This review compares trichome and trichome-derived epidermal appendage development across model glycophytes and halophytes, revealing that conserved regulatory modules are independently rewired into lineage specific circuits to produce diverse epidermal structures. In halophytes, salt glands and epidermal bladder cells further integrate these developmental programs with ion transport and stress physiology, offering entry points for engineering crop stress resilience. Trichome-derived epidermal structures have arisen repeatedly across angiosperms, yet the mechanisms by which conserved epidermal regulators are redeployed into lineage-specific developmental circuits remain incompletely understood. Here, we present a comparative synthesis of trichome and trichome-derived epidermal appendage development across representative glycophytes (Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Solanum lycopersicum, and Gossypium hirsutum) and extend this framework to halophytic species with specialized salt-handling structures. These systems reveal how MYB-bHLH-WD40, WOX-AP2/ERF-auxin, HD-ZIP IV-bHLH-JA, and expanded MYB/HD-ZIP networks have been independently rewired to produce unicellular hairs, secretory glands, and highly elongated fibers. In halophytes, these developmental modules are further integrated with ion transport, vesicle trafficking, and osmotic regulation pathways, enabling the emergence of salt glands and epidermal bladder cells with specialized physiological functions. By synthesizing these trajectories, we propose a unifying regulatory model for epidermal evolution. We additionally highlight potential entry points for engineering trichome traits, improved metabolite production, and synthetic salt-handling epidermal structures for crop stress resilience.

Lettuce is a critical leafy vegetable consumed worldwide and is a substantial dietary source of health-promoting compounds. Exploring changes in metabolism during lettuce domestication under artificial selection conditions is important to facilitate further breeding and cultivation for quality improvement. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach was used to putatively identify 237 metabolites from 40 accessions, of which 130 were identified as metabolite identification level 1. Subsequently, 29 metabolites linked to lettuce quality improvement and their potential associated genes involved in lettuce domestication and differentiation were analysed. Muti-omics approach showed that metabolites involved in flavonol biosynthesis are the main metabolic distinctions between wild and modern cultivars, which is attributable to the selection signal observed in LsF3 ' H, a key enzyme involved in the catalysis of flavonoid hydroxylation at the 3 '-position. These findings provide a comprehensive view of quality- and flavour-related metabolite variation in lettuce, reveal the potential for quality improvement associated with flavonol biosynthesis, and offer valuable insights into the genetic basis for improving lettuce flavour and nutrition.

Rice production in water-limited regions is increasingly constrained by drought and water-saving irrigation practices, which can compromise grain yield and quality by altering starch structure and functionality. The starch-structural basis underlying cultivar differences in yield and quality stability under different irrigation remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated and analyzed changes in grain starch structure, physicochemical properties, and grain yield and quality in two varieties, the water-saving and drought-resistance rice cultivar Hanyou 116 (HY116) and the drought-sensitive rice cultivar Xieheyou 836 (XHY836) grown under five levels of irrigation volume. The results showed that drought stress significantly reduced grain yield, head rice rate, starch content, and pasting properties in both cultivars, and altered starch chain length distribution and crystallinity. Compared with XHY836, HY116 consistently exhibited higher yield stability, better milling and appearance quality, smaller increases in retrogradation and digestibility, and smaller changes in starch structure regardless of irrigation. By maintaining a relatively stable starch chain length distribution and crystalline structure, HY116 showed an enhanced resilience of starch physicochemical properties under different irrigation levels, demonstrating superior quality stability.

Drought increasingly constrains rice production and quality, yet the pathways by which water limitation reshapes rhizosphere fungal assembly and function, and how these changes translate into yield outcomes, remain unclear. Here, we conducted field trials with 24 rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties spanning indica and japonica backgrounds under full irrigation and deficit irrigation conditions, profiled rhizosphere fungi, and quantified key yield traits. While drought ubiquitously reduced yields, we identified distinct subspecies-specific adaptation syndromes. Drought decreased fungal richness and shifted community assembly toward greater stochasticity. Under drought, indica exhibited intensified microbial interactions, enriched pathogenic and symbiotic guilds, but a significant reduction in saprotrophic fungi; in contrast, japonica showed community contraction with lower fungal diversity, consistent with stress-driven resource optimization. Further, path models indicated that indica yield was governed primarily by direct effects of water availability, whereas japonica yield benefited indirectly from putatively functional taxa, particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Reflecting this indirect link, glomalin-related soil proteins, largely secreted by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, were strongly and positively correlated with rice yield, suggesting their contribution to soil structural stability and quality that underpin productivity. By linking ecological assembly theory to agronomic performance, our study clarifies the divergent microbial underpinnings of drought resilience, offering a strategic framework for microbiome-aware crop improvement in the face of accelerating climatic aridity.

Seed storage conditions are critical determinants of rice seed viability and subsequent germination performance; however, the extent to which biochar-based seed coatings enhance storage tolerance and the underlying physiological mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, biochar-coated and uncoated rice seeds were stored for 0–8 months under three contrasting conditions: low temperature, room temperature with low humidity, and room temperature with high humidity. Seed germination characteristics, seedling establishment, respiratory metabolism, carbohydrate contents, activities of key starch-metabolizing enzymes, and changes in endosperm ultrastructure were systematically assessed. Low-temperature and room-temperature/low-humidity storage effectively maintained seed germination and seedling growth, whereas storage under room-temperature/high-humidity conditions for 4 (coated seeds) or 6 (uncoated seeds) months markedly accelerated seed deterioration. Across all storage regimes, biochar-coated seeds consistently exhibited higher germination percentages, improved emergence performance, and greater seedling biomass compared with uncoated seeds, with a pronounced delay in vigor decline under high-humidity conditions. Seed deterioration was closely associated with suppressed respiratory activity, reduced soluble protein levels, and impaired starch and sugar metabolism, as evidenced by declines in starch and soluble sugar contents, decreased activities of α-amylase, β-amylase, and sucrose synthase, and disruption of endosperm starch granule structure. In contrast, biochar coating partially maintained these metabolic processes and alleviated structural degradation of the endosperm. Overall, biochar coating enhances the storage tolerance of rice seeds under adverse storage conditions by preserving metabolic activity and endosperm structural integrity, highlighting its potential as an effective strategy to improve seed longevity and storage performance.

Water-saving and drought-resistance rice (WDR) is an emerging crop type that combines the high yield and good quality of paddy rice with the water-saving and drought-resistance characteristics of upland rice. This paper systematically summarized the breeding theories, variety development strategies, and application outcomes of WDR in marginal lands, including waterlogged drylands, reclaimed wasteland, and saline-alkali soils. The keys of cultivation technology were summarized focusing on dry direct-seeding with aerobic cultivation. In response to current promotion challenges, future development directions were proposed, focusing on fundamental research, breakthrough variety breeding, integrated green cultivation techniques, and whole-industry-chain collaboration. This review aims to provide theoretical and practical guidance for WDR research and industrialization.

Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, describes the superior growth, yield and adaptability of F1 hybrids from genetically diverse parents and is vital for global food security. Although widely applied for over a century, its molecular basis remains unresolved. Classical hypotheses, including dominance, overdominance and epistasis, serve as theoretical frameworks to explain this complex phenomenon. Recent progress in genomics and multi-omics technologies has deepened our understanding, but genome-level insights alone are insufficient to fully account for hybrid performance. This review synthesizes current advances in elucidating the genetic architecture and regulatory mechanisms underlying heterosis in rice. It emphasizes key genetic loci, the integration of high-throughput omics data, and insights gained from structural variation and plant-microbiome interactions. By integrating diverse omics layers through classical genetic frameworks, the field is moving towards a more comprehensive model of heterosis. These advances offer new strategies for molecular design breeding in rice and point to future directions for enhancing the utilization of heterosis in crop improvement.

Drought, a major abiotic stressor affecting global agricultural productivity, significantly reduces crop yields and threatens food security worldwide. As the primary organ for perceiving soil moisture signals and absorbing water, the crop root system architecture plays a pivotal role in plant adaptation to drought conditions. With the development of high-throughput imaging technologies (i.e., 2D/3D image acquisition), high-throughput genotyping platforms, and gene-editing technologies, significant progress has been achieved in the characterization of root traits and the dissection of molecular genetic regulatory networks underlying these traits in crops. This review comprehensively synthesizes recent advances in the phenotypic characterization, underlying molecular regulatory networks, and functional roles of key root architectural traits, including the root length, angle, density, and root hair development, in enhancing drought resilience. Finally, we discuss the existing challenges in the current research and provide an outlook on the future trend of integrating multi-omics, high-throughput phenomics, and genome editing technologies to breed new drought-resistant crop varieties with ideal drought-resistant root architectures.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is an economically important leafy vegetable worldwide. Improving lettuce yield is vital to stabilize vegetable supply and satisfy market demand in China. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) represent a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to facilitate crop growth. To uncover cultivar-specific growth responses of lettuce to PGPR and reveal the underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms, two Bacillus velezensis strains (JB0319 and SAAS-6–3) were tested on two newly bred lettuce cultivars, Huqian and Binfen-3.Our results revealed obvious cultivar-dependent growth phenotypes. Inoculation with either strain significantly improved the biomass of Huqian, with SAAS-6–3 showing superior growth-promoting efficiency compared with JB0319. However, neither strain induced significant growth stimulation in Binfen-3. Physiological measurements demonstrated that bacterial inoculation increased soluble protein concentration in Huqian leaves. Endogenous hormone quantification further confirmed elevated levels of gibberellin (GA₃) and auxin (IAA) upon inoculation.To dissect the molecular mechanism, integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were carried out on Huqian. We identified 672 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), mainly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction, zeatin biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid and anthocyanin biosynthesis pathways. The detected differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were predominantly associated with ABC transporters, amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) further identified two core modules (MEblue and MEyellow) closely linked to SAAS-6–3 treatment, forming a coordinated “material supply - signal regulation” cascade supporting lettuce growth.Collectively, strain SAAS-6–3 stimulates Huqian growth by activating IAA and GA₃ biosynthetic pathways. The increased endogenous phytohormones synergistically modulate central carbon and nitrogen metabolism as well as transport processes, eventually enhancing biomass accumulation. This work clarifies the cultivar-specific effects of B. velezensis and provides theoretical support for precision application of PGPR agents in sustainable lettuce cultivation.

Exogenous halide ions in aquatic environments can generate highly toxic halogenated disinfection byproducts during the advanced oxidation process, posing new environmental risks. However, the release of halide ions from widely utilized halide-containing catalysts and subsequent formation of these highly toxic byproducts have largely been overlooked. Herein, in this study, metallic Bi deposited onto BiOI to promote peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA). The results showed that the degradation rate constant of BPA on Bi/BiOI (0.323 min-1) was 8.97 times higher than that on pristine BiOI (0.036 min-1). Mechanism studies revealed that the active sites (Bi/Bi(III)) of Bi/BiOI undergo strong covalent hybridization with the p-orbitals of oxygen in PDS. This interaction disrupted the local structure of Bi/BiOI, thereby liberating iodide ions (∼0.11 mM). Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis demonstrated that the released iodide ions were locally oxidized by surface-adsorbed sulfate (Bi-*SO4·-) into reactive iodine species. Consequently, these reactive iodine species attacked BPA to form highly toxic iodinated byproducts and dimers, as identified via high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS). This study provides new insights into the activation mechanism of PDS by Bi/BiOI and highlights potential environmental risks of deploying BiOX-based catalysts to activate oxidants for pollutants degradation.

As the most estrogenic synthetic hormone, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) exhibits potent environmental toxicity even at trace concentrations. Consequently, developing innovative strategies to safely and effectively remove EE2 from water is of paramount importance. In this study, a CeO2/BiOI Z-scheme heterojunction composite catalyst supported on activated carbon black (CB@AC) with dual functionalities of adsorption and photocatalysis was successfully synthesized for EE2 degradation. The introduced activated carbon black significantly suppressed carrier recombination and facilitated interfacial charge transfer. Concurrently, the hierarchical porous structure and surface interaction sites promoted EE2 enrichment near the photocatalytic interface. This synergy enabled efficient EE2 degradation across a 1-20 mg/L range, yielding a remarkable rate constant of 0.1037 min-1 at 12 mg/L. Furthermore, its hierarchical porous structure and surface charge characteristics effectively mitigated competitive interference from coexisting ions and natural organic matter. Consequently, the CB@AC catalyst maintained over 80% degradation efficiency after five consecutive cycles, demonstrating stability and practical potential far superior to those of the CB catalyst (which only retained 27%). Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and reactive species trapping experiments identified holes (h⁺) and superoxide radicals (O2·-) as the dominant reactive species. Cell viability tests indicated substantial attenuation of the estrogenic activity. Overall, this work highlights the dual synergistic role of activated carbon black in adsorption-enrichment and electron regulation, providing a novel strategy for designing anti-interference, highly stable bifunctional photocatalysts.

Drought severely limits global rice production, and the exploitation of heterosis offers a promising route for improving drought resistance. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie drought resistance in hybrid rice remain largely unknown. Here, we performed integrated multi-omics analyses of flag leaves from the elite hybrid rice Hanyou73 (HY73) and its parental lines, Hanhui3 (HH3) and Huhan7B (HH7B), during grain filling under drought. We discovered that non-additive effect (NAE)-driven carbon metabolic reprogramming is fundamental to HY73's superior drought resistance. Proteomic profiling revealed that HY73 prioritizes carbon metabolism, selectively retaining monosaccharides (MOSs) such as glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) and glucose-1-phosphate (G1P) to bolster stress-buffering processes. Subsequent metabolomic analysis revealed that this carbon retention fuels a hybrid-specific MOS-acetyl-coenzyme A (AcCoA)-fatty acyl/prenol lipid (MOS-AcCoA-FA/PR) shunt that diverts carbon into vital lipid-based hormonal, structural, and energetic processes. Importantly, NAE-driven accumulation of AcCoA is correlated with increased lysine acetylation (Kac) in HY73, indicating a connection between metabolism and post-translational regulation. Acetylomic analyses pinpointed acetylation at lysine 155 (K155ac) on the phosphoglucomutase OsPGM3 as a key regulatory switch in carbon metabolism. OsPGM3 governs the balance between G6P and G1P under drought, coordinating local carbon use for the sugar-lipid shunt with the sugar export vital for yield potential. K155ac precisely fine-tunes OsPGM3 activity, acting as a post-translational checkpoint that is responsive to drought-induced carbon shifts. Together, our findings reveal a hybrid-specific NAE-carbon flux-Kac regulatory axis that precisely balances drought adaptation with yield maintenance, offering new targets for the breeding of climate-resilient hybrid rice.

Deep rooting is an important factor affecting rice drought avoidance. However, few genes that control this trait have been identified in rice. In the present work, we cloned a gene, OsIAA8, associated with a rice quantitative trait locus for deep rooting. Overexpression of OsIAA8 increased deep rooting and yield under drought stress. OsIAA8, which encodes an Aux/IAA protein, interacts with auxin response factor OsARF12, and osarfl2 mutant plants also displayed increased deep rooting. The expression of several auxin transport genes (e.g., OsPIN2 and OsPIN8) was down-regulated in OsIAA8-overexpressing rice plants. OsARF12 promotes the transcription of these genes, whereas OsIAA8 inhibited this transcription activation. Furthermore, the auxin content in the roots of OsIAA8-overexpressing plants was reduced compared with wild type plants. Of five haplotypes at the OsIAA8 locus, accessions carrying Hap 2 had higher deep rooting. This study revealed that OsIAA8-OsARF12 module regulates deep rooting by inhibiting auxin transport, providing the insights into improvement of root architecture and drought resistance in rice breeding.

Water-saving and drought-resistance rice (WDR) is crucial for sustainable cultivation under water scarcity, yet its productivity is increasingly compromised by rice blast and bacterial blight (BB). A systematic assessment of resistance gene deployment in elite WDR parents is urgently needed to guide resistance breeding. We dissected the resistance architecture of 47 core WDR parental lines by genotyping 11 blast and 4 BB resistance genes. For blast, Ptr was nearly fixed (97.9

Drought stress severely impacts crop productivity. As a subclass of plant transcription factors, APETALA2/Ethylene Responsive Factors (AP2/ERFs) play crucial roles in plant development and abiotic stress responses. In rice, the functions of many members of the ERF subfamily of AP2/ERFs in drought resistance remain unclear. Here, we characterized the function of OsERF65, an ERF transcription factor gene from indica rice cultivar ‘Zhenshan97B’(ZS97B), in drought tolerance. Overexpression of OsERF65ZS97B significantly enhanced the drought tolerance of transgenic rice. In contrast, its knockout reduced rice drought tolerance. Transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) genes were significantly up-regulated in OsERF65-overexpressing rice plants. Further assays verified that OsERF65 binds to the promoters and activates the transcription of LEA genes. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that OsERF65 could interact with OsMYB48 and other transcription factors. Additionally, five haplotypes of OsERF65 were identified in rice germplasm, with Hap1 dominant in indica rice and Hap2 dominant in japonica rice. The OsERF65Hap1 encoded protein exhibited stronger transcriptional activation activity than OsERF65Hap2. Collectively, our findings reveal an indica rice-derived ERF transcription factor that positively regulates drought tolerance via upregulation of LEA genes.

To investigate changes in rice starch structure and properties under different water conditions, this study examined three rice varieties with contrasting drought tolerance—a drought-sensitive variety (Huazheyou 1, HZY1), a moderately drought-resistant variety (Hanyou 3015, HY3015), and a drought-resistant variety (Hanyou 73, HY73)—under continuous flooding (CF), moderate alternate wetting and drying (MAWD), and severe alternate wetting and drying (SAWD). The results showed that drought stress disrupted starch granule integrity, increasing short amylopectin chains and amylose content while reducing long chains (B2/B3), relative crystallinity, and double-helical structures. Consequently, starch viscosity and thermal stability declined, whereas digestibility increased. Notably, HY73 exhibited greater structural and functional stability, which was associated with sustained activities of key starch-synthesizing enzymes. These findings indicate that drought-tolerant rice maintains starch quality under water stress by coordinating enzyme activity and multiscale structural integrity, providing a theoretical basis for breeding high-quality, water-saving rice varieties.

IntroductionFilm mulching is an effective water-saving cultivation technique, but its regulatory mechanism on yield and grain quality of water-saving and drought-resistant rice remains unclear. This study aims to investigate how biodegradable film mulching affects rice performance and rhizosphere soil metabolism under non-flooded conditions.MethodsField experiments were conducted in 2021 and 2022 using the water-saving and drought-resistant rice cultivar Hanyou 73 (HY73). Three cultivation treatments were applied: traditional flooded cultivation (TF), non-flooded unmulched cultivation (UM), and non-flooded biodegradable film mulching cultivation (BM). Yield components, grain quality parameters, and key enzyme activities involved in starch metabolism (SuSase, AGPase, StSase) were measured. A pot experiment was performed in 2023 to analyze rhizosphere soil metabolites using untargeted metabolomics.ResultsCompared with UM, BM significantly increased rice yield by 47.5% (2021) and 49.0% (2022), reaching levels comparable to TF with no significant difference. The UM treatment severely degraded grain quality: head milled rice rate decreased by 4.04% (2021), eating quality score dropped by 12.62% (2022), amylose content declined by 16.07% (2022), and chalky grain rate increased by 57.71% (2022) relative to TF. During the early grain-filling stage, SuSase, AGPase, and StSase activities in UM grains were significantly lower than those in TF and BM, though they showed compensatory increases at later stages. Metabolomics analysis revealed that BM regulated root microecology by reshaping the composition of soil fatty acids and other metabolites.DiscussionBiodegradable film mulching enhances yield and preserves grain quality of water-saving and drought-resistant rice, primarily by optimizing starch synthesis enzyme activities during early grain filling and modulating rhizosphere soil metabolic profiles. These findings provide a theoretical basis for promoting sustainable and efficient rice cultivation using film mulching practices.

Water scarcity challenges sustainable rice production, necessitating water-saving strategies like dry-direct seeding with non-flooded (DSN) regimes. In this study, two-year field experiments were conducted using water-saving and drought-resistance rice (WDR) Hanyou 73 (HY73) and drought-sensitive Huazheyou 1 (HZY1). Under the DSN regime, both varieties exhibited a significant increase in the proportion of short branches and a decrease in long branches of amylopectin, resulting in reduced relative crystallinity and increased amorphous regions. This ultimately led to lower gelatinization temperature and setback viscosity, and higher breakdown viscosity. Meanwhile, the DSN regime increased the number of small starch granules, enhancing swelling power, solubility, and digestibility. Compared with HZY1, HY73 maintained a more stable chain length distribution and physicochemical properties under the DSN regime, exhibiting more suitable thermal and pasting characteristics. This study provides a theoretical basis for the promotion of WDR varieties under dry cultivation conditions.

Lettuce is a globally important economic crop, and accurate prediction of its growth and yield is of great importance for its breeding and commercialization. In this study, we developed an image-based software for lettuce growth and yield prediction. Using a dataset of 15,187 background-free images of 237 lettuce varieties representing six major types, we trained a high-accuracy classification model (98.7%). Based on this classification model, using a generative adversarial network (GAN), we developed the first single image-based stepwise growth prediction model which could generate the images of lettuce in the coming 5 days during growth period (SSIM=0.948). Based on these developed models, we proposed three methods of image-based yield prediction, achieving a maximum prediction accuracy of 0.80. Finally, we integrated these models and methods into a user-friendly desktop application and named it the Advanced Lettuce for lettuce segmentation, classification, growth prediction, and yield prediction. Case study using an independently collected dataset further demonstrated the practical applicability of the software under realistic field conditions. Overall, this study developed an integrated lettuce growth and yield prediction software that may facilitate lettuce phenotyping, breeding, and production research.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a globally cultivated leafy vegetable with leafy morphology critically influencing consumer preference and market value. Despite the agronomic importance of leaf traits, the genetic basis underlying their diversity remains poorly characterized. To address this, we resequenced 811 accessions collected from major lettuce production areas as well as the relative wild species, and developed a publicly accessible core collection of 268 accessions that captures 99.4% of the total genetic variation. Phenotypic evaluation of 16 leaf morphological traits across two growing seasons identified significant correlations, including negative associations between plant width and anthocyanin content, and positive correlations between apical margin incision and multiple traits. Population structure analysis revealed frequent introgression events from looseleaf type into domesticated varieties (butterhead, crisphead, romaine, and stem lettuce), highlighting dynamic gene flow during breeding. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) pinpointed 13 robust quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes regulating leaf morphology, including a validated anthocyanin biosynthesis regulator (ANS). Notably, we pinpointed the causal gene genotypes responsible for leaf anthocyanin coloration. Leveraging these findings, we successfully aggregated favorable alleles through genomic design breeding to develop a novel high-anthocyanin variety binfen5 with desirable leaf morphology. This integrative approach demonstrates the value of core germplasms and genomic tools for accelerating lettuce improvement.