Crop Design最新文献

{"title":"Strigolactones: Shaping the future of cotton fiber production","authors":"Zishou Zheng, Yongyan Zhao, Junfeng Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100154","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100154","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100154"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148771895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The stomatal “digital twin”: A quantitative systems biology platform for unraveling guard cell dynamics and engineering future crops","authors":"Kun Qian,&nbsp;Yizhou Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stomata are pivotal regulators of plant carbon-water balance, yet their complex, nonlinear dynamics—governed by intricate networks of ion transporters, signaling molecules, and metabolic reactions within guard cells—have long resisted intuitive understanding and rational manipulation. Here, we present a perspective on the development and application of a “digital twin” for stomatal guard cells, centered on the OnGuard family of quantitative systems models. This platform integrates decades of molecular, biophysical, and kinetic data into a rigorous computational framework, creating a “virtual proving ground” where environmental conditions can be simulated and genetic perturbations tested <em>in silico</em>. By encoding the fundamental constraints of mass and charge conservation alongside experimentally derived transporter kinetics, the model generates emergent behaviors that recapitulate complex physiological responses and yields experimentally validated predictions that uncover previously hidden regulatory nodes. We discuss how this iterative cycle of prediction and validation has revealed unexpected homeostatic networks and context-dependent transporter functions. Finally, we argue that extending such modeling approaches to incorporate larger-scale physiological modules—including mesophyll photosynthesis, leaf hydraulics, and canopy-scale fluxes—will enable true multi-scale global simulation analysis, transforming our ability to predict and design crop performance under real-world conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100153"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148935467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A paradigm shift towards eco-friendly agriculture: Harnessing the biocontrol potential of Trichoderma spp. against plant pathogens","authors":"Nusrat Ahmad,&nbsp;Mansoor Ahmad Malik,&nbsp;Efath Shahnaz,&nbsp;Mohd Yaqub Bhat","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100142","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100142","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil-borne pathogenic fungi cause significant losses in crop production and represent a major challenge to sustainable agriculture. The excessive use of chemical pesticides to control these pathogens poses serious environmental and health risks to humans and other living organisms. Therefore, it is essential to develop eco-friendly and sustainable disease management strategies. The present study aimed to isolate and identify soil fungi and to evaluate their potential as biological control agents against common soil-borne fungal pathogens. Four species of <em>Trichoderma</em> such as <em>T. harzianum</em>, <em>T. aureoviride</em>, <em>T. koningii</em>, and <em>T. pseudokoningi</em> were screened for their antagonistic activity against selected pathogenic fungi using the dual culture technique under in vitro conditions. The results revealed that <em>Trichoderma koningii</em> was found to be more efficient than the other three <em>Trichoderma</em> species in inhibiting the radial growth of the tested fungal pathogens. <em>T. koningii</em> (73.33%) showed the highest inhibition against <em>Mucor mucedo</em>, followed by <em>T. pseudokoningii</em> (69.91%), <em>T. aureoviride</em> (68.75%), and <em>T. harzianum</em> (65.45%). In contrast, <em>T. harzianum</em> (16.66%), <em>T. aureoviride</em> (25.00%), <em>T. koningii</em> (28.33%), and <em>T. pseudokoningii</em> (30.83%) were found to be least effective against <em>Aspergillus niger</em>. The colonization percentage was highest in the case of <em>T. pseudokoningii</em> against <em>Alternaria alternata</em> (70.66%), followed by <em>T. harzianum</em> against <em>Aspergillus terreus</em> (69.33%) and <em>T. koningii</em> against <em>Cladosporium cladosporioides</em> (66.00%). The lowest colonization percentage was observed for <em>T. harzianum</em> against <em>A. niger</em> (23.33%). The highest biocontrol index was recorded for <em>T. harzianum</em> against <em>C. cladosporioides</em> (79.24%), whereas the lowest was observed for <em>T. pseudokoningii</em> against <em>A. terreus</em>(43.36%). <em>Aspergillus niger</em> showed the highest pathogenic resistance to <em>T. koningii</em>, followed by <em>T. pseudokoningii</em> and <em>T. aureoviride</em>, and the least resistance to <em>T. harzianum</em>. Similarly, <em>A. flavus</em> exhibited higher resistance to <em>T. koningii</em>, followed by <em>T. pseudokoningii</em>, <em>T. harzianum</em>, and <em>T. aureoviride</em>. These findings highlight <em>T. koningii</em> as a promising biocontrol candidate with strong antifungal activity and also provides experimental evidence for the use of <em>Trichoderma</em> species as sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives to chemical fungicides.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100142"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148935469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Abiotic stress resilience in cotton under a changing climate: challenges and prospects","authors":"Aima Ali,&nbsp;Lubna Ihsan,&nbsp;Muhammad Saleem Chang,&nbsp;Vishandas Suther,&nbsp;Fariha Qadir,&nbsp;Abdul Hafeez,&nbsp;Maqsood Ahmed Khaskheli,&nbsp;Saadia Shehzad,&nbsp;Huma Pervaiz,&nbsp;Zahra Batool,&nbsp;Madan Lal Kolhi,&nbsp;Saher Fatima,&nbsp;Muhammad Mubashar Zafar,&nbsp;Abdul Razzaq","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cotton (<em>Gossypium hirsutum</em> L.), a vital fiber crop and mainstay of global agriculture and the textile industry, is under mounting pressure from a growing spectrum of abiotic stresses driven by changing climatic conditions. The intricate physiological balance in cotton is significantly disrupted due to the combined effects of inconsistent temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and soil salinization, resulting in diminished cotton growth, reduced fiber quality, and yield. These shifts in climate drive concurrent escalation of abiotic stressors, including drought, heat stress, and soil salinity, projected to disrupt the productivity of cotton through coupled physiological disruptions. This review highlights the consequences of climate change projections as well as the molecular and cellular defense pathways through which cotton responds to the influence of drought, heat, and salinity stress brought on by climate change, emphasizing hormonal signaling, oxidative defense, and gene networks. Additionally, this review also explores the cutting-edge biotechnological advancements, including multi-omics techniques, CRISPR/Cas genome editing that target critical pathways (such as GhMAPK signaling and ROS control), and transgenic breeding approaches to develop stress-resilient varieties. Adaptive agronomic practices such as improved irrigation, which is a crucial element of climate-smart cotton farming, are also discussed. For the cultivation of resilient cotton varieties, it is important to decipher the interdisciplinary strategies and to prioritize future research in developing climate-smart cotton ideotypes, making use of wild-type <em>Gossypium</em> germplasm for stress tolerance alleles and implementing standardized protocols for phenotyping stress tolerance while upholding consistent productivity and superior fiber quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100156"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148854543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolomic analysis of heat stress tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)","authors":"Mawuli K. Azameti,&nbsp;Wadzani Palnam Dauda,&nbsp;Abdul-Wahab M. Imoro,&nbsp;Jasdeep C. Padaria","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The negative effects of climate change on wheat production put the world's food security in danger, and rising temperatures are predicted to have an increasingly negative impact on sustained wheat productivity. A comprehensive understanding of metabolome alterations will clarify the metabolic processes that govern environmental adaptation in wheat. Therefore, metabolome analysis can aid in the more precise selection of genotypes that can withstand stress in crop breeding. This study was carried out to determine the metabolite profiles of two popular Indian wheat genotypes under control and heat stress conditions. A total of 51 known metabolites were accumulated as determined from the chromatogram after the GC-MS analysis. Metabolites such as Vitamin E, acid, Octadecanamide, and Tetracontane were highly upregulated in the heat-treated samples. Besides, there was a high accumulation of some metabolites, such as Fumaric acid, tocopherol, and palmitaldehyde in the heat-treated Raj 3765, a well-known heat stress-tolerant wheat variety in India. The research found 12 and 8 upregulating metabolites in Raj 3765 and HD 2967, respectively. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed significant activities in the steroids and arginine biosynthesis, TCA cycle and pyruvate metabolism. Further experimental validation through targeted quantification and functional assays will be required to confirm the causal role of these metabolites in heat tolerance. These results, we believe, may provide useful metabolic indicators associated with stress in wheat, which might be employed as rapid and focused diagnostic instruments to identify germplasm that performs better at elevated temperatures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100155"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148854542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel rice seed vigor assessment method based on simulated “stifled seed” composite stress for predicting field emergence in direct-seeded rice","authors":"Yang Wang,&nbsp;Ruo Qi,&nbsp;Hanyue Zhou,&nbsp;Wenxiong Zou,&nbsp;Yixin Cheng,&nbsp;Xiaohang Jiang,&nbsp;Jie Zhou,&nbsp;Liangquan Jia,&nbsp;Guangwu Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100141","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100141","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition from transplanting to direct-seeded rice (DSR) systems necessitates high-vigor seeds capable of rapid establishment under complex field conditions. However, the Standard Germination Test (SGT) often overestimates field performance, while emerging optical detection technologies remain cost-prohibitive for widespread adoption. Inspired by the “stifled seed” phenomenon—a common agricultural issue where poor ventilation during seed priming leads to viability loss—this study developed a novel, low-cost vigor test simulating composite abiotic stresses. Rice seeds (<em>Oryza sativa</em> L.) were subjected to 24 h imbibition followed by a controlled stress treatment of hypoxia, high temperature (40 °C), and high humidity for 36 h, prior to standard germination. Results from 16 diverse rice varieties showed that while SGT indices remained uniformly high, the vigor indices obtained after the composite stress treatment exhibited significant variation closely mirroring field performance. Regression analysis revealed that Germination Energy and Germination Percentage from this new method were highly predictive of field emergence (<em>R</em>^<em>2</em> = 0.699 and 0.837, respectively, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001), significantly outperforming SGT. By effectively integrating the physiological pressures of anaerobic and hydrothermal stress, this method provides a robust, accessible, and accurate tool for seed quality grading and variety screening in DSR production, bridging the gap between laboratory potential and field reality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 3","pages":"Article 100141"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148771825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating genomics, breeding, and climate resilience for sustainable improvement of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.)Wilczek]: Advances and future directions","authors":"Werkissa Yali","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mungbean is a short-duration grain legume valued for its high protein content, biological nitrogen fixation capacity, and adaptability to low-input farming systems. Despite its importance for food and nutritional security, its productivity remains below its genetic potential due to a narrow genetic base, susceptibility to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, and a complex trait architecture influenced by genotype-by-environment interactions. These constraints are further intensified by increasing climate variability, which exacerbates yield instability across diverse agro-ecological regions. Recent advances in genomics have transformed mungbean breeding by enabling the identification of genes and genomic regions associated with agronomic and stress-resilient traits. However, the translation of these discoveries into routine breeding applications remains limited. This review provides a critical synthesis of current progress in mungbean improvement, with an emphasis on evaluating the strengths, limitations, and practical applicability of key genomic tools, including quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), marker-assisted selection (MAS), and genomic selection (GS). While QTL mapping and GWAS are effective for detecting trait-associated loci, their predictive efficiency is often constrained by population structure, environmental interactions, and limited effect sizes. In contrast, GS offers greater potential for improving complex polygenic traits and enhancing genetic gain across environments, although it requires large training populations and high-quality phenotypic datasets. The concept of climate resilience is broadened to include multi-stress interactions, environmental variability, and genotype stability across environments. The integration of genomic tools with physiological screening, high-throughput phenotyping, and multi-environment trials is essential for developing stable cultivars. This review proposes a climate-smart, data-driven breeding framework that integrates conventional and modern approaches to accelerate the development of high-yielding, nutritionally enhanced, and climate-resilient mungbean varieties for sustainable agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 2","pages":"Article 100146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147951824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blockchain and IoT integration solutions in agricultural data management: From data collection to trust verification","authors":"Xinda Luo ,&nbsp;Aoqi Jiang ,&nbsp;Yueyan Dong ,&nbsp;Jingfeng Weng ,&nbsp;Yanlong Tai ,&nbsp;Wenli Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100144","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100144","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The effective management of agricultural data is critical for enhancing transparency and security in modern farming, yet traditional centralized systems face risks of data tampering more than ever before., high storage costs, and insufficient trust in multi-party collaboration. This study proposes a blockchain and IoT-integrated system that introduces two key innovations: (1) a multi-role trust mechanism enforced by smart contracts—where reporters, validators, and administrators interact through cryptographically verifiable workflows, eliminating reliance on any central authority; and (2) a hybrid on-chain/off-chain storage architecture combining Ethereum with the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), which reduces storage costs by over 99.9% compared to pure on-chain storage while preserving data immutability. This system bridges IoT-driven data collection and blockchain-enabled trust verification and offers a tamper-resistant platform for agricultural workflows. A citrus orchard case study is used in this paper to validate its effectiveness in real-time monitoring, disease detection, and automated task management. However, limitations in scalability and farmer usability highlight the needs for distributed optimization and user-centric interfaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 2","pages":"Article 100144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147951822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interactive effects of tillage, residue management, and forward speed on seeding quality, establishment, and yield of wheat","authors":"Zahra Kamaei ,&nbsp;Mahmoud Ghasemi-Nejad-Raeini ,&nbsp;Alireza Shafeinia","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100143","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100143","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Achieving uniform seed placement and maximizing wheat yield require an integrated consideration of key operational factors, including tillage method, crop residue level, and forward speed. Although the individual effects of these factors have been widely investigated, their interactive impacts on drill performance under field conditions remain insufficiently understood. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the combined effects of tillage systems, residue coverage, and forward speeds on wheat planting quality and grain yield. A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources of Khuzestan using a split–split plot arrangement within a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments consisted of three tillage methods—conventional (moldboard plow + disc), conservation (combined tillage), and conservation (chisel packer)—three residue levels (0%, 40%, and 80%), and three forward speeds (4, 7, and 10 km h⁻¹). The results showed that tillage method and residue level significantly affected planting depth uniformity, seed distribution uniformity (p &lt; 0.05), and uncut residue (p &lt; 0.01). In addition, the interaction of tillage, residue level, and forward speed had a significant effect on grain yield (p &lt; 0.01). Combined tillage achieved the highest planting depth uniformity (87.66%) and grain yield (7326 kg ha⁻¹). The 40% residue level resulted in superior yield performance compared to 0% and 80% residue levels. Moreover, the lowest forward speed (4 km h⁻¹) produced the highest average grain yield (6990 kg ha⁻¹). Overall, the findings suggest that optimizing wheat planting performance requires the integrated management of tillage practices, residue retention, and operational speed. Such optimization can enhance seeding precision and improve crop productivity under conservation agriculture systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 2","pages":"Article 100143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147996336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SMART: a sparse mask attention recurrent transformer framework for crop genome-to-phenotype prediction","authors":"Zijie Shen ,&nbsp;Enhui Shen ,&nbsp;Qian-Hao Zhu ,&nbsp;Longjiang Fan ,&nbsp;Chu-Yu Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100145","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cropd.2026.100145","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100341,"journal":{"name":"Crop Design","volume":"5 2","pages":"Article 100145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147850810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}