To better understand the genetic control of resin yield, growth traits and morphologic traits for Pinus elliottii families, genetic relationships among these traits were examined in three 27-year-old progeny trials located in Jingdezhen, Jian and Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China. In total, 3695 trees from 112 families were assessed at the three sites. Significant site, family and family × site effects were found for resin yield, growth traits and morphologic traits. Resin yield and growth traits were found to be under moderate genetic control for the three sites combined, with family heritability and individual narrow-sense heritability ranging from 0.41 to 0.55 and 0.11 to 0.27, respectively. The coefficient of genotypic variation (CV_G) of stem volume (SV) and crown surface area (CSA) were higher than those of other traits at each site. Genetic correlation estimates indicated that selection for growth traits might lead to a large increment in resin yield (RY), and most morphologic traits had moderate to strong correlations with growth traits at each individual site. One possible strategy in tree breeding would be to maximize resin production through selection for growth traits.

The inhibition of α-glucosidase is a clinical strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and many natural plant ingredients have been reported to be effective in alleviating hyperglycemia by inhibiting α-glucosidase. In this study, the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of fisetin extracted from Cotinus coggygria Scop. was evaluated in vitro. The results showed that fisetin exhibited strong inhibitory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 4.099 × 10⁻⁴ mM. Enzyme kinetic analysis revealed that fisetin is a non-competitive inhibitor of α-glucosidase, with an inhibition constant value of 0.01065 ± 0.003255 mM. Moreover, fluorescence spectrometric measurements indicated the presence of only one binding site between fisetin and α-glucosidase, with a binding constant (lgKa) of 5.896 L·mol⁻¹. Further molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate the interaction of fisetin with several residues close to the inactive site of α-glucosidase. These studies showed that the structure of the complex was maintained by Pi-Sigma and Pi-Pi stacked interactions. These findings illustrate that fisetin extracted from Cotinus coggygria Scop. is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of T2DM.

Castanopsis carlesii (Hemsl.) Hayata. 1917 is an established subtropical evergreen broad-leaved tree species with rapid growth rates and a strong plasticity to environmental changes. It is widely distributed in East Asia; however, it is unclear how climate change influences the distribution of this tree species. Based on 210 valid occurrence records and 10 environmental variables, we used maximum entropy model (Maxent) to predict its potential geographical distribution under present and three future climate scenarios (SSP126, SSP245 and SSP585) in both the 2050s and 2070s, and determined the influence of climate on the distribution of C. carlesii. The area under the curve (AUC) value of the simulated training and the test were 0.949 and 0.920, respectively, indicating an excellent forecast. The main climatic factors affecting the distribution of C. carlesii are mainly precipitation, especially that of the driest month (Bio14, 75.5%), and annual precipitation (Bio12, 14.3%); its total contribution rate is 89.8%. However, the impact of average mean temperature is lesser in comparison (Bio1, 5.7%). According to the present-day predictions, C. carlesii has a suitable habitat of 208.66 × 10⁴ km² across most of the tropical and subtropical regions south of the Yangtze River. The medium and high suitability areas are mainly in Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi Provinces. With the climate projected to warm in the future, the distribution area of C. carlesii exhibited a tendency of northward expansion along the Qinling–Huaihe line, mainly manifested as the increase in low and medium suitable areas. The area of high-suitable areas decreased significantly under the three climate scenarios both for the 2050s and 2070s, and only a few areas showed contraction of suitable areas. Therefore, expansion areas can be used for cultivation or introduction trials, while contraction areas require enhanced preservation and collection of genetic resources. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for formulating the adaptation and protection strategies to cope with future climate change as well as theoretical guidance for the introduction, cultivation and sustainable development of C. carlesii.

Plant-specific TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL FACTORS (TCP) transcription factors have versatile functions in plant growth, development and response to environmental stress. Despite blueberry’s value as an important fruit crop, the TCP gene family has not been systematically studied in this plant. The current study identified blueberry TCP genes (VcTCPs) using genomic data from the tetraploid blueberry variety ‘Draper’; a total of 62 genes were obtained. Using multiple sequence alignment, conserved motif, and gene structure analyses, family members were divided into two subfamilies, of which class II was further divided into two subclasses, CIN and TB1. Synteny analysis showed that genome-wide or segment-based replication played an important role in the expansion of the blueberry TCP gene family. The expression patterns of VcTCP genes during fruit development, flower bud dormancy release, hormone treatment, and tissue-specific expression were analyzed using RNA-seq and qRT-PCR. The results showed that the TB1 subclass members exhibited a certain level of expression in the shoot, leaf, and bud; these genes were not expressed during fruit development, but transcript levels decreased uniformly during the release of flower bud dormancy by low-temperature accumulation. The further transgenic experiments showed the overexpression of VcTCP18 in Arabidopsis significantly decreased the seed germination rate in contrast to the wild type. The bud dormancy phenomena as late-flowering, fewer rosettes and main branches were also observed in transgenic plants. Overall, this study provides the first insight into the evolution, expression, and function of VcTCP genes, including the discovery that VcTCP18 negatively regulated bud dormancy release in blueberry. The results will deepen our understanding of the function of TCPs in plant growth and development.

Lycoris radiata has beautiful bright-red flowers with both medicinal and ornamental value. However, the mechanisms underlying an unusual characteristic of Lycoris radiata , flowering without leaves, remain unclear. In this study, climatic influences, biomass composition, and yearly variations in bulb contents across eight developmental stages of L. radiata were analyzed. Thus, L. radiata summer dormancy was investigated in three dimensions: climate-associated phenology, biomass distribution characteristics, and physiologic bulb changes. The results showed that dormancy was most strongly affected by high ambient temperature, followed by scape development, flowering, leafing out, vigorous leaf growth, flower bud differentiation, flower bud predifferentiation, and leaf maturation. Biomass allocation, bulb contents, oxidoreductase activity, and root activity fluctuated significantly in L. radiata among developmental stages. Relative bulb dry weight was greatest during the dormant period (95.95% of total dry weight) and lowest during vigorous leaf growth (November–December). Root biomass was also significantly greater during dormancy than during flowering, leaf maturation, and flower bud differentiation. Only root biomass during vigorous leaf growth was greater than root biomass during dormancy. However, in dormant bulbs, soluble sugar content, soluble protein content, root activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and peroxidase (POD) activity decreased. Thus, summer dormancy in L. radiata only constitutes a morphologic dormancy of the aboveground plant; the bulb and root remain physiologically active. The results suggest that L. radiata is sensitive to both ambient temperature and light, and that summer dormancy is triggered by the synergistic stimulation of these two factors. Although temperature controls dormancy, it plays only a limited regulatory role during the L. radiata flowering period. Thus, it is difficult to induce flowering or regulate annual flowering in this species through temperature control alone.