A bHLH transcription factor,CsSPT,regulates high-temperature resistance in cucumber

High-temperature stress threatens the growth and yield of crops. Basic helix-loop-helix(bHLH) transcription factors(TFs) have been shown to play important roles in regulating high-temperature resistance in plants. However, the bHLH TFs responsible for high-temperature tolerance in cucumbers have not been identified. We used transcriptome profiling to screen the high temperature-responsive candidate bHLH TFs in cucumber. Here, we found that the expression of 75 CsbHLH genes was altered under high-temperature stress. The expression of the CsSPT gene was induced by high temperatures in TT(Thermotolerant) cucumber plants. However, the Csspt mutant plants obtained by the CRISPR-Cas9 system showed severe thermosensitive symptoms, including wilted leaves with brown margins and reduced root density and cell activity.The Csspt mutant plants also exhibited elevated H_(2)O_(2) levels and down-regulated photosystem-related genes under normal conditions.Furthermore, there were high relative electrolytic leakage(REC), malondialdehyde(MDA), glutathione(GSH), and superoxide radical(O_(2)^(·-)) levels in the Csspt mutant plants, with decreased Proline content after the high-temperature treatment. Transcriptome analysis showed that the photosystem and chloroplast activities in Csspt mutant plants were extremely disrupted by the high-temperature stress compared with wildtype(WT) plants. Moreover, the plant hormone signal transduction, as well as MAPK and calcium signaling pathways were activated in Csspt mutant plants under high-temperature stress. The HSF and HSP family genes shared the same upregulated expression patterns in Csspt and WT plants under high-temperature conditions. However, most bHLH, NAC, and bZIP family genes were significantly down-regulated by heat in Csspt mutant plants. Thus, these results demonstrated that CsSPT regulated the high-temperature response by recruiting photosynthesis components, signaling pathway molecules, and transcription factors. Our results provide important insights into the heat response mechanism of CsSPT in cucumber and its potential as a target for breeding heat-resistant crops.

SmEGY3 mediates H_(2)O_(2) production to enhance high-temperature stress tolerance by activating the expression of SmCSD1 in eggplant

High temperature(HT)has major effects on the growth and production of vegetable crops,including eggplant(Solanum melongena L.).Eggplant seedlings,flower organs,and fruits are affected by high temperature stress(HTS).Nonetheless,key HT response factors are rare in eggplant.In this study,we found that SmEGY3 was localized in chloroplasts and nuclei,and the expression was induced by HT.We confirmed that SmEGY3 played a positive role in regulating heat tolerance of plants by virus-induced gene silencing(VIGS)and overexpression assays.Compared to the control plants,the SmEGY3-silenced plants showed significantly decrease in the H_(2)O_(2) content and H_(2)O_(2)-mediated retrograde signalling genes expression while the SmEGY3-overexpressing plants displayed significantly increase.

Coexpression network analysis reveals an MYB transcriptional activator involved in capsaicinoid biosynthesis in hot peppers

Plant biosynthesis involves numerous specialized metabolites with diverse chemical natures and biological activities.The biosynthesis of metabolites often exclusively occurs in response to tissue-specific combinatorial developmental cues that are controlled at the transcriptional level.Capsaicinoids are a group of specialized metabolites that confer a pungent flavor to pepper fruits.Capsaicinoid biosynthesis occurs in the fruit placenta and combines its developmental cues.Although the capsaicinoid biosynthetic pathway has been largely characterized,the regulatory mechanisms that control capsaicinoid metabolism have not been fully elucidated.In this study,we combined fruit placenta transcriptome data with weighted gene coexpression network analysis(WGCNA)to generate coexpression networks.A capsaicinoid-related gene module was identified in which the MYB transcription factor CaMYB48 plays a critical role in regulating capsaicinoid in pepper.Capsaicinoid biosynthetic gene(CBG)and CaMYB48 expression primarily occurs in the placenta and is consistent with capsaicinoid biosynthesis.CaMYB48 encodes a nucleus-localized protein that primarily functions as a transcriptional activator through its C-terminal activation motif.CaMYB48 regulates capsaicinoid biosynthesis by directly regulating the expression of CBGs,including AT3a and KasIa.Taken together,the results of this study indicate ways to generate robust networks optimized for the mining of CBG-related regulators,establishing a foundation for future research elucidating capsaicinoid regulation.

Analysis of Vitamin P Content and Inheritance Models in Eggplant

The eggplant(Solanum melongena L.)is rich in vitamin P(also known as rutin),which is beneficial for humans.In this study,the vitamin P contents of 53 eggplant lines were measured via UV spectrophotometry.The results showed that the vitamin P content differed significantly among the eggplant lines and the actual contents of vitamin P in fresh fruit pulp and fresh peel were 0.18–0.82mg·g^−1 and 0.42–2.32mg·g^−1,respectively.Furthermore,themixed major gene and polygene inheritance modelmethod was used for the inheritance analysis of the vitamin P content in F2 populations of three hybridization combinations.Inheritance analysis demonstrated that the vitamin P content of these eggplant lines was a quantitative trait.One or two major genes were the contributor,and the genetic effect was an additive-dominance effect.The high vitamin P content trait was regulated by the main gene and followed an additive effect.The heritability of the major genes controlling the high vitamin P content was low,while the heritability of the major gene that controls the low vitamin P content trait was high.These results provide a theoretical basis for the breeding of eggplants with high vitamin P content.

Identification and Characterization of a LEA-like Gene, CaMF5,Specifically Expressed in the Anthers of Male-fertile Capsicum annuum

To improve the understanding of molecular mechanisms of anther and/or pollen development in Chili pepper, in the present study, fulllength cDNA and DNA sequences of the pollen development-related gene CaMF5 were obtained from the anthers of a Capsicum annuum nuclear male-fertile line. Sequence analysis indicated that the full length of CaMF5 was 747 bp, containing a maximum opening reading frame of 447 bp.Amino acid sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed that CaMF5 shared approximately 37%–77% homology with a series of uncharacterized or hypothetical proteins and late embryogenesis abundant(LEA) proteins from other plants. However, no LEA structural domain was detected in CaMF5, which indicated that it might be a new type of LEA gene. CaMF5 was only expressed in flower buds at stages 7 and 8 and in open flowers of the male-fertile line, whereas it exhibited no expression in any examined organs of the male-sterile line. In addition, CaMF5 showed the highest transcript abundance in the anthers of the male-fertile line, with no expression being detected in any other examined organs, such as the sepals, petals, pistils, roots, stems, or leaves. Taken together, our results suggest that CaMF5 is an anther-specific gene that might encode a new type of LEA protein related to anther and/or pollen development in C. annuum.

Construction of Plant Antisense Expression Vector with Defective in Anther Dehiscence1 Gene Fragment of Chinese Kale

A pair of primers was designed according to the reported conserved sequence of the defective in anther dehiscencel （DAD1） gene ofArabidopsis thaliana and Brassica rapa. A 558 bp long fragment was amplified from genomic DNA of Chinese kale, showing more than 88% identity with the known DAD1 nucleotide sequence and no intron. The reverse of the amplified fragment was ligated to the downstream of the CaMV35S promoter in the plant expression vector pBIl21. Antisense expression vector pBII21-DAD1F was constructed with DAD1 fragment of Chinese kale, and was transferred into Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which will be used in the transformation to create male sterile materials of Chinese kale.