Here, we reported the complete profiling of the crotonylation proteome in common wheat. Through a combination of crotonylation and multi-omics analysis, we identified a TaPGK associated with wheat cold stress. Then, we confirmed the positive role of TaPGK-modulating wheat cold tolerance. Meanwhile, we found that cold stress induced lysine crotonylation of TaPGK. Moreover, we screened a lysine decrotonylase TaSRT1 interacting with TaPGK and found that TaSRT1 negatively regulated wheat cold tolerance. We subsequently demonstrated TaSRT1 inhibiting the accumulation of TaPGK protein, and this inhibition was possibly resulted from decrotonylation of TaPGK by TaSRT1. Transcriptome sequencing indicated that overexpression of TaPGK activated glycolytic key genes and thereby increased pyruvate content. Moreover, we found that exogenous application of pyruvate sharply enhanced wheat cold tolerance. These findings suggest that the TaSRT1-TaPGK model regulating wheat cold tolerance is possibly through mediating pyruvate. This study provided two valuable cold tolerance genes and dissected diverse mechanism of glycolytic pathway involving in wheat cold stress.

The extensive adaptability of polyploidy wheat is attributed to its complex genome, and accurately controlling heading stage is a prime target in wheat breeding process. Wheat heading stage is an essential growth and development processes since it starts at a crucial point in the transition from vegetative phase to reproductive phase. Heading stage is mainly decided by vernalization, photoperiod, hormone (like gibberellic acid, GA), and earliness per se (Eps). As a polyploidy species, common wheat possesses the abundant genetic variation, such as allelic variation, copy number variation etc., which have a strong effect on regulation of wheat growth and development. Therefore, understanding genetic manipulation of heading stage is pivotal for controlling the heading stage in wheat. In this review, we summarized the recent advances in the genetic regulatory mechanisms and abundant variation in genetic diversity controlling heading stage in wheat, as well as the interaction mechanism of different signals and the contribution of different genetic variation. We first summarized the genes involved in vernalization, photoperoid and other signals cross-talk with each other to control wheat heading stage, then the abundant genetic variation related to signal components associated with wheat heading stage was also elaborated in detail. Our knowledge of the regulatory network of wheat heading can be used to adjust the duration of the growth phase for the purpose of acclimatizing to different geographical environments.

Maize grain yield depends mainly on the photosynthetic efficiency of functional leaves, which is controlled by an array of gene networks and other factors, including environmental conditions. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that play important roles in plant developmental regulation. A few senescence-associated miRNAs (SA-miRNAs) have been identified as important participants in regulating leaf senescence by modulating the expression levels of their target genes. To elucidate miRNA roles in leaf senescence and their underlying molecular mechanisms in maize, a stay-green line, Yu87-1, and an early leaf senescence line, Early leaf senescence-1 (ELS-1), were selected as experimental materials for the differential expression of candidate miRNAs. Four small RNA libraries were constructed from ear leaves at 20 and 30 days after pollination and sequenced by Illumina deep sequencing technology. Altogether, 81 miRNAs were detected in both lines. Of these, 16 miRNAs of nine families were differentially expressed between ELS-1 andYu87-1. The phenotypic and chlorophyll content analyses of both lines identified these 16 differentially expressed miRNAs as candidate SA-miRNAs. In this study, 16 candidate SA-miRNAs of ELS-1 were identified through small RNA deep sequencing technology. Degradome sequencing results indicated that these candidate SA-miRNAs may regulate leaf senescence through their target genes, mainly transcription factors, and potentially control chlorophyll degradation pathways. The results highlight the regulatory roles of miRNAs during leaf senescence in maize.

As a devastating wheat disease, Fusarium head blight (FHB) causes large losses in yield and quality. The purpose of this study was to detect the genetic loci for FHB resistance based on a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using two panels genotyped by the Wheat 660 K SNP array and Wheat 90 K SNP array. Phenotypic investigation results showed that 43.6–51.6% of the test varieties showed an infection type of more than 3, indicating that substantial improvement in the level of resistance was urgently required. GWAS detected 1264 SNPs associated with FHB response distributed on all wheat chromosomes. Fourteen QTL were stably detected in two environments. gFHB-1B (582.9~607.9 Mb on chromosome 1B) and gFHB-5A (577.9~596.5 Mb on 5A) were two novel resistance loci that were detected in two wheat panels. Haplotype analysis of both gFHB-1B and gFHB-5A indicated that varieties with gFHB-1B_R and gFHB-5A_R had consistently less FHB than varieties carrying a one or no resistance QTL. The application frequency of the FHB-resistant alleles gFHB-1B and gFHB-5A showed a gradually decreasing trend in FHB resistance breeding. This study identified new genetic loci for the control of FHB and provides useful information for marker-assisted selection in wheat FHB resistance.

RNA 5-methylcytosine (m ⁵ C) plays an undefined role in plant antiviral defense. Here, we reveal that the wheat methyltransferase NOP2/Sun RNA methyltransferase 2 (TaNSUN2) is an RNA m ⁵ C methyltransferase recruited by eukaryotic elongation factor 1-alpha (TaeEF1A) into Chinese wheat mosaic virus (CWMV) replication complexes (VRCs). TaNSUN2 promotes the m ⁵ C modification of CWMV RNAs to stabilize them and enhance their translational efficiency. Moreover, m ⁵ C modification in RNA 3′ untranslated region strengthens both TaeEF1A binding, promoting viral replication, and viral coat protein interaction, facilitating viral assembly. A major allele of TaNSUN2 prevents its interaction with TaeEF1A and hinders its entry into the VRCs to suppress m ⁵ C modification of viral RNAs. TaNSUN2 knockout enhances wheat resistance to CWMV and increases the weight and size of wheat grains. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into the function of RNA modifications in plant virus infection and a valuable genetic resource for future wheat breeding projects.