Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a system that combines ready-made plant protection methods. IPM guidelines apply to all users of plant protection products and require the prioritization of preventative methods. Adherence to IPM principles contributes to the production of healthy and safe food. In Poland, the implementation of IPM into agricultural practice remains a solution to the problem. Furthermore, it is necessary to ensure education and implementation of IPM at the basic or implementation level. The IPM element, particularly emphasized in the 2009/128/EC Directive, is the use of so-called warning systems, tools that address the issue of plant protection application. In this regard, it is necessary to use decision support systems (DSSs). DSSs are digital solutions that integrate meteorological, global, and field data. They include the risk of disease and pest occurrence and the timing of the application. DSSs are not part of the farmer’s experience or presentation but support them in making sound decisions. DSS reduces costs, the side effects of plant protection, and energy consumption. Examples of such solutions in Poland include the eDWIN platform and OPWS, classified, among others, in cereal protection against fungi. The aim of this article is to present the role, capabilities, and limitations of decision support systems in modern agricultural production and their importance in the context of the Green Deal and digital agriculture.

Plant tissues exhibit a layered architecture that makes spatial context decisive for interpreting transcriptional changes. This review explains why the location of gene expression is as important as its magnitude and synthesizes advances uniting single-cell/nucleus RNA-seq with spatial transcriptomics in plants. Surveyed topics include platform selection and material preparation; plant-specific sample processing and quality control; integration with epigenomic assays such as single-nucleus Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC) and Multiome; and computational workflows for label transfer, deconvolution, spatial embedding, and neighborhood-aware cell–cell communication. Protoplast-based single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) enables high-resolution profiling but introduces dissociation artifacts and cell-type biases, whereas ingle-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) improves the representation of recalcitrant lineages and reduces stress signatures while remaining compatible with multiomics profiling. Practical guidance is provided for mitigating ambient RNA, interpreting organellar and intronic metrics, identifying doublets, and harmonizing batches across chemistries and studies. Spatial platforms (Visium HD, Stereo-seq, bead arrays) and targeted imaging (Single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH), Hairpin-chain-reaction FISH (HCR-FISH), Multiplexed Error-Robust Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (MERFISH)) are contrasted with plant-specific adaptations and integration pipelines that anchor dissociated profiles in anatomical coordinates. Recent atlases in Arabidopsis, soybean, and maize illustrate how cell identities, chromatin accessibility, and spatial niches reveal developmental trajectories and stress responses jointly. A roadmap is outlined for moving from atlases to interventions by deriving gene regulatory networks, prioritizing cis-regulatory targets, and validating perturbations with spatial readouts in crops. Together, these principles support a transition from descriptive maps to mechanism-informed, low-pleiotropy engineering of agronomic traits.

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici, and powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, are the most prevalent of all of the wheat diseases in many regions of the world including Poland. These two diseases can cause serious epidemics in Poland. The aim of presented research was pyramiding of leaf rust and powdery mildew resistance genes in a one genotype. A leaf rust resistance gene Lr41, derived from Triticum tauschii (syn. Aegilops squarrosa) and powdery mildew resistance gene, derived from Dasypyrum villosum (syn. Haynaldia villosa), were successfully transferred into the polish winter wheat variety. A line KS90WGRC10 was used as the resistance source of Lr41 for leaf rust and the 6VS/6AL translocation line Yangmai 5 was used as the resistance source of Pm21 for powdery mildew. In foreground selection several molecular markers for Lr41 (Gdm35, Barc124, Gwm261, Gwm296 and Gwm210) and Pm21 (SCAR1250, SCAR1400 and NAU/xibao) were applied. After the first backcrosses (BC1F1), background selection was conducted using a set of 5 AFLP primer combinations. In addition, for the screening of the BC1F2 and BC1F3 population, selected lines were inoculated in the greenhouse at the three-leaf stage with a natural pathogen population of P. recondita and B. graminis. The marker-assisted selection and pathology test allowed us to obtain homozygous lines carrying two resistance genes to leaf rust and powdery mildew in winter wheat.

Characteristics of powdery mildew and its importance for wheat grown in Poland | Aleksandra Pietrusińska, Anna Tratwal | Agricultural Journals

The cell wall plays a crucial role in plant growth and development, including in response to environmental factors, mainly through significant biochemical and biomechanical plasticity. The involvement of the cell wall in C₄ plants’ response to cold is, however, still poorly understood. Miscanthus × giganteus, a perennial grass, is generally considered cold tolerant and, in contrast to other thermophilic species such as maize or sorgo, can maintain a relatively high level of photosynthesis efficiency at low ambient temperatures. This unusual response to chilling among C₄ plants makes Miscanthus an interesting study object in cold acclimation mechanism research. Using the results obtained from employing a diverse range of techniques, including analysis of plasmodesmata ultrastructure by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and biomechanical tests coupled with photosynthetic parameters measurements, we present evidence for the implication of the cell wall in genotype-specific responses to cold in this species. The observed reduction in the assimilation rate and disturbance of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in the susceptible M3 genotype under cold conditions were associated with changes in the ultrastructure of the plasmodesmata, i.e., a constriction of the cytoplasmic sleeve in the central region of the microchannel at the mesophyll–bundle sheath interface. Moreover, this cold susceptible genotype was characterized by enhanced tensile stiffness, strength of leaf wall material, and a less altered biochemical profile of the cell wall, revealed by FTIR spectroscopy, compared to cold tolerant genotypes. These changes indicate that a decline in photosynthetic activity may result from a decrease in leaf CO₂ conductance due to the formation of more compact and thicker cell walls and that an enhanced tolerance to cold requires biochemical wall remodelling. Thus, the well-established trade-off between photosynthetic capacity and leaf biomechanics found across multiple species in ecological research may also be a relevant factor in Miscanthus’ tolerance to cold. In this paper, we demonstrate that M. giganteus genotypes showing a high degree of genetic similarity may respond differently to cold stress if exposed at earlier growing seasons to various temperature regimes, which has implications for the cell wall modifications patterns.

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are a distinct class of regulatory RNAs in plants and animals. Gene silencing by small interfering RNAs is one of the fundamental mechanisms for regulating gene expression. siRNAs are critical regulators during developmental processes. siRNAs have similar structures and functions to small RNAs but are derived from double-stranded RNA and may be involved in directing DNA methylation of target sequences. siRNAs are a less well-studied class than the miRNA group, and researchers continue to identify new classes of siRNAs that appear at specific developmental stages and in particular tissues, revealing a more complex mode of siRNA action than previously thought. This review characterizes the siRNA classes and their biogenesis process and focuses on presenting their known functions in the regulation of plant development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The review also highlights the exciting potential for future research in this field, proposing methods for detecting plant siRNAs and a bioinformatic pathway for identifying siRNAs and their functions.