Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), which creates jobs for 33 million people and contributes two trillion dollars’ tax annually, is one of the most important economic plants globally. However, tobacco is seriously threatened by numerous diseases during production. Previously, the field survey of tobacco diseases was conducted in the Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, the two main tobacco-producing areas in China. A serious leaf spot disease, with a 22% to 35% incidence, was observed in farming plants. In order to determine the causal agents, we collected the disease samples and isolated the pathogenic fungi. The pathogen was identified as Fusariumipomoeae, based on the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis. Pathogenicity tests showed that F. ipomoeae could induce tobacco leaf spot and blight. To our knowledge, this is the first report worldwide of F. ipomoeae causing leaf spots and stems on tobacco. Our study reveals the serious consequences of F. ipomoeae on tobacco filed production and provides information for future diagnosis and management of the Fusarium disease.

Drought imposes severe constraints on wheat production, especially when stress occurs at the seedling stage. Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) could alleviate drought stress; however, their precise regulation mechanism in wheat remains largely unknown. This study examined the biological effects of SiNP200 (200 mg L⁻¹ SiNPs) on drought-stressed seeds and seedlings. Under drought stress, SiNP200 enhanced the germination rate, potential, radical length, and shoot length. Further analysis showed that SiNP200 upregulated the expression of TaSOD, TaAPX, TaPOD, TaP5CS, and TaSWEET, thereby activating antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, peroxide dismutase, and ascorbate, while also promoting the synthesis of osmotic regulators such as proline and soluble sugars. Notably, a decrease in MDA content was observed, and Schiff reagent and Evans blue staining confirmed that SiNP200 mitigated lipid peroxidation and improved plasma membrane integrity in drought-stressed wheat. These findings highlight the pivotal role of SiNP200 in enhancing wheat drought tolerance through the activation of ROS scavenging systems, reduction of lipid peroxidation, and alleviation of osmotic stress. This study demonstrated that SiNPs can enhance wheat seed germination and seedling development under drought stress, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the application of SiNP-based fertilizers.

Unknown functional domain (DUF) proteins constitute a large number of functionally uncharacterized protein families in eukaryotes. DUF724s play crucial roles in plants. However, the insight understanding of wheat TaDUF724s is currently lacking. To explore the possible function of TaDUF724s in wheat growth and development and stress response, the family members were systematically identified and characterized. In total, 14 TaDUF724s were detected from a wheat reference genome; they are unevenly distributed across the 11 chromosomes, and, according to chromosome location, they were named TaDUF724-1 to TaDUF724-14. Evolution analysis revealed that TaDUF724s were under negative selection, and fragment replication was the main reason for family expansion. All TaDUF724s are unstable proteins; most TaDUF724s are acidic and hydrophilic. They were predicted to be located in the nucleus and chloroplast. The promoter regions of TaDUF724s were enriched with the cis-elements functionally associated with growth and development, as well as being hormone-responsive. Expression profiling showed that TaDUF724-9 was highly expressed in seedings, roots, leaves, stems, spikes and grains, and strongly expressed throughout the whole growth period. The 12 TaDUF724 were post-transcription regulated by 12 wheat MicroRNA (miRNA) through cleavage and translation. RT-qPCR showed that six TaDUF724s were regulated by biological and abiotic stresses. Conclusively, TaDUF724s were systematically analyzed using bioinformatics methods, which laid a theoretical foundation for clarifying the function of TaDUF724s in wheat.

DUF668s, a plant-specific gene family, encode proteins containing domain of unknown function (DUF) domains. Despite their essential functions, there is a lack of insight into Triticum aestivum TaDUF668s. Here, 31 TaDUF668s were identified from the wheat genome; according to phylogenetic relationships, they were named TaDUF668-01 to TaDUF668-31. All TaDUF668s were hydrophilic and unstable proteins. There were 22 TaDUF668s that showed subcellular localization in nucleus. Evolutionary analysis demonstrated that TaDUF668s had undergone strong purifying selection, and fragment duplication plays major role in TaDUF668 family expansion. Cis-element prediction displayed that over 90% of TaDUF668 promoter regions contain the growth and abiotic responsiveness element. Consistently, expression profiling showed that TaDUF668s were highly induced in five wheat growth and development stages, seven main different tissues, five abiotic stresses, and five pathogenic stresses. In total, 12 TaDUF668s were targeted by 20 miRNAs through the inhibition of translation and cleavage patterns. RT-qPCR results confirmed that the expression of six TaDUF668s was significantly regulated by NaCl, PEG, F. graminearum, and P. striiformis; nevertheless, the regulation patterns were different. In summary, through systematic identification, characterization, evolutionary analysis, and expression profiling, a comprehensive understanding of TaDUF668 has been obtained, which lays a foundation for further functional studies of TaDUF668.