bearing the clade 2.3.4.4b HA gene have been widely circulating in wild birds and are responsible for the loss of over 100 million domestic poultry in Europe, Asia, and North America since January 2020. To prevent domestic poultry from being infected with these exotic viruses, a novel trivalent vaccine with the seed viruses H5-Re13, H5-Re14, and H7-Re4 that carry the HA and NA genes of the newly detected H5N6 virus, H5N8 virus, and H7N9 virus, respectively, was developed in China. Animal studies proved that this novel H5/H7 trivalent vaccine is immunogenic and could provide solid protection against the H5N1, H5N6, H5N8, and H7N9 viruses that are currently circulating in nature. Given the sound protective efficacy of this vaccine and the wide circulation of different H5 and H7 viruses, it’s recommended that this new H5/H7 trivalent inactivated vaccine be used not only in China, but also in other countries where poultry are threatened by H5 and H7 viruses. The cover photo shows the solid protection of the vaccine against different viruses, which was provided by Prof. Chen Hualan from Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. See pages 2086–2094 for more details.

Volume 21, Issue 6, Jun. 2022
Strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa), known as ‘the queen of fruits’, is very popular with consumers due to its flavor and nutritional value.  WRKY transcription factors play a critical role in biotic and abiotic stress responses in plants.  Based on the cultivated strawberry ‘Camarosa’ genome, 222 FaWRKY genes were identified and analyzed.  Meanwhile, FaWRKY genes participate in regulating the growth and development of different tissues and fruit ripening stages.  In addition, FaWRKY expression profiles were also studied in the strawberry seedlings inoculated with Colletotrichum fructicola, a major pathogen of strawberry.  The photo shows the fruits of the new strawberry cultivar ‘Shenxin’, which was provided by Dr. Zou Xiaohua from Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. See pages 1658–1672 for more details. 

Volume 21, Issue 5, May 2022
Pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) is a destructive insect pest of multiple leguminous plants, it is widely used as a research model for investigating interactions between insects and their host plants. A highly conserved odorant receptor clade among different aphid species was identified by phylogenetic analysis. One of this clade member ApisOr23 in A. pisum had the highest expression level in the antennae compared to other tissues. Functional characterization of ApisOr23 using a heterologous Xenopus expression system revealed that ApisOr23 was broadly tuned to plant volatiles, in which trans-2-hexen-1-al, one of the main volatile organic compounds released from legume plants, activated the highest response of ApisOr23. The results suggest that the conserved Or23 clade in most aphid species might play an important role in host plant detection. The cover photo shows two pea aphids (A. pisum) colonize on the broad bean (Vicia faba) through detecting plant volatiles by antennae, which was provided by Dr. LIU Lei from Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. See pages 1414–1423 for details.
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