Gibberellic acid-stimulated in Arabidopsis (GASA), a unique small molecular protein of plants, plays an essential role in plant growth and development. The GASA family genes have been identified and studied in many plants. However, the identification of GASA gene family in Cucurbitaceae species has not been reported yet. Therefore, in this study, based on the available genome information on the Cucurbitaceae species, the GASA family genes in 10 Cucurbitaceae species including cucumber (Cucumis sativus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), melon (Cucumis melo), pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), wax gourd (Benincasa hispida), sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), chayote (Sechium edule), and snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina) were identified with bioinformatics methods. To understand the molecular functions of GASA genes, the expression pattern analysis of cucumber GASA family genes in different tissues and stress responses were also analyzed. The results showed that a total of 114 GASA genes were identified in the 10 Cucurbitaceae species, which were divided into three subfamilies. Synteny analysis of GASA genes among cucumber, Arabidopsis and rice showed that nine cucumber GASA genes were colinear with 12 Arabidopsis GASA genes, and six cucumber GASA genes were colinear with six rice GASA genes. The cis-acting elements analysis implied that the cucumber GASA genes contained many cis-elements associated with stress and hormone response. Tissue-specific expression analysis of cucumber GASA family genes revealed that only the CsaV3_2G029490 gene was lowly or not expressed in all tissues, the CsaV3_3G041480 gene was highly expressed in all tissues, and the other seven GASA genes showed tissue-specific expression patterns. Furthermore, nine cucumber GASA family genes exhibited different degrees of regulatory response under GA, abiotic and biotic stresses. Two cucumber GASA genes, CsaV3_3G042060 and CsaV3_3G041480, were differentially expressed under multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, which indicated that these two GASA genes play important roles in the growth and development of cucumber.

Purple leaf veins and leaf edge cracks comprise the typical leaf phenotype of Brassica juncea; however, the molecular mechanisms and metabolic pathways of the formation of purple leaf veins and leaf edge cracks remain unclear. In this study, transcriptome and metabolome analyses were conducted to explore the regulation pathway of purple leaf vein and leaf edge crack formation based on four mustard samples that showed different leaf colors and degrees of cracking. The results showed genes with higher expression in purple leaf veins were mainly enriched in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. Integrating related genes and metabolites showed that the highly expressed genes of ANS (BjuA004031, BjuB014115, BjuB044852, and BjuO009605) and the excessive accumulation of dihydrokaempferol and dihydroquercetin contributed to the purple leaf veins by activating the synthetic pathways of pelargonidin-based anthocyanins and delphinidin-based anthocyanins. Meanwhile, “alpha-farnesene synthase activity” and “glucan endo-1, 3-beta-D-glucosidase activity” related to the adversity were mainly enriched in the serrated and lobed leaves, indicating that the environmental pressure was the dominant factor controlling the change in leaf shape. Overall, these results provided new insights into the regulation pathways for formation of purple leaf veins and leaf edge cracks, which could better accelerate the theoretical research on purple leaf vein color and leaf edge cracks in mustard.

Myelocytomatosis (MYC) transcription factors are crucial mediators of the response of plants to environmental stresses through via binding to DNA regulatory regions. However, few systematic characterizations of MYC genes are available in Cucurbitaceae species. In this study, we identified 10, 8, 12, and 10 MYC genes in Cucumis sativus, Cucumis melo, Citrullus lanatus, and Benincasa hispida, respectively. Characterization revealed that all of the MYC proteins contain a highly conserved H4-V5-E6-E8-R9-R11-R12 sequence, which is essential for the binding of DNA regulatory regions. Evolutionary analysis enabled us to categorize 40 predicted MYC proteins from seven species into five distinct groups and revealed that the expansion of the MYC genes occurred before the divergence of monocots and dicots. The upstream promoter regions of the MYC genes contain a variety of developmental, stress, and hormone-responsive regulatory elements. The expression of cucumber MYC genes varies significantly across organs, with particularly high expression of CsaV3_3G001710 observed across all organs. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that certain cucumber MYC genes undergo specific upregulation or downregulation in response to both biotic and abiotic stressors. In particular, under temperature stress, the cucumber genes CsaV3_3G007980 and CsaV3_3G001710 were significantly upregulated. Interestingly, the homologs of these two genes in C. lanatus presented a similar expression pattern to that in C. sativus, whereas in B. hispida, they presented the opposite pattern, i.e., significant downregulation. These findings indicated that these two genes indeed respond to temperature stress but with different expression patterns, highlighting the divergent functions of homologous genes across different species. This study analyzed the size and composition of the MYC gene family in four Cucurbitaceae species and investigated stress-responsive expression profiles, especially under temperature stress. All the results showed that MYC genes play important roles in development and stress responses, laying a theoretical foundation for further investigations of these response mechanisms.

Background: Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) serves as an excellent model for studying plant water adaptation mechanisms due to its exceptional drought tolerance. While aquaporins (AQPs) mediate the transmembrane transport of water and solutes in plants, their fine-tuned regulatory networks underlying stress resilience in Tartary buckwheat remain largely elusive. Methods: Here, we combined bioinformatics and transcriptomics to systematically identify 30 highly conserved FtAQP genes at the genome-wide level. Results: Cross-validated by qRT-PCR, our analysis revealed their distinct expression patterns across different organs. Based on our transcriptomic data, we hypothesize that FtAQP family members potentially participate in a coordinated whole-plant water management network through differential spatiotemporal expression. Specifically, the robust transcription of FtAQP8, FtAQP12, and FtAQP28 in roots is associated with the initial water uptake process. As water undergoes long-distance transport, the synergistic upregulation of FtAQP13, FtAQP17, FtAQP20, and FtAQP29 in the stem suggests a potential role in facilitating critical lateral water flow. Furthermore, during reproductive development, FtAQP27 exhibits extreme tissue specificity in floral organs, implying its possible involvement in maintaining local osmotic homeostasis. Furthermore, the promoter regions of FtAQPs are highly enriched with cis-acting elements responsive to light, abscisic acid (ABA), and cold stress, suggesting they are intimately regulated by a coupling of endogenous phytohormones and environmental cues. Conclusions: Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights into the potential molecular basis of multidimensional water regulation in Tartary buckwheat, and identifies candidate genetic targets for improving water use efficiency in dryland agriculture through the precise manipulation of aquaporins. Collectively, while these observational findings provide valuable predictive models, future in vivo experimental validations are required to confirm their exact biological functions.

Background: GeBP genes play important roles in plant development and stress responses; however, they have not yet been systematically characterized in cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ). Results: In this study, six GeBP genes were identified in the cucumber genome. All CsGeBP proteins possess conserved basic regions and leucine zipper–like domain and are predominantly localized in the nucleus. Phylogenetic and synteny analyses revealed that the GeBP gene family is highly conserved among cucurbit species and has expanded mainly through segmental duplication events. Expression analyses demonstrated clear functional divergence among CsGeBP genes. CsGeBP5 showed consistently high expression in reproductive tissues and was upregulated in long-fruit cucumber lines, suggesting a potential role in fruit development. In contrast, CsGeBP6 was strongly induced under salt stress, and its expression was further enhanced by silicon treatment. Moreover, it was markedly upregulated in the resistant cucumber line SSL508-28 after powdery mildew inoculation, suggesting a role in both abiotic stress tolerance and disease resistance. Conclusions: Overall, this study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the GeBP gene family in cucumber and identifies key potential genes associated with fruit development ( CsGeBP5 ) and stress responses ( CsGeBP6 ), laying a foundation for future functional studies and molecular breeding.