In recent years, with the increasing awareness of environmental protection and food safety, essential oils (EOs) have gained significant attention as safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives. This study investigated the insecticidal activity of four Lamiaceae EOs (patchouli oil, catnip oil, lavender oil, and mint oil) against Thrips flavus and their effects on crops and weeds. The results show that patchouli oil, catnip oil, and lavender oil exhibited better insecticidal activity, with patchouli oil having the strongest toxicity, with an LC₅₀ value of 0.31 mg/mL. Additionally, catnip oil and lavender oil had significant attractive effects on T. flavus, where lavender oil only had a significant attractive effect on male T. flavus, with an attraction rate of 71.88% (p = 0.03), suggesting that it could be a potential alternative to insect lures. In pot experiments, these EOs demonstrated sustained insecticidal effects and varied impacts on crops. Lavender oil only significantly affected the shoot length of soybeans (Glycine max), while mint oil did not significantly affect the growth of G. max. Finally, we preliminarily analyzed the chemical composition of the EOs to provide insights into their active components. These findings indicate that EOs have potential applications as natural agrochemicals, but further research on their mechanisms and application conditions is required.

The bean bug Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) is a major soybean pest in Asia, increasingly threatened by rising temperatures. It is crucial to clarify the high-temperature lethal thresholds of R. pedestris for predicting population dynamics under climate warming. Previous physiological data showed that female adults have significantly higher heat tolerance than males, with HLT₅₀ values of 39.76 °C versus 38.45 °C and HLT₉₀ values of 42.99 °C versus 42.44 °C. This sex-specific difference suggests distinct molecular responses to thermal stress. To test this hypothesis, we performed transcriptome sequencing of adults exposed to 24 °C (control), 40 °C (sublethal), and 44 °C (lethal), with males and females treated separately. A high-quality assembly yielded 270,199 unigenes, with 71 heat shock protein (HSP) genes identified across six subfamilies (sHSP, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, HSFs). HSPs exhibited a dual strategy: constitutive expression for basal proteostasis and strong induction—especially at 44 °C—for stress defense. Notably, responses were sexually dimorphic: females upregulated multiple stress-responsive HSPs (e.g., RpedHsp15.5-3, RpedHsp30.8) to protect reproduction, while males specifically induced RpedHsp83.6, possibly for signaling regulation. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed conservation within Hemiptera. These findings reveal the molecular basis of thermal adaptation in R. pedestris and identify key HSPs as potential targets for RNAi, HSP inhibitors, or precision thermal control.

Soybean cyst nematode disease is one of the major threats to global soybean production, characterized by its widespread distribution, severe damage, and strong pathogenicity. Identifying and regulating key resistance genes, as well as incorporating them into cultivated varieties through genetic transformation, represents a relatively efficient and cost-effective prevention and control strategy. From 2022 to 2023,at the Chengzi and Xiqiao experimental bases of the Chifeng Academy of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, this study utilized 206 soybean materials for resistance evaluation under two-year, four-site environmental conditions. Based on 101,549 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci derived from sequencing data, phylogenetic analysis and principal component analysis were conducted. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 19 SNP loci significantly associated with resistance to soybean cyst nematode, distributed across 11 chromosomes. Among these, four loci (Chr18_56072377, Chr08_159841, Chr15_50312327, and Chr16_32880873) were detected under multiple environmental conditions, with effect values ranging from -35.75 to 24.25.The genes associated with these loci were enriched in multiple pathways, including cell wall construction, root development, and amino acid metabolism. The disease resistance function of the candidate gene Glyma.18G279900 was preliminarily validated. This study addresses the gap in identifying stable resistance loci across diverse environments, advances the understanding of resistance-related metabolic regulatory mechanisms, provides new markers and gene resources for disease-resistant molecular breeding, and offers direct application value for cultivating resistant varieties adapted to local ecological conditions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1834180.].