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 become 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...
Monoacylglycerol lipase ZmMAGL is required to maintain photosynthesis and growth at low temperature
Available online 12 January 2026
The monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a key enzyme in the lipid metabolism pathway which products fatty acids and could play an important role in plant growth and stimulus response. However, the underlying...
Layered nitrogen application increases post-anthesis nutrient accumulation and grain yield of wheat by coordinating root morphology and nutrient transporter gene expression
Available online 12 January 2026
Layered nitrogen (N) application to wheat is intended to avert nutrient retention in the topsoil, which limits deep root development and grain yield. In a two-year field experiment on the Loess Plateau...
Optimizing photoassimilate synthesis, metabolism, and loading in cotton’s “source-sink-flow” system by boron fertilizer management to increase boll weight
Available online 12 January 2026
The objective of this study was to identify a boron (B) application strategy maximizing cotton yield. In a two-year experiment across two soil types with three B application rates, B availability significantly...
Development and characterization of a new wheat-rye T6BS.6BL-6RLKu small segment translocation with powdery mildew resistance and potential breeding value
Available online 12 January 2026
Rye (Secale cereale L.) contains numerous disease resistance genes that can be utilized for wheat (Triticum aestivum) improvement. For example, rye chromosome 6 carries powdery mildew resistance genes....
Metabolic adaptations of Qingke: A review of stress resilience and nutritional functions
Available online 12 January 2026
Qingke, a staple crop grown on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau, has evolved a metabolomic profile providing both environmental stress resilience and human nutrition. We review the hypothesis that...
Genetic transformation and genome editing in wild soybean (Glycine soja)
Available online 9 January 2026
Soybean (Glycine max), a key food and oilseed crop, is derived from wild soybean (Glycine soja). Compared with cultivated varieties, wild soybean exhibits significantly higher genetic diversity, harboring...
The rice auxin response factor OsARF12 coordinates ROS scavenging, photosynthetic protection, and Na+/K+ homeostasis under salt stress
December 2025
Salt stress severely limits rice growth and productivity. Auxin signaling has a well-documented role in development, but its role in rice salt stress responses is far from clear. In this study, we identified...
Combining optimized irrigation with reduced N fertilization increases wheat N use efficiency by increasing soil N cycling and plant N uptake
December 2025
With the aim of maximizing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of wheat in the North China Plain by optimizing irrigation and nitrogen application, a field experiment with a split-plot design was conducted....
Biochemical factors of maize silks associated with host susceptibility to Fusarium graminearum
December 2025
Fusarium graminearum is the causal agent of Gibberella ear rot (GER) in maize, a devastating fungal disease leading to yield reduction and contamination of grains with type B trichothecene mycotoxins...