Spatial and temporal distribution of mung bean (Vigna radiata) and soybean (Glycine max) roots

Spatial and temporal distribution of roots of mung bean and soybean originated from different geographical backgrounds is an important scientific issue. The aim of this study was to research the spatial and temporal distribution of roots system of soybean cultivar ‘Hefeng55’ and mung bean cultivar ‘Jilv7’ which can elucidate differences between soybean roots and mung bean roots in the key spatial and temporal locations. The roots at V6, R2, R4, R5, R6, and R7 stages were collected to acquire data of root length, root surface area, root volume and root dry weight. 49.8%, 11.7%, 13.2%, 14.7% and 10.6% of soybean roots and 57.8%, 10.7%, 11.2%, 11.9% and 8.4% of mung bean roots were in 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20 and 20-25 cm horizontal soil layers, respectively; 79.2%, 11.5%, 4.3%, 1.8%, 1.1%, 1.0% and 1.1% of soybean roots and 70.0%, 12.3%, 8.0%, 3.0%, 1.6%, 1.7% and 3.4% of mung bean roots were in 0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, 80-100, 100-120 and 120-140 cm vertical soil layers, respectively. Compared with mung bean, soybean had a much larger root system during development. In horizontal direction, soybean root tended to be more laterally developed, but the distribution of mung bean root was more uniform in vertical direction. With a greater root surface area to weight ratio (AWR), mung bean had a finer root system than soybean. These findings can help to clarify the four-dimensional spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of legumes and may provide reference for production practice of soybean and mung bean in the future

Integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis of salinity tolerance in response to foliar application of choline chloride in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

IntroductionSalt stress is a major abiotic stress that affects crop growth and productivity. Choline Chloride (CC) has been shown to enhance salt tolerance in various crops, but the underlying molecular mechanisms in rice remain unclear.MethodsTo investigate the regulatory mechanism of CC-mediated salt tolerance in rice, we conducted morpho-physiological, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses on two rice varieties (WSY, salt-tolerant, and HHZ, salt-sensitive) treated with 500 mg·L-1 CC under 0.3% NaCl stress.ResultsOur results showed that foliar application of CC improved morpho-physiological parameters such as root traits, seedling height, seedling strength index, seedling fullness, leaf area, photosynthetic parameters, photosynthetic pigments, starch, and fructose content under salt stress, while decreasing soluble sugar, sucrose, and sucrose phosphate synthase levels. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that CC regulation combined with salt treatment induced changes in the expression of genes related to starch and sucrose metabolism, the citric acid cycle, carbon sequestration in photosynthetic organs, carbon metabolism, and photosynthetic antenna proteins in both rice varieties. Metabolomic analysis further supported these findings, indicating that photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, and carbon fixation pathways were crucial in CC-mediated salt tolerance.DiscussionThe combined transcriptomic and metabolomic data suggest that CC treatment enhances rice salt tolerance by activating distinct transcriptional cascades and phytohormone signaling, along with multiple antioxidants and unique metabolic pathways. These findings provide a basis for further understanding the mechanisms of metabolite synthesis and gene regulation induced by CC in rice in response to salt stress, and may inform strategies for improving crop resilience to salt stress

Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal that ABA increases the salt tolerance of rice significantly correlated with jasmonic acid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis

Abstract Abscisic acid (ABA) has been shown to mitigate the deleterious effects of abiotic stresses and to regulate plant growth and development. Salinity is one of the important abiotic stresses affecting plant cell metabolism and physiology, which causes serious damages to crops. In this study, we investigated the protective role of exogenous ABA on leaves in response to salinity stress using rice seedlings (two leaf-one heart) subjected to three treatments: ZCK (control), ZS (50 mM NaCl), and ZSA (5 mg L–1 ABA + 50 mM NaCl). We carried out transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to identify the molecular mechanisms by which ABA protects plants against salt stress. Results showed that 1159 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (916 up-regulated, 243 down-regulated) and 63 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) (42 up-regulated, 21 down-regulated) were identified between the ZS and ZSA treatments, respectively. In addition, ABA pretreatment regulated the expression pattern of genes responsible for oxidation redox, starch and sucrose metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. The combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis revealed that 16 DEGs and 2 DAMs were involved in Flavonoid biosynthesis and 8 DEGs and 2 DAMs were involved alpha-Linolenic acid metabolism which are responsible for salinity stress tolerance through induced by exogenous ABA. Overall, ABA could enhance rice leaves growth and development mainly by regulating flavonoid biosynthesis and linoleic acid metabolism pathway

Joint analysis of transcriptome and metabolome revealed the difference in carbohydrate metabolism between super hybrid rice and conventional rice under salt stress

With the increasingly severe problem of soil salinization worldwide, exploring the molecular mechanism of salt tolerance of super hybrid rice has become an important scientific issue. In this study, the super hybrid rice Chaoyou1000 was used as the focus of attention, and the conventional rice Huanghuazhan was used as the control to explore the molecular mechanism of salt tolerance in super hybrid rice. The joint analysis of transcriptome and metabolome found 4661 DEGs, of which 2130 were up-regulated and 2531 were down-regulated; 70 named differential metabolites were found in the positive ion mode, and 32 were found in the negative ion mode. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the carbohydrate metabolism-related pathways enriched by DEGs and differential metabolites were “starch and sucrose metabolism”, “galactose metabolism”, “glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism”, and “citrate cycle (TCA cycle)”. Specifically, we found that some critical genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, such as LOC4330753, LOC4325448, and LOC4341069, were up-regulated; some key metabolites, such as cis-aconitate, sucrose, and raffinose, were up-regulated. The difference in the expressions of these critical genes and metabolites between the two varieties is one of the most important reasons for the high resistance of Chaoyou1000. In addition, this study found that a large number of DEGs had a strong correlation with D-pipecolic acid, niveusin C, Gly-Val Ala-Ile, 2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)ethanol 1′-glucoside, 2,6-dimethyl-7-octene-1,6-diol 8-O-glucoside, (+)-syringaresinol, 2-indanone, 2-keto-6-acetamidocaproate, 3-dehydroquinate, IRETOL, and estrone glucuronide, suggesting that these genes and corresponding metabolites may exist with functional associations and regulatory relationships. The results of this study will provide a reference for the breeding of salt-tolerant rice

Prohexadione-calcium alleviates saline-alkali stress in soybean seedlings by improving the photosynthesis and up-regulating antioxidant defense

Soil salinization seriously restricts the growth and yield of soybeans. However, little information is available on the early growth stages of soybeans which are subjected to the gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor, prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca). This study aimed to investigate the effects of exogenous Pro-Ca on saline-alkali stress-induced damages to photosynthesis and antioxidant defenses in soybean (Glycine max L.) seedlings. At the V3 growth stage, salt-tolerant genotype Hefeng 50 (HF50) and salt-sensitive genotype Kenfeng 16 (KF16) were subjected to 110 mmol L−1 mixed saline-alkali stress respectively, and then 100 mg L−1 Pro-Ca was sprayed on the leaves. Our results showed that saline-alkali stress accelerated the degradation of thylakoids, inhibited chlorophyll synthesis, reduced shoot dry weight, electron transfer rate (ETR), and peroxidase (POD) activity, the concentration of ascorbic acid (AsA) and soluble sugar, but enhanced the concentration of proline, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the rate of superoxide radical (O2∙−) generation. Additionally, saline-alkali stress induced a lower decrease of the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), potential activity of PSII (Fv/F0), and maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) in salt-tolerant HF50 than in salt-sensitive KF16. Nevertheless, foliar spraying of exogenous Pro-Ca increased the chlorophyll content, Pn, Fv/F0, and Fv/Fm. These results were more prominent when Pro-Ca was applied to KF16 under saline-alkali conditions. Furthermore, exogenous application of Pro-Ca retarded the degradation of thylakoids, increased the ETR and the accumulation of AsA, soluble sugar, and proline, activated the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and POD, and decreased the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), electrolyte leakage (EL), O2∙−, and H2O2. These results indicated that Pro-Ca could effectively protect soybean seedlings against damage from saline-alkali stress by regulating seedling phenotype, photosynthetic apparatus, antioxidant defense, and osmoregulation

Comparative Analysis Highlights Uniconazole’s Efficacy in Enhancing the Cold Stress Tolerance of Mung Beans by Targeting Photosynthetic Pathways

Soybean (Glycine max) and mung bean (Vigna radiata) are key legumes with global importance, but their mechanisms for coping with cold stress—a major challenge in agriculture—have not been thoroughly investigated, especially in a comparative study. This research aimed to fill this gap by examining how these two major legumes respond differently to cold stress and exploring the role of uniconazole, a potential stress mitigator. Our comprehensive approach involved transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, revealing distinct responses between soybean and mung bean under cold stress conditions. Notably, uniconazole was found to significantly enhance cold tolerance in mung bean by upregulating genes associated with photosynthesis, while its impact on soybean was either negligible or adverse. To further understand the molecular interactions, we utilized advanced machine learning algorithms for protein structure prediction, focusing on photosynthetic pathways. This enabled us to identify LOC106780309 as a direct binding target for uniconazole, confirmed through isothermal titration calorimetry. This research establishes a new comparative approach to explore how soybean and mung bean adapt to cold stress, offers key insights to improve the hardiness of legumes against environmental challenges, and contributes to sustainable agricultural practices and food security

Circ-CIMIRC inhibition alleviates CIH-induced myocardial damage via FbxL4-mediated ubiquitination of PINK1

Summary: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disordered breathing diseases that characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). This work aimed to explore the role of circ-CIMIRC in CIH-induced myocardial injury. CIH aggravated myocardial tissue damage in rats. Circ_CIMIRC overexpression promoted apoptosis and reduced the colocalization of Tom20 and Parkin and mitophagy in CIH-treated H9c2 cells. Additionally, FbxL4 interacted with PINK1, FbxL4 silencing reduced PINK1 ubiquitination in H9c2 cells. Two major ubiquitination sites (K319 and K433) were responsible for ubiquitination of PINK1. Circ_CIMIRC promoted FbxL4-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of PINK1. Furthermore, circ_CIMIRC inhibition alleviated the pathological damage, fibrosis and apoptosis of myocardial tissues, reduced oxidative stress in CIH rats. In conclusion, circ_CIMIRC silencing repressed FbxL4-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of PINK1 and then enhanced PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy, thereby alleviating myocardial damage in CIH rats. Thus, circ_CIMIRC may be a potential strategy to alleviate CIH-induced myocardial damage

Fresh perspectives on an established technique: Pulsed amplitude modulation chlorophyll <i>a</i> fluorescence.

Pulsed amplitude modulation (PAM) chlorophyll a fluorescence provides information about photosynthetic energy transduction. When reliably measured, chlorophyll a fluorescence provides detailed information about critical in vivo photosynthetic processes. Such information has recently provided novel and critical insights into how the yield potential of crops can be improved and it is being used to understand remotely sensed fluorescence, which is termed solar-induced fluorescence and will be solely measured by a satellite scheduled to be launched this year. While PAM chlorophyll a fluorometers measure fluorescence intensity per se, herein we articulate the axiomatic criteria by which instrumentally detected intensities can be assumed to assess fluorescence yield, a phenomenon quite different than fluorescence intensity and one that provides critical insight about how solar energy is variably partitioned into the biosphere. An integrated mathematical, phenomenological, and practical discussion of many useful chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters is presented. We draw attention to, and provide examples of, potential uncertainties that can result from incorrect methodological practices and potentially problematic instrumental design features. Fundamentals of fluorescence measurements are discussed, including the major assumptions underlying the signals and the methodological caveats about taking measurements during both dark- and light-adapted conditions. Key fluorescence parameters are discussed in the context of recent applications under environmental stress. Nuanced information that can be gleaned from intra-comparisons of fluorescence-derived parameters and intercomparisons of fluorescence-derived parameters with those based on other techniques is elucidated

Physiological and transcriptome analysis reveals that prohexadione-calcium promotes rice seedling's development under salt stress by regulating antioxidant processes and photosynthesis.

Prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca) has been proved to play an important role in releasing abiotic stress in plants. However, there is still a lack of research on the mechanism of Pro-Ca alleviating salt stress in rice. To explore the protective effects of Pro-Ca on rice seedlings under salt stress, we investigated the effect of exogenous Pro-Ca on rice seedling under salt stress by conducting the following three treatment experiments: CK (control), S (50 mmol·L-1 NaCl saline solution) and S + Pro-Ca (50 mmol·L-1 NaCl saline solution + 100 mg·L-1 Pro-Ca). The results indicated that Pro-Ca modulated the expression of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (such as SOD2, PXMP2, MPV17, E1.11.1.7). Spraying Pro-Ca under salt stress significantly increased in ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase activity by 84.2%, 75.2%, and 3.5% as compared to the salt treatment, as demonstrated by an example of a 24-hour treatment. Malondialdehyde level in Pro-Ca was also dramatically decreased by 5.8%. Moreover, spraying Pro-Ca under salt stress regulated the expression of photosynthesis genes (such as PsbS, PsbD) and chlorophyll metabolism genes (heml, PPD). Compared to salt stress treatment, spraying Pro-Ca under salt stress significantly increased in net photosynthetic rate by 167.2%. In addition, when rice shoots were sprayed with Pro-Ca under salt stress, the Na+ concentration was considerably reduced by 17.1% compared to salt treatment. In conclusion, Pro-Ca regulates antioxidant mechanisms and photosynthesis to aid in the growth of rice seedlings under salt stress