The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is one of the deadliest invasive ant species that threatens the world by disrupting biodiversity, important functions within a natural ecosystem, and community structure. They are responsible for huge economic losses in the infested countries every year. Synthetic insecticides, especially indoxacarb, have been broadly used to control S. invicta for many years. However, the biochemical response of S. invicta to indoxacarb remains largely undiscovered. Here, we used the sublethal doses of indoxacarb on the S. invicta collected from the eight different cities of Southern China. The alteration in the transcriptome profile of S. invicta following sublethal dosages of indoxacarb was characterized using high-throughput RNA-seq technology. We created 2 libraries, with 50.93 million and 47.44 million clean reads for indoxacarb treatment and control, respectively. A total of 2018 unigenes were regulated after insecticide treatment. Results indicated that a total of 158 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the indoxacarb-treated group, of which 100 were significantly upregulated and 58 were downregulated, mostly belonging to the detoxification enzymes, such as AChE, CarE, and GSTs. Furthermore, results showed that most of these DEGs were found in several KEGG pathways, including steroid biosynthesis, other drug metabolizing enzymes, glycerolipid metabolism, chemical carcinogenesis, drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450, glutathione metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and metabolism of xenobiotics. Together, these findings indicated that indoxacarb causes significant alteration in the transcriptome profile and signaling pathways of S. invicta, providing a foundation for further molecular inquiry.

Exogenous application of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) has previously been reported to trigger plant tolerance against a variety of environmental stresses. The present study was planned to investigate the possible role/s of exogenously applied SNP (50 or 100 μM) in alleviating cadmium (Cd)-induced effects on physio-biochemical processes, yield attributes, and grain quality traits of three fragrant rice cultivars, viz., Meixiangzhan-2 (MXZ), Guixiangzhan (GXZ), and Xiangyaxiangzhan (XYXZ) under 50 mg Cd kg⁻¹ of soil. The results revealed that foliar spray of SNP (50 or 100 μM) on Cd-stressed rice plants reduced oxidative stress (lower hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), malondialdehyde (MDA), and electrolyte leakage (EL)) and improved the photosynthetic apparatus through higher chlorophyll contents, gas exchange attributes, and intact chloroplast configurations, and reduced Cd concentration in the leaves and grains of aromatic rice cultivars. The reduced levels of cellular ROS, MDA, and EL were related to the endogenous NO-mediated improvement in the activity of anti-oxidative enzymes and those involved during the ascorbate–glutathione cycle. However, among the different SNP levels, the foliar spraying of 50 μM of SNP was recorded to be the best treatment for fragrant rice growth, which increased grain yield by 42.06%, 46.03%, and 31.21%, and the quality trait of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) content by 43.12%, 55.84%, and 35.72% in MXZ, GXZ, and XYXZ respectively, suggesting that GXZ is more responsive to SNP than MXZ and XYXZ fragrant rice cultivars. Collectively, our results deduced that cultivating the GXZ fragrant rice cultivar along with foliar application of 50 μM of SNP could sustain the grain yield and quality features of aromatic rice cultivation in heavy metal (especially Cd)-polluted soils.