In the present investigation, a reproducible in vitro regeneration protocol was established for three okra cultivars— Pusa Sawani, Pusa Bhindi-5 and Pusa Lal Bhindi-1 -using hypocotyl and cotyledonary leaf explants. The explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) comprising various auxin-cytokinin concentrations. MS mediumcontaining 2.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), 0.5 mg/L α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 200 mg/L activated charcoal (AC) was the most responsive,showing a mean organogenic callus induction frequency of 73.79% from hypocotyl explants across all three cultivars. This was followed by MS medium having1.0 mg/LBAP, 0.5 mg/L NAA,200 mg/L AC (66.50%) and 2.0 mg/L Zeatin,0.2 mg/L NAA,200 mg/LAC (65.29%). Cotyledonary leaf explants exhibiteda maximum callus induction frequency of 66.73% under the same hormonal combination. The lowest callus induction (23.18–24.28%) was observed on MS medium containing1.0 TDZ, 0.1 NAA,200 AC for both theexplants.The highest shoot induction (71.17%) with the earliest shoot bud emergence (13.25 days) was achieved on MS medium augmented with 2.0mg/L BAP, 0.5 mg/L NAA, and 200 mg/L AC. Optimal rooting was obtained on MS medium containing 0.2 mg/L NAA and 200 mg/L AC, resulting in 91.14% rooting, the earliest root initiation (14.82 days), and the longest roots (4.96 cm) in cultivar Pusa Lal Bhindi-1. As per our information, this is the first report detailing a robust and reproducible in vitro callus induction and regeneration protocol for the okra cultivars Pusa Sawani, Pusa Bhindi-5 and Pusa Lal Bhindi-1.

Waterlogging poses a major constraint to maize productivity by inducing hypoxia and perturbing metabolic homeostasis. To elucidate the molecular basis of tolerance, we performed comparative RNA-seq profiling of leaf and root tissues from a waterlogging-tolerant (IML 7-308) and a susceptible (IML 7-312) genotype. Furthermore, qRT-PCR was used to validate the expression of key genes. Waterlogging triggered pronounced tissue- and genotype-dependent transcriptional reprogramming, with tolerant roots exhibiting the largest DEG set, underscoring their central role in stress adaptation. Furthermore, GO and KEGG enrichment revealed that glycolysis/fermentation, starch and sucrose metabolism, plant hormone signalling cascades, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways are key components of the adaptive response. Tolerant plants showed marked upregulation of cell wall remodelling genes (XTH; xyloglucan endotransglucosylase), aquaporins (PI2PA), and ion transporters, supporting enhanced aerenchyma and adventitious root formation, hydraulic conductance, and ion homeostasis under waterlogging conditions. Network analysis (WGCNA) identified PIP2A, ACCO20, PIN3, IAA2, XTH, and ALDH2 as key hub genes orchestrating stress-responsive modules in the tolerant genotype. Together, these findings resolve the transcriptional architecture underpinning waterlogging tolerance in maize and offer molecular targets for engineering stress-resilient cultivars.

Maize faces substantial yield losses from herbivory by the spotted stemborer Chilo partellus, and understanding defence mechanisms is critical for breeding resilient cultivars. In this study, two maize inbred lines, BML 6 (susceptible) and BML 7 (tolerant), and their hybrid DHM 117, were evaluated for resistance, revealing that BML 7 reduced larval establishment and growth, BML 6 supported higher larval survival, and the hybrid exhibited intermediate resistance with increased biomass, reflecting partial inheritance of defence traits. Transcriptomic and RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that jasmonic acid (JA) mediated signalling orchestrates maize defence, with strong induction of key genes in BML 7 and DHM 117, including lipoxygenase 2/3/5 (LOXs), fatty acid α-dioxygenase (FAD1), terpene synthases 4/10 (TPS4/10), α-terpineol synthase, cystatin 2, anthranilate synthase α-subunit 1 (ASα1), and anthranilic acid methyltransferase 1 (AAMT1), driving terpenoid and benzoxazinoid biosynthesis, whereas BML 6 primarily activated the phenylpropanoid pathway. Metabolomic profiling (UPLC-QTOF-MS) revealed that BML 7 accumulated specialised metabolites, including phenolic acid–flavonoid conjugates, while BML 6 showed higher levels of simple phenolics, linking metabolite composition to larval performance. Overall, the integration of phenotypic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic evidence underscores the central role of JA signalling and its downstream defence network in maize, identifying functional molecular markers for developing pest-resilient cultivars.

In the present investigation, 40 Tulsi (Ocimum basilicum) genotypes were grown in RBD in the Research Area of Medicinal, Aromaticand Potential Crops Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The observationswere recorded for 17 quantitative traits. All the genotypes were grouped into 10 different clusters, demonstrating the presence ofgenetic divergence among the genotypes studied. The maximum intra-cluster distance was recorded for cluster VII and maximuminter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster II and cluster X. Relative contribution of diverse traits towards genetic diversityanalysis revealed that 1000 seed weight contributed maximum (41.41%) towards genetic divergence followed by number of spikesper plant (17.31%), fresh herbage yield per plant (13.46%) and oil content (10.77%). Based on the maximum mean performance forseed yield, number of primary branches, fresh as well as dry herbage yield, oil content and seed vigour index-I & II, the genotypes EC338772, EC 388890 and IC 326732 may be exploited in the breeding program for the development of novel improved cultivars of Tulsifor higher oil content, seed yield, and other economic traits.

BACKGROUND:Maize is a globally important cereal crop that supports food and nutritional security and sustains livelihoods through its use as food, feed, and industrial raw material. However, maize productivity is severely constrained by destructive diseases and insect pests. Breeding for durable resistance is challenging due to the quantitative, polygenic, and environment-sensitive nature of these traits. To refine the genomic basis of resistance and identify robust breeding targets, a comprehensive meta-quantitative trait loci (M-QTL) analysis was conducted by integrating 528 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), comprising 368 disease-resistant and 160 insect-resistance QTLs. RESULTS:The collected QTLs were consolidated into 74 stable M-QTLs, including 31 disease-specific (DI-MQTLs), 23 insect-specific (IN-MQTLs), and 20 co-localized M-QTLs (PL-MQTLs) conferring combined resistance to both stresses. Confidence intervals (CIs) were reduced by an average of 70.6% for disease-related and 51.2% for insect-related loci, with the identified M-QTLs showing a mean phenotypic variance explained (PVE) of 14.6%. Several PL-MQTLs, including PL-MQTL4.1 (CI = 2.91 cM; PVE = 23.0%) and PL-MQTL4.2 (CI = 0.84 cM; PVE = 23.1%), emerged as highly stable resistance hotspots. A total of 1884 candidate genes were identified, including those encoding NBS-LRR receptors, receptor-like kinases, transcription factors (WRKY, MYB, NAC, and AP2/ERF), peroxidases, cytochrome P450s, and benzoxazinoid-pathway genes. Key components of the salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways co-localized within PL-MQTL regions, suggesting a mechanistic basis for broad-spectrum resistance. CONCLUSION:The identified stable M-QTLs and prioritized candidate genes provide robust genomic resources for marker-assisted breeding, genomic prediction, and genome-editing approaches, thereby accelerating the development of durable, broad-spectrum disease- and insect-resistant maize cultivars. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally important crop used for food, feed, and biofuels production. High kernel starch content is a key breeding target for yield, bioethanol production and other industrial uses. However, drought and waterlogging stresses in maize severely limit maize production and starch content and quality. A critical gap exists in identifying common genomic regions relevant to high starch, drought and water logging stresses tolerance in maize. Present study addresses this gap by presenting a novel integration of starch and abiotic stressrelated quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to identify stable genomic regions for them in maize. We performed a metaQTL (MQTL) analysis, a method that enhances mapping resolution and identifies stable multi-trait loci to facilitate marker-assisted selection (MAS). This approach aims to enhance breeding efficiency for drought, waterlogging and starch content, thus improving bioethanol production under challenging environmental conditions. Integrating 254 QTLs from 21 studies, MQTL analysis identified 21 stable MQTLs for targeted traits with an average confidence interval (CI) of 6.2 cM, achieving a 73.4 % (3.76-fold) reduction from the initial QTL average CI of 23.3 cM. The phenotypic variance explained (PVE %) for the identified MQTLs ranged from 3.0 % (MQTLST2.1) to 30 % (MQTLST5.3), with an average of 9.2 %. Within the MQTL regions, 680 candidate genes were identified, which includes 414 for starch content, 164 for waterlogging, and 102 drought tolerance. Four MQTL hotspots (overlapping MQTL regions) on chromosomes 1, 3, 4, and 5 harboured key genes associated together with stress tolerance and starch metabolism, making them promising targets for improving bioethanol production under adverse conditions. RNA-seq-based expression profiling using public datasets confirmed the tissue-specific expression of candidate genes. These findings will be useful for the development of maize hybrids with enhanced starch/ethanol yields and stress resilience through MAS, genomic selection, and genetic engineering.

Turcicum leaf blight (TLB), caused by the fungus Setosphaeria turcica, is a serious foliar disease affecting maize production worldwide. Identifying and utilizing TLB-resistant sources and genes is the most effective way to manage this disease. In this study, we conducted genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) to identify key genomic regions and candidate genes (CGs) for TLB resistance. A diverse panel of 384 maize inbred lines was screened for TLB disease at four hot-spot sites (Bajaura, Mandya, Dharwad, & Srinagar) between 2018 and 2022 and genotyped using 60,227 SNPs. The average disease score and percent disease incidence (PDI) ranged from 2.1 to 7.3 and 19.6-77.7 % respectively. Stable genotypes for TLB resistance were identified, including CML 334 W, UMI 1200, DML 112, P72cl x brasil1177-2, DQL259, CML 549 W, DML 16, DML 310, and IML 12-10. Further, 16 significant marker trait associations (MTAs) were identified for TLB resistance on all chromosomes except for chromosome 1, 9, and 10, explaining 23-30 % phenotypic variation. Seven MTAs overlapped with previously reported MTAs/CGs, while nine were novel. Further, 18 CGs and 5 Ortho-CGs were identified in the genomic regions of MTAs. These CGs were mainly associated with cellular anatomical entity (proteins involved in cell wall formation and defense), binding (a function of a protein attaching to other molecules to trigger a defensive response), and cellular processes. Some of the identified CGs, such as Zm00001eb226290, Zm00001eb293670, and Zm00001eb293590 have been found responsible for TLB disease resistance in maize and sorghum. This study offers clear translational value for maize breeding. The identified stable resistant lines are valuable donors for future breeding programs. This research advances TLB resistance understanding relative to recent maize genomics such as modern genomic selection, molecular breeding, and genome editing.

Maize, as a staple crop, contributes significantly to global nutritional security. However, improving its nutritional quality, including grain zinc (GZn), grain iron (GFe), kernel oil (KO), protein quality (PQ), and content (PC), is difficult due to the complex and polygenic nature of these traits. In traditional quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping, different populations tested across variable environments have resulted in heterogeneous findings, highlighting the challenge of QTL instability. Therefore, we tested whether Meta-QTL (MQTL) analysis enables the identification of stable QTLs with broader allelic coverage and higher mapping resolution for effective marker-assisted selection (MAS) of complex traits. A comprehensive literature search revealed 29 mapping studies encompassing 308 QTLs for the targeted traits. A total of 34 stable MQTLs were identified, with an average CI of 4.59 cM. These MQTLs were located on all ten maize chromosomes, with phenotypic variance explained (PVE %) ranging from 7.3 % (MQTL1_2) to 49.0 % (MQTL3_2). Furthermore, the analysis revealed six MAS-friendly and five hotspot MQTLs. Besides, 591 CGs were identified underlying these MQTLs, of which 14 have known roles in grain filling, metal homeostasis, and fatty acid biosynthesis in maize. In silico analysis confirmed the tissue-specific expression of these 14 CGs. MQTL analysis effectively refined the genomic regions (4.86 folds) linked with nutritional quality and identified stable MQTLs and CGs. These findings will be useful for developing nutritionally enriched varieties through MAS and genetic engineering.

Cereals are crucial sources of food for human and animal populations worldwide. Their grain and fodder primarily serve as sources of energy and nutrition. Cereal production is hampered because of the prevalent abiotic stress worldwide. Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and heavy metal toxicity significantly reduce global cereal crop production. Previously, traditional breeding and transgenic technology have been promising and potent approaches used to mitigate unfavourable abiotic stresses, enhancing crop production to some extent. The recent advent of more potent genome-editing technologies, particularly Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), has revolutionized the pace of crop improvement programs. Genome-editing technology using engineered nucleases offers significant opportunities for crop improvement. Genome editing tools include Meganucleases, Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN), Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and CRISPR/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas). Among all genome-editing tools, CRISPR/Cas9 has been widely used to improve crop cultivars due to its specificity, simplicity, robustness, and flexibility. Recent progress in genome-editing technology have improved various plant traits in cereals. Among these traits, cereal genotypes have shown substantial advances in the last decade, particularly in enhanced tolerance to abiotic stress, enabled by genome-editing tools. This review summarizes the recently developed cereal cultivars for abiotic stress tolerance that employ different genome-editing technologies, including the most recent additions, prime editing and base editing. These improved cereal cultivars perform better and maintain higher yields under adverse abiotic stresses.

Maize production and productivity are affected by drought stress in tropical and subtropical ecologies, as the majority of the area under maize cultivation in these ecologies is rain-fed. The present investigation was conducted to study the physiological and biochemical effects of 24-Epibrassinolide (EBR) as a plant hormone on drought tolerance in maize. Two maize hybrids, Vivek hybrid 9 and Bio 9637, were grown under three different conditions: (i) irrigated, (ii) drought, and (iii) drought+EBR. A total of 2 weeks before the anthesis, irrigation was discontinued to produce a drought-like condition. In the drought+EBR treatment group, irrigation was also stopped, and in addition, EBR was applied as a foliar spray on the same day in the drought plots. It was observed that drought had a major influence on the photosynthesis rate, membrane stability index, leaf area index, relative water content, and leaf water potential; this effect was more pronounced in Bio 9637. Conversely, the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased in both hybrids under drought conditions. Specifically, Vivek hybrid 9 showed 74% higher CAT activity under drought conditions as compared to the control. Additionally, EBR application further enhanced the activity of this enzyme by 23% compared to plants under drought conditions. Both hybrids experienced a significant reduction in plant girth due to drought stress. However, it was found that exogenously applying EBR reduced the detrimental effects of drought stress on the plant, and this effect was more pronounced in Bio 9637. In fact, Bio 9637 treated with EBR showed an 86% increase in proline content and a 70% increase in glycine betaine content compared to untreated plants under drought conditions. Taken together, our results suggested EBR enhanced tolerance to drought in maize hybrids. Hence, pre-anthesis foliar application of EBR might partly overcome the adverse effects of flowering stage drought in maize.

Background: Chickpea being a winter season crop, often experiences high temperature during its reproductive phase resulting in yield losses due to the direct effect of it, on different physiological processes. Therefore, identification and development of heat stress tolerant genotypes is an important aspect in chickpea breeding especially in view of the changing climate scenario. Methods: An experiment was conducted during Rabi season 2017-18 at pulses research field, CCS HAU, Hisar, Haryana comprising 60 genotypes in randomized block design with three replications under two environmental conditions namely, normal and late sown to find out heat stress tolerant genotypes. A total of eleven morpho-physiological yield attributes noted down under both normal and late sown conditions and various multivariate statistical methods were used to find out tolerant chickpea genotypes. Result: The present study has led the understanding of many inter-related traits involved in the genetic variation of chickpea seed yield under normal as well as late sown conditions. This would certainly provide guidelines for selection of parents as well as effective selection of promising chickpea genotypes and also have paramount importance in formulating plant model for selection of segregating generations in chickpea breeding programmes for development of high yielding varieties.

Chloroplasts have evolved from photosynthetic cyanobacteria-like progenitors through endosymbiosis. The chloroplasts of present-day land plants have their own transcription and translation systems that show several similarities with prokaryotic organisms. A remarkable feature of the chloroplast translation system is the use of non-AUG start codons in the protein synthesis of certain genes that are evolutionarily conserved from Algae to angiosperms. However, the biological significance of such use of non-AUG codons is not fully understood. The present study was undertaken to unravel the significance of non-AUG start codons in vivo using the chloroplast genetic engineering approach. For this purpose, stable transplastomic tobacco plants expressing a reporter gene i.e. uidA (GUS) under four different start codons (AUG/UUG/GUG/CUG) were generated and β-glucuronidase (GUS) expression was compared. To investigate further the role of promoter sequences proximal to the start codon, uidA was expressed under two different chloroplast gene promoters psbA and psbC that use AUG and a non-AUG (GUG) start codons, respectively, and also showed significant differences in the DNA sequence surrounding the start codon. Further, to delineate the role of RNA editing that creates AUG start codon by editing non-AUG codons, if any, which is another important feature of the chloroplast transcription and translation system, transcripts were sequenced. In addition, a proteomic approach was used to identify the translation initiation site(s) of GUS and the N-terminal amino acid encoded when expressed under different non-AUG start codons. The results showed that chloroplasts use non-AUG start codons in combination with the translation initiation site as an additional layer of gene regulation to over-express proteins that are required at high levels due to their high rates of turnover.

Traditionally, identification of peach cultivars relies on various agronomic traits, which are time-consuming, constrain breeders in the surveillance of germplasm, and are risky to fruit growers and exporters. So, this study was conducted with the objective of characterizing seven peach (Prunus persica) cultivars on the basis of morphological descriptors and expressed sequence tags–simple sequence repeat markers (EST–SSR) of Rubus ellipticus. A wide range of phenotypic variability among the peach cultivars was detected by using morphological descriptors. A set of 68 EST–SSR markers from R. ellipticus was used for cross transferability analysis. Out of 68 EST–SSRs, 61 primer pairs (89.7

A posttranslational modification of proteins is a well-studied concept in molecular biology which adds to molecular complexity in the cells, allowing them to respond to a variety of physiological conditions, including different stresses. Heavy metals pose a survival threat to plants when present beyond a critical threshold. Nevertheless, plants have evolved to handle heavy metal exposure by utilizing various strategies for avoidance and exclusion. Posttranslational modifications are now being considered for deployment in germplasm screening and crop improvement due to their potential in generating plant resilience against stresses. The metabolic benefits of posttranslational modifications have been discussed here, along with examples where their involvement in heavy metal stress response has been deciphered. Related examples from other systems have been described, where information on plants is scanty. Finally, emerging paradigms in research for posttranslational modifications and heavy metal stress response have been reviewed.