Fuyong Zhao

Rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.) is one of the world's most important oilseed crops, and the exploitation of heterosis has substantially improved both yield and seed quality. Male‐sterile lines are essential for hybrid breeding programs. In this study, we characterized a spontaneous male‐sterile line, designated Z99A, which exhibits normal vegetative growth but complete male sterility. Z99A was derived from a recombinant inbred line (RIL) generated through interspecific hybridization between B. napus and Brassica juncea . Genetic analysis demonstrated that sterility in Z99A is controlled by two recessive nuclear genes. Cytological observations revealed abnormal tapetal hypertrophy and vacuolation at the late tetrad stage, while microspores exhibited excessive vacuolization and subsequent degeneration at the uninucleate stage, ultimately leading to pollen abortion. Molecular characterization identified mutant alleles Bnms1 and Bnms2 in Z99A, both mutant alleles lead to an identical V297A amino acid substitution, the same mutation previously characterized in Bnms1 of S45A. Sequence analysis suggests that these mutations putatively derived from homeologous recombination and gene conversion events between the A/A and A/C subgenomes. These findings enhance our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying male sterility in Brassica and provide a valuable resource for hybrid breeding.

This review highlights Lunaria annua as a next‑generation industrial oilseed with a unique fatty acid profile and emerging genomic tools, positioning it for significant improvement and broad applications in biolubricants, bioplastics, and bio-based therapeutics. Lunaria annua, an ornamental of the Brassicaceae species, is emerging as a valuable oilseed crop due to its high levels of erucic and nervonic acids with applications in biolubricants, bioplastics, and neurotherapeutics. Recent advances in metabolomics, enzymology, and comparative genomics have improved understanding of fatty acid biosynthesis pathways and identified candidate genes associated with oil composition. Advances in biotechnology and breeding approaches have also provided tools for investigating traits related to oil production and environmental stress responses. However, several factors, such as agronomic performance, climatic adaptability, extraction and processing efficiency, and economic viability, require further research attention before large-scale cultivation can be considered. This review synthesizes current knowledge of L. annua biology, oil biosynthesis, and crop improvement strategies and discusses the challenges and research priorities that could influence its development as a future industrial oilseed crop.

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that restricts cotton growth and affects fiber yield and quality. Although studies on salt tolerance have achieved great progress in cotton since the completion of cotton genome sequencing, knowledge about how cotton copes with salt stress is still scant. S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) plays important roles in many organelles with the help of the SAM transporter, and it is also a synthetic precursor for substances such as ethylene (ET), polyamines (PAs), betaine, and lignin, which often accumulate in plants in response to stresses. This review focused on the biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways of ET and PAs. The current progress of ET and PAs in regulating plant growth and development under salt stress has been summarized. Moreover, we verified the function of a cotton SAM transporter and suggested that it can regulate salt stress response in cotton. At last, an improved regulatory pathway of ET and PAs under salt stress in cotton is proposed for the breeding of salt-tolerant varieties.

Gleditsia microphylla is an important galactomannan gums source plant with characteristics of drought resistance, barren tolerance, and good adaptability. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of the biological process are not yet fully understood. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is an accurate and convenient method to quantify the gene expression level and transcription abundance of suitable reference genes. This study aimed to screen the best internal reference genes in G. microphylla under abiotic stresses, hormone treatments, and different tissues. Based on the transcriptome data, twelve candidate reference genes were selected, and ultimately, nine of them were further evaluated by the geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder algorithms. These results show that TATA-binding protein 1 (TBP1)and Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A1 (EIF4A1)were the two most stable reference genes, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase A subunit, chloroplastic (GAPA)and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase B subunit, chloroplastic (GAPB)were the two most unstable reference genes across all samples under the given experimental conditions. Meanwhile, the most stable reference genes varied among the different groups and tissues. Therefore, this study suggests that it is better to use a specific reference gene for a particular case rather than using a common reference gene.

The White-browed Tit-warbler (Leptopoecile sophiae) is a tiny and infrequently-seen bird species that is mainly distributed in alpine scrub and forests. This species is poorly understood with respect to its natural history and genetic information. In this paper, we first presented the whole mitochondrial genome of the White-browed Tit-warbler. The whole mitochondrial sequence of this species was determined by long-range PCR and conserved primer walking approaches. The results revealed that the whole mitochondrial genome of L. sophiae was 17,803 bp in length with 54.3% A + T content; the genome has the same gene order as that of other passerine birds, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and 1 non-coding control region. The control region (D-loop) of L. sophiae was located between tRNA-Gln and tRNA-Phe with 1155 bp length. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genome of Leptopoecile species is more closely related to Aegithalos species than to Phylloscopus species. These data provide value for further studies on molecular evolution and conservation genetics on these poorly-known Leptopoecile species at high altitudes.