Shoot branching in plants (including tillering in graminaceous crops) is a key agronomic trait affecting plant architecture, resource allocation, and final yield. Branching is a complex developmental process modulated by genetic networks regulating axillary meristem (AM) initiation and subsequent bud activation. This review summarizes the genetic regulatory networks identified in model plants, specifically Arabidopsis thaliana (a dicot) and Oryza sativa (a monocot). Building on this cross-species theoretical framework, we focus on soybean (Glycine max), a major economic crop, and provide a comprehensive analysis of recent progress in the functional characterization of branch number specific regulators and quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Given the bottlenecks in soybean architecture improvement resulting from its complex and highly redundant genome, recalcitrance to genetic transformation, and high environmental sensitivity, we discuss potential strategies based on multidisciplinary approaches and emerging technologies. This review aims to provide a new insight for shaping the ideal plant architecture in soybean through molecular design breeding.
Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient involved in reproductive development, fruit growth, yield formation, and quality of horticultural crops. It contributes to cell wall integrity, membrane function, carbohydrate transport, pollen germination and pollen tube growth, fruit set, and nutrient translocation. B availability influences reproductive development, yield, and fruit quality, with both deficiency and excess adversely affecting crop performance, while optimal B nutrition can promote fruit development and quality. However, B responses vary considerably with crop species and cultivar, initial B status, application rate and source, and environmental conditions. This review critically examines the physiological and biochemical roles of B and the proposed mechanisms underlying its effects in horticultural crops, with emphasis on reproductive development, yield, fruit quality, and postharvest performance. It evaluates variability and limitations in the available evidence, particularly dose- and crop-dependent responses, and critically assesses the emerging use of nano-boron, including concerns related to phytotoxicity, environmental safety, nanoparticle stability, economic feasibility, and limited field validation. Although nano-boron has shown promising potential, current evidence remains insufficient to establish its consistent superiority over conventional B sources across horticultural crops. Key research gaps and priorities for developing safe, effective, and field-applicable B management strategies are also identified.
Accurate sowing-quality assessment of maize seedling trays requires both reliable seed localisation and correct correspondence between detected seeds and physical tray cells. This study presents a semi-automated machine-vision framework combining heatmap-based seed-centre localisation, sliding-window inference, global non-maximum suppression (NMS), and four-corner-calibrated adaptive grid assignment. Each assessable cell was classified as empty, single-seeded, or multi-seeded according to the number of assigned seed centres. On source-image-independent subsets, the framework achieved an accuracy of 0.9821 and a macro F1-score of 0.9040 for 27 complete-tray images (3,456 cells), and 0.9798 and 0.9344, respectively, for 9 visible-cell images (1,140 assessable cells). Separately, the larger evaluation sets yielded accuracy/macro F1 values of 0.9783/0.9145 for 44 complete trays and 0.9782/0.9368 for 30 visible-cell images. These results support cell-level sowing-quality assessment under the evaluated acquisition conditions and within manually assessable regions. The source-image-independent subsets control direct source overlap but remain within the same acquisition domain; external generalisation across production sites, imaging devices, tray specifications, and acquisition conditions has not yet been established.
IntroductionCucumber is a heat- and salt-stress-sensitive vegetable crop, whose productivity and marketability are endangered by increasing temperatures and soil salinization driven by climate change. Combined stresses are becoming frequent, yet their interactive effects remain poorly understood.MethodologyThe current study evaluated the negative impacts of high temperature (HT, 40 °C) and salinity (75 and 150 mM NaCl) alone and in combination on cucumber seedlings, under a triplicated completely randomized design. Standard plant growth parameters, micro- and macronutrients, phytohormones, photosynthetic pigment concentrations, oxidative stress biomarkers, osmo-protectants, and antioxidant enzymes were recorded.ResultsCombined HT and 150 mM salt stress caused greater damage to photosynthetic pigments (49-68%), and >98% reduction in growth-promoting hormones, resulting in reduced plant growth (67-93%). Combined stress drastically depleted essential nutrients (94-99.6%) despite lower Na+ and Cl- ion concentrations compared to 150 mM NaCl stress alone. Reduced plant growth under combined heat–salinity stress was associated with pronounced disturbances in mineral nutrition and ion homeostasis, although the relative contributions of nutrient imbalance and ionic toxicity could not be distinguished based on tissue mineral concentrations alone. Moreover, plant growth reprogramming toward survival rather than growth was observed with a 206-fold increase in abscisic acid (ABA) and ~99% decline in indole acetic acid, gibberellic acid, and zeatin. Intensified oxidative stress stimulated coordinated activation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) scavenging enzymes, and glutathione-dependent redox metabolism (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and glutathione-S-transferase increased by 36-, 38-, 41- and 54-fold, respectively), but these remained insufficient to prevent oxidative damage. However, HT and salinity stress triggered distinct pathways: HT preferentially promoted hydrogen peroxide accumulation and activated antioxidant defenses, while salt stress caused greater damage through membrane lipid peroxidation along with ionic imbalance.ConclusionThese findings suggest that salinity primarily caused physiological impairment, whereas HT amplified oxidative signaling and antioxidant metabolism, providing new insights and potential targets for developing cucumber cultivars with enhanced tolerance to combined stresses. Future research should integrate multi-omics technologies with functional genomics to study the molecular networks regulating nutrient homeostasis, antioxidant metabolism, and ABA signaling under combined stress.
