Plants sense and respond to fluctuating temperature and light conditions during the circadian cycle; however, the molecular mechanism underlying plant adaptability during daytime warm conditions remains poorly understood. In this study, we reveal that the ectopic regulation of a HEAT RESPONSIVE PROTEIN (GhHRP) controls the adaptation and survival of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) plants in response to warm conditions via modulating phytohormone signaling. Increased ambient temperature promptly enhanced the binding of the phytochrome interacting factor 4 (GhPIF4)/ethylene-insensitive 3 (GhEIN3) complex to the GhHRP promoter to increase its mRNA level. The ectopic expression of GhHRP promoted the temperature-dependent accumulation of GhPIF4 transcripts and hypocotyl elongation by triggering thermoresponsive growth-related genes. Notably, the upregulation of the GhHRP/GhPIF4 complex improved plant growth via modulating the abundance of Arabidopsis thaliana auxin biosynthetic gene YUCCA8 (AtYUC8)/1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase 8 (AtACS8) for fine-tuning the auxin/ethylene interplay, ultimately resulting in decreased ethylene biosynthesis. GhHRP thus protects chloroplasts from photo-oxidative bursts via repressing AtACS8 and AtACS7 and upregulating AtYUC8 and the heat shock transcription factors (HSFA2), heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP20). Strikingly, the Δhrp disruption mutant exhibited compromised production of HSP/YUC8 that resulted in an opposite phenotype with the loss of the ability to respond to warm conditions. Our results show that GhHRP is a heat-responsive signaling component that assists plants in confronting the dark phase and modulates auxin signaling to rescue growth under temperature fluctuations.

TCP transcription factors play a key role in regulating various developmental processes, particularly in shoot branching, flower development, and leaf development, and these factors are exclusively found in plants. However, comprehensive studies investigating TCP transcription factors in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) are lacking. In this study, we identified 27 CaTCP members in the pepper genome, which were classified into Class I and Class II through phylogenetic analysis. The motif analysis revealed that CaTCPs in the same class exhibit similar numbers and distributions of motifs. We predicted that 37 previously reported miRNAs target 19 CaTCPs. The expression levels of CaTCPs varied in various tissues and growth stages. Specifically, CaTCP16, a member of Class II (CIN), exhibited significantly high expression in flowers. Class I CaTCPs exhibited high expression levels in leaves, while Class II CaTCPs showed high expression in lateral branches, especially in the CYC/TB1 subclass. The expression profile suggests that CaTCPs play specific roles in the developmental processes of pepper. We provide a theoretical basis that will assist in further functional validation of the CaTCPs.

Seed vigor underpins uniform crop establishment, but its dynamic genetics are understudied. Combining high‐resolution temporal phenotyping and genomics in upland cotton, we used the SeedRanger platform to record 17 image‐based traits every 30 min over 120 h, revealing stage‐specific heritability and identifying 541 seed‐vigor loci. These loci show extensive pleiotropy and temporal coordination, forming a genetic network that preserves developmental continuity; 8.9% overlap regions under domestication selection, indicating concurrent optimization with fiber yield. Functional validation of FLA2 , a candidate gene underlying a dynamic QTL, implicates auxin‐mediated control of radicle elongation and cotyledon development. This temporal framework exposes dynamic genetic architecture and breeding targets for high‐vigor crops.

Schizophrenia patients show abnormalities in many eye movement tasks. Among them, exploratory eye movements (EEM) dysfunction seems to be specific to schizophrenia. However the mechanism of EEM disturbances in schizophrenia patients remains elusive. We investigate the relationship between EEM and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or genes to identify susceptibility loci for EEM in schizophrenia. We firstly performed EEM test, then performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and gene-based association study of EEM in 128 individuals with schizophrenia and 143 healthy control subjects. Comparing to healthy controls, schizophrenia patients show significant decrease in NEF (22.99 ± 3.96 vs. 26.02 ± 5.72, P <0.001), TESL (368.78 ± 123.57 vs. 603.12 ± 178.63, P <0.001), MESL (16.86 ± 5.27 vs. 24.42 ± 6.46, P <0.001), RSS (8.22 ± 1.56 vs. 10.92 ± 1.09, P <0.001) and CSS (5.06 ± 0.97 vs. 6.64 ± 0.87, P <0.001). Five SNPs of the MAN2A1, at 5q21.3, were associated with EEM abnormalities (deceased CSS) and satisfied the criteria of GWAS significance threshold. One is localized near 5’-UTR (rs17450784) and four are in intron (rs1438663, rs17162094, rs6877440 and rs10067856) of the gene. Our findings suggest that the identified loci may control the schizophrenia-related quantitative EEM trait. And the identified gene, associated with the EEM phenotype, may lead to new insights into the etiology of schizophrenia.