Root cortical senescence: An adaptive mechanism for drought tolerance in crops
Available online 18 February 2026
Senescence allows plants to remove unnecessary tissues and recycle nutrients. Substantial work has focused on the senescence of aboveground tissues such as leaves; by contrast, the senescence of underground...
GhMYB2-activated GhADC2 interacts with GhBCCP1 to regulate cotton fiber development
Available online 18 February 2026
Arginine decarboxylase (ADC), a rate-limiting enzyme in the polyamine biosynthesis pathway, plays a critical role in plant growth and development. Our previous study revealed that cotton GhADC2 has...
ZmWRKY122 enhances waterlogging tolerance in maize via direct activation of ZmPRX101
Available online 18 February 2026
Waterlogging stress severely hampers plant growth and represents a major challenge to agricultural productivity. Therefore, identifying key genes involved in plant waterlogging responses and elucidating...
CRISPR/Cas9 multiplex editing of four TaSK41 genes increases grain size and weight and reveals a TaSK41–TaSnRK1β1 module associated with carbohydrate metabolism in wheat
Available online 18 February 2026
Grain size and weight contribute to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield, yet how Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3)/SHAGGY-like kinase signaling interfaces with carbohydrate metabolism during grain development...
Novel genetic loci regulate flowering time in the northeast soybean germplasm of China
Available online 18 February 2026
Flowering time is a crucial agronomic trait that affects the adaptability and yield of soybeans. Despite extensive research aimed at uncovering the genetic basis of flowering time in soybean germplasm,...
OsARF9 integrates auxin-BR-ABA signaling to regulate plant architecture and seed germination in rice
Available online 18 February 2026
Optimizing rice (Oryza sativa L.) plant architecture and seed germination is critical for improving agronomic performance. Here, we investigated the role of OsARF9, a class B auxin response factor,...
Mapping and characterization of stable major QTL for heading date and spikelet number in wheat
Available online 17 February 2026
Optimization of heading date (HD) and spike formation, two sequential development phases, is essential for improving wheat acclimation and yield. Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for...
Cotton fiber length was shortened under high temperature by inhibition of cell wall loosening and acceleration of secondary wall synthesis
Available online 16 February 2026
To determine how high temperature (HT) impairs cotton fiber elongation, greenhouse experiments compared two temperature regimes (CT, 28 °C; HT, 38 °C) for 12 d. The findings indicated that compared...
Synthetic biology and metabolomics-driven precision crop design
Available online 7 February 2026
Crop metabolic engineering towards enhanced resistance to pests and pathogens
Available online 3 February 2026
Plants produce a vast array of specialized metabolites that serve as essential defenses against herbivores and pathogens. However, the capacity to produce these compounds differs substantially among...
Biological nitrogen and carbon fixation: Bridging the gap between synthetic symbioses and synthetic biology
Available online 3 February 2026
Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and photosynthetic carbon fixation underpin food production and climate mitigation, yet natural systems are constrained by oxygen sensitivity, high energy demand,...
Metabolic engineering for increased nutritional quality in rice
Available online 3 February 2026
Nutritional imbalance has led to many chronic diseases and severely affected people’s quality of life. Developing nutrient-dense crops has emerged as a strategy for improving the current state of human...
Message from the Editor-in-Chief: From metabolic pathway design to synthetic biology breeding
Available online 2 February 2026
Jasmonic acid negatively regulates wheat grain filling by affecting assimilate transport and starch biosynthesis
Available online 20 January 2026
Grain filling is a pivotal determinant of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield, relying on the efficient coordination of source–sink dynamics and assimilate partitioning. Jasmonic acid (JA) is widely...
Mechanism of floret abortion induced by light signal blocking in juvenile spikes of wheat
Available online 16 January 2026
In our previous research, we firstly demonstrated blocking the light to the juvenile spike directly and qualitatively affected floret fertility by affecting anther greening and inducing pollen sterility...
Differing functions of two CYP716 genes for saikosaponin biosynthesis in Bupleurum chinense
Available online 13 January 2026
Saikosaponins are the major pharmacologically active components in Bupleurum genus and exhibit significant application potential in multiple fields such as immune regulation and anti-tumor activity....
SMG9 stabilizes grain yield and quality in rice under heat stress
Available online 13 January 2026
Intensifying heat stress resulting from global warming threatens both the yield and quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Identifying pleiotropic genes that coordinately regulate yield, quality, and thermotolerance...
CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of BnaA01.AP2 increases seed oil content with no yield penalty in Brassica napus L.
Available online 13 January 2026
The oil yield of Brassica napus is determined by both seed yield and oil content. A previous study showed that strong RNA interference, designed to simultaneously knock down all four BnAP2 paralogs,...
An intracellular Ras-group related leucine-rich repeat protein IbPIRL8 increases soft rot and root rot resistance in sweet potato
Available online 13 January 2026
The plant intracellular Ras-group related leucine-rich repeat proteins (PIRLs) play important roles in pollen tube growth and development. However, the role of PIRLs in modulating defense responses...
Relationship between leaf color change and ammonia volatilization in rice during grain filling
Available online 12 January 2026
The objective of this study was to determine whether leaf color change in rice plants predicts ammonia (NH3) volatilization during the late grain-filling period. In a pot study of indica and indica–japonica...
Maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency are increased by optimizing nitrogen fertilizer depth under film mulching in semiarid region
Available online 12 January 2026
Nitrogen (N) fertilizer deep placement has been widely adopted to improve nutrient use efficiency and maize yield in the semiarid regions of northwest China. However, previous studies on optimal fertilization...
Maize EMP14 is required for mitochondrial RNA editing and intron splicing
Available online 12 January 2026
Post-transcriptional modification of organellar RNA is critical for organellar gene expression, biogenesis, and function in plants. This process involves RNA splicing, editing, maturation, and stabilization....
Optimization of N nutrition and fertilizer rate for dryland maize based on critical N dilution curve
Available online 12 January 2026
This study aimed to develop a nitrogen fertilization strategy for rainfed maize systems on the Loess Plateau, based on an optimal available nitrogen supply, to meet soil N availability with crop demand...
Chromatin remodeler CHR721 regulates lipid metabolism-related genes in rice by modulating chromatin status during anther development
Available online 12 January 2026
Chromatin remodeling plays an essential role in plant reproductive development. Our previous studies demonstrated that CHR721, a SWI/SNF-family chromatin remodeler, is essential for reproductive development...
OsMAP4K6 positively regulates salt tolerance via activating OsMKK6 in rice
Available online 12 January 2026
High-salt stress severely inhibits plant growth and development, leading to a significant reduction in rice yield. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the functions of plant...