The volatility, instability, and water insolubility of Camphora longepaniculata essential oil (CLEO) limit its practical applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. CLEO nanoemulsions (CLNEs) were formulated and characterized to overcome the aforementioned issues. The volatile compounds of CLEO were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. CLNEs were prepared using EL-40 (5%, w/w) as the surfactant via the high-pressure homogenization method. The formation of nanoemulsions was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Homogenized nanoemulsions had smaller particle sizes of 39.99 ± 0.47 nm and exhibited enhanced stability. The nanostructured CLEO showed an antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial mechanism was explored through bacterial morphology and intracellular lysate leakage. CLNEs disrupted the structure of bacterial cells and impaired the permeability of cell membranes, resulting in the leakage of bacterial intracellular contents. The nanoemulsions exhibited superior radical scavenging ability compared to the pure oil. Furthermore, evaluations of the cellular safety of the CLNEs demonstrated that the survival rate of exposed HOECs was greater than 90%, with an apoptosis rate of less than 10% in a concentration range. The results demonstrated that nanoemulsification improved the stability, solubility in aqueous media, and bioavailability of CLEO, thereby broadening its potential industrial applications as a natural antibacterial and antioxidant agent.

Lodging is one of the most important factors affecting the high and stable yield of wheat worldwide. Solid-stemmed wheat has higher stem strength and lodging resistance than hollow-stemmed wheat does. There are many solid-stemmed varieties, landraces, and old varieties of durum wheat. However, the transfer of solid stem genes from durum wheat is suppressed by a suppressor gene located on chromosome 3D in common wheat, and only hollow-stemmed lines have been created. However, synthetic hexaploid wheat can serve as a bridge for transferring solid stem genes from tetraploid wheat to common wheat. In this study, the F₁, F₂, and F_2:3 generations of a cross between solid-stemmed Syn-SAU-119 and semisolid-stemmed Syn-SAU-117 were developed. A single dominant gene, which was tentatively designated Su-TdDof and suppresses stem solidity, was identified in synthetic hexaploid wheat Syn-SAU-117 by using genetic analysis. By using bulked segregant RNA-seq (BSR-seq) analysis, Su-TdDof was mapped to chromosome 7DS and flanked by markers KASP-669 and KASP-1055 within a 4.53 cM genetic interval corresponding to 3.86 Mb and 2.29 Mb physical regions in the Chinese Spring (IWGSC RefSeq v1.1) and Ae. tauschii (AL8/78 v4.0) genomes, respectively, in which three genes related to solid stem development were annotated. Su-TdDof differed from a previously reported solid stem suppressor gene based on its origin and position. Su-TdDof would provide a valuable example for research on the suppression phenomenon. The flanking markers developed in this study might be useful for screening Ae. tauschii accessions with no suppressor gene (Su-TdDof) to develop more synthetic hexaploid wheat lines for the breeding of lodging resistance in wheat and further cloning the suppressor gene Su-TdDof.

Camphora longepaniculata is an important economic crop renowned for its rich volatile terpene compounds. Terpene synthases (TPS) are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of these compounds, playing significant roles in plant growth, development, and secondary metabolism. In this study, a total of 86 TPS genes were identified in Camphora longepaniculata, which were classified into five groups based on their evolutionary relationships. Analysis of cis-regulatory elements revealed associations between TPS genes and processes related to plant growth, development, and environmental stress responses. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated that these TPS genes are predominantly linked to various enzymatic activities. Furthermore, analysis of duplication events revealed that tandem duplications (TD) and whole genome duplications (WGD) are major driving forces in the evolution of the TPS gene family. Notably, 18 TPS genes were found to be upregulated in high essential oil content varieties of Camphora longepaniculata. These findings lay a solid foundation for further exploration of the functions of TPS genes in Camphora longepaniculata.