Optimizing sowing dates to increase maize yield across the Huanghuaihai Plain in China
Available online 20 October 2025
With the aim of adapting agricultural practices to climate warming, this study projected sowing dates for summer maize in the 2030 s (2031–2040) across the Huanghuaihai Plain by analyzing key photo-thermal...
Rapid elongation of stems during the bolting stage reduces the lodging resistance of late-sown rapeseed
Available online 20 October 2025
In the rice–rapeseed cropping system in the Yangtze River Basin, late rapeseed sowing increases lodging. To identify the mechanisms of reduced lodging resistance, a two-year field experiment compared...
Green manure returning improves wheat yield and N utilization efficiency by minimizing N loss in Oasis irrigation area of China
Available online 17 October 2025
Improving crop yield and N utilization while mitigating environmental pollution is a key goal in sustainable agriculture. Integrating green manure with reduced chemical N application is a promising...
Cultivar difference in rice leaf color change during the later reproductive stage and its relationship with grain filling and nitrogen level
Available online 15 October 2025
To study the relationship between rice leaf color change and grain filling, two indica-japonica hybrids with distinct leaf colors were grown under three N fertilizer dosages (LN 0 kg ha−1; MN 150 kg...
faCRSA: an automated pipeline for high-throughput analysis of crop root system architecture
Available online 15 October 2025
Optimizing root system architecture (RSA) is essential for plants because of its critical role in acquiring water and nutrients from the soil. However, the subterranean nature of roots complicates the...
Biomolecular condensates: Emerging regulatory mechanisms for crop improvement
Available online 15 October 2025
Global climate change seriously threatens food security. To address this challenge, breeders have achieved remarkable results using multiple breeding strategies and technologies. In recent years, the...
Root hairs and lateral root proliferation enhance rice seedling rhizosheath development and ABA accumulation under soil water deficit
Available online 15 October 2025
Rhizosheath development benefits drought resistance in many upland crops. Although water-saving irrigation techniques induce rice rhizosheath formation, how and whether root hairs and different root...
Salvia miltiorrhiza-derived carbon dots confer resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Brassica napus L
Available online 15 October 2025
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a fungus that causes a devastating fungal disease of rapeseed (Brassica napus), causes significant yield losses globally. Carbon dots (CDs), a class of carbon-based nanomaterials,...
Optimizing rice productivity using controlled-release blended fertilizers in the Yangtze River Delta of China
Available online 15 October 2025
Rice productivity faces critical sustainability challenges from stagnating yields and inefficient fertilizer use, particularly in intensive agricultural regions like the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of...
GiMYB76, a MeJA-inducible R2R3-type transcription factor, regulates licochalcone A biosynthesis in licorice (Glycyrrhiza inflata)
Available online 5 October 2025
Licochalcone A (LCA) is a characteristic compound in licorice Glycyrrhiza inflata and is widely utilized in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. However, the biosynthetic pathway and regulatory mechanisms...
ROS-scavenging Mn3O4 nanozymes increase cotton alkaline tolerance by increasing the stability of actin filaments and reducing Na+ content
Available online 2 October 2025
Alkaline stress in saline soil limits cotton production that may be improved by using emerging nanobiotechnology approaches. Here, we applied poly acrylic acid coated Mn3O4 nanoparticles (PMO) on cotton...
Post-translational control of biotic stress-related nicotine biosynthesis by a MAP kinase signaling cascade
Available online 25 September 2025
The evolutionarily conserved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades relay extracellular signals into cells, triggering a variety of cellular responses. We previously revealed NtMPK4 as a positive...
tae-miR9668 negatively regulates TaRPM1-1A to enhance salt tolerance in wheat
Available online 25 September 2025
Soil salinity severely affects wheat (Triticum aestivum) yield and quality. Identifying salt-tolerance genes and elucidating their mechanisms are essential for improving salt tolerance in this crop....
Identification of a major QTL and its candidate genes controlling stem strength in soybean via QTL mapping and GWAS
Available online 25 September 2025
Stem strength is an important indicator of lodging that significantly influences yield and quality in soybean. Therefore, understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying stem strength is critical...
Genetic architecture of condensed tannins accumulated in wheat grains
Available online 25 September 2025
Wheat grains contain various bioactive substances, of which, condensed tannins (CT) are polymeric flavan-3-ols that accumulate in wheat seed coat influencing the end-use quality and nutritional value....
Integrated multi-omics analysis identifies OsMYB48 as a transcriptional repressor of coleoptile elongation in anaerobic rice germination
Available online 24 September 2025
Direct seeding of rice (DS) has been widely adopted due to reduced labor cost and simpler cultivation practices. However, anaerobic flooding conditions reduce seed germination and seedling establishment....
OsEHD1 and OsEHD2, two EH domain proteins targeted by E3 ubiquitin ligase OsBBI1, negatively modulate rice immunity against blast and bacterial blight diseases
Available online 20 September 2025
Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) are essential regulatory mechanisms that play a critical role in plant immunity. Previously, we demonstrated that OsBBI1, a RING finger type E3 ligase, contributes...
Systematic analysis of the rice E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family identifies seven genes essential for seed germination
Available online 20 September 2025
Rice seed germination marks the start of cultivation and influences subsequent seedling growth, and is affected by hormones and environmental factors. Ubiquitination plays a critical role in this process...
Mitogenomic comparison identifies rpl16 as a CMS driver via ROS dysregulation in pearl millet
Available online 20 September 2025
Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) caused by mitogenomic variation underlies CMS lines essential for hybrid crop production. However, the role of CMS in pearl millet remains unclear. To clarify the function...
Enhancing faba bean breeding efficiency through insect pollination and smart crossing schemes
Available online 20 September 2025
Faba bean, with its high protein yield and low nitrogen inputs, is a promising crop, but it suffers from low yield stability due to poor heat and drought adaptation. To improve yield performance, faba...
Combining ultralow-altitude drone phenotyping with deep learning analytics to assess resistance and disease dynamics of Fusarium head blight in wheat
Available online 13 September 2025
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a serious fungal disease that affect small grain cereals, causing significant wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and quality losses globally. Breeding disease-resistant...
Comprehensive comparison between structural variants and single-nucleotide polymorphism in genomic selection of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Available online 12 September 2025
Recent genomic research on plant populations has revealed abundant structural variations (SVs) of > 50 bp within and among genotypes of major crop species, but the application of SVs as a unique type...
The effect of structural variation of the long arm of rye 6R on its meiotic behavior and the location of a segment with powdery mildew resistance
Available online 12 September 2025
To investigate the effect of structural variation of rye 6RL arms on their meiotic behavior and to locate powdery mildew resistance gene(s), we developed a wheat–rye T6BS.6RLAr translocation chromosome...
Genetic control of cereal kernel texture: Towards a maize model
Available online 12 September 2025
Because cereal kernel texture is a determinant of maize end-use properties, it is desirable to elucidate the genetic control of kernel formation and thereby to optimize maize kernel texture for breeding....
A near-complete genome assembly for northern wild rice (Zizania palustris L.)
Available online 12 September 2025
Northern wild rice (NWR; Zizania palustris L.), an annual aquatic plant in the Poaceae family, has high economic importance due to its nutrient-rich grains. However, the existing NWR genome assembly...
