With the progress of industrialization and urbanization, cadmium (Cd) pollution in farmland is increasingly severe, greatly affecting human health. Sunflowers possess high resistance to Cd stress and great potential for phytoremediation of Cd-contaminated soil. Previous studies have shown that humic acid (HA) effectively mitigates plant damage induced by Cd; however, its alleviating effects on sunflower plants under Cd stress remain largely unknown. We employed four different concentrations of HA (50, 100, 200, and 300 mg L−1) via foliar application to examine their ability to alleviate Cd stress on sunflower plants' growth, chlorophyll synthesis, and biochemical defense system. The results revealed that Cd stress not only reduced plant height, stem diameter, fresh and dry weight, and chlorophyll content in sunflower plants but also altered their chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics compared to the control group. After Cd stress, the photosynthetic structure was damaged and the number of PSII reactive centers per unit changed. Application of 200 mg L−1 HA promotes sunflower growth and increases chlorophyll content. HA significantly enhances antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, POD, CAT, and APX) and reduces ROS content (O2 −, H2O2 and −OH). Totally, Application of 200 mg L−1 HA had the best effect than other concentrations to alleviate the Cd-induced stress in sunflower plants. The foliar application of certain HA concentration exhibited the most effective alleviation of Cd-induced stress on sunflower plants. It can enhance the light energy utilization and antioxidant enzyme activities, while reduce ROS contents in sunflower plants. These findings provide a theoretical basis for using HA to mitigate Cd stress in sunflowers.

Variable RNA interference (RNAi) efficiencies limit RNAi-based pest management strategies for many pests. Previous efforts to understand mechanisms contributing to low RNAi efficiency indicate that double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is degraded in the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, due to nuclease activity. To investigate the contribution of dsRNA-degrading endonucleases (dsRNases) and lepidopteran-specific RNAi efficiency-related nucleases (REases) to dsRNA instability and low RNAi efficiency in ECB, five complementary DNAs putatively encoding four dsRNases (OndsRNase1, 2, 3, and 4) and one REase (OnREase) were sequenced. Characterization of these transcripts revealed that substrate specificity might vary among the four dsRNases due to different amino acid combinations in the substrate-binding sites. Gene expression analysis indicated that OndsRNase2 and OnREase were highly expressed in the larval gut, and OndsRNase1 showed the highest expression in hemolymph, especially in older developmental stages. Transcript level analysis after dsRNA exposure revealed that expression of OnREase rapidly increased upon dsRNA ingestion or injection, whereas OndsRNase4 expression only increased after long-term ingestion of dsRNA. While the biological function of these nucleases remains to be verified, our results suggest that OnREase and OndsRNase2, and OndsRNase1 and OndsRNase4 may be responsible for degradation of dsRNAs in the ECB gut and hemolymph, respectively, thereby contributing to low RNAi efficiency.

Background: The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors and their homologs form a superfamily that plays essential roles in transcriptional networks of multiple developmental processes. bHLH family members have been identified in over 20 organisms, including fruit fly, zebrafish, human and mouse. Result: In this study, we conducted a genome-wide survey for bHLH sequences, and identified 57 bHLH sequences encoded in complete genome sequence of the ponerine ant, Harpegnathos saltator. Phylogenetic analysis of the bHLH domain sequences classified these genes into 38 bHLH families with 23, 14, 10, 1, 8 and 1 members in group A, B, C, D, E and F, respectively. The number of PabHLHs (ponerine ant bHLHs) with introns is higher than many other insect species, and they are found to have introns with average lengths only inferior to those of pea aphid. In addition, two H. saltator bHLHs named PaCrp1 and PaSide locate on two separate contigs in the genome. Conclusions: A putative full set of PabHLH genes is comparable with other insect species and genes encoding Oligo, MyoRb and Figα were not found in genomes of all insect species of which bHLH family members have been identified. Moreover, in-family phylogenetic analyses indicate that the PabHLH genes are more closely related with Apis mellifera than others. The present study will serve as a solid foundation for further investigations into the structure and function of bHLH proteins in the regulation of H. saltator development.

Sophora flavescens has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor properties due to its active compounds, including alkaloids and flavonoids. Exploring the biosynthetic regulation mechanism of these compounds is crucial. Here, we identified 227 flavonoids and 55 alkaloids among five tissues (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and pods) using wide-targeted metabolomics. Flavonoids were predominantly in roots, whereas alkaloids were primarily in roots and flowers. RNA sequencing revealed 18,488 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in non-root tissues compared to roots. These DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways such as plant hormone signal transduction, carbon metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, and isoflavonoid biosynthesis. Utilizing K-means clustering and WGCNA, we identified ten transcription factors (TFs) potentially regulating the biosynthesis and accumulation of flavonoids (e.g., SfWRKY50 and SfbHLH078) and seven TFs involved in alkaloid biosynthesis (e.g., SfbHLH109 and SfbHLH162) in S. flavescens. These TFs can serve as candidate genes for studying the biosynthetic mechanisms of flavonoids and alkaloids, providing insights into the production of key active compounds and supporting the rational use of S. flavescens tissues.