Treetop walkways are unique trail constructions. Their support structure suspends a walkway platform several meters from the ground, shuttling among the canopies of trees in the forest. Many countries have built canopy trails for forest recreation, tourism, and other uses. In certain cities, the treetop walkway is no longer a single building unit or forest trail in the narrow sense, and is planned as a multi-functional urban public landscape. This study reviews the development of treetop and elevated forest trails, introduces several representative cases, and provides a comprehensive reference point that fills previous research gaps. We also analyze the Fu Forest Trail, the most representative treetop walkway in China through, inter alia, its modular system, elevated structural, and design appearance. We explore the background and application of treetop trails that connect residents and the environment as a multifunctional urban public landscape in China, and related future research directions. We conclude that treetop walkways have many distinct advantages, and are becoming trendy in forest trail development; there is excellent potential to transform them creatively and innovatively into high-quality forest infrastructure or urban public landscape for public benefit.

The Trihelix is a plant-specific transcription factor family and has critical roles in plant growth and development and stress resistance. There is less information about Trihelix transcription factor genes and their potential functions in strawberries (Fragaria vesca). In the present study, we performed a detailed bioinformatics analysis of the Trihelix family in strawberries including physicochemical properties, chromosomal location, exon–intron distribution, domain arrangement, and subcellular localization. Thirty Trihelix family members were identified and divided into five subfamilies. The expression of FvTrihelix genes in different tissues/organs, i.e., root, stolon, leaf, flower, and fruit, was measured in strawberries after infection with Colletotrichum. gloeosporioides and foliar applications of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA). Most of the genes showed differential expression responses following C. gloeosporioides infection and hormone treatments (SA and JA), suggesting critical roles in disease resistance and hormonal signaling pathways. As anticipated, the ectopic expression of FvTrihelix6 in Arabidopsis thaliana increased resistance against Colletotrichum. higginsianum infection. FvTrihelix6 protein was localized in the nucleus. We surmise that FvTrihelix6 enhances resistance against pathogens through the SA and JA signaling pathways. This study provides novel insights into the strawberry Trihelix transcription factor genes and new candidates for disease-resistance breeding of strawberries.

Leaf variegation is an ornamental trait that is not only biologically but also economically important. In our previous study, a Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester cyclase homologue, EaZIP (Epipremnum aureum leucine zipper) was found to be associated with leaf variegation in Epipremnum aureum (Linden & Andre) G.S. Bunting. The protein product of this nuclear-encoded gene is targeted back to chloroplast involving in chlorophyll biosynthesis. Based on a web-based homology analysis, the EaZIP was found to lack a chloroplast transit peptide (cTP) sequence. In the present study, we tested if overexpression of the EaZIP cDNA with or without the cTP sequence could affect leaf variegation. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing EaZIP genes with (EaZIPwcTP) and without (EaZIPwocTP) cTP sequence were generated. Many plant lines harboring EaZIPwocTP showed variegated leaves, while none of the plant lines with EaZIPwcTP produced such a phenotype. Molecular analysis of T0 plants and selfed T1 progeny, as well as observations of tagged marker GFP (green fluorescent protein) did not show any other difference in patterns of gene integrity and expression. Results from this study indicate that transgenic approach for expressing EaZIPwocTP could be a novel method of generating variegated plants even through the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated.