Heading date is a critical trait for adaptation of rice to different cultivation areas and cropping seasons. We evaluated the heading dates of 1,123 chromosome segments substitution lines (CSSLs) in the genetic background of an elite rice variety Huajingxian74 (HJX74). A CSSL with the substituted segments from Zihui100 exhibited late heading under both natural long-day (NLD) and natural short-day (NSD) conditions, and the late heading phenotype was controlled by two novel epistatic loci on chromosome 8 and chromosome 3, respectively, termed LH8 and EH3. The function of EH3 was dependent on the LH8 genotype through epistatic interaction between EH3Zihui100 and LH8Zihui100 alleles. Genetic and molecular characterization revealed LH8 encodes a CCAAT-box-binding transcription factor with Heading date1 (Hd1)-binding activity and may delay flowering by repressing the expression of Early heading date1 (Ehd1). Our work provides a solid foundation for further study on gene interaction in heading date and has application in breeding rice with greater adaptability.

Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel is a commonly used Chinese medicine for clearing away heat and detoxification, cooling blood, stopping dysentery, and anti-inflammatory effects. Pulsatilla chinensis saponins (PRS) have been identified to be responsible for producing these pharmacological activities. Studies have shown that Pulsatilla decoction has a good therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis (UC), however, the therapeutic effect of PRS on UC has not been reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the possible anti-UC activity of PRS using a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced rat model, and further study the mechanism of PRS in the treatment of UC. The fecal and colon samples were collected from rats to monitor the changes in the composition and diversity of the intestinal flora, and pathological colon sections were also made to examine the mesenteric hemorheological characteristics. The results showed that PRS significantly reduced the mesenteric blood flow in UC rats and significantly alleviated the inflammatory response, which indicates that saponins are involved in the anti-UC effects of PRS. At the same time, it is also suggested that the regulation of intestinal flora by Pulsatilla chinensis saponins is an important pathway for its anti-UC activity, which may be ascribed to the increase in beneficial bacteria like norank_F_Muribaculaceae and norank_F_norank_O_Clostridia_UCG-014, and decrease in the harmful Bacteroides.

Nearly all mungbean cultivars are completely susceptible to seed bruchids (Callosobruchus chinensis and Callosobruchus maculatus). Breeding bruchid-resistant mungbean is a major goal in mungbean breeding programs. Recently, we demonstrated in mungbean (Vigna radiata) accession V2802 that VrPGIP2, which encodes a polygalacturonase inhibiting protein (PGIP), is the Br locus responsible for resistance to C. chinensis and C. maculatus. In this study, mapping in mungbean accession V2709 using a BC11F2 population of 355 individuals revealed that a single major quantitative trait locus, which controlled resistance to both C. chinensis and C. maculatus, was located in a 237.35 Kb region of mungbean chromosome 5 that contained eight annotated genes, including VrPGIP1 (LOC106760236) and VrPGIP2 (LOC106760237). VrPGIP1 and VrPGIP2 are located next to each other and are only 27.56 Kb apart. Sequencing VrPGIP1 and VrPGIP2 in “V2709” revealed new alleles for both VrPGIP1 and VrPGIP2, named VrPGIP1-1 and VrPGIP2-2, respectively. VrPGIP2-2 has one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 554 of wild type VrPGIP2. This SNP is a guanine to cystine substitution and causes a proline to arginine change at residue 185 in the VrPGIP2 of “V2709”. VrPGIP1-1 has 43 SNPs compared with wild type and “V2802”, and 20 cause amino acid changes in VrPGIP1. One change is threonine to proline at residue 185 in VrPGIP1, which is the same as in VrPGIP2. Sequence alignments of VrPGIP2 and VrPGIP1 from “V2709” with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) PGIP2 revealed that residue 185 in VrPGIP2 and VrPGIP1 contributes to the secondary structures of proteins that affect interactions between PGIP and polygalacturonase, and that some amino acid changes in VrPGIP1 also affect interactions between PGIP and polygalacturonase. Thus, tightly linked VrPGIP1 and VrPGIP2 are the likely genes at the Br locus that confer bruchid resistance in mungbean “V2709”.

Black gram ( Vigna mungo var. mungo ) is an important pulse crop in Asia. The cowpea weevil ( Callosobruchus maculatus ) is a stored-seed insect pest (seed weevil/bruchid) that causes serious postharvest losses in pulse crops, including black gram. In this study, we constructed a high-density linkage map for black gram and identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for C . maculatus resistance. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 150 lines from a cross between BC48 [cultivated black gram (var. mungo ); bruchid-susceptible] and TC2210 [wild black gram (var. silvestris ); bruchid-resistant] were used to construct a linkage map of 3,675 SNP markers from specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing. The map comprised 11 linkage groups spanning 1,588.7 cM with an average distance between adjacent markers of 0.57 cM. Seeds of the RIL population grown in 2016 and 2017 were evaluated for C . maculatus resistance through two traits; the percentage of damaged seeds (PDS) and infestation severity progress (AUDPS). Inclusive composite interval mapping identified three QTLs each for PDS and AUDPS. Two QTLs, qVmunBr6 .1 and qVmunBr6 .2, mapped about 10 cM apart on linkage group 6 were common between PDS and AUDPS. Comparative genome analysis revealed that qVmunBr6 . 1 and qVmunBr6 . 2 are new loci for C . maculatus resistance in Vigna species and that genes encoding a lectin receptor kinase and chitinase are candidates for qVmunBr6 . 2 . The high-density linkage map constructed and QTLs for bruchid resistance identified in this study will be useful for molecular breeding of black gram.

Organ size and architecture of plants are important traits affecting crop yield and agronomic practices. An induced mutant, multiple-organ gigantism (MOG), of black gram ( Vigna mungo ) has been obtained, which shows gigantic leaves, fruit, seed, and architecture (plant height) but lower number of pods per plant. These traits are a pleiotropic effect of a single recessive gene, mog . In this study, we investigated variation of 16 agronomic and adaptive traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between the MOG mutant ( V. mungo var. mungo ) and wild black gram ( V. mungo var. silvestris ) accession TC2210 and identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling those traits to gain a better understanding of the effect of the mog gene on breeding. The results showed that most of the traits (100-seed weight, leaf size, and plant height) showed moderate narrow-sense heritability ( h 2 ) (45–65%), while pod size and seed length (SDL) showed high h 2 (>75%) and pod dehiscence (shattering), and seed width (SDW) and days to flowering showed low h 2 (<35%). The QTLs for the traits were mapped onto a high-density linkage map developed for the RIL population. Inclusive composite interval mapping identified 42 QTLs in total for the 16 traits with number of QTLs per trait ranging from one to six. Major QTLs for the MOG phenotypes were clustered on linkage group (LG) 6, confirming the pleiotropic effect of the mog gene. Effect of the mog gene/QTL for the MOG phenotypic variations was not high, ranging from about 15% in plant height to 40% in leaf size. For 100-seed weight, which is the most interesting trait, the mog gene/QTL contributed about 30% of the total trait variation and showed an additive effect of only 0.51 g, which is only about 1.5-fold higher than that of the other five QTLs detected for this trait. These results indicated that mog gene expression is highly affected by environment and the effect of the gene toward organ size and plant height is not extraordinarily high. Implications of the findings of this study and exploiting of the MOG mutant in breeding were also discussed.

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Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is a cleistogamous plant in which flowers are pollinated before they open, which prevents yield improvements through heterosis. We previously generated a chasmogamous mutant (CM) mungbean in which open flowers are pollinated. In this study, we developed insertion/deletion (indel) markers based on the transcriptome differences between CM and Sulu-1 (i.e., normal flowering) plants. An F2 population derived from a cross between CM and Sulu-1 was used for gene mapping. Segregation analyses revealed that a single recessive gene regulates the production of chasmogamous flowers. Using newly developed indel and simple sequence repeat markers, the cha gene responsible for the chasmogamous flower trait was mapped to a 277.1-kb segment on chromosome 6. Twelve candidate genes were detected in this segment, including Vradi06g12650, which encodes a YUCCA family protein associated with floral development. A single base pair deletion producing a frame-shift mutation and a premature stop codon in Vradi06g12650 was detected only in CM plants. This suggested that Vradi06g12650 is a cha candidate gene. Our results provide important information for the molecular breeding of chasmogamous mungbean lines, which may serve as new genetic resources for hybrid cultivar development.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, characterized by memory loss and cognitive dysfunction. Raspberry fruits contain polyphenols which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we used molecular imprinting technology to efficiently isolate phenolic components from the raspberry ethyl acetate extracts. Six phenolic components (ellagic acid, tiliroside, kaempferol-3-o-rutoside, gallic acid, ferulic acid and vanillic acid) were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. Molecular docking was used to predict the anti-inflammatory effects and anti-Alzheimer’s potential of these isolated compounds, which showed a good binding ability to diseases and related proteins. However, the binding energy and docking fraction of ellagic acid, tiliroside, and kaempferol-3-o-rutoside were better than those of gallic acid, ferulic acid and vanillic acid. Additionally, by studying the effects of these six phenolic components on the LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory mediators in murine microglial (BV2) cells, it was further demonstrated that they were all capable of inhibiting the secretion of NO, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β to a certain extent. However, ellagic acid, tiliroside, and kaempferol-3-o-rutoside have better inhibitory effects compared to others. The results obtained suggest that the phenolic components extracted from ethyl acetate extracts of raspberry by molecularly imprinted polymers have the potential to inhibit the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.