Environmental stress affects basic organismal functioning and can cause physiological, developmental, and reproductive impairment. However, in many nonmodel organisms, the core molecular stress response remains poorly characterized and the extent to which stress-induced transcriptional changes differ across qualitatively different stress types is largely unexplored. The current study examines the molecular stress response of the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) using RNA sequencing and compares transcriptional responses to multiple stressors (heat, starvation, and plant defenses) at a standardized stress level (27% adult mortality).

Nitrogen (N) losses from terrestrial ecosystems can occur as inert forms or heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and via nitrate (NO₃⁻) leaching to drainage waters, which can contribute to eutrophication and anoxia in downstream ecosystems. Here, we use natural isotopes to demonstrate that microbial gaseous N production via denitrification is the dominant pathway of NO₃⁻ removal from forest ecosystems,

Our results provide evidence that PSB27, a soluble protein of the chloroplast thylakoid lumen, is essential for enabling plants to adapt to changes in light intensity. Adaptation takes place independently of photosystem II supercomplexes and, based on work of others, of state transitions for the redistribution of light harvesting proteins. This finding opens the door to pursue the question of how photosynthesis adjusts to fluctuating sunlight and enables plants to grow under ever-changing environmental conditions.

ATP-citrate lyase (ACL, EC4.1.3.8) catalyzes citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA in the cell cytosol, and has important roles in normal plant growth and in the biosynthesis of some secondary metabolites. We identified three ACL genes, CitACLα1, CitACLα2, and CitACLβ1, in the citrus genome database. Both CitACLα1 and CitACLα2 encode putative ACL α subunits with 82.5 % amino acid identity, whereas CitACLβ1 encodes a putative ACL β subunit

Nicotiana, a member of the Solanaceae family, is one of the most important research model plants, and of high agricultural and economic value worldwide. To better understand the substantial and rapid research progress with Nicotiana in recent years, its genomics, genetics, and nicotine gene studies are summarized, with useful web links. Several important genetic maps, including a high-density map of N. tabacum consisting of ~2,000 markers published in 2012, provide tools for genetics research.

The brown rice plant hopper (BRPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stal), is one of the most important insect pests affecting rice and causes serious damage to the yield and quality of rice plants in Asia. This study used bionic electronic nose technology to sample BRPH volatiles, which vary in age and amount. Principal component analysis (PCA), linear discrimination analysis (LDA), probabilistic neural network (PNN), BP neural network (BPNN) and loading analysis (Loadings) techniques were used to analyze the sampling data.

Plant protease inhibitors are a structurally highly diverse and ubiquitous class of small proteins, which play various roles in plant development and defense against pests and pathogens. Particular isoforms inhibit in vitro proteases and other enzymes that are not their natural substrates, for example proteases that have roles in human diseases.

Blast caused by fungal Magnaporthe oryzae is a devastating disease of rice worldwide, and this fungus also infects barley. At least 11 rice WRKY transcription factors have been reported to regulate rice response to M. oryzae either positively or negatively. However, the relationships of these WRKYs in the rice defense signaling pathway against M. oryzae are unknown. Previous studies have revealed that rice WRKY13 (as a transcriptional repressor) and WRKY45-2 enhance resistance to M. oryzae.

In a study on the correlation between tryptamine levels and sakuranetin accumulation in the Sekiguchi lesion mutant (SLM) of rice, accumulation was found to be light dependent after inoculation with Magnaporthe oryzae. It was also induced by treatment with tryptamine under white light, but not in the dark. Light-dependent sakuranetin accumulation induced by tryptamine treatment or by infection with M. oryzae was significantly inhibited in the leaves pretreated with metalaxyl, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

The draft genome of Tibetan hulless barley provides a robust framework to better understand Poaceae evolution and a substantial basis for functional genomics of crop species with a large genome. The expansion of stress-related gene families in Tibetan hulless barley implies that it could be considered as an invaluable gene resource aiding stress tolerance improvement in Triticeae crops.