Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops worldwide. Pod-related traits, including pod length (PL), pod width (PW), ratio of PL to PW (PL/W) and 100-pod weight (100-PW), are crucial factors for pod yield and are key target traits for selection in peanut breeding. However, the studies on the natural variation and genetic mechanism of pod-related traits are not clear in peanut. In this study, we phenotyped 136 peanut accessions for four pod-related traits in two consecutive years and genotyped the population using a re-sequencing technique. Based on 884,737 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted for four pod-related traits using a fixed and random model uniform cyclic probability (FarmCPU) model. The results showed that a total of 36 SNPs were identified by GWAS, among which twenty-one, fourteen and one SNPs were significantly associated with PL, PL/W and 100-PW, respectively. The candidate regions where the four peak SNPs (10_76084075, 11_138356586, 16_64420451, and 18_126782541) were located were used for searching genes, and nineteen candidate genes for pod-related traits were preliminarily predicted based on functional annotations. In addition, we also compared the expression patterns of these nineteen candidate genes in different tissues of peanut, and we found that eight genes were specifically highly expressed in tender fruit, immature pericarp, or seed, so we considered these genes to be the potential candidate genes for pod-related traits. These results enriched the understanding of the genetic basis of pod-related traits and provided an important theoretical basis for subsequent gene cloning and marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding in peanut.

Background/Objectives: Sweetness is a key determinant of the eating quality of sweet corn, primarily governed by the soluble sugar content in kernels. The soluble sugar content decreases rapidly during the postharvest shelf life, which directly affects the flavor and quality. Relatively few studies have been conducted on the shelf life of sweet corn. Methods: An F₆ recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was constructed from two super sweet inbred lines with contrasting soluble sugar degradation rates: D174 (low degradation rate) and D179 (high degradation rate). Extreme phenotype pools were established using soluble sugar content as the target trait. Based on bulked segregant analysis sequencing, we identified chromosomal segments associated with postharvest soluble sugar reduction in sweet corn, annotated the gene information within these segments, and analyzed the functions of the annotated genes using the Gene Ontology and Genomes databases. Results: Results revealed three associated regions located at 44,205,775–45,290,843 bp on chromosome 4, 6,250,656–6,744,665 bp on chromosome 2, and 135,428,709–136,732,132 bp on chromosome 10. This interval contained 195 genes. Integrated analysis of gene expression, gene annotations, and quantitative real-time PCR indicated that Zm00001eb069070, which is highly expressed in kernels with a prolonged shelf life, might be a key candidate gene regulating soluble sugar degradation in sweet corn. Conclusions: This study provides valuable genetic resources for the improvement of favorable agronomic traits and the advancement of molecular breeding strategies for sweet corn.

Pyruvate kinase (PK) is the terminal rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis and occupies a central position in plant energy metabolism and carbon skeleton allocation. Plant PK isoenzymes comprise the cytosolic pyruvate kinase (PKc) and the plastidic pyruvate kinase (PKp), which differ markedly in gene origin, protein structure, subcellular localization, and physiological function, exhibiting independent evolutionary histories and functional diversification. Recent studies have revealed that PKc possesses dynamic subcellular distribution, allowing it to shuttle among the cytosol, mitochondria, and nucleus, where it participates in stress responses and epigenetic regulation through protein–protein interactions. PKp is localized to plastids and connects carbon metabolism with lipid biosynthesis and the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway by supplying pyruvate, thereby playing critical roles in seed development and oil accumulation. This review comprehensively summarizes recent advances in plant PKc and PKp concerning protein structure and subunit composition, tissue-specific expression, subcellular localization, protein interaction networks, activity regulation, and their effects on plant growth, development, and stress responses. In addition, phylogenetic tree, motif, and domain analyses of pyruvate kinase genes from Oryza sativa (rice), Glycine max (soybean), Gossypium hirsutum (cotton), Solanum tuberosum (potato), Arachis hypogaea (peanut), and Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as promoter cis-element analyses, are performed. This review aims to provide theoretical references for crop quality improvement and stress-resilient breeding.

The AP2/ERF superfamily is a key class of transcription factors involved in plant responses to various stresses. As an ancient species, the olive tree (Olea europaea L.) exhibits considerable stress tolerance and wide adaptability. In this study, we identified 348 AP2/ERF genes in the cultivated olive variety ‘Arbequina’ at the whole-genome level. According to protein sequence alignments and phylogenetic analyses via the Maximum Likelihood method, these genes were classified into four major families: AP2, ERF/DREB, RAV, and Soloist. The ERF/DREB family was further divided into DREB and ERF subfamilies, each encompassing six groups (A1–A6 and B1–B6), with the ERF subfamily being the largest. Members of each group exhibited relatively consistent gene structures and domain/motif compositions of their encoded proteins; however, the distribution of cis-elements and expression patterns varied. Each AP2/ERF gene contained 12 light-responsive, three MeJA-responsive, three ABA-responsive, two anaerobic induction, and one MYB binding site on average. With the threshold of p value < 0.5, control TPM > 0, and |log₂(fold change)| > 0, 50 candidate genes were simultaneously up-regulated (30) or down-regulated (20) under four stress treatments (acid–aluminum, cold, disease, and wound), among which nine showed potential protein–protein interactions. This study provides a comprehensive genomic characterization of the AP2/ERF family in olive and identifies key candidate stress-responsive genes, establishing a foundation for future functional studies on the molecular mechanisms of stress adaptation in the olive tree.