Deyong Zeng

Sugar beet is a significant sugar crop in China, primarily cultivated in arid regions of the north. However, drought often affects sugar beet cultivation, leading to reduced yield and quality. Therefore, understanding the impact of drought on sugar beets and studying their drought tolerance is crucial. Previous research has examined the role of SPL (SQUAMOSA promoter-binding protein-like) transcription factors in plant stress response; however, the precise contribution of SPLs to the drought stress response in sugar beets has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we identified and examined the BvSPL6, BvSPL7, and BvSPL9 genes in sugar beets, investigating their performance during the seedling stage under drought stress. We explored their drought resistance characteristics using bioinformatics, quantitative analysis, physiological experiments, and molecular biology experiments. Drought stress and rehydration treatments were applied to sugar beet seedlings, and the expression levels of BvSPL6, BvSPL7, and BvSPL9 genes in leaves were quantitatively analyzed at 11 different time points to evaluate sugar beets’ response and tolerance to drought stress. Results indicated that the expression level of the BvSPL6/9 genes in leaves was upregulated during the mid-stage of drought stress and downregulated during the early and late stages. Additionally, the expression level of the BvSPL7 gene gradually increased with the duration of drought stress. Through analyzing changes in physiological indicators during different time periods of drought stress and rehydration treatment, we speculated that the regulation of BvSPL6/7/9 genes is associated with sugar beet drought resistance and their participation in drought stress response. Furthermore, we cloned the CDS sequences of BvSPL6, BvSPL7, and BvSPL9 genes from sugar beets and conducted sequence alignment with the database to validate the results. Subsequently, we constructed overexpression vectors, named 35S::BvSPL6, 35S::BvSPL7, and 35S::BvSPL9, and introduced them into sugar beets using Agrobacterium-mediated methods. Real-time fluorescence quantitative analysis revealed that the expression levels of BvSPL6/7/9 genes in transgenic sugar beets increased by 40% to 80%. The drought resistance of transgenic sugar beets was significantly enhanced compared with the control group.

DNA methylation is widely found in higher plants and can control gene expression by regulation without changing the DNA sequence. In this study, the whole-genome methylation map of sugar beet was constructed by WGBS (whole-genome bisulfite sequencing) technology, and the results of WGBS were verified by bisulfite transformation, indicating that the results of WGBS technology were reliable. In addition, 12 differential methylation genes (DMGs) were identified, which were related to carbohydrate and energy metabolism, pollen wall development, and endogenous hormone regulation. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that 75% of DMG expression levels showed negative feedback with methylation level, indicating that DNA methylation can affect gene expression to a certain extent. In addition, we found hypermethylation inhibited gene expression, which laid a foundation for further study on the molecular mechanism of DNA methylation at the epigenetic level in sugar beet male sterility.

The preparation of a high-strength biodegradable plastic has always been the focus of academia. Here, we prepared two biodegradable composites using silane coupling-agent-modified hemp fibers (Si-HF) and unmodified hemp fibers (HF) with butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), respectively. We compared the differences of Si-HF/PBAT and HF/PBAT in terms of micromorphology, density, mechanical properties, thermal stability and biodegradability. The Si-HF has better interface interaction between the hemp and the PBAT matrix than the HF, which makes Si-HF/PBAT have better tensile properties. Moreover, Si-HF/PBAT has stronger tensile strength and modulus than HF/PBAT. Our results also show that the two composites have good biodegradability. This study provides an important reference for the subsequent development and utilization of hemp fibers.

The stress response of plants to spaceflight has been confirmed in contemporary plants, and plants retained the memory of spaceflight through methylation reaction. However, how the progeny plants adapt to this cross-generational stress memory was rarely reported. Here, we used the ShiJian-10 retractable satellite carrying Dongnong416 rice seeds for a 12.5-day on-orbit flight and planted the F2 generation after returning to the ground. We evaluated the agronomic traits of the F2 generation plants and found that the F2 generation plants had no significant differences in plant height and number of tillers. Next, the redox state in F2 plants was evaluated, and it was found that the spaceflight broke the redox state of the F2 generation rice. In order to further illustrate the stress response caused by this redox state imbalance, we conducted proteomics and metabolomics analysis. Proteomics results showed that the redox process in F2 rice interacts with signal transduction, stress response, and other pathways, causing genome instability in the plant, leading to transcription, post-transcriptional modification, protein synthesis, protein modification, and degradation processes were suppressed. The metabolomics results showed that the metabolism of the F2 generation plants was reshaped. These metabolic pathways mainly included amino acid metabolism, sugar metabolism, cofactor and vitamin metabolism, purine metabolism, phenylpropane biosynthesis, and flavonoid metabolism. These metabolic pathways constituted a new metabolic network. This study confirmed that spaceflight affected the metabolic changes in offspring rice, which would help better understand the adaptation mechanism of plants to the space environment.