Non-heading Chinese cabbage, a variety of Brassica campestris, is an important vegetable crop in the Yangtze River Basin of China. However, the immaturity of its stable transformation system and its low transformation efficiency limit gene function research on non-heading Chinese cabbage. Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated (ARM) transgenic technology is a rapid and effective transformation method that

Pre-harvest water deficit (PHWD) plays an important role in sugar accumulation of citrus fruit. However, the mechanism is not known well. Here, it was confirmed that PHWD promoted sucrose accumulation of citrus fruit, but had limited effect on fructose, glucose and total acid. A sucrose transporter, CsSUT1, which localizes to the plasma membrane, was demonstrated to function in sucrose transport induced

Cerasus humilis is a kind of economic fruit tree peculiar to China, which is widely used in the food, landscape, and pharmaceutical industries. Anthocyanins are a phenolic metabolite that plays an essential role in fruit coloration. However, the regulatory network of C. humilis in anthocyanin biosynthesis is still unclear. In this study, the R2R3-MYB transcription factor ChMYB1 was isolated from the

Rhododendron is the most species rich plant genus in China and is famous for its extremely high ornamental value. However, the genus is taxonomically difficult and the relationships within Rhododendron remain unresolved. In addition, the origin of some key morphological characters particularly with high important horticulture value need to be explored. Both problems largely hinder effective utilization

Thigmotropism and thigmomorphogenesis are two related and pervasive processes that play crucial roles in plant adaptation to the environment. However, there have been few investigations into the molecular regulatory mechanisms of these phenomena. Cucumber (Cucumis. sativus L.) tendrils are ideal material for studying thigmotropism and thigmomorphogenesis because they display a combination of the two

Clubroot caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is a devastating disease of Cruciferous crops. Developing cultivars with clubroot resistance (CR) is the most effective control measure. For the two major Brassica vegetable species B. rapa and B. oleracea, several commercial cultivars with unclear CR pedigrees have been intensively used as CR donors in breeding. However, the continuous occurrence of CR-breaking

Apple replant disease (ARD) negatively affects plant growth and reduces yields in replanted orchards. In this study, biochar was applied to apple replant soil with Fusarium oxysporum. Our aim was to investigate whether biochar could promote plant growth and alleviate apple replant disease by reducing the growth of harmful soil microorganisms, changing soil microbial community structure and improving

Carotenoids and chlorophylls are among the most widely distributed pigments in nature that play essential roles in the photosynthetic apparatus and confer diverse colours in plants. Among all vegetables, cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. ssp var. botrytis) is rich in phytochemicals and is an important crop grown all over the world. This study investigates carotenoid and chlorophyll concentrations in

High temperature-induced hypocotyl elongation is a typical thermomorphogenesis trait that may significantly affect early seedling growth and subsequent crop yield. The ambient temperature and endogenous auxin are two critical factors that regulate hypocotyl growth. However, the mechanism of temperature and auxin integration in horticultural plants remains poorly understood. In this study, the roles

Carotenoids are essential components in tea quality, contributing to leaf color and aroma. However, little information about carotenoids in different tea cultivars and their biosynthesis regulation mechanism during leaf development is known. Here we analyzed carotenoids by HPLC in the buds and leaves of 113 tea cultivars harvested on the same day. By profile clustering, carotenoids were divided into

Osmotic stress caused by low-temperature, drought and salinity was a prevalent abiotic stress in plant that severely inhibited plant development and agricultural yield, particularly in tea plant. Jasmonic acid (JA) is an important phytohormone involving in plant stress. However, underlying molecular mechanisms of JA modulated osmotic stress response remains unclear. In this study, high concentration

Plants of the Caprifoliaceae family are widely cultivated worldwide as ornamental plants owing to their numerous, sweet-smelling, beautiful flowers and fruits. Heptacodium miconioides Rehd., a member of the family, is endemic to eastern China and is cultivated as a popular ornamental plant in North America and European countries. It has a rather novel and beautiful trait of high horticultural value

Nondestructive measurement technology of phenotype can provide substantial phenotypic data support for applications such as seedling breeding, management, and quality testing. The current method of measuring seedling phenotypes mainly relies on manual measurement which is inefficient, subjective and destroys samples. Therefore, the paper proposes a nondestructive measurement method for the canopy phenotype

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are a group of nitrogen- and sulfur-containing secondary metabolites, synthesized primarily in members of the Brassicaceae family, that play an important role in food flavor, plant antimicrobial activity, resistance to insect attack, stress tolerance, and human anti-cancer effects. As a sulfur-containing compound, glutathione has a strong connection with GSLs biosynthesis as a

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a type of commercially prevalent subtropical and tropical fruit. Since litchi has a highly heterozygous genetic background and a long reproductive cycle, conventional breeding methods (such as hybridization) have limited ability to nurture new litchi cultivars. Here, an efficient and stable Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of embryogenic callus

Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) is a having general approval aromatic tree in China that is widely applied to landscaping and gardening. However, the evergreen tree adaptability is limited by many environmental stresses. Currently, limited information is available regarding the genetic analysis and functional identification of expansin genes in response to abiotic stress in sweet osmanthus. In

The tendril is a climbing organ in cucurbits and functions in physical support and to avoid shading by neighboring vegetation. However, how cucurbits produce tendrils to obtain climbing ability is largely unknown. In this study, tendril phenotypes were investigated during different developmental stages. Our results revealed that tendril growth exhibited an age-dependent pattern in cucurbits. Tendril

Peach, an economically important model plant of the Rosaceae family, has been domesticated and cultivated in China for approximately 5 000 years. The Hexi Corridor, an important corridor connecting east-central China and the Tarim Basin, is the starting point of the Silk Road that links China and the Eurasian region. As a globally distributed fruit tree, the spread of peach was accomplished through

As a cell proliferation regulator involved in wide biological processes in plants, GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR (GIF) controls different tissues development. However, whether GIF participates in fruit development remains unclear. According to transcriptome data, we identified PbGIF1 was highly expressed during fruit development in cytokinins induced parthenocarpy pear. In the present study, the biofunction

Apples are one of the most important economic crops worldwide. Because of global warming and an aggravation of environmental, abnormally high temperatures occur frequently in fruit-growing season and seriously affect normal fruit growth and reduce fruit quality and yield. We took five-year-old ‘Ruixue’ (Qinfu 1 × Pink Lady; CNA20151469.1) fruits as test materials, and the ambient temperature during

Color fading caused by a decrease in anthocyanin accumulation during the post-flowering stage significantly affects postharvest quality of chrysanthemum. However, the underlying mechanism by which anthocyanin accumulation decreases during the post-flowering stage is still unclear, which greatly restricts design of molecular breeding in chrysanthemum. Here, a chrysanthemum SG7 R2R3 MYB transcription

Drought (water shortage) can substantially limit the yield and economic value of rose plants (Rosa spp.). Here, we characterized the effect of exogenous calcium (Ca2+) on the antioxidant system and photosynthesis-related properties of rose under polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000)-induced drought stress. Chlorophyll levels, as well as leaf and root biomass, were significantly reduced by drought; drought

Hesperidin is a dihydroflavonoids, accounting for more than 50% of the total flavonoids in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP) of traditional Chinese medicine. It is an effective antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has anti-inflammatory, antiviral and hypoglycemic properties. The latest studies reported that hesperidin has a potential for novel coronavirus resistance. However, little is known

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), an economically important vegetable crop cultivated worldwide, often suffers massive financial losses due to Phytophthora infestans (P. infestans) spread and breakouts. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi mediated biocontrol has demonstrated great potential in plant resistance. However, little information is available on the regulation of mycorrhizal tomato resistance against

An analysis of genome-wide gene expression profiles during floral organ development can provide important clues about the molecular basis of gene functions and developmental processes. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome data of 36 samples obtained during floral organ development from pepper ‘6421’ and detected 30 016 genes that were expressed in at least one sample. K-means clustering analysis

Pigmentation patterns are ubiquitous in nature. Visually striking pigmentation patterns are not only aesthetically appealing, but also crucial to pollinator interaction and plant fitness. The formation of complex floral pigmentation patterns mainly relies on the spatiotemporal expression of R2R3-MYB transcription factors and is often associated with certain floral development programs, such as floral

Scientific knowledge about the ancestral genome of core eudicot plant kingdom can potentially have profound impacts on both basic and applied research, including evolution, genetics, genomics, ecology, agriculture, forestry, and global climate. To investigate which plant conserves best the core eudicots common ancestor genome, we compared Arcto-Tertiary relict Nyssaceae and 30 other eudicot plant families

Lily (Lilium spp.) is an important ornamental flower, which is mainly propagated by bulbs. Cell wall invertases (CWINs), which catalyze the irreversibly conversion of sucrose into glucose and fructose in the extracellular space, are key enzymes participating in sucrose allocation in higher plants. Previous studies have shown that CWINs play an essential role in bulblet initiation process in bulbous

Peaches are an important fruit crop worldwide. Water management is an important practice that affects fruit size and quality. Effective implementation of irrigation scheduling requires knowledge of the appropriate indicators and thresholds, which are established manly based on the effects of water deficits on final fruit quality. Few studies have focused on the real-time effects of water status on

Torreya grandis is a characteristic rare economic tree species in subtropical mountainous areas. The nut has a variety of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols and vitamins. However, the carotenoids compositions and its regulatory mechanisms underlying carotenoid biosynthesis in kernels remain unknown. Here, the major carotenoids in the kernel were analyzed. The result showed that lutein and β-carotene

Horticultural products such as fruits, vegetables, and tea offer a range of important nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and lipids. However, the present yield and quality do not meet the requirements of the rapid population growth associated with global climate change, the decline in horticultural practitioners, poor automation, and epidemic diseases such as COVID-19. In this context

Glycosylated volatiles are considered as hidden aroma precursors that affect fruit flavor and are involved in plant defense response. Several uridine-diphosphate (UDP)-glycosyltransferase (UGT) members related to the glycosylation of volatiles have been identified from grapevine berries. Although grapevine leaves produced much higher levels of glycosylated volatiles than berries, UGTs responsible for

The lack of a suitable rootstock to control scion growth has limited the development of high-density plantations in pear production, which is partly attributed to poor understanding of the dwarfing mechanism. In the present study, the rootstock of the dwarf-type pear (Pyrus betulaefolia) ‘PY-9’ was identified and used as the material for anatomical analysis. ‘PY-9’ grew to half the tree height of the

Soluble sugars function not only as the energy and structural blocks supporting plants, but also as osmoregulators and signal molecules during plant adaptation to water deficit. Here, we investigated drought resistance in transgenic apple (Malus × domestica) overexpressing MdFRK2, a key gene regulating fructose content and sugar metabolism. There is no obvious phenotypic difference between MdFRK2-overexpressing

Bud dormancy facilitates the survival of meristems under harsh environmental conditions. To elucidate how molecular responses to chilling accumulation controlling dormancy in peach buds, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing to identify the H3K27me3 modifications and RNA sequencing of two peach cultivars with pronounced differences in chilling requirement were carried out, the results showed that

Betalain has received increased attention because of its high nutritional value and crucial physiological functions. Based on the elucidation of its core biosynthetic pathway, betalain can be produced in additional plants by metabolic engineering. Synthesis of betalain in carrot (Daucus carota L.) can improve its nutritional quality and economic value by extracting betalain from the fleshy root, non-edible

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium), especially its varieties, is the red petal yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium var. purpurea), an important tree species with great ornamental value, and its flower petals change color throughout the flowering period. In this study, we mainly focused on the mechanism of the petal color change with transcriptomics and metabolomics data. A phased chromosome-scale

The nuclear-encoded factors and the photosynthetic apparatus have been studied extensively during chloroplast biogenesis. However, many questions regarding these processes remain unanswered, particularly in perennial woody plants. As a model material of woody plants, poplar not only has very significant value of research, but also possesses economic and ecological properties. This study reports the

Cucumber is an important vegetable worldwide, and powdery mildew (PM) is a common and serious disease of cucumbers. Breeding disease-resistant cucumber varieties is the most advantageous strategy to control this disease. In recent years, exploration and identification of cucumber PM resistance genes have achieved great advancement, and many genes have been cloned and verified using different methods

The pear is an economic fruit that is widely planted around the world and is loved by people for its rich nutritional value. Autophagy is a self-protection mechanism in eukaryotes, and its occurrence often accompanied by the degradation of damaged substances in cells and the recycling of nutrients. Autophagy is one of the mechanisms through which plants respond to environmental stress and plays an

Thousands of long-distance mobile mRNAs were identified from different grafting systems, based on high-throughput sequencing technology. Moreover, the long-distance delivery of RNAs was proved to involve multiple mechanisms. Here, we analyzed the homology, motif, and tRNA-like structures (TLS) of long-distance mobile mRNAs identified by RNA-seq as well as the RNA binding proteins (RBP) in nine grafting

Strawberry is a major fruit crop worldwide because its nutritional and health benefits to human health, but its productivity is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Sucrose nonfermentation 1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) has a defense function against pathogens, but the function of SnRK1 in the defense response to B. cinerea in plants is still unclear. In this study, FaSnRK1α-OE and RNAi fruits were constructed

Abiotic stress reduces plant yield and quality. WRKY transcription factors play key roles in abiotic stress responses in plants, but the molecular mechanisms by which WRKY transcription factors mediate responses to drought and osmotic stresses in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) remain unclear. Here, we functionally characterized the apple Group III WRKY gene MdWRKY115. qRT-PCR analysis showed that

Jujube witches’ broom (JWB) caused by phytoplasma has a severely negative effect on multiple metabolisms in jujube. The GST gene family in plants participates in the regulation of a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. This study aims to identify and reveal the changes in the jujube GST gene family in response to phytoplasma infection. Here, 70 ZjGSTs were identified in the jujube genome and divided

Terpenoids are the main components contributing to the fragrance of Lilium ‘Siberia’, and LiTPS2 plays a critical role in the biosynthesis of monoterpenoids. Although the major terpene synthases in Lilium ‘Siberia’ have been identified, how these TPS genes are transcriptionally regulated remains elusive in this distinguished flower. This study aimed to identify transcription factors that regulate the

VIGS (Virus-induced gene silencing), a method for posttranscriptional gene silencing, is an effective technique for investigating the activities of genes in plants. Since there is no report for available VIGS system in Styrax japonicus, the application of a VIGS approach that results in a gene knockdown to study gene function is limited. In this study, we compared the characteristics that could affect

Unfavorable environmental cues severely affect crop productivity resulting in significant economic losses to farmers. In plants, multiple regulatory genes, such as the WRKY transcription factor (TF) family, modulate the expression of defense genes. However, the role of the pineapple WRKY genes is poorly understood. Here, we studied the pineapple WRKY gene, AcWRKY28, by generating AcWRKY28 over-expressing

With the development of tourism at home and abroad, Rapeseed (Brassica napus) has become an important ornamental plant. However, its ornamental value at the inflorescence stage is greatly reduced by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Identification of important genes in the defense responses is critical for molecular breeding, which is an important strategy for controlling the disease. In this study, we isolated

Phloem loading and transport of sugar from leaves to sink tissues such as fruits are crucial for yield formation. Camellia oleifera is an evergreen horticultural crop with high value; however, its low production limits the development of the C. oleifera industry. In this study, using a combination of ultrastructural observation, fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) and inhibitor treatment, we

Genomic selection (GS) has the potential to improve selection efficiency and shorten the breeding cycle in fruit tree breeding. In this study, we evaluated the effect of prediction methods, marker density and the training population (TP) size on pear GS for improving its performance and reducing cost. We evaluated GS under two scenarios: (1) five-fold cross-validation in an interspecific pear family;

The Arabidopsis Tóxicos en Levadura (ATL) protein is a subfamily of the E3 ubiquitin ligases, which exists widely in plants and is extensively involved in plant growth and development. Although the ATL family has been identified in other species, such as Arabidopsis, Oryza sativa, and grapevine, few reports on pear ATL gene families have been reported. In this study, 92 PbrATL genes were identified

Citrus is the typical mycorrhizal fruit tree species establishing symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. However, arbuscule development and senescence in colonized citrus roots, especially in response to drought stress, remain unclear, which is mainly due to the difficulty in clearing and staining lignified roots with the conventional method. Here, we improved the observation of colonized

Sulforaphane, a naturally specialized metabolite, plays significant roles in human disease prevention and plant defense. Myrosinase (MY) is a key gene responsible for the catalysis of sulforaphane formation, but the molecular mechanisms through which MY regulates sulforaphane biosynthesis in plants remains largely unknown. Here, we discovered that the change of sulforaphane content in broccoli sprouts

There is a close relationship between potassium (K) and nitrogen (N). However, the roles of K under high N conditions remain unclear. Using a hydroponics approach, we monitored the morphological, physiological, and molecular changes in M9T337 apple (Malus domestica) rootstocks under different nitrate (10 and 30 mmol · L-1 NO3-) and K supply (0.5, 6, 10, and 20 mmol · L-1 K+) conditions. Results revealed

Lilies are widely cultivated for cut flowers, but their large anthers carry a considerable amount of colored pollen that is dispersed easily. Studying the molecular mechanism of anther development and dehiscence could help solve this problem. LoMYB21, encoding a putative R2R3 v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog (MYB) transcription factor, was identified from oriental lilies (Lilium ‘Siberia’)

Marigold (T. erecta L., African marigold) is a widely grown ornamental plant and a main source of the carotenoid lutein for the industrial production of pharmaceuticals, food coloring, and feed additives. To gain a deeper understanding of the genetic mechanism of lutein in marigold, a chromosome-scale assembly of the marigold (T. erecta V-01) genome was completed based on Illumina, PacBio, and Hi-C

Flavonoids are critical secondary metabolites that determine the health benefits and flavor of tea, while chlorophylls are important contributors to the appearance of tea. However, transcription factors (TFs) that can integrate both chlorophyll biosynthesis and flavonoid accumulation in response to specific light signals are rarely identified. In this study, we report that the GOLDEN 2-LIKE TF pair

The mu oil tree (Vernicia montana Lour.) is a dioecious species, but the genetic mechanisms underlying its phenotypic sexual dimorphism are unclear. In this study, we determined two pivotal phases of sex differentiation of mu oil tree via morphological and histological analyses of unisexual flowers: (I) differentiation of male or female primordia to produce staminate flowers (SFs) or transient hermaphrodite

Melatonin is a conserved pleiotropic molecule in animals and plants. Melatonin is involved in many development processes and stress responses; thus, exploring its function in plants, particularly in horticultural plants, has become a rapidly developing field. Many studies have revealed that phytomelatonin acts as a plant biostimulant and increase its tolerance to various abiotic stressors, including

Climate change and extreme weather pose significant challenges to the traditional viticulture regions. Emerging high-altitude grape-producing regions with diverse orientations have shown great potential in coping with this challenge. Stable, high-quality wine grape production may be achieved by synchronizing the meso- and microclimate. To clarify the role of high altitude and row orientation in meso-