Shuiquan Tian,Tingting Du,Jianqing Niu,Shusong Zheng,Zhimeng Zhang,Hongwei Li,Qian-Hua Shen,Hong-Qing Ling,Yaoqi Si
{"title":"A semi-dominant NLR allele regulates growth and disease resistance in wheat.","authors":"Shuiquan Tian,Tingting Du,Jianqing Niu,Shusong Zheng,Zhimeng Zhang,Hongwei Li,Qian-Hua Shen,Hong-Qing Ling,Yaoqi Si","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70244","url":null,"abstract":"Wheat powdery mildew is a significant threat to wheat production, necessitating the development of disease-resistant varieties as an economically viable and environmentally sustainable strategy. In this study, we investigated a semi-dominant mutant, necrosis leaf (necl), which exhibits spontaneous necrotic lesions and enhanced resistance to powdery mildew. We identified that the necl phenotype is caused by a Lys-to-Glu gain-of-function mutation at position 421 in the coiled-coil nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (CC-NLR) protein TaCNL, through the combination of map-based cloning, transformation, and mutagenesis. Further analysis indicated that the TaCNL mutant enhanced resistance to powdery mildew likely through activation of the phenylalanine catabolic process and increased salicylic acid levels. Importantly, artificially modifying the amino acid at position 421 of TaCNL to an acidic residue induces immune necrosis, suggesting a potential strategy for engineering disease-resistant proteins. These findings provide novel insights into the dual role of TaCNL in modulating growth and defence in wheat and offer a valuable genetic resource for developing durable resistance in wheat.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Duckweed-based edible vaccine confers complete protection against avian infectious bronchitis virus by inducing robust mucosal and systemic immunity.","authors":"Xiao Tan,Ling Guo,Shuang Chen,Yang Fang,Penghui Liu,Zhubin Hu,Yanling Jin,Zhuolin Yi,Kaize He,Xing Li,Leyi Zhao,Hongning Wang,Hai Zhao","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70218","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70218","url":null,"abstract":"Molecular farming using edible plants offers a cost-effective strategy for vaccine production because plants serve as both bioreactors and oral delivery systems. Owing to its rapid clonal propagation and high protein content, duckweed represents a promising platform for this purpose. Here, we developed an edible duckweed-based vaccine targeting avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a highly contagious respiratory pathogen in poultry, and directly compared its efficacy to that of a commercial live-attenuated H120 vaccine. Transgenic duckweed expressing the IBV antigen peptide EpiC was orally administered to chickens, followed by immunological assessment and viral challenge. Without an adjuvant, the EpiC duckweed vaccine elicited robust systemic IgG and mucosal sIgA responses, conferring 100% protection against lethal IBV challenge - which is comparable to or exceeds the efficacy of the H120 vaccine. Strikingly, co-administration with duckweed expressing IL-17B as an adjuvant synergistically enhanced immune responses, including elevated IBV-specific IgGs in serum (P < 0.001), increased IBV-specific sIgAs in the trachea and kidney (P < 0.05), and reduced tracheal viral loads (P < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis revealed the upregulation of B-cell receptors and enrichment of the IgA production pathway, indicating that sIgA-mediated mucosal immunity is a key protective mechanism. Histopathological analysis confirmed protection against IBV-induced tissue damage, whereas a reduced viral load in critical organs demonstrated systemic efficacy. By outperforming a licenced vaccine in head-to-head comparisons, this work highlights the readiness of duckweed for real-world adoption, offering transformative potential for combating mucosa-associated infections in the poultry industry and beyond.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144645997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High-level production of health-beneficial glucoraphanin by multiplex editing of AOP2 gene family in mustard.","authors":"Pravin Kumar,Naveen C Bisht","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70171","url":null,"abstract":"Intake of glucosinolates through the consumption of cruciferous vegetables has been associated with numerous health benefits. In recent decades, glucosinolate glucoraphanin has gained a lot of attention, as its hydrolysis product (sulforaphane) is known to possess numerous health-promoting benefits, including anti-cancer and chemopreventive activities. However, due to the low availability of glucoraphanin in most of the cultivated Brassica crops (except broccoli), there is an increasing interest in many laboratories around the world to manipulate the glucosinolate profile for human benefit. Here, we report the high-level production of health-beneficial glucoraphanin by CRISPR/Cas9 editing of the ALKENYL HYDROXALKYL PRODUCING 2 (BjuAOP2) gene family, displaying distinct expression profiles in the allotetraploid mustard, Brassica juncea. Multiplex editing of five BjuAOP2 homologues, using four gRNAs, provided glucoraphanin accumulation up to 41.60, 75.10, 59.21 and 27.64 μmoles/g dry weight in sprouts, microgreens, seeds and leaves, respectively, of the transgene-free BjuAOP2-edited lines, while providing a significant reduction of the anti-nutritional and goitrogenic alkenyl glucosinolates including progoitrin. The glucoraphanin enhancement in BjuAOP2-edited lines was found to be dose-dependent, wherein loss-of-function mutations in BjuAOP2.A09 and BjuAOP2.B01 homologues had a more prominent effect. The transgene-free BjuAOP2-edited lines were stable for high glucoraphanin and performed at par with the wild-type plants for various seed quality and yield parameters when tested under containment conditions in the field. The development of high-glucoraphanin mustard will help its adoption as a global superfood with health-promoting benefits and as a bioactive source of high-value sulforaphane for industrial production.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144645995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nan Nie, Yinghui Yang, Jinxi Huo, Feibing Wang, Ruitao Liu, Sifan Sun, Yuanfeng Hu, Yanqi Chen, Wenxin Wu, Qingchang Liu, Shaozhen He, Huan Zhang, Ning Zhao, Shaopei Gao, Hong Zhai
{"title":"IbPIF1 confers stem nematode resistance by regulating secondary metabolites in sweet potato","authors":"Nan Nie, Yinghui Yang, Jinxi Huo, Feibing Wang, Ruitao Liu, Sifan Sun, Yuanfeng Hu, Yanqi Chen, Wenxin Wu, Qingchang Liu, Shaozhen He, Huan Zhang, Ning Zhao, Shaopei Gao, Hong Zhai","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70172","url":null,"abstract":"SummaryThe stem nematode (<jats:italic>Ditylenchus destructor</jats:italic> Thorne) is a pervasive and destructive plant‐parasitic nematode worldwide, inflicting severe agricultural and economic losses in a wide range of crops. Despite its global impact, the molecular mechanisms underlying plant resistance to this pathogen remain poorly understood. Our previous studies in sweet potato (<jats:italic>Ipomoea batatas</jats:italic> L.) identified <jats:italic>IbPIF1</jats:italic> as one of the most strongly induced genes following stem nematode infection, positioning it as a key candidate for unravelling host defence strategies. In this study, we revealed that overexpression of <jats:italic>IbPIF1</jats:italic> not only activates systemic immunity and strengthens physical barrier functions, but also drives the accumulation of phytoalexins, significantly enhancing nematode resistance in transgenic plants. Furthermore, <jats:italic>IbPIF1</jats:italic> enhances the accumulation of defensive compounds, including lignin, callose and terpenoids, which are vital for the resilience of plants against stem nematode infection. Intriguingly, genetic and molecular analysis shows that <jats:italic>IbMVD</jats:italic>, a pivotal gene in the regulation of terpenoid synthesis, operates downstream of <jats:italic>IbPIF1</jats:italic> in this defence network. Specifically, IbPIF1 directly binds to the promoter of <jats:italic>IbMVD,</jats:italic> inducing its expression and thereby modulating terpenoid‐mediated resistance. These results suggest that <jats:italic>IbPIF1</jats:italic> plays a pivotal regulatory role in a complex transcriptional network controlling the stem nematode response. This work advances our understanding of plant‐nematode interactions and opens avenues for engineering nematode‐resistant crops through genetic manipulation.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144629836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epigenetic regulation modulates seasonal temperature-dependent growth of soybean in southern China.","authors":"Yuan Fang,Yapeng Han,Yijie Fang,Jin Sun,Chuxin Lin,Birra Bukhari,Dong Zhou,Bin Liu,Changkui Guo,Yingxiang Wang","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70243","url":null,"abstract":"Epigenetic variations, including DNA methylation and small RNAs, are crucial for plant stress adaptation. However, their association with soybean adaptation to natural environments remains unclear. Through multi-omics analyses, we investigate soybeans from distinct geographical regions (Northern China: HH43, Southern China: HX3, and Wm82) and grown under contrasting South Winter (SW) and South Summer (SS) conditions in China. Transcriptomic clustering classifies soybeans into two distinct groups based on SW and SS. Methylome demonstrates increased CHH methylation in SW, accompanied by HDA6 up-regulation, leading to chromatin compaction and transcriptional repression. Substantial Copia retrotransposons and DNA transposons are also repressed in SW. Interestingly, DNA methylation predominantly influences down-regulated/up-regulated COR genes for HH43 and HX3 through increased/decreased DNA methylation, respectively. In contrast, lower CG/CHG methylation in SW coincided with reduced DNA methyltransferases expression. Notably, non-CG methylation contributes more to DSR in adaptive traits under selective pressure. Such as the E2 domesticated gene exhibits lower CHG methylation within the gene body region and down-regulated expression in SW for HH43. Furthermore, 22-nt siRNA are substantially degraded in SW, and GmDCL2a/2b mutation results in increased plant sensitivity to low temperatures. These highlight the dynamic interplay between DNA methylation, small RNAs and gene expression in soybean adaptation to natural environments.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144622030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Natural variation in PtobZIP18 confers the trade-off between stem growth and drought tolerance in Populus.","authors":"Zhuoying Jin,Peng Li,Rui Huang,Lianzheng Li,Mengjiao Zhang,Donghai Zhang,Mingjia Yuan,Jintao Du,Jiaxuan Zhou,Wenke Zhang,Liang Du,Li Ji,Mingyang Quan,Deqiang Zhang,Li-Jun Liu,Qingzhang Du","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70261","url":null,"abstract":"Maintaining the balance between growth and drought tolerance is arguably one of the most prevalent challenges encountered by woody plants. In this study, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of percentage loss of diameter (PLD) in the stems of 300 Populus tomentosa accessions under drought stress. Our analysis identified the bZIP transcription factor PtobZIP18 as a key regulator of xylem development in response to drought stress. PtobZIP18 directly increased the expression of PtoGATL3, PtoCESA3 and PtoDUF1635, thereby influencing wood composition and vessel density. Under well-watered conditions, PtobZIP18 regulated the formation of significantly larger stem diameters. Conversely, PtoCIPK9 and PtoWRKY19 synergistically reduced PtobZIP18 protein levels by modulating its stability and transcription, thereby regulating water transport capacity under drought stress. Furthermore, a 110-bp structural variation (SV) and three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PtobZIP18 promoter divided the natural population into two haplotypes (PtobZIP18hap1 and PtobZIP18hap2). The upstream regulator PtoWRKY19 exhibited different binding affinities to these two haplotypes, resulting in differential transcriptional responses. These variations were correlated with distinct adaptive xylem structures under drought stress across three climatic regions. We further evaluated the inheritance stabilization and breeding potential of PtobZIP18hap1 and PtobZIP18hap2 by using 30 hybridization populations at two latitudinal locations. Our findings imply that PtobZIP18hap1 confers advantages for production-related applications, whereas PtobZIP18hap2 enhances drought resistance, providing insights into tree precision breeding aimed at optimizing growth or improving drought tolerance.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144622033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Min Zhu,Lang Yan,Zhitian Zhan,Hong Chen,Dantong Wang,Meilian Xu,Zhenping Zheng,Yujie Zhang,Ning Yang,Junhua Wu,Huadong Zhan,Yanan Tian,Lizhong Xiong,Yubing He
{"title":"Transgene-Killer-CRISPR version 2 (TKC2) eliminates occasional transgene escape by coupling with a RUBY reporter.","authors":"Min Zhu,Lang Yan,Zhitian Zhan,Hong Chen,Dantong Wang,Meilian Xu,Zhenping Zheng,Yujie Zhang,Ning Yang,Junhua Wu,Huadong Zhan,Yanan Tian,Lizhong Xiong,Yubing He","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70257","url":null,"abstract":"A critical step in generating gene-edited plants is the removal of CRISPR-related transgenes from T0 plants and their progenies, a process that is generally time-consuming and labour-intensive. We previously reported a Transgene Killer CRISPR (TKC) technology that enables self-elimination of transgenes after the targeted gene has been edited. However, we observed that a small number of T1 plants generated by TKC still retained the transgenes. Herein, we first integrated Cas9 and guide RNA (gRNA) with the RUBY reporter gene (RUBY-CRISPR) to monitor the Cas9/sgRNA expression and track the presence or absence of transgenes in the T0 generation and its progenies. We then combined the RUBY-CRISPR unit with several TKC variants to develop four RUBY-TKC (TKC2) systems including TKC2.1, TKC2.2, TKC2.3 and TKC2.4, to facilitate the elimination of escaped transgene plants. Compared to non-TKC, TKC alone and RUBY-CRISPR, our TKC2s were much more efficient in the generation of transgene-free edited progenies by up to 100% in the T0 generation. TKC2s not only omit the need for screening of the plants with transgenes in the T0 generation, but also enable visualisation of the escape of plants with transgenes in the following progenies. The TKC2 systems developed here provide straightforward yet highly effective approaches for the generation of transgene-free edited plants for either rice functional genomics or genetic improvement, with potential applications in gene editing of other crops.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144622034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"LAZY5 acts in an LAZY1-independent pathway to regulate rice tiller angle.","authors":"Wenguang Wang,Dajun Sang,Peng Li,Songtao Gui,Yan Liang,Yuqi Song,Han Zhang,Jiajia Cao,Zihao Wang,Xiangbing Meng,Hongwei Xue,Jiayang Li,Yonghong Wang","doi":"10.1111/pbi.70211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70211","url":null,"abstract":"Tiller angle is a key agronomic trait that influences plant architecture and thus grain yield by optimizing rice planting density. Although great progress has been made in understanding the LAZY1-dependent pathway mediating rice tiller angle, the genetic regulatory network of rice tiller angle remains to be elucidated. Here, we identified a new tiller angle gene LAZY5 (LA5) that encodes a member of the ATP binding cassette transporter G subfamily (ABCG) transporter. We found LA5 can interact with OsPIN3t to regulate lateral auxin transport (LAT), shoot gravitropism, and thus tiller angle. Further genetic analysis demonstrated that LA5 acts in a novel LA1-independent pathway to modulate LAT and rice tiller angle. Up-regulation of LA5 not only enlarges tiller angle but also increases tiller number in rice. Moreover, LA5 was strongly selected during rice domestication, with haplotype differentiations happened within the indica rice population. Our study not only uncovers a novel LA1-independent pathway controlling LAT and shoot gravitropism, but also provides a potential molecular target for high-yield breeding via synergistically regulating rice tiller angle and tiller number.","PeriodicalId":221,"journal":{"name":"Plant Biotechnology Journal","volume":"151 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144622029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}