Climate change is expected to decrease water availability in many agricultural production areas around the globe. Therefore, plants with improved ability to grow under water deficit are urgently needed. We combined genetic, phenomic, and physiological approaches to understand the relationship between growth, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, and carbon isotope composition in maize (Zea mays L.). Using near-isogenic lines derived from a maize introgression library, we analysed the effects of a genomic region previously identified as affecting carbon isotope composition.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a globally important crop with an economic value in the tens of billions of dollars, and a significant supplier of essential vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals in the human diet. Shelf life is a key quality trait related to alterations in cuticle properties and remodelling of the fruit cell walls. Studies with transgenic tomato plants undertaken over the last 20 years have indicated that a range of pectin degrading enzymes are involved in cell wall remodelling.

The ladybird Propylea japonica, adults of the green lacewing Chrysoperla nipponensis and the honey bee Apis mellifera are common pollen feeders in many crop systems. They could therefore be directly exposed to Cry proteins in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-transgenic crop fields by ingestion of pollen. They, or closely related species, are therefore often selected as surrogate test species in non-target risk assessment of Bt plants.

Most of the commercialized insect resistant transgenic crops express cry gene(s) isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis; however, intensive cultivation of Bt crops over almost two decades has been questioned regarding its sustainability and durability in pest management. The present study focused on silencing of highly specific molting-associated Ecdysone receptor (EcR) gene of Colorado potato beetle (CPB) using RNA interference (RNAi) approach.

In plants, abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) proteins have been shown to impart tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity. However, their roles in metal stress tolerance are poorly understood. To screen plant Cd-tolerance genes, the yeast-based gene hunting method which aimed to screen Cd-tolerance colonies from maize leaf cDNA library hosted in yeast was carried out. Here, maize ZmASR1 was identified to be putative Cd-tolerant through this survival screening strategy

Abiotic stresses such as extreme heat, cold, drought, and salt have brought alteration in plant growth and development, threatening crop yield and quality leading to global food insecurity. Many factors plays crucial role in regulating various plant growth and developmental processes during abiotic stresses. Ethylene response factors (ERFs) are AP2/ERF superfamily proteins belonging to the largest family of transcription factors known to participate during multiple abiotic stress tolerance such as salt, drought, heat, and cold with well-conserved DNA-binding domain.

Map-based cloning of plant disease resistance (R) genes is time-consuming. Here, we reported the isolation of blast R gene Pid4 using comparative transcriptomic profiling and genome-wide sequence analysis. Pid4 encodes a coiled-coil nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (CC-NBS-LRR) protein and is constitutively expressed at diverse developmental stages in the rice variety Digu. The Pid4 protein is localized in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Introduction of Pid4 into susceptible rice cultivars confers race-specific resistance to leaf and neck blast.

Aluminum (Al³⁺) on acidic soils, which represent half of the world’s agricultural lands, damages plant roots. In Africa, where sorghum is a staple food, 20% of the agricultural soils are acidic, significantly reducing yields. SbMATE confers sorghum Al tolerance via root citrate exudation into the soil, where citrate binds and detoxifies Al³⁺, but shows reduced expression in some genetic backgrounds. This phenomenon results from the action of a variable tandem repeat flanking a transposon in the SbMATE promoter working in concert with WRKY and zinc finger-DHHC proteins, which bind to the SbMATE promoter and regulate expression in response to Al³⁺.

Understanding diversity and evolution of a crop is an essential step to implement a strategy to expand its germplasm base for crop improvement research. Accessions intensively collected from Korea, which is a small but central region in the distribution geography of soybean, were genotyped to provide sufficient data to underpin population genetic questions. After removing natural hybrids and duplicated or redundant accessions, we obtained a non-redundant set comprising 1957 domesticated and 1079 wild accessions to perform population structure analyses.

Food security under climate change depends on the yield performance of staple food crops. We found a decline in the climate resilience of European wheat in most countries during the last 5 to 15 y, depending on the country. The yield responses of all the cultivars to different weather events were relatively similar within northern and central Europe, within southern European countries, and specifically regarding durum wheat.