Huruan1212 (HR1212) is well-regarded for its superior eating and cooking quality in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Still, its high susceptibility to rice panicle blast and lack of fragrance have limited its further spread and utilization. Pigm and Pi-ta are two dominant genes known for their stable broad-spectrum resistance against rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, while badh2 is the crucial gene that regulates rice aroma.

The start of seed germination is a major decision point in plant life cycle, which relies on seed stored mRNA. However, the underlying translational mechanism remains less illustrated. Here, we demonstrate that inhibiting translation using translation inhibitors and ribosome-defective mutants delays germination in Arabidopsis. Through comprehensive transcriptome deep sequencing (RNA-seq) and polysome profiling analyses,

Maize (Zea mays L.) growth and yield are severely limited by drought stress worldwide. Stomata play crucial roles in transpiration and gas exchange and are thus essential for improving plant water-use efficiency (WUE) to help plants deal with the threat of drought. In this study, we characterized the maize dsd1 (decreased stomatal density 1) mutant, which showed defects in stomatal development,

This research aimed to understand the critical role of adopting advanced breeding tools and optimizing breeding strategies to ensure the sustainability and success of public breeding programs in meeting future food security challenges. In this context, there are two main objectives: estimate the genetic gains achieved over 110 years in the rice breeding program of Louisiana State University (LSU);

Many human phenotypic traits vary between the sexes, including adult height for which males are, on average, 13 cm taller than females. The biological mechanisms for this sexual dimorphism are not entirely understood. One hypothesis to explain the sexual dimorphism in height relates to differential expression in males and females of SHOX, a height-related gene in the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) on the X and Y sex chromosomes

Cotton fiber strength (FS), length (FL), and fineness are economically important quality-related traits. Although many genes related to fiber quality were identified recently, the molecular mechanism controlling fiber quality remains largely unknown

Auxin is the most important phytohormone, regulating root growth and development in plants. ARFs function as central regulators in auxin signaling in model plants, and the functions of ARF activators have been widely investigated, while the functions of ARF repressors remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the family of GmARFs in soybean through a genome-wide expression pattern and functional study of roots highly expressing ARFs

Integrating, learning from, and predicting using vast datasets from various scales, platforms, and species is crucial for advancing crop improvement through breeding. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad category of methods, many of which have been used in breeding for decades. Recent years have seen an explosion of new AI tools (or old ones at new scales), with exciting applications, both demonstrated and potential, to improve or maybe even revolutionize plant breeding!

To maintain growth and to successfully reproduce, organisms must protect key functions in specific tissues, particularly when countering pathogen invasion using internal defensive proteins that may disrupt their own developmental processes. The rice immune receptor XA21 confers race-specific resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, which causes the deadly disease bacterial leaf blight.

The two-line hybrid rice system, a cutting-edge hybrid rice breeding technology, has greatly boosted global food security. In thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) lines, the critical sterility-inducing temperature (CSIT; the temperature at which TGMS lines change from male fertile to complete male sterile) acts as a key threshold. We recently uncovered that thermo-sensitive genic male sterility 5 (tms5), a sterile locus presenting in over 95% of TGMS lines