Liqin Tu

Drought stress severely limits grapevine productivity and compromises fruit quality, with its adverse effects expected to intensify under ongoing climate change. This review synthesizes recent advances in elucidating the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in Vitis vinifera . Key physiological responses include abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated amplification of stomatal closure, osmotic adjustment, activation of antioxidant defense systems, and hydraulic vulnerability segmentation-a protective strategy involving the targeted sacrifice of petioles and basal leaves to maintain hydraulic integrity in stems and roots. These coordinated responses are regulated by a complex transcriptional network centered on NAC, WRKY, MYB, and bZIP transcription factors, and further modulated by hormone metabolism, potassium channel activity, aquaporin-facilitated water transport, and both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant pathways. We also identify critical knowledge gaps requiring urgent attention: (First) field-scale validation of transgenic or CRISPR-edited grapevine lines; (Second) the molecular basis of rootstock–scion signaling during drought stress; and (Third) the integration of multi-omics data with high-resolution phenotyping to accelerate precision breeding. Collectively, this review provides an integrative conceptual framework to support sustainable viticulture in water-limited environments.

BBX transcription factors are key regulators of plant growth, development, and stress responses, yet their functions in jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.), an economically important fruit tree, remain largely unexplored. Here, we systematically identified 26 ZjBBX genes and comprehensively analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, structural features, and expression dynamics. Our integrative approach revealed three major findings. First, nine ZjBBX genes exhibited distinct expression patterns during fruit coloration, with ZjBBX9 and ZjBBX25 emerging as persistent up-regulated candidates. Second, under salt stress, ZjBBX members displayed three contrasting response modes, sustained down-regulation, rapid induction, or sharp repression, suggesting functional diversification in salinity adaptation. Third, under jujube witches’ broom, ZjBBX8, ZjBBX11, and ZjBBX13 showed differential expression between healthy and infected materials, implicating them in biotic stress defense. Collectively, this study provides the first multidimensional expression atlas of the ZjBBX family linked to fruit quality, salt tolerance, and pathogen resistance in jujube. Our findings open new avenues for marker-assisted breeding and genetic improvement of stress-resilient jujube cultivars.

Tomato mottle mosaic virus (ToMMV) is a noteworthy virus which belongs to the Virgaviridae family and causes serious economic losses in tomato. Here, we isolated and cloned the full-length genome of a ToMMV Chinese isolate (ToMMV-LN) from a naturally infected tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Sequence analysis showed that ToMMV-LN contains 6399 nucleotides (nts) and is most closely related to a ToMMV Mexican isolate with a sequence identity of 99.48%. Next, an infectious cDNA clone of ToMMV was constructed by a homologous recombination approach. Both the model host N. benthamiana and the natural hosts tomato and pepper developed severe symptoms upon agroinfiltration with pToMMV, which had a strong infectivity. Electron micrographs indicated that a large number of rigid rod-shaped ToMMV virions were observed from the agroinfiltrated N. benthamiana leaves. Finally, our results also confirmed that tomato plants inoculated with pToMMV led to a high infection rate of 100% in 4–5 weeks post-infiltration (wpi), while pepper plants inoculated with pToMMV led to an infection rate of 40–47% in 4–5 wpi. This is the first report of the development of a full-length infectious cDNA clone of ToMMV. We believe that this infectious clone will enable further studies of ToMMV genes function, pathogenicity and virus–host interaction.