Benchmarking 24 combinations of genotype pre-phasing and imputation tools for SNP arrays in pigs
October 2026
•A total of 24 combinations of imputation tools for pigs were evaluated.•Beagle-Minimac combination provided the best imputation accuracy.•Beagle-Beagle combination standed out for convenience.•Eagle-pbwt...
Up-regulation of PsbHLH3 promotes cold-triggered anthocyanin biosynthesis in the amber flesh of black plums
October 2026
•Cold storage induced flesh reddening in the amber-fleshed plum cultivar.•Ten candidate PsbHLH genes with differential expression in reddened flesh were screened.•PsbHLH3 was validated to be crucial...
Adapting to the enemy: Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) evolutionary dynamics and durable resistance in African rice
October 2026
•Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) evolution dynamics, phylogeographic structuring, and region-specific virus diversity strongly impact resistance durability and patterns of resistance-breaking in African...
Faster and greater wheat production governed by LED light in controlled environment agriculture
October 2026
•Wheat can complete its life cycle and produce seeds in a controlled environment with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.•Long-day conditions combined with a spectrum rich in red light contributed...
Co-application of alternate wetting and drying irrigation and Bacillus subtilis increases yield and reduces N2O emissions in paddy ecosystems
October 2026
•Bacillus subtilis (BS) increased rice yield under both continuous flooding (CF) and alternate wetting and drying (WD) irrigation.•WD alone increased N2O emissions, while BS application mitigated the...
An effector from ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ targets the armadillo (ARM)-repeated protein of Citrus sinensis to inhibit salicylic acid-mediated host immunity
October 2026
•CsARM26 subsequently degrades CLas0185 through the 26S proteasome pathway but exhibits minimal impact on CLas0185 pathogenicity.•CsARM26-transgenic citrus plants suppress the accumulation of free salicylic...
Cell-adapted African swine fever virus Pig/HLJ/18 is highly attenuated but fails to induce immune protection against a challenge with its parental virus
October 2026
•A cell-adapted virus, named HLJ18/BK33, was successfully obtained by serially passaging the African swine fever virus (ASFV) Pig/HLJ/18 in BK2258 cells.•ASFV HLJ18/BK33 exhibited clear CPE and efficient...
Optimizing plant morphology to enhance canopy light distribution improves lodging resistance and grain yield in densely planted maize
October 2026
•Optimizing plant types can enhance light distribution and increase grain yield under dense planting.•Dense planting increased lodging risk by affecting the composition of dry matter and the anatomical...
Effects of intercropping on tea yield, quality, and soil properties: A meta- analysis
October 2026
•A meta-analysis was performed to quantify intercropping effects on tea yield, quality, and soil properties.•Intercropping significantly increased tea yield by 11.90%, which was mainly regulated by...
Unveiling the dominant peptides recognized by chicken TCRγδ+CD8α+ T cells against avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) infection in B21 haplotype chickens
October 2026
•ALV-J infection induces the expansion and activation of TCRγδ+CD8α+ T cells in vivo and in vitro.•TCRγδ+CD8α+ T cell responses to ALV-J infection are more predominant in H-B21 chickens than in G-WL...
Long-term fertilizer application mitigates the impacts of climate conditions on soil nitrogen activation
October 2026
•Nitrogen activation rate, i.e., slope of correlation between available nitrogen and total nitrogen, declined at later period of fertilization.•Soil properties were the main factors regulating nitrogen...
Soil texture drives rice methane emissions at tillering stage via carbon fractions, nutrients and microbial abundance
October 2026
•Soil texture was a core factor influencing CH4 emissions in paddy fields.•Clay content exhibited the highest degree and closeness centrality.•Clay content affected SOC composition, nutrients level,...
Mapping and candidate gene analysis of a QTL associated with leaf rolling index on chromosome 6D in bread wheat
October 2026
•Leaf rolling is strongly correlated with photosynthesis, transpiration, and respiration.•A leaf rolling index quantitative trait locus, QLRI.cau-6D, was identified by using F2 and F2:3 populations.•TraesCS6D02G237000...
Major and stably expressed QTLs for grain cadmium, copper, and magnesium concentrations that are independent of the main agronomic traits in tetraploid wheat
October 2026
•Three novel major QTLs for grain Cd, Cu, and Mg concentrations were identified in tetraploid wheat and validated using kompetitive allele specific PCR markers across various genetic backgrounds.•Three...
The African rice gene OgGS3.2 enhances grain size in Asian rice
October 2026
•A single nucleotide substitution (A→G) in OgGS3.2, an ortholog of OsSLR1 cloned from Oryza glaberrima, was identified as the causal mutation conferring increased grain size.•A single-segment introgression...
Overexpressing the universal stress protein gene IbUSP17 increases starch content without a yield penalty in sweetpotato
October 2026
•The role of universal stress proteins in regulating starch biosynthesis is reported here for the first time.•IbUSP17 increases the starch content and amylopectin proportion without a yield penalty...
Global epidemiological landscape and diagnostic biases reveal persistent endemic circulation of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus: A systematic review and meta-analysis
October 2026
•Reframes PEDV as an endemic pathogen sustained by subclinical breeding-herd reservoirs, shifting the control focus from outbreak response to silent transmission.•Identifies diagnostic-method bias as...
Construction and validation of a monoclonal yeast transcription factor library for high-throughput interaction screening in wheat
October 2026
•A genome-wide monoclonal wheat transcription factor yeast library was constructed, containing 3,142 transcription factors (TFs) (~55% of predicted wheat TFs).•Yeast two-hybrid screening using VRN1,...
AlphaFold3-guided single-amino acid substitution creates a dual-functional selection marker for herbicide resistance and genetic tagging in the cruciferous plant pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum
October 2026
•AI-driven structural prediction guided rational mutation design, revealing steric hindrance as the mechanism of chlorimuron ethyl (CE) resistance.•Phenotypic neutrality of the ChalsA200D allele, ensuring...
Contrasting effects of long-term warming and increased precipitation on ecosystem respiration and methane fluxes in an alpine meadow
October 2026
•Warming reduces ecosystem respiration (Re) but enhances CH4 uptake, whereas increased precipitation exerts opposing effects.•Change in Re is associated with shift from fungal to bacterial dominance.•CH4...
On-farm evaluation of integrated management strategies for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in maize across Kenya and Ghana
October 2026
•Emamectin benzoate and chlorantraniliprole perform best against Spodoptera frugiperda in Kenya and Ghana, whereas lambda-cyhalothrin was ineffective.•Sand-mediated whorl application is a low-cost,...
The atlas of promoter-enhancer interactions during myogenic differentiation offers novel insights into genetic variants related to meat traits in pigs
October 2026
•High-resolution maps of promoter-enhancer interactions during porcine myogenic differentiation were constructed. Identified 179,895/159,255 loops in myoblasts/myotubes to reveal dynamic chromatin architecture....
Comparison of rumen and liver lipid metabolism in grazing vs. indoor-feeding lambs: Insights into optimizing muscle fatty acid composition
October 2026
•Grazing mainly affects the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen and liver.•Grazing inhibits fatty acid oxidation and lipid synthesis in the liver.•The reduction of oleic acid, palmitic...
VvGA2ox5 positively improves drought tolerance in grapevine by activating the hormone signal transduction pathway
October 2026
•VvGA2ox5 positively regulates drought stress tolerance in grapevine.•VvGA2ox5 interacts with VvDEH to cooperatively enhance drought stress tolerance in grapevine.•VvGA2ox5 enhances drought stress tolerance...
Organic fertilizer substitution enhances maize yield and quality under reduced irrigation
October 2026
•A 20% reduction in irrigation combined with organic fertilizer substitution for 25% of chemical nitrogen (I1F2) enhanced maize yield and quality.•I1F2 improved maize yield and quality by regulating...