Agriculture Communications最新文献

Maize S-type cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS-S) arises from the activity of the mitochondrial gene orf355. This sterility can be counteracted by the nuclear fertility-restoring allele, Rf3. CMS-S occurs when bicellular pollen collapses following microspore mitosis. Despite this knowledge, the precise protein alterations in CMS-S mitochondria preceding pollen collapse are not well-understood. Our study compared the mitochondrial proteomic profiles between CMS-S and maintainer lines. We found that oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and glycolysis were significantly associated with CMS-S. A detailed analysis of the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) associated with the OXPHOS pathway revealed that complex I (CI) subunits play a vital role in the degenerative process of maize CMS-S. Among these, the CI-B8 subunit exhibited abundant presence in CMS-S and displayed earlier transcriptional changes compared to other DAP genes. A yeast two-hybrid assay revealed a physical interaction between another DAP, the CI-13kDa subunit, and orf355 in yeast. These findings highlight the pivotal role played by complex I in the sterility mechanism of CMS-S in maize microspores.

Insecticides are commonly associated with insects as the target of their activity. Curiously, the fact that insects are seldom the target of insecticide application is the object of frequent neglect, potentially leading to undesirable consequences. This concern is even more troubling when systemic insecticides are considered because the use of such compounds is on the rise and the popularity of preemptive seed coating with these compounds has greatly increased during the last decades. Thus, insecticide action is not limited to insects, but also affects crop plants, especially when systemic insecticides are considered. Plants are the primary target of application and venue to reach the arthropods targeted by the insecticidal molecule. Thus, they can retain and distribute insecticides and their byproducts, and eventually exhibit the consequences of such exposure. Consequently, phytotoxicity and/or bioactivation may ensue. The former response is better known although more frequently explored when herbicides are considered, while the latter is sparking more attention recently. These potential insecticide-mediated responses, particularly when systemic insecticides are considered, are here discussed individually and as a part of a biphasic continuum of response based on the hormesis phenomenon and its implications.

Pimpinella anisum L. (Apiaceae), known around the world as aniseed, is a widely cultivated crop, native of the sub-Mediterranean area. Its essential oil (EO) is exploitable in different fields such as food and beverages, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals. Regardless of the geographic origin, the EO exhibited consistent trans-anethole predominancy. Among the numerous biological properties exerted by aniseed EO, its antimicrobial, antifungal, insecticidal, and acaricidal effects have been extensively investigated for the formulation of biopesticides against larvae and adults of various pests and vectors. Hereafter, the published data on the insecticidal and acaricidal activity of aniseed EO and its major compounds on agricultural pests, stored-product pests, and arthropods of medical and veterinary interest is reviewed. For each study, the arthropod and the developmental stage on which the aniseed EO or the aniseed EO-based formulation were tested, the mode of action, the main constituents, and the exerted mortality, as well as the toxicity to non-target organisms and the possible sub-lethal effects are reported. The advantages of the possible use of aniseed EO as a biopesticide are analysed, as well as the current weaknesses and the critical points to be overcome to open the doors to the industrial utilization of Apiaceae EOs by the agrochemical industry.

Agricultural intensification has led to a drastic simplification and homogenization of agroecosystems, causing biodiversity loss and an increased reliance on chemical pesticides to control arthropod crop pests. However, these pesticides have major negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health. Restoring plant diversity in agricultural landscapes could revert this trend, promote biological pest control and reduce the reliance on chemical insecticides. Crop diversification is especially useful to promote populations of pests’ natural enemies and reduce pest densities, since it does not require a reduction in cropped areas compared to set-aside strategies based on non-crop habitats. We review recent advances on the benefits of crop diversification for arthropod pest control and cover the important ecological mechanisms, tools and scales to implement crop diversification. We also compare the relative benefits of crop and non-crop diversification strategies based on estimates from published meta-analyses. Finally, we summarise the benefits of crop diversification beyond biological control, and highlight the main constraints currently preventing wider implementation to guide future research directions.

Variety identification is crucial for PBR (plant breeders’ rights) protection and PVR (plant variety registration). DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) testing, utilizing field-based morphological inspection and DNA fingerprinting with molecular markers in the laboratory are commonly employed methods for variety identification. However, the limited number of molecular markers used in DNA fingerprinting often lacks close linkage to DUS traits. In this study, 116 tomato varieties were well identified both by SNP fingerprinting and DUS testing. PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and population classification demonstrated a highly consistent outcome between SNP fingerprinting and DUS testing, resulting in the division of 116 varieties into three groups: big fruit, cherry, and processing tomatoes. Furthermore, we selected a new set of 16 core SNPs and 18 core DUS traits, which exhibited higher efficiency in variety identification due to their convenient and easy processing. Moreover, the observed variations in SNP markers among each pair of tomato varieties were linearly correlated with those comparison of all different DUS traits (R² ​= ​0.85), and the linear correlation was also obtained based on the comparison of different core SNP fingerprints with those of the core DUS traits (R² ​= ​0.86). In conclusion, we evaluated SNP fingerprinting for variety identification in comparison to DUS testing, and found these two methods had consistent result. This study also highlights the potential of limited core DUS traits and core SNP fingerprints for effective identification and discrimination of tomato varieties.

Ordered categorical traits are commonly used in fish breeding programs as they are easier to obtain than continuous observations. However, most studies treat ordered categorical traits as linear traits and analyze them using linear models, which can lead to a serious reduction in prediction accuracy by violating the basic assumptions of linear models. The aim of this study was to evaluate the advantages of Bayesian threshold model and machine learning method in genomic prediction of ordered categorical traits in fish. The study was based on the analyses of simulated data and real data of Atlantic salmon. Ordinal categorical traits were simulated with varying numbers of categories (2, 3 and 4) and levels of heritabilities (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5). Linear and threshold models with BayesA and BayesCπ methods, as well as a machine learning method, support vector regression with default (SVRdef) and tuning (SVRtuning) hyperparameters were used to investigate their prediction abilities. The results showed that Bayesian threshold models yielded 2.1%, 2.6% and 2.9% higher prediction accuracies on average for 2-, 3- and 4-category traits, respectively, than Bayesian linear models. Furthermore, SVRtuning produced higher prediction accuracy compared with SVRdef and Bayesian threshold models in all scenarios. For real data, Bayesian threshold models yielded 1.2% higher prediction accuracy than Bayesian linear models, and SVRdef and SVRtuning yielded 3.3% and 6.6% higher prediction accuracies than Bayesian methods, respectively. In conclusion, the use of Bayesian threshold model and machine learning method was beneficial for genomic prediction of ordered categorical traits in fish.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is a first-line-defense antioxidant enzyme that plays a crucial role in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) to maintain homeostasis in plants. SOD catalyzes the conversion of superoxide (O₂^-) into oxygen (O₂) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and besides its role in stress resistance, SOD also impacts plant growth and development. Here, we cloned and characterized a TaCSOD gene from the wheat photo-thermosensitive genic male sterile line BS366. Phylogenetic and motif analyses identified TaCSOD as a Cu/Zn-dependent SOD due to the presence of conserved Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ binding sites. Overexpression of TaCSOD enhanced drought and salt tolerance in both Arabidopsis thaliana and yeast. In addition, seed germination rate, primary root length, and fresh weight of the transgenic plants were higher than those of the wild-type under drought- and salt-stressed conditions. The Arabidopsis TaCSOD overexpression lines also exhibited an early flowering phenotype, with fewer leaves and shorter flowering period. Nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) and 3, 3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining, along with transcriptome analysis, demonstrated that TaCSOD regulates ROS homeostasis and flowering time through carbohydrate signaling, aging, vernalization, and gibberellic acid pathways. Our study provides valuable insights into the functions of SOD genes in regulating flowering through the regulation of ROS homeostasis in plants.