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2024 Vol. 23 No. 8 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Review
Crop Science
Horticulture
Plant Protection
Animal Science · Veterinary Medicine
Agro-ecosystem & Environment
Agricultural Economics and Management
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For sesame varieties, seed shattering trait can cause the loss of more than 50% seed yield before harvesting. In the cover article, authors determined the histological mutation characteristics of a seed shattering resistant (SR) sesame mutant 12M07, as the parenchyma cells arrange loosely with unmormal abscission zone junction for the first time. The target gene SiHEC3 regulating the seed shattering trait was identified, based on genome association mapping of F2 population. Luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that a 1,049 bp deletion of the 5′ UTR and promoter region in Sihec3 causes the loss of gene function in the SR mutant. The findings provide the important genetic resources and theoretical basis for harvest mechanization related trait improvement for sesame and other crops. The cover photo was provided by Prof. Hongmei Miao, Henan Sesame Research Center, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China. For more details, please see pages 2589–2604.


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Review

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Damage on intestinal barrier function and microbial detoxification of deoxynivalenol: A review Jia Chen, Xinran Zhang, Ziqi He, Dongwei Xiong, Miao Long 2024, 23(8): 2507-2524.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.038 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin that is produced by various species of Fusarium and is ubiquitous in food and feed.  At low concentrations, it can cause metabolic disorders in animals and humans and, at high concentrations, it can lead to pathological changes in the body.  The impact of DON on human/animal health and animal productivity has thus attracted a great deal of attention around the world.  DON causes severe damage to the intestine, including compromised intestinal barrier, mucosal damage, weakened immune function, and alterations in gut microbiota composition.  These effects exacerbate intestinal infections and inflammation in livestock and poultry, posing adverse effects on overall health.  Furthermore, research into biological methods for DON detoxification is a crucial avenue for future studies.  This includes the utilization of adsorption, enzymatic degradation, and other biological approaches to mitigate DON’s impact, offering new strategies for prevention and treatment of DON-induced diseases.  Future research will focus on identifying highly efficient detoxifying microorganisms or enzymes to reduce DON levels in food and feed, thereby mitigating its risks to both animals and human health.

Crop Science

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Exploring the genetic basis of pre-harvest sprouting in rice through a genome-wide association study-based haplotype analysis Myeong-Hyeon Min, Aye Aye Khaing, Sang-Ho Chu, Bhagwat Nawade, Yong-Jin Park 2024, 23(8): 2525-2540.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.004 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   In this study, we employed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on diverse rice accessions to identify novel PHS-associated haplotypes.  An assessment of 127 cultivated accessions for panicle germination (PHS) and detached grain germination (germination rate of detached grains at the 14th day (D14)) revealed considerable phenotypic variation among rice ecotypes.  GWAS analysis identified 91 significant signals at –log10(P-value)>5, including 15 SNPs for PHS and 76 SNPs for D14.  A subsequent linkage disequilibrium (LD) block-based GWAS analysis detected 227 significant SNPs for both traits, consisting of 18 nonsynonymous substitutions located on the coding regions of nine genes.  Further haplotype analysis identified 32 haplotypes, with 10 specific to cultivated accessions, 19 specific to the wild type, and three shared between them.  A phenotypic assessment of major haplotypes revealed significant differences between resistant (Hap1 and Hap2) and susceptible haplotypes (Hap5, Hap27, and Hap28), distinguished by a G/A SNP within a novel gene, Os04g0545200.  The identified haplotypes offer promising prospects for haplotype-based breeding aimed at enhancing PHS resistance in rice.

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Epistasis-aware genome-wide association studies provide insights into the efficient breeding of high-yield and high-quality rice Xiaogang He, Zirong Li, Sicheng Guo, Xingfei Zheng, Chunhai Liu, Zijie Liu, Yongxin Li, Zheming Yuan, Lanzhi Li 2024, 23(8): 2541-2556.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.07.021 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (GS) breeding have greatly improved the efficiency of rice breeding.  Due to the influences of epistasis and gene pleiotropy, ensuring the actual breeding effect of MAS and GS is still a difficult challenge to overcome.  In this study, 113 indica rice varieties (V) and their 565 testcross hybrids (TC) were used as the materials to investigate the genetic basis of 12 quality traits and nine agronomic traits.  The original traits and general combining ability of the parents, as well as the original traits and mid-parent heterosis of TC, were subjected to genome-wide association analysis.  In total, 381 primary significantly associated loci (SAL) and 1,759 secondary SALs that had epistatic interactions with these primary SALs were detected.  Among these loci, 322 candidate genes located within or nearby the SALs were screened, 204 of which were cloned genes.  A total of 39 MAS molecular modules that are beneficial for trait improvement were identified by pyramiding the superior haplotypes of candidate genes and desirable epistatic alleles of the secondary SALs.  All the SALs were used to construct genetic networks, in which 91 pleiotropic loci were investigated.  Additionally, we estimated the accuracy of genomic prediction in the parent V and TC by incorporating either no SALs, primary SALs, secondary SALs or epistatic effect SALs as covariates.  Although the prediction accuracies of the four models were generally not significantly different in the TC dataset, the incorporation of primary SALs, secondary SALs, and epistatic effect SALs significantly improved the prediction accuracies of 5 (26%), 3 (16%), and 11 (58%) traits in the V dataset, respectively.  These results suggested that SALs and epistatic effect SALs identified based on an additive genotype can provide considerable predictive power for the parental lines.  They also provide insights into the genetic basis of complex traits and valuable information for molecular breeding in rice.

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Selection and application of four QTLs for grain protein content in modern wheat cultivars Zihui Liu, Xiangjun Lai, Yijin Chen, Peng Zhao, Xiaoming Wang, Wanquan Ji, Shengbao Xu 2024, 23(8): 2557-2570.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.09.006 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   The grain protein content (GPC) is the key parameter for wheat grain nutritional quality.  This study conducted a resampling GWAS analysis using 406 wheat accessions across eight environments, and identified four previously reported GPC QTLs.  An analysis of 87 landraces and 259 modern cultivars revealed the loss of superior GPC haplotypes, especially in Chinese cultivars.  These haplotypes were preferentially adopted in different agroecological zones and had broad effects on wheat yield and agronomic traits.  Most GPC QTLs did not significantly reduce yield, suggesting that high GPC can be achieved without a yield penalty.  The results of this study provide a reference for future GPC breeding in wheat using the four identified QTLs.

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Fine-mapping and primary analysis of candidate genes associated with seed coat color in mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) Qian Wang, Huimin Cao, Jingcheng Wang, Zirong Gu, Qiuyun Lin, Zeyan Zhang, Xueying Zhao, Wei Gao, Huijun Zhu, Hubin Yan, Jianjun Yan, Qingting Hao, Yaowen Zhang 2024, 23(8): 2571-2588.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.04.022 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) poses a significant global challenge to cereal production, impacting both yield and quality.  Seed coat color affects the appearance and commodity quality of mung beans (Vigna radiata L.).  The substances that affect mung bean seed coat color are mainly flavonoids, which have important medicinal value.  Mapping the seed coat color gene in mung beans would facilitate the development of new varieties and improve their value.  In this study, an F2 mapping population consisting of 546 plants was constructed using Jilv9 (black seed coat) and BIS9805 (green seed coat).  Using bulk segregated analysis (BSA) sequencing and kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers, the candidate region related to seed coat color was finally narrowed to 0.66 Mb on chromosome (Chr.) 4 and included eight candidate genes.  Combined transcriptome and metabolome analyses showed that three of the eight candidate genes (LOC106758748, LOC106758747, and LOC106759075) were differentially expressed, which may have caused the differences in flavonoid metabolite content between Jilv9 and BIS9805.  These findings can provide a research basis for cloning the genes related to seed coat color and accelerate molecular marker-assisted selection breeding in mung beans.

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Deletion of a 1,049 bp sequence from the 5´ UTR upstream of the SiHEC3 gene induces a seed non-shattering mutation in sesame   Ming Ju, Guiting Li, Qiuzhen Tian, Hengchun Cao, Qin Ma, Yinghui Duan, Hui Guo, Zhanyou Zhang, Yingying Huang, Huili Wang, Haiyang Zhang, Hongmei Miao 2024, 23(8): 2589-2604.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.012 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Sesame is a labor intensive crop with limited mechanized harvesting mainly due to the seed shattering (SS) trait.  In this study, we performed a genetic analysis of the seed-shattering resistance (SR) trait with a SR sesame mutant 12M07.  Unlike the SS type, the parenchyma cells in the abscission zone of the 12M07 mutant are arranged loosely but adhere to the seed coat.  Inheritance analysis of six generations derived from 12M07 (SR)×Xiangcheng Dazibai (SS) showed that the SR trait is recessive and controlled by a single gene pair.  Association mapping of the F2 population with 888,619 variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion-deletion (InDels)) and 31,884 structural variations (SVs) determined that only SV12002 in the 5´ upstream region of gene Sindi0765000 (named SiHEC3) in Chr.3 was significantly associated with the SR trait.  SiHEC3 encodes the bHLH transcription factor.  A 1,049 bp deletion occurred in the 5´ UTR of Sihec3 in 12M07.  SiHEC3 is mainly expressed in developing placental tissues, with the expression peaking in capsules at 45 days after pollination.  A dual-luciferase reporter assay in tobacco confirmed that the promoter activity of Sihec3 was reduced because of the deletion of the 1,049 bp promoter sequence.  Protein–protein interaction network analysis showed that HEC3 is co-expressed with nine key proteins, such as SHATTERPROOF1 (SHP1) and SEEDSTICK (STK) which participate in the secondary wall biosynthesis of the abscission layer in plants.  The findings of this study show the important function of Sihec3 corresponding with the SR trait and supply the genetic information for breeding new varieties that are amenable to mechanized harvesting in sesame and other crops.

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An optimized strategy of nitrogen-split application based on the leaf positional differences in chlorophyll meter readings Gaozhao Wu, Xingyu Chen, Yuguang Zang, Ying Ye, Xiaoqing Qian, Weiyang Zhang, Hao Zhang, Lijun Liu, Zujian Zhang, Zhiqin Wang, Junfei Gu, Jianchang Yang 2024, 23(8): 2605-2617.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.07.014 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Modern rice production faces the dual challenges of increasing grain yields while reducing inputs of chemical fertilizer.  However, the disequilibrium between the nitrogen (N) supplement from the soil and the demand for N of plants is a serious obstacle to achieving these goals.  Plant-based diagnosis can help farmers make better choices regarding the timing and amount of topdressing N fertilizer.  Our objective was to evaluate a non-destructive assessment of rice N demands based on the relative SPAD value (RSPAD) due to leaf positional differences.  In this study, two field experiments were conducted, including a field experiment of different N rates (Exp. I) and an experiment to evaluate the new strategy of nitrogen-split application based on RSPAD (Exp. II).  The results showed that higher N inputs significantly increased grain yield in modern high yielding super rice, but at the expense of lower nitrogen use efficiency (NUE).  The N nutrition index (NNI) can adequately differentiate situations of excessive, optimal, and insufficient N nutrition in rice, and the optimal N rate for modern high yielding rice is higher than conventional cultivars.  The RSPAD is calculated as the SPAD value of the top fully expanded leaf vs. the value of the third leaf, which takes into account the non-uniform N distribution within a canopy.  The RSPAD can be used as an indicator for higher yield and NUE, and guide better management of N fertilizer application.  Furthermore, we developed a new strategy of nitrogen-split application based on RSPAD, in which the N rate was reduced by 18.7%, yield was increased by 1.7%, and the agronomic N use efficiency was increased by 27.8%, when compared with standard farmers’ practices.  This strategy of N fertilization shows great potential for ensuring high yielding and improving NUE at lower N inputs.

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General and specialized metabolites in peanut roots regulate arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis Li Cui, Jianguo Wang, Zhaohui Tang, Zheng Zhang, Sha Yang, Feng Guo, Xinguo Li, Jingjing Meng, Jialei Zhang, Yakov Kuzyakov, Shubo Wan 2024, 23(8): 2618-2632.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.09.011 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungi form symbiotic associations with plant roots, providing nutritional benefits and promoting plant growth and defenses against various stresses.  Metabolic changes in the roots during AM fungal colonization are key to understanding the development and maintenance of these symbioses.  Here, we investigated metabolic changes in the roots of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants during the colonization and development of AM symbiosis, and compared them to uncolonized roots.  The primary changes during the initial stage of AM colonization were in the contents and compositions of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid compounds.  These compounds function in signaling pathways that regulate recognition, interactions, and pre-colonization between roots and AM fungi.  Flavonoid compounds decreased by 25% when the symbiosis was fully established compared to the initial colonization stage.  After AM symbiosis was established, general metabolism strongly shifted toward the formation of lipids, amino acids, carboxylic acids, and carbohydrates.  Lipid compounds increased by 8.5% from the pre-symbiotic stage to well-established symbiosis.  Lyso-phosphatidylcholines, which are signaling compounds, were only present in AM roots, and decreased in content after the symbiosis was established.  In the initial stage of AM establishment, the content of salicylic acid increased two-fold, whereas jasmonic acid and abscisic acid decreased compared to uncolonized roots.  The jasmonic acid content decreased in roots after the symbiosis was well established.  AM symbiosis was associated with high levels of calcium, magnesium, and D-(+)-mannose, which stimulated seedling growth.  Overall, specific metabolites that favor the establishment of AM symbiosis were common in the roots, primarily during early colonization, whereas general metabolism was strongly altered when AM symbiosis was well-established.  In conclusion, specialized metabolites function as signaling compounds to establish AM symbiosis.  These compounds are no longer produced after the symbiosis between the roots and AM becomes fully established.

Horticulture

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A novel histone methyltransferase gene CgSDG40 positively regulates carotenoid biosynthesis during citrus fruit ripening Jialing Fu, Qingjiang Wu, Xia Wang, Juan Sun, Li Liao, Li Li, Qiang Xu 2024, 23(8): 2633-2648.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.068 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   The flesh color of pummelo (Citrus maxima) fruits is highly diverse and largely depends on the level of carotenoids, which are beneficial to human health.  It is vital to investigate the regulatory network of carotenoid biosynthesis to improve the carotenoid content in pummelo.  However, the molecular mechanism underlying carotenoid accumulation in pummelo is not fully understood.  In this study, we identified a novel histone methyltransferase gene, CgSDG40, involved in carotenoid regulation by analyzing the flesh transcriptome of typical white-fleshed pummelo, red-fleshed pummelo and extreme-colored F1 hybrids from a segregated pummelo population.  Expression of CgSDG40 corresponded to flesh color change and was highly coexpressed with CgPSY1.  Interestingly, CgSDG40 and CgPSY1 are located physically adjacent to each other on the chromosome in opposite directions, sharing a partially overlapping promoter region.  Subcellular localization analysis indicated that CgSDG40 localizes to the nucleus.  Overexpression of CgSDG40 significantly increased the total carotenoid content in citrus calli relative to that in wild type.  In addition, expression of CgPSY1 was significantly activated in overexpression lines relative to wild type.  Taken together, our findings reveal a novel histone methyltransferase regulator, CgSDG40, involved in the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis in citrus and provide new strategies for molecular design breeding and genetic improvement of fruit color and nutritional quality.

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JrATHB-12 mediates JrMYB113 and JrMYB27 to control the anthocyanin levels in different types of red walnut Haifeng Xu, Guifang Wang, Xinying Ji, Kun Xiang, Tao Wang, Meiyong Zhang, Guangning Shen, Rui Zhang, Junpei Zhang, Xin Chen 2024, 23(8): 2649-2661.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.015 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Red walnut has broad market prospects because it is richer in anthocyanins than ordinary walnut.  However, the mechanism driving anthocyanin biosynthesis in red walnut is still unknown.  We studied two types of red walnut, called red walnut 1 (R1), with a red pericarp and seed coat, and red walnut 2 (R2), with a red seed coat only.  R1 mostly contained cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, while R2 contained a various amounts of cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, cyanidin-3-O-arabinoside, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside.  The LDOX-2 (LOC109007163) and LDOX-3 (LOC109010746) genes, which encode leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase/anthocyanidin synthase (LDOX/ANS), were preliminarily indicated as the crucial genes for anthocyanin biosynthesis in R1 and R2, respectively.  The MYB differential genes analysis showed that MYB27 and MYB113 are specifically expressed in the red parts of R1 and R2, respectively, and they are regarded as candidate regulatory genes.  Ectopic expression in Arabidopsis and transient injection in walnut showed that both MYB27 and MYB113 were located in the nucleus and promoted anthocyanin accumulation, while MYB27 promoted the expression of LDOX-2, and MYB113 promoted the expression of LDOX-3 and UAGT-3.  Yeast one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that MYB27 could only bind to the LDOX-2 promoter, while MYB113 could bind to the promoters of both LDOX-3 and UAGT-3.  In addition, we also identified an HD-Zip transcription factor, ATHB-12, which is specifically expressed in the pericarp.  After silencing the expression of ATHB-12, the R2 pericarp turned red, and MYB113 expression increased.  Further experiments showed that ATHB-12 could specifically interact with MYB113 and bind to its promoter.  This suggests that MYB27 controls R1 coloration by regulating LDOX-2, while MYB113 controls R2 coloration by regulating LDOX-3 and UAGT-3, but ATHB-12 can specifically bind to and inhibit the MYB113 of the R2 pericarp so that it becomes unpigmented.  This study reveals the anthocyanin biosynthetic mechanisms in two different types of red walnut and provides a scientific basis for the selection and breeding of red walnut varieties.

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Ploidy and fruit trait variation in oil-tea Camellia: Implications for ploidy breeding Yanmin Li, Liangjing Yin, Xianyu He, Cenlong Hu, Ronghua Wu, Qian Long, Shixin Xiao, Deyi Yuan 2024, 23(8): 2662-2673.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.016 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Plant polyploidy often occurs in conjunction with higher yield and superior quality.  Therefore, obtaining polyploid germplasms is a significant part of breeding.  The oil-tea Camellia tree is an important native woody plant that produces high-quality edible oil and includes many species of Camellia with different ploidies.  However, whether higher ploidy levels in oil-tea Camellia trees are related to better traits remains unclear.  In this study, the ploidy levels of 30 different oil-tea Camellia strains in three different species in the Sect. Paracamellia were determined by flow cytometry and chromosome preparation, and the phenotypic characteristics and fatty acid compositions of the fruits were examined by field observations and laboratory analyses.  The correlations between the ploidy level of oil-tea Camellia and the main traits of the fruit were investigated.  Our results showed that 10 Camellia lanceoleosa strains were diploid, 10 Camellia meiocarpa strains were tetraploid and 10 Camellia oleifera strains were hexaploid.  Hexaploid C. oleifera had larger fruit size and weight, more seeds per fruit, greater seed weight per fruit, higher oil content and greater yield per crown width than tetraploid C. meiocarpa and diploid C. lanceoleosa, but their fruit peel thickness and fresh seed rate were significantly lower, and these traits were significantly correlated with ploidy level.  In addition, in terms of fatty acid composition, hexaploid C. oleifera had a higher oleic acid content than tetraploid C. meiocarpa and diploid C. lanceoleosa, but their linoleic acid, linolenic acid and arachidonic acid contents were lower.  The contents of palmitic acid, stearic acid and total unsaturated fatty acids were not significantly correlated with ploidy level.  In conclusion, certain correlations exist between the main characteristics of oil-tea Camellia fruit and the ploidy level, and increasing the ploidy level led to an increase in fruit yield with no effect on oil composition.  The discovery of variations in the main characteristics of oil-tea Camellia fruit with different ploidies will facilitate germplasm innovation and lay a foundation for ploidy breeding and mechanistic research on fruit traits.

Plant Protection

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Yr5-virulent races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici possess relative parasitic fitness higher than current main predominant races and potential risk Gensheng Zhang, Mudi Sun, Xinyao Ma, Wei Liu, Zhimin Du, Zhensheng Kang, Jie Zhao 2024, 23(8): 2674-2685.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.005 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of wheat, and seriously threatens safe production of the crop worldwide.  In China, new races historically appeared and rapidly developed to be predominant races and have resulted in ineffectiveness and replacement of wheat resistance cultivars as well as massive reduction in yield.  In the present study, the relative parasitic fitness of the two newly-emerged Yr5-virulent races (TSA-6 and TSA-9) were compared with those of four currently predominant Chinese races (CYR31, CYR32, CYR33, and CYR34) based on evaluation on 10 Chinese wheat cultivars.  As a result, there were significant differences in the relative parasitic fitness parameters among overall tested races based on multiple comparison (LSD) analysis (P<0.05).  The principal component analysis (PCA) of overall parasitic fitness parameters indicated that the sporulation ability, infection and spore survivability, expansion capacity, and potential pathogenicity were the most important parasitic fitness attributes of the tested races.  Based on the establishment of extracted three principal components and a comprehensive factor score mathematical models, evaluations of the parasitic fitness attributes of tested races showed that the level of relative parasitic fitness of the tested six races was: CYR32 (1.15)>TSA-9 (0.95)>TSA-6 (0.92)>CYR34 (0.29)>CYR31 (–1.54)>CYR33 (–1.77).  The results indicated that two Yr5-virulent races TSA-9 and TSA-6 possessed relative parasitic fitness higher than races CYR34, CYR31, and CYR33, but lower than race CYR32, and have potential risks in developing to be predominant races.  Therefore, continual monitoring of both Yr5-virulent races, and their variants is needed.  The use of wheat cultivars (lines) with Yr5 resistance gene singly in wheat breeding is essential for being avoided, and is suggested to combine with other effective stripe rust resistance genes.

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Disruption of non-classically secreted protein (MoMtp) compromised conidiation, stress homeostasis, and pathogenesis of Magnaporthe oryzae Wajjiha Batool, Justice Norvienyeku, Wei Yi, Zonghua Wang, Shihong Zhang, Lili Lin 2024, 23(8): 2686-2702.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.06.028 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Blast disease, caused by the hemibiotrophic ascomycete fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is a significant threat to sustainable rice production worldwide.  Studies have shown that the blast fungus secretes vast arrays of functionally diverse proteins into the host cell for a successful disease progression.  However, the final destinations of these effector proteins inside the host cell and their role in advancing fungal pathogenesis remain a mystery.  Here, we reported that a putative mitochondrial targeting non-classically secreted protein (MoMtp) positively regulates conidiogenesis and appressorium maturation in M. oryzae.  Moreover, MoMTP gene deletion mutant strains triggered a hypersensitive response when inoculated on rice leaves displaying that MoMtp is essential for the virulence of M. oryzae.  In addition, cell wall and oxidative stress results indicated that MoMtp is likely involved in the maintenance of the structural integrity of the fungus cell.  Our study also demonstrates an upregulation in the expression pattern of the MoMTP gene at all stages of infection, indicating its possible regulatory role in host invasion and the infectious development of M. oryzae.  Furthermore, Agrobacterium infiltration and sheath inoculation confirmed that MoMtp-GFP protein is predominantly localized in the host mitochondria of tobacco leaf and rice cells.  Taken together, we conclude that MoMtp protein likely promotes the normal conidiation and pathogenesis of M. oryzae and might have a role in disturbing the proper functioning of the host mitochondria during pathogen invasion.

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WRKY11 up-regulated dirigent expression to enhance lignin/lignans accumulation in Lilium regale Wilson during response to Fusarium wilt Jie Deng, Zi’e Wang, Wenyun Li, Xiaohua Chen, Diqiu Liu 2024, 23(8): 2703-2722.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.07.032 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Lilium are highly economically valuable ornamental plants that are susceptible to Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum.  Lilium regale Wilson, a wild lily native to China, is highly resistant to F. oxysporum.  In this study, a WRKY transcription factor, WRKY11, was isolated from L. regale, and its function during the interaction between L. regale and F. oxysporum was characterized.  The ectopic expression of LrWRKY11 in tobacco increased the resistance to F. oxysporum, moreover, the transcriptome sequencing and UHPLC-MS/MS analysis indicated that the methyl salicylate and methyl jasmonate levels rose in LrWRKY11 transgenic tobacco, meanwhile, the expression of lignin/lignans biosynthesis-related genes including a dirigent (DIR) was up-regulated.  The lignin/lignans contents in LrWRKY11-transgenic tobacco also significantly increased compared with the wild-type tobacco.  In addition, the resistance of L. regale scales in which LrWRKY11 expression was silenced by RNAi evidently decreased, and additionally, the expression of lignin/lignans biosynthesis-related genes including LrDIR1 was significantly suppressed.  Therefore, LrDIR1 and its promoter (PLrDIR1) sequence containing the W-box element were isolated from L. regale.  The interaction assay indicated that LrWRKY11 specifically bound to the W-box element in PLrDIR1 and activated LrDIR1 expression.  Additionally, β-glucuronidase activity in the transgenic tobacco co-expressing LrWRKY11/PLrDIR1-β-glucuronidase was higher than that in transgenic tobacco expressing PLrDIR1-β-glucuronidase alone.  Furthermore, the ectopic expression of LrDIR1 in tobacco enhanced the resistance to F. oxysporum and increased the lignin/lignans accumulation.  In brief, this study revealed that LrWRKY11 positively regulated L. regale resistance to F. oxysporum through interaction with salicylic acid/jasmonic acid signaling pathways and modulating LrDIR1 expression to accumulate lignin/lignans.

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A dicistrovirus increases pupal mortality in Spodoptera frugiperda by suppressing protease activity and inhibiting larval diet consumption Meixue Sun, Tong Li, Yingjie Liu, Kenneth Wilson, Xingyu Chen, Robert I. Graham, Xianming Yang, Guangwei Ren, Pengjun Xu 2024, 23(8): 2723-2734.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.030 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Understanding interactions between viruses and their hosts is conducive to enabling better application of viruses as biocontrol agents.  Certain viruses carried by parasitic wasps enhance the parasitic efficiency of wasp-larvae by protecting them against the immune system of their Lepidopteran host.  However, the relationship between prey pests and viruses found in predatory natural enemies remains unclear.  Herein, we report the interaction between Arma chinensis virus-1 (AcV-1), originally isolated from a predatory natural enemy, Arma chinensis (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), and one of its prey species, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).  The results showed that the AcV-1 virus appeared harmful to the novel host S. frugiperda by inhibiting larval diet consumption and increasing pupal mortality.  Meanwhile, sequencing data indicated that the virus altered the gene expression profiles of S. frugiperda.  KEGG analysis showed that the proteasome and phagosome pathways related to protein degradation and immune response were significantly enriched.  Although the expression levels of digestive enzyme genes did not change significantly, the total protease activity of AcV-1 virus-positive individuals was significantly decreased, suggesting that the virus inhibited diet consumption of S. frugiperda via the down-regulation of digestive enzyme activities.  These results indicate that a virus initially isolated in a predatory natural enemy can decrease the fitness of its prey species.  The virus was found to impact the host proteasome and phagosome pathways related to protein degradation and immunity, providing a potential mechanism to enhance controlling efficiency.

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The Ca2+/CaN/ACC and cAMP/PKA/HK signal pathways are required for PBAN-mediated sex pheromone biosynthesis in Conogethes punctiferalis Yao Zhang, Zelong She, Ruolan He, Shuangyan Yao, Xiang Li, Xiaoguang Liu, Xinming Yin, Jizhen Wei, Mengfang Du, Shiheng An 2024, 23(8): 2735-2751.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.09.001 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Conogethes punctiferalis is a crop and fruit pest that has caused serious economic losses to agricultural production.  This pest relies heavily on its sex pheromone to ensure sexual encounters and subsequent mating success.  However, the molecular mechanism underlying sex pheromone biosynthesis in this species remains elusive.  The present study investigated the detailed mechanism underlying PBAN-regulated sex pheromone biosynthesis in C. punctiferalis by transcriptome sequencing of the C. punctiferalis pheromone glands (PGs) and subsequent functional identification of the target genes.  The results showed that female mating started from the first scotophase, and peaked at the second to fifth scotophases in accordance with the release of sex pheromones.  PBAN regulated sex pheromone biosynthesis by employing Ca2+ and cAMP as secondary messengers, as demonstrated by RNA interference (RNAi), pharmacological inhibitors, and behavioral assays.  Further investigation revealed that calcineurin (CaN) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) were activated by PBAN/Ca2+ signaling, and the RNAi-mediated knockdown of CaN and ACC transcripts significantly reduced sex pheromone production, ultimately leading to a significantly reduced ability of females to attract males.  Importantly, hexokinase (HK) was found to regulate sex pheromone biosynthesis in response to the PBAN/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway, as demonstrated by RNAi, enzyme activity, and pharmacological inhibitor assays.  Furthermore, Far2 and Desaturase1 were found to participate in PBAN-regulated sex pheromone biosynthesis.  Altogether, our findings revealed that PBAN regulates sex pheromone biosynthesis through the PBANR/Ca2+/CaN/ACC and PBANR/cAMP/PKA/HK pathways in C. punctiferalis, which enriches our comprehension of the details of sex pheromone biosynthesis in moths.

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The synergistic regulatory effect of PTP1B and PTK inhibitors on the development of Oedaleus decorus asiaticus Bei-Bienko Shuang Li, Sibo Liu, Chaomin Xu, Shiqian Feng, Xiongbing Tu, Zehua Zhang 2024, 23(8): 2752-2763.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.020 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Tyrosine phosphorylation is crucial for controlling normal cell growth, survival, intercellular communication, gene transcription, immune responses, and other processes.  protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) and protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) can achieve this goal by regulating multiple signaling pathways.  Oedaleus decorus asiaticus is an important pest that infests the Mongolian Plateau grassland.  We aimed to evaluate the survival rate, growth rate, overall performance, and ovarian developmental morphology of the 4th instar nymphs of O. decorus asiaticus while inhibiting the activity of protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B) and PTK.  In addition, the expression and protein phosphorylation levels of key genes in the MAPK signaling pathway and antioxidant enzyme activity were assessed.  The results showed no significant differences in survival rate, growth rate, or overall performance between PTP1B inhibitor treatment and control.  However, after PTK inhibitor treatment, these indexes were significantly lower than those in the control.  The ovarian size of female larvae after 15 days of treatment with PTK inhibitors showed significantly slower development, while female larvae treated with PTP1B exhibited faster ovarian growth than the control group.  In comparison to controls and nymphs treated with PTK inhibitors, the expression and phosphorylation levels of key genes in the MAPK signaling pathway under PTP1B inhibitor treatments were significantly higher in 4th instar nymphs.  However, reactiveoxygen (ROS) species levels and the activities of NADPH oxidase and other antioxidant enzymes were considerably reduced, although they were significantly greater in the PTK inhibitor treatment.  The results suggest that PTP1B and PTK feedback inhibition in the mitogen-activated-protein kinases (MAPK) signal transfer can regulate the physiological metabolism of the insect as well as its developmental rate.  These findings can facilitate future uses of PTP1B and PTK inhibitors in controlling insect development to help control pest populations.

Animal Science · Veterinary Medicine

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Gga-miRNA-181-5p family facilitates chicken myogenesis via targeting TGFBR1 to block TGF-β signaling Xiaoxu Shen, Yongtong Tian, Wentao He, Can He, Shunshun Han, Yao Han, Lu Xia, Bo Tan, Menggen Ma, Houyang Kang, Jie Yu, Qing Zhu, Huadong Yin 2024, 23(8): 2764-2777.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.05.025 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to control chicken skeletal muscle growth, however, the potential function of the miR-181-5p family in chicken myogenesis remains largely unknown.  Here, our study identified the two chicken (Gallus gallus; Gga) miR-181-5p family members widely expressed in various tissues, specifically miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p.  Besides, the breast muscles of fast-growing broilers expressed higher levels of miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p than those of slow-growing layers.  Functionally, miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p both promote the expression level of myogenic factors including myogenin (MyoG), myogenic differentiation 1 (MyoD1), and myosin heavy chain (MyHC), meanwhile accelerating the myotube formation of skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs).  Mechanistically, miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p directly bind to the 3´ untranslated region (UTR) of the transforming growth factor beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1) mRNA, further reducing the expression of TGFBR1.  TGFBR1 is a key Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling transduction receptor and had a negative function in muscle cell differentiation.  Furthermore, knockdown of TGFBR1 facilitated the expression of chicken myogenic factors, boosted myotube formation, and decreased the SMAD family member 2/3 (SMAD2/3) phosphorylation in chicken SMSCs.  SMAD2/3 are downstream of TGF-β signaling, and miR-181a-5p and miR-181b-5p could reduce the expression of TGFBR1 to further diminish the SMAD2/3 phosphorylation.  Our findings revealed that the miR-181-5p family targets TGFBR1 to break the TGF-β signaling transduction, which resulted in promoting chicken skeletal muscle development

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Genetic and biological properties of H9N2 avian influenza viruses isolated in central China from 2020 to 2022 Libin Liang, Yaning Bai, Wenyan Huang, Pengfei Ren, Xing Li, Dou Wang, Yuhan Yang, Zhen Gao, Jiao Tang, Xingchen Wu, Shimin Gao, Yanna Guo, Mingming Hu, Zhiwei Wang, Zhongbing Wang, Haili Ma, Junping Li 2024, 23(8): 2778-2791.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.055 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   The H9N2 subtype of avian influenza virus (AIV) is widely prevalent in poultry and wild birds globally, and has become the predominant subtype circulating in poultry in China.  The H9N2 AIV can directly or indirectly (by serving as a “donor virus”) infect humans, posing a significant threat to public health.  Currently, there is a lack of in-depth research on the prevalence of H9N2 viruses in Shanxi Province, central China.  In this study, we isolated 14 H9N2 AIVs from October 2020 to April 2022 in Shanxi Province, and genetic analysis revealed that these viruses belonged to 7 different genotypes.  Our study on animals revealed that the H9N2 strains we identified displayed high transmission efficiency among chicken populations, and exhibited diverse replication abilities within these birds.  These viruses could replicate efficiently in the lungs of mice, with one strain also demonstrating the capacity to reproduce in organs like the brain and kidneys.  At the cellular level, the replication ability of different H9N2 strains was evaluated using plaque formation assays and multi-step growth curve assays, revealing significant differences in the replication and proliferation efficiency of the various H9N2 viruses at the cellular level.  The antigenicity analysis suggested that these isolates could be classified into 2 separate antigenic clusters.  Our research provides crucial data to help understand the prevalence and biological characteristics of H9N2 AIVs in central China.  It also highlights the necessity of enhancing the surveillance of H9N2 AIVs.

Agro-ecosystem & Environment

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Regulatory potential of soil available carbon, nitrogen, and functional genes on N2O emissions in two upland plantation systems Peng Xu, Mengdie Jiang, Imran Khan, Muhammad Shaaban, Hongtao Wu, Barthelemy Harerimana, Ronggui Hu 2024, 23(8): 2792-2806.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.01.005 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Dynamic nitrification and denitrification processes are affected by changes in soil redox conditions, and they play a vital role in regulating soil N2O emissions in rice-based cultivation.  It is imperative to understand the influences of different upland crop planting systems on soil N2O emissions.  In this study, we focused on two representative rotation systems in Central China: rapeseed–rice (RR) and wheat–rice (WR).  We examined the biotic and abiotic processes underlying the impacts of these upland plantings on soil N2O emissions.  The results revealed that during the rapeseed-cultivated seasons in the RR rotation system, the average N2O emissions were 1.24±0.20 and 0.81±0.11 kg N ha–1 for the first and second seasons, respectively.  These values were comparable to the N2O emissions observed during the first and second wheat-cultivated seasons in the WR rotation system (0.98±0.25 and 0.70±0.04 kg N ha–1, respectively).  This suggests that upland cultivation has minimal impacts on soil N2O emissions in the two rotation systems.  Strong positive correlations were found between N2O fluxes and soil ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3–), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and the ratio of soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to NO3– in both RR and WR rotation systems.  Moreover, the presence of the AOA-amoA and nirK genes were positively associated with soil N2O fluxes in the RR and WR systems, respectively.  This implies that these genes may have different potential roles in facilitating microbial N2O production in various upland plantation models.  By using a structural equation model, we found that soil moisture, mineral N, MBN, and the AOA-amoA gene accounted for over 50% of the effects on N2O emissions in the RR rotation system.  In the WR rotation system, soil moisture, mineral N, MBN, and the AOA-amoA and nirK genes had a combined impact of over 70% on N2O emissions.  These findings demonstrate the interactive effects of functional genes and soil factors, including soil physical characteristics, available carbon and nitrogen, and their ratio, on soil N2O emissions during upland cultivation seasons under rice-upland rotations.

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Effect of land use on soil nematode community composition and co-occurrence network relationship Xiaotong Liu, Siwei Liang, Yijia Tian, Xiao Wang, Wenju Liang, Xiaoke Zhang 2024, 23(8): 2807-2819.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.019 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Land use influences soil biota community composition and diversity, and then belowground ecosystem processes and functions.  To characterize the effect of land use on soil biota, soil nematode communities in crop land, forest land and fallow land were investigated in six regions of northern China.  Generic richness, diversity, abundance and biomass of soil nematodes was the lowest in crop land.  The richness and diversity of soil nematodes were 28.8 and 15.1% higher in fallow land than in crop land, respectively.  No significant differences in soil nematode indices were found between forest land and fallow land, but their network keystone genera composition was different.  Among the keystone genera, 50% of forest land genera were omnivores-predators and 36% of fallow land genera were bacterivores.  The proportion of fungivores in forest land was 20.8% lower than in fallow land.  The network complexity and the stability were lower in crop land than forest land and fallow land.  Soil pH, NH4+-N and NO3–-N were the major factors influencing the soil nematode community in crop land while soil organic carbon and moisture were the major factors in forest land.  Soil nematode communities in crop land influenced by artificial management practices were more dependent on the soil environment than communities in forest land and fallow land.  Land use induced soil environment variation and altered network relationships by influencing trophic group proportions among keystone nematode genera.

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Improving model performance in mapping cropland soil organic matter using time-series remote sensing data Xianglin Zhang, Jie Xue, Songchao Chen, Zhiqing Zhuo, Zheng Wang, Xueyao Chen, Yi Xiao, Zhou Shi 2024, 23(8): 2820-2841.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.01.015 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Faced with increasing global soil degradation, spatially explicit data on cropland soil organic matter (SOM) provides crucial data for soil carbon pool accounting, cropland quality assessment and the formulation of effective management policies.  As a spatial information prediction technique, digital soil mapping (DSM) has been widely used to spatially map soil information at different scales.  However, the accuracy of digital SOM maps for cropland is typically lower than for other land cover types due to the inherent difficulty in precisely quantifying human disturbance.  To overcome this limitation, this study systematically assessed a framework of “information extraction-feature selection-model averaging” for improving model performance in mapping cropland SOM using 462 cropland soil samples collected in Guangzhou, China in 2021.  The results showed that using the framework of dynamic information extraction, feature selection and model averaging could efficiently improve the accuracy of the final predictions (R2: 0.48 to 0.53) without having obviously negative impacts on uncertainty.  Quantifying the dynamic information of the environment was an efficient way to generate covariates that are linearly and nonlinearly related to SOM, which improved the R2 of random forest from 0.44 to 0.48 and the R2 of extreme gradient boosting from 0.37 to 0.43.  Forward recursive feature selection (FRFS) is recommended when there are relatively few environmental covariates (<200), whereas Boruta is recommended when there are many environmental covariates (>500).  The Granger-Ramanathan model averaging approach could improve the prediction accuracy and average uncertainty.  When the structures of initial prediction models are similar, increasing in the number of averaging models did not have significantly positive effects on the final predictions.  Given the advantages of these selected strategies over information extraction, feature selection and model averaging have a great potential for high-accuracy soil mapping at any scales, so this approach can provide more reliable references for soil conservation policy-making.

Agricultural Economics and Management

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The potential impact of increased whole grain consumption among Chinese adults on reducing healthcare costs and carbon footprint Xin Zhang, Jingjing Wang, Fuli Tan, Haixiu Gao, Shenggen Fan 2024, 23(8): 2842-2852.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.006 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Excessive consumption of refined grains harms human health and ecosystem viability.  Whole grains, as a healthy and sustainable alternative to refined grains, can benefit individual health by providing dietary fiber, B vitamins, and bioactive substances.  Additionally, they aid in improving the environment due to their higher extraction rate and lower carbon emission during the processing stage.  However, few studies have attempted to evaluate the economic and social benefits of increasing the amount of whole grain in grain intake.  This paper estimates the potential savings in healthcare costs and reduced food carbon footprints (CFs) that could result from a shift toward whole grain consumption following the Chinese Dietary Guidelines (CDG).  We investigate hypothetical scenarios where a certain proportion (5–100%) of Chinese adults could increase their whole grain intakes as proposed by CDG to meet the average shortfall of 30.2 g.  In that case, the healthcare costs for associated diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and colorectal cancer (CRC)) are expected to reduce by a substantial amount, from USD 2.82 to 56.37 billion; the carbon emission levels are also projected to decrease by 0.24–5.72 million tons.  This study provides compelling evidence that advocating for the transition towards greater consumption of whole grain products could benefit individual health, the environment, and society, by reducing both healthcare costs and carbon emissions.

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Food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Central Asia: Evidence from rural Tajikistan Yuhan Zhao, Chen Qian, Yumei Zhang, Xiande Li, Kamiljon T. Akramov 2024, 23(8): 2853-2867.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.12.001 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect   Food security has been long understudied in the context of Central Asia.  We present an analysis examining household-level food demand for Tajikistan and assessing the magnitude of its food security changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Based on an extensive household survey data set from Tajikistan, we estimate the expenditure, income, and price elasticities for nine food categories using the QUAIDS model.  Then, we develop a microsimulation model using the estimated elasticities to assess the dual impact of declining remittance income and rising food prices stemming from the pandemic shock.  There are significant differences in demand elasticities across food groups, with high elasticities observed for nutritious foods, such as meat, fruit, eggs, and milk, in rural households.  Moreover, our findings show that changes in remittance income and food prices significantly negatively affected food security for rural households during the COVID-19 pandemic.  These findings have important implications for policymakers concerned about rural livelihoods and food security in remittance-receiving economies during the post-pandemic period.

Letter

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Identification of the BTA8 gene reveals the contribution of natural variation to tiller angle in rice Junrong Liu, Xingyu Wang, Jing Wang, Junhua Ye, Mengchen Zhang, Qun Xu, Yaolong Yang, Xinghua Wei, Baoyan Jia, Yue Feng 2024, 23(8): 2868-2871.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.04.008 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect

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A CRISPR/Cas12a-based platform for rapid on-site bovine viral diarrhea virus diagnostics Meixi Wang, Jitao Chang, Yuxin Han, Chaonan Wang, Songkang Qin, Jun Wang, Lulu Zhang, Yuanmao Zhu, Fei Xue, Fang Wang, Hongliang Chai, Yulong Wang, Xinjie Wang, Xin Yin 2024, 23(8): 2872-2876.  DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2024.03.074 Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect