Molecular regulatory events of flower and fruit abscission in horticultural plants

Flower and fruit abscission is a highly programmed physiological process,which is closely related to the yield of horticultural plants.The coordination of many regulatory factors associated with metabolic and signaling pathways plays a key role in the flower and fruit shedding.Hormones,peptides,carbohydrates,polyamines or cell wall modifying proteins regulate flower and fruit shedding.This article reviewed the recent studies of flower and fruit abscission,including the molecular regulation mechanism of abscission zone formation,typical structure and location of abscission zones,and other factors affecting flower and fruit abscission,such as stresses,hormones,peptides,carbohydrates,polyamines and cell wall modifying proteins.Overall,the review summarizes the developmental mechanism and the diversity of abscission zones,and the key factors affecting flower and fruit abscission of horticultural plants,aiming to provide guidance for studying the molecular regulatory mechanism of flower and fruit abscission.

The IDD Transcription Factors:Their Functions in Plant Development and Environmental Response

INDETERMINATE-DOMAIN proteins(IDDs)are a plant-specific transcription factor family characterized by a conserved ID domain with four zinc finger motifs.Previous studies have demonstrated that IDDs coordinate a diversity of physiological processes and functions in plant growth and development,including floral transition,plant architecture,seed and root development,and hormone signaling.In this review,we especially summarized the latest knowledge on the functions and working models of IDD members in Arabidopsis,rice,and maize,particularly focusing on their role in the regulatory network of biotic and abiotic environmental responses,such as gravity,temperature,water,and pathogens.Understanding these mechanisms underlying the function of IDD proteins in these processes is important for improving crop yields by manipulating their activity.Overall,the review offers valuable insights into the functions and mechanisms of IDD proteins in plants,providing a foundation for further research and potential applications in agriculture.

Geographic patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity of angiosperm genera in regional floras across the world

Beta diversity(β-diversity)is the scalar between local(α)and regional(γ)diversity.Understanding geographic patterns ofβ-diversity is central to ecology,biogeography,and conservation biology.A full understanding of the origin and maintenance of geographic patterns ofβ-diversity requires exploring both taxonomic and phylogeneticβ-diversity,as well as their respective turnover and nestedness components,and exploring phylogenetic p-diversity at different evolutionary depths.In this study,we explore and map geographic patterns ofβ-diversity for angiosperm genera in regional floras across the world.We examine both taxonomic and phylogeneticβ-diversity and their constituent components,and both tip-weighted and basal-weighted phylogeneticβ-diversity,and relate them to latitude.On the one hand,our study found that the global distribution ofβ-diversity is highly heterogeneous.This is the case for both taxonomic and phylogeneticβ-diversity,and for both tip-weighted and basal-weighted phylogeneticβ-diversity.On the other hand,our study found that there are highly consistent geographic patterns among different metrics ofβ-diversity.In most cases,metrics ofβ-diversity are negatively associated with latitude,particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.Different metrics of taxonomicβ-diversity are strongly and positively correlated with their counterparts of phylogeneticβ-diversity.

Exploitation of Wild Flowers and the Sustainable Development of Flowers Industry in China

This article introduced the new methods on the research of the wild flowers and plants idioplasmic resources, elaborated the introduction and domestication and exploitation of wild flowers and plants idioplasmatic resources and the sustainable development of flowers and plants industry in China, and put forward some proposals on the existing question and the prospects for the development.

Analysis on Effects of Chilling Damages on Flowers and Plants at Beibei Area in Winter and Its Prevention Countermeasures

[Objective] The aim was to provide direction for the development of flowers and plants industry at Beibei area of Chongqing.[Method] Effects of temperature ranges and influencing time of chilling damages in winter on local flowers and plants at Beibei area were analyzed,using extreme minimum temperature data during 1960 to 2009 and the phenological growth conditions and phenological observation data of Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd and Michelia champaca during 2005 to 2007 at Beibei area.[Result] Chilling damages affecting flowers and plants at Beibei area mostly emerged from late December to early February,the effects of which were relative serious in January with a temperature range from-2 to 5 ℃;the optimum temperatures were 12-28 ℃ for flowers and plants grown at Beibei area in Chongqing,being higher or lower than that temperature range will affect the normally overwintering flowering and growing;chilling damages affecting the flower seedlings would appear when being at extreme minimum temperatures lower than 6 ℃ for 3 d in any phenophase in winter.[Conclusion] According to the characters of chilling damages in winter,the influences of which on flowers and plants can be reduced through combining tendency prediction and adopting corresponding measures.

A nondestructive method for estimating the total green leaf area of individual rice plants using multi-angle color images

Total green leaf area(GLA)is an important trait for agronomic studies.However,existing methods for estimating the GLA of individual rice plants are destructive and labor-intensive.A nondestructive method for estimating the total GLA of individual rice plants based on multi-angle color images is presented.Using projected areas of the plant in images,linear,quadratic,exponential and power regression models for estimating total GLA were evaluated.Tests demonstrated that the side-view projected area had a stronger relationship with the actual total leaf area than the top-projected area.And power models fit better than other models.In addition,the use of multiple side-view images was an efficient method for reducing the estimation error.The inclusion of the top-view projected area as a seoond predictor provided only a slight improvement of the total leaf area est imation.When the projected areas from multi angle images were used,the estimated leaf area(ELA)using the power model and the actual leaf area had a high correlation cofficient(R2>0.98),and the mean absolute percentage error(MAPE)was about 6%.The method was capable of estimating the total leaf area in a nondestructive,accurate and eficient manner,and it may be used for monitoring rice plant growth.

Foraging Behaviour of <i>Apis mellifera</i>L. and <i>Scaptotrigona bipunctata</i>on <i>Dombeya wallichii</i>Flowers in Southern Brazil

This research was carried out to evaluate the foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera and Scaptotrigona bipunctata and its relationship with environmental variables in Dombeya wallichii considering the following aspects: 1) Type of resource harvested, 2) Visitation rate, 3) Length of visit, 4) sugar concentration in the stored nectar in the honey crop of A. mellifera and secreted by the flower and 5) floral constancy. Both species collected mainly nectar, with a visitation rate of 4.2 flowers for A. mellifera and 1.1 flowers for S. bipunctata and visit length of 9.2 and 34.2 seconds, respectively. The sugar concentration had a positive relationship with temperature and luminosity, with mean values of 12.3% in the nectar and 14.2% in the honey crop. Bees were classified by specialists because the pollen of D. wallichii was predominant in the pollen basket, but the pollen of Emilia sonchifolia and Raphanus sativus was also found. These results suggest that the species under study take advantage of the resources offered by D. wallichii, therefore, this species is an important source for the maintenance of the bees in the season of lack of food.

Impact of mechanical stimulation on the life cycle of horticultural plant

Mechanical stimulation technology is critical in agricultural crop production because it is constantly regarded as a developing green technology to regulate plants to meet people's need for green and healthy agricultural products. Various environmental mechanical stimulation impacts seed germination, seedling growth, flowering date, fruit quantity, and fruit quality throughout the life cycle of a horticultural plant. This study first outlines the basic characteristics of six types of common mechanical stimulation in nature:precipitation, wind, gravity,touch, sound, and vibration. The effects of various mechanical stimulation types on the seed, seedling, flowering, and fruit of horticultural plants throughout their whole life cycle are then presented, as reviewed in the recent 100 years of existing literature. Finally, potential future study directions are discussed. The main challenge in mechanical stimulation technology is to uncover its potential capabilities for regulating and controlling plant development and fruit quality in green agriculture instead of agricultural chemicals.

Ectopic expression of OsNF-YA8,an endosperm-specific nuclear factor Y transcription-factor gene,causes vegetative and reproductive development defects in rice

Nuclear factor Y(NF-Y),a group of conserved transcription-factor complexes that consist of NF-YA,B,and C subunits,is essential for developmental regulation and for responses to environmental changes in eukaryotes.We previously found that some NF-Y genes,such as OsNF-YA8,were expressed specifically in the endosperm of rice.In the present study,overexpression of OsNF-YA8 in rice resulted in reduced plant height due to suppressed cell elongation in internodes.Gibberellin(GA)biosynthetic genes,including OsCPS1,OsGA20ox1,and OsGA20ox2,were down-regulated.OsNF-YA8 bound to the promoters of these genes to repress their expression.Endogenous GA content was decreased in OsNF-YA8 overexpressors,whose dwarf phenotype could be partially rescued by exogenous GA treatment.The findings suggested that ectopic expression of OsNF-YA8 causes defective GA biosynthesis in vegetative stage.Heading date in OsNF-YA8 overexpressors was delayed,especially under short-day conditions.OsNFYA8 bound to the promoter of Heading Date 3a(Hd3a),the florigen gene in rice,to negatively regulate flowering.Either ectopic activation or knockout of OsNF-YA8 impaired seed development,as indicated by reduced seed size and increased grain chalkiness.These results suggest that ectopic expression of the endosperm-specific OsNF-YA8 in rice disrupts both vegetative and reproductive development.

Towards Intelligent Detection and Classification of Rice Plant Diseases Based on Leaf Image Dataset

The detection of rice leaf disease is significant because,as an agricultural and rice exporter country,Pakistan needs to advance in production and lower the risk of diseases.In this rapid globalization era,information technology has increased.A sensing system is mandatory to detect rice diseases using Artificial Intelligence(AI).It is being adopted in all medical and plant sciences fields to access and measure the accuracy of results and detection while lowering the risk of diseases.Deep Neural Network(DNN)is a novel technique that will help detect disease present on a rice leave because DNN is also considered a state-of-the-art solution in image detection using sensing nodes.Further in this paper,the adoption of the mixed-method approach Deep Convolutional Neural Network(Deep CNN)has assisted the research in increasing the effectiveness of the proposed method.Deep CNN is used for image recognition and is a class of deep-learning neural networks.CNN is popular and mostly used in the field of image recognition.A dataset of images with three main leaf diseases is selected for training and testing the proposed model.After the image acquisition and preprocessing process,the Deep CNN model was trained to detect and classify three rice diseases(Brown spot,bacterial blight,and blast disease).The proposed model achieved 98.3%accuracy in comparison with similar state-of-the-art techniques.

Convergent relationships between flower economics and hydraulic traits across aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plants

Maintaining open flowers is critical for successful pollination and depends on long-term water and carbon balance.Yet the relationship between how flower hydraulic traits are coordinated in different habitats is poorly understood.Here,we hypothesize that the coordination and trade-offs between floral hydraulics and economics traits are independent of environmental conditions.To test this hypothesis,we investigated a total of 27 flower economics and hydraulic traits in six aquatic and six terrestrial herbaceous species grown in a tropical botanical garden.We found that although there were a few significant differences,most flower hydraulics and economics traits did not differ significantly between aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plants.Both flower mass per area and floral longevity were significantly positively correlated with the time required for drying full-hydrated flowers to 70%relative water content.Flower dry matter content was strongly and positively related to drought tolerance of the flowers as indicated by flower water potential at the turgor loss point.In addition,there was a trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and the construction cost of a flower across species.Our results show that flowers of aquatic and terrestrial plants follow the same economics spectrum pattern.These results suggest a convergent flower economics design across terrestrial and aquatic plants,providing new insights into the mechanisms by which floral organs adapt to aquatic and terrestrial habitats.

Synthesis of Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots and Their Application in the Plant Cell Imaging

Carbon quantum dots(CQDs) exhibit tremendous advantages for plant growth study due to its strong fluorescence and good biocompatibility. The fluorescent CQDs were synthesized by the onestep microwave method with the raw materials of citric acid(CA) and urea(UR), and expressed a unique green fluorescence with the optimal excitation wavelength of over 400 nm through adjusting the doping of N elements. It is demonstrated that CQDs can act as deliver media in plant and fluorescent probes for plant cell imaging through directly cultivated in the seedlings of melon and wheat, respectively. Based on the effects of the fluorescent CQDs on plants growth, we can further study the mechanisms of the ions transport in plants.

The BnTFL1–BnGF14nu–BnFD module regulates flower development and plant architecture in Brassica napus

Flower development and plant architecture determine the efficiency of mechanized harvest and seed yield in Brassica napus.Although TERMINAL FLOWER 1(AtTFL1)is a regulator of flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana,the function and regulatory mechanism of TFL1 orthologs in B.napus remains unclear.Six BnTFL1 paralogs in the genome of the B.napus inbred line‘K407’showed steadily increasing expression during vernalization.CRISPR/Cas-induced mutagenesis of up to four BnTFL1 paralogs resulted in early flowering and alteration of plant architecture,whereas seed yield was not altered in BnTFL1 single,double,or triple mutants.Six BnTFL1 paralogs,but not BnaA02.TFL1,showed an additive and conserved effect on regulating flowering time,total and terminal flower number,and plant architecture.BnaA10.TFL1 regulates flower development by interacting with BnaA08.FD through the protein BnaA05.GF14nu,resulting in the transcriptional repression of floral integrator and floral meristem identity genes.These findings about the regulatory network controlling flower development and plant architecture present a promising route to modifying these traits in B.napus.

Effect of Shoot Control on Flower Bud Differentiation,Flowering,and Fruit Setting in Zanthoxylum armatum DC.

In this study,newly sprouted shoots of Zanthoxylum armatum(Z.armatum),which were collected after the harvesting period,were used as the primary experimental specimens.A randomized block design and paraffin sectioning method were used to investigate the flower bud differentiation process and the quantity and vitality of buds.Furthermore,the study examined the response of flowering and fruiting to cultivation methods for shoot growth,including layering and plant growth regulator application.The results showed that(a)layering and application of plant growth regulators for Z.armatum accelerated the process of flower bud differentiation by approximately 20 days compared to the control group.Additionally,both shoot control methods generated more and larger bud primordia and perianth primordia during the same differentiation phase.(b)The application of plant growth regulators resulted in well-developed buds,exhibiting higher levels of flower bud differentiation than the layering method.The quality of flower bud formation for both shoot control methods was superior to that of the control group.(c)The flowering phenological period was relatively consistent between the two cultivation methods,but the fruit maturity phase for shoot-controlled trees occurred 20 days earlier than the control group.(d)Both layering and the application of plant growth regulators significantly decreased the rates of unfertilized flower shedding and fruit shedding.However,no significant difference was noted in fruit setting per inflorescence and per flower between the two methods and the control.The effect of altitude for both methods on the fruit setting was not significant.Under both shoot control methods,the Z.armatum exhibited earlier morphological differentiation of flower buds,faster differentiation process,improved flower bud quality,and significantly decreased rates of flower and fruit shedding.Thus,these cultivation methods demonstrated the potential to promote flowering,improve fruit setting,and reduce fruit shedding in Z.armatum.

Both small and large plants are likely to produce staminate(male)flowers in a hermaphrodite lily

Resource allocation to female and male function may vary among individual plants in species with variable sex expression.Size-dependent sex allocation has been proposed in hermaphrodites,in which female-biased allocation may increase with plant size.In many hermaphrodites with large floral displays,however,later-produced flowers tend to be functionally male.This paradoxical relationship between female and male function and plant size remains poorly understood.The subalpine lily Lilium lankongense has individuals of three sexual types:males with only staminate flowers,hermaphrodites with only perfect flowers,and andromonoecious plants with both perfect and staminate flowers.Here we tested theoretical predictions of size-dependent sex allocation in L.lankongense by measuring plant height and flower number of individuals of each sex at five field sites in the mountainous region of Shangri-La,southwestern China.To investigate variation in phenotypic gender,we identified sex expression of 457 individuals one year later.Our investigation showed that male plants,which usually produced one flower,were significantly smaller than and ro monoecious and hermaphrodite plants.In addition,the total flower numbers of andromonoecious and hermaphrodite plants increased significantly with plant size.Large individuals were more likely to produce terminal staminate flowers,as there were more flowers in andromonoecious than in hermaphrodite individuals.Non-flowered plants were significantly smaller than flowering ones.Perfect flowers had significantly larger petals and pistils than staminate flowers,but they did not differ in dry weight of stamens.Our findings indicate that when plants are small,the less costly sex is favored,consistent with the‘size-advantage hypothesis’.When plants are large,both female and male investments change isometrically,as later-produced flowers tend to be functionally male.

Effect of strawberry vein banding virus and strawberry mottle virus co-infection on the growth and development of strawberry

Strawberry mottle virus(SMoV)and strawberry vein banding virus(SVBV)cause diseases on strawberry plants,but the effect of coinfection of SMoV and SVBV on the growth,development,and defense system of strawberry(Fragaria×ananassa Duchesne)remains unknown.We investigated the effect of SMoV and SVBV coinfection on strawberry cultivar‘Benihope’.The results showed that stem diameter,leaf size,leaf number,relative chlorophyll content,total chlorophyll content,photosynthetic parameters,and stomatal aperture of SMoV and SVBV co-infected strawberry(VIS)plants were in a weaker level than uninfected control plants,indicating that viruses inhibited the growth and photosynthesis of strawberry plants.Furthermore,the initiation of flowering and fruiting stages of VIS plants were delayed by about three weeks compared with the controls,and the fruiting period was shortened,demonstrating that the reproduction of VIS plants was inhibited.Fruit quality was damaged in VIS plants due to a significant increase in fruit firmness and titratable acidity and decrease in total soluble solid content than control fruits.More dead cells and H_(2)O_(2) accumulated along the veins of VIS leaves,and the content of abscisic acid and catalase activity significantly increased,whereas anthocyanin content was lower than that of control plants.The results demonstrate that SVBV and SMoV coinfection inhibits the growth and development of‘Benihope’strawberry plants,and the plants respond to viruses by regulating stomatal aperture,the accumulation of ABA and antioxidants.To our knowledge,this study contributes information to understand how both viruses impair the strawberry growth and development for the first time.

Picturing the Times

Girls with flowers on their heads at a celebration for the traditional Ngarot festival in West Java,Indonesia,on December 13,2023.The festival is a traditional ceremony to welcome the rice planting season.

Cultural Transference of Plant and Animal Images in Shijing Translation

As one of the Confucian classics, Shijing （i~） occupies a pivotal position in the development of Chinese culture. This paper makes a comparative study on the English translation of plant and animal images in Shijing, trying to reveal the cultural connotations in them and to suggest some translation strategies for the correct transference of cultural implications in plant and animal images in the poems of this ancient book.

Study on Five-sense Landscape of Chu Ci Plants Based on NVivo

Chu Ci plants carry profound cultural connotation,and entrust with the poets’ rich emotional understanding and sensory experience.The plant-related sentences in Chu Ci were extracted by NVivo software,and the verses were analyzed and compared based on the five-sense theory.The five-sense images of plants in Chu Ci were extracted from the five aspects of vision,hearing,smell,touch and taste,and the five-sense landscape characteristics of Chu Ci plants were analyzed.The results showed that Chu Ci plants had rich five-sense images,profound artistic conception,magnificent momentum and bold imagination,and had good application potential in landscape architecture.This paper provides a reference for the landscape application of five-sense landscape of Chu Ci plants and a new idea for the inheritance and development of Chu Ci culture.

Key Techniques of Stereoscopic and Efficient Cultivation of Strawberry in Southern Xinjiang

Strawberry is rich in nutrition,which is the only fresh fruit in winter in southern Xinjiang,with good prospect of stereoscopic cultivation.In this paper,the key techniques such as stereoscopic cultivation pattern,the combination of different modes,the substrate of strawberry cultivation,the drip irrigation system,the formula of nutrient solution,the selection of varieties,the propagation of seed and seedling,the induction of flower buds,the planting and management of plants,and the green control of diseases and insect pests are introduced,and greenhouse space and solar energy are fully used to maximize the economic and social benefits of strawberry farming combined with tourism.The results will further promote the quality and efficiency of strawberry industry in southern Xinjiang,and provide a reference for strawberry growers.