No abstract

Growth and nutraceutical quality of perilla sprouts is strongly dependent on planting density. This study explored the influence of planting density on growth, photosynthetic parameters, antioxidant capacity, main secondary metabolites, soluble sugar and soluble protein contents of ready-to-eat sprouts. Planting at a density of 1450 plants m−2 significantly increased yield, improved the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD and CAT, enhanced the generation of reactive oxygen species, increased the content of total chlorophyll and net photosynthetic rate, and decreased the content of MDA in perilla sprouts. The content of flavonoids, volatile oil, soluble sugar and soluble proteins was highest when the density was 1450 plants m−2 compared to other groups. The relative contents of RA and anthocyanin in perilla sprouts reached the maximum value at planting density of 1887 plants m−2.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum, has become one of the most serious diseases that damage wheat. The TaPFT (pore-forming toxin-like) and TaHRC (histidine rich calcium-binding protein) genes at the quantitative trait locus (QTL) Fhb1 were identified to confer resistance to FHB in the wheat cultivar Sumai 3. Here, a wheat ricin B-like lectin gene (designated TaRBL) that interacted with TaPFT was isolated by a yeast two-hybrid screen of a wheat cDNA library. A yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation study further verified that TaRBL interacted with TaPFT but not with TaHRC. Gene expression studies showed upon F. graminearum infection, TaRBL expression was upregulated in resistant cultivars but downregulated in susceptible cultivars. Furthermore, knockdown of TaRBL expression by barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing significantly reduced the resistance of wheat to FHB in both the resistant cultivar Sumai 3 and the susceptible cultivar Jimai 22. Thus, we conclude that TaRBL encodes a Ricin B-like lectin protein that interacts with TaPFT and is involved in resistance to FHB in wheat.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic heavy metal elements to the environment, which seriously threatens the safe production of food crops. In this study, we identified a novel function of the cytomembrane TaSFT2L protein in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Expression of the TaSFT2L gene in yeast showed no transport activities for Cd, which could explain the role of TaSFT2L in metal tolerance. It was observed that increased autophagic activity in roots caused by silencing of TaSFT2L enhanced Cd tolerance. Transgenic wheat revealed that RNA interference (RNAi) lines enhanced the wheat growth concerning the increased shoot or root elongation, dry weight, and chlorophyll accumulation. Furthermore, RNAi lines decreased root-to-grain Cd translocation in wheat by nearly 68% and Cd accumulation in wheat grains by 53%. Meanwhile, the overexpression lines displayed a compromised growth response and increased Cd accumulation in wheat tissues, compared to wild type. These findings show that TaSFT2L is a key gene involved in regulation of Cd translocation in wheat, and its silencing to form transgenic wheat can inhibit Cd accumulation. This has the ability to alleviate the food chain-associated impact of environmental pollution on human health.