Progress on genetic and genomic research for enhanced oil content and quality in peanut

Peanut or groundnut （ Arachis hypogaea L. ） is an important source of vegetable oil in the world. Genetic enhancement for high yield and high oil content has greatly contributed to enhanced pro-ductivity of peanut and increased supply of peanut oil. Further improving oil content and quality of peanut is still crucial for increasing productivity of arable land and market competitiveness of peanut oil. Based on investigation among the peanut germplasm accessions including wild Arachis species, the oil content could be as high as 65%. Heterosis has been observed for oil content in hybrids derived from diverse crossing parents. Segregates with enhanced oil content have been obtained by pyramiding different genes or alleles with major and minor additive effects. Improved testing techniques for oil content in breeding lines with reduced cost have accelerated breeding progress for high oil content. SSR markers associated with oil content have been identified by association and linkage analysis. The stability of oil content in peanut across seasons and locations is highly associated with cold tolerance, high nutrition efficiency and drought tolerance. Recent progress on improving fatty acids in particular marker assisted backcrossing breeding has contributed to higher quality peanut oil and other products. High oil peanut lines with im-proved resistance to aflatoxin production have been developed. The wild Arachis species would be of great value for peanut breeding in increasing oil content.

LncRNA KCNQ1OT1:Molecular mechanisms and pathogenic roles in human diseases

Long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)exhibit a length more than 200 nucleotides and they are characterized by non-coding RNAs(ncRNA)not encoded into proteins.Over the past few years,the role and development of lncRNAs have aroused the rising attention of researchers.To be specific,KCNQ1OT1,the KCNQ1 opposite strand/antisense transcript 1,is clearly classified as a regulatory ncRNA.KCNQ1OT1 is capable of interacting with miRNAs,RNAs and proteins,thereby affecting gene expression and various cell functions(e.g.,cell proliferation,migration,epithelialemesenchymal transition(EMT),apoptosis,viability,autophagy and inflammation).KCNQ1OT1 is dysregulated in a wide range of human diseases(e.g.,cardiovascular disease,cancer,diabetes,osteoarthritis,osteoporosis and cataract),and it is speculated to act as a therapeutic target for treating various human diseases.On the whole,this review aims to explore the biological functions,underlying mechanisms and pathogenic roles of KCNQ1OT1 in human diseases.