Plant virology in the 21st century in China:Recent advances and future directions

Plant viruses are a group of intracellular pathogens that persistently threaten global food security.Significant advances in plant virology have been achieved by Chinese scientists over the last 20 years,including basic research and technologies for preventing and controlling plant viral diseases.Here,we review these milestones and advances,including the identification of new crop-infecting viruses,dissection of pathogenic mechanisms of multiple viruses,examination of multilayered interactions among viruses,their host plants,and virus-transmitting arthropod vectors,and in-depth interrogation of plantencoded resistance and susceptibility determinants.Notably,various plant virus-based vectors have also been successfully developed for gene function studies and target gene expression in plants.We also recommend future plant virology studies in China.

Mutations in FgPrp6 suppressive to the Fgprp4 mutant in Fusarium graminearum

The pre-mRNA processing factor Prp6 is an essential component of the U4/U6.U5 tri-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein(snRNP).In a previous study,mutations were identified in the PRP6 ortholog in four suppressors of Fgprp4 that was deleted of the only kinase FgPrp4 among the spliceosome components in the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum.In this study,we identified additional suppressor mutations in FgPrp6 and determined the suppressive effects of selected mutations.In total,12 mutations of FgPRP6 were identified in 20 suppressors of Fgprp4 by sequencing analysis.Whereas three mutation sites are in the linker region of FgPrp6,seven are in the first two HAT repeats.RNA-seq analysis showed that suppressor mutations on different sites caused different splicing efficiency recovery.The suppressive effects of E308K and R230H were verified.Similar to human and fission yeast,the FgPrp6 was phosphorylated by the FgPrp4 kinase.Interestingly,the conserved Prp4-phosphorylation sites T261,T219&T221,and predicted phosphorylation sites T199&T200 on FgPrp6 were dispensable for the function of FgPrp6 in hyphal growth and sexual reproduction but important in plant infection.They are required for the infectious growth of F.graminearum in wheat lemma.RNA-seq analysis of the wheat lemma infected with Fgprp6/FgPRP6^(Δ199-221)-GFP or Fgprp6/FgPRP6^(Δ250-262)-GFP showed that 28 and 35% introns had splicing defects,respectively,which may be responsible for their defects in plant infection.

Antifungal Effect of Plant Extract and Essential Oil

The advancement of phytochemical and phytopharmacological sciences has enabled elucidation of the composition and biological activities of several medicinal plant products including plant extract and essential oils. These products have been widely used around the world since ancient times for the treatment of various disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, peptic ulcer disease, microbial infection, sexual disorder and many more. Its popularity in the modern system of medicine is mainly due to their availability and fewer adverse reactions compared to synthetic drugs. Various scientific investigations have been conducted to look for the potential of the extract from the plant or isolated compounds for the continued use of these products in the treatment and prevention of various kinds of human diseases. It is evident from the available literature and scientific investigations that many plant species possess potential for use as a beneficial therapeutic remedy with multiple pharmacological actions such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, hypoglycemic, hypotensive, antimicrobial, antiulcer and anticonvulsant activities. The present review aims to provide relevant updated information about certain plant products, its composition, preparation and its fungicidal or fungistatic effects on different species of fungus as evaluated by studies done in the past. It introduces six medicinal plants that have been studied for their antifungal property and are found to be effective. The overall objective is to provide comprehensive information about the use of plant extract and essential oil for treating fungal infections and to explore the evidence supporting its effectiveness in treating fungal diseases without causing any serious adverse reactions.