Pinto peanut (Arachis pintoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg.) is an herbaceous perennial plant which belongs to the Leguminosae family. This plant is well known for its use as a cover crop, but little information is available on the allelopathic potential of this legume. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the allelopathic effects of A. pintoi under various screening conditions and to analyze its potential allelochemicals using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In laboratory bioassays, aqueous extracts of A. pintoi powder exerted the average inhibition of the growth of Echinochloa crus-galli (55.1%), Oryza sativa (77.1%), and Vigna radiata (60.1%), respectively, of which the root lengths of the tested plants were the most suppressed. In greenhouse experiments, E. crus-galli was inhibited by 63.4% at 200 g/m² of A. pintoi dried powder application. In field trials, A. pintoi also significantly reduced the growth of E. crus-galli and natural weeds. By incorporating a dose of 200 g/m², the average inhibition of E. crus-galli was 43.9%, the dry weight of natural paddy weeds was 43.1%, and rice yield was simultaneously increased by 35%. The growth inhibitions of weeds and tested plants were proportional to the doses of A. pintoi applied and varied with the tested plant species. Among three different solvent extracts (methanol, hexane, and ethyl acetate), the hexane extract exerted the highest suppression against the growth of E. crus-galli and L. sativa by IC₅₀ against root and shoot growth = 4.08 and 8.4 mg/mL and 1.7 and 1.54 mg/mL, respectively, followed by ethyl acetate extract, while the least effective was methanol extract. From those extracts, a total of 35 substances were detected by GC-MS analyses, including 14 newly identified constituents, such as phenolic acids, stearic acid, palmitic acid, fatty acids, pyranones, and benzofurans, which may be responsible for the herbicidal effects of A. pintoi. This study suggests that A. pintoi may be used as a source of bioherbicide to minimize the dependency on harmful synthetic herbicides and enhance rice yield.

Circadian clocks are fundamental to life, allowing organisms to adapt their physiology to the 24-h day-night cycle. The endogenous clock comprises three components: the input pathway, the central oscillator, and the output pathway. Extensive research has been conducted on circadian clock regulation in flowering plants (angiosperms); similarly, significant progress has been made in understanding circadian rhythms in cyanobacteria, highlighting the broader importance of these mechanisms across diverse organisms. However, much less attention has been directed towards other non-flowering plants, such as green algae, red algae, bryophytes, and gymnosperms. These ancient lineages, which represent critical steps in the evolution of plant life, also exhibit endogenous timekeeping mechanisms. Among them, cyanobacteria, often considered precursors to plant circadian systems, offer valuable insights into the origins of circadian rhythms in photosynthetic organisms. This review explores the current knowledge regarding circadian clock systems in non-flowering plants, examining key molecular components, regulatory pathways, and the physiological processes influenced by these clocks, such as growth, photosynthesis, and stress responses. A comparative analysis between non-flowering plants and angiosperms reveals the evolutionary insights into how timekeeping mechanisms have diversified and adapted into changing environments across various phylogenetic boundaries. This review emphasizes the importance of continued research into the circadian biology of non-flowering plants, which may reveal key insights into the adaptive evolution of timekeeping mechanisms in the plant kingdom.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the second most important vegetable crop after potatoes, and global demands have been steadily increasing in recent years. Conventional breeding has been applied to breed and domesticate tomato varieties to meet the need for higher yield or superior agronomical traits that allow to sustain under different climatic conditions. In the current study, we applied bulk population breeding by crossing eight tomato accessions procured from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) with three heat-resistant tomato inbred lines from Vietnam and generated ten elite tomato (ET) lines in the F8 generation. The individual F8 lines exhibited robust vigor and adaptability to Vietnamese climate conditions. Among the ten lines, ET1 and ET3 displayed indeterminate growth. ET2 showed semi-determinate, while all the other lines had determinate growth. The different ET lines showed distinctive superior agronomical traits, including early maturing (ET4, ET7, and ET10), highly efficient fruit set (ET1), higher yield (ET1, ET8, ET10), jointless pedicels (ET2), and partial parthenocarpy (ET9). Molecular analysis revealed that the ET3 line consisted of Ty-1 and Ty-3 loci that positively contribute to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYCLV) resistance in tomato plants. The elite tomato lines developed in this study would contribute significantly to the Vietnamese and Asian gene pool for improved tomato production and may be a valuable resource for various breeding goals.