MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that are important regulators of gene expression, and play major roles in plant development and their response to the environment. Root extracts from Panax notoginseng contain triterpene saponins as their principal bioactive constituent, and demonstrate medicinal properties. To investigate the novel and conserved miRNAs in P. notoginseng, three small RNA libraries constructed from 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old roots in which root saponin levels vary underwent high-throughput sequencing. P. notoginseng roots, purified from 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old roots, were extracted for RNA, respectively. Three small libraries were constructed and subjected to next generation sequencing. Sequencing of the three libraries generated 67,217,124 clean reads from P. notoginseng roots. A total of 316 conserved miRNAs (belonging to 67 miRNA families and one unclassified family) and 52 novel miRNAs were identified. MIR156 and MIR166 were the largest miRNA families, while miR156i and miR156g showed the highest abundance of miRNA species. Potential miRNA target genes were predicted and annotated using Cluster of Orthologous Groups, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Comparing these miRNAs between root samples revealed 33 that were differentially expressed between 2- and 1-year-old roots (8 increased, 25 decreased), 27 differentially expressed between 3- and 1-year-old roots (7 increased, 20 decreased), and 29 differentially expressed between 3- and 2-year-old roots (8 increased, 21 decreased). Two significantly differentially expressed miRNAs and four miRNAs predicted to target genes involved in the terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway were selected and validated by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Furthermore, the expression patterns of these six miRNAs were analyzed in P. notoginseng roots, stems, and leaves at different developmental stages. This study identified a large number of P. notoginseng miRNAs and their target genes, functional annotations, and gene expression patterns. It provides the first known miRNA profiles of the P. notoginseng root development cycle.

01 The influence of soil salt content on the photosynthetic characteristics of spring wheat with trickle irrigation Lei Pei, Zhenhua Wang, Jinzhu Zhang, Wenhao Li 02 Comparing growth of fast-growing and slow-growing endophytes in plants via ergosterol quantification Adeline SY Ting, Yiing Y Chow, Sadequr Rahman 03 Transcriptome and digital gene expression analysis identifies putative triterpene saponin-biosynthetic genes of Panax notoginseng Rongchang Wei 04 Chitosan-assisted isolation and antioxidant evaluation of flavonoids from Sophora japonica L. Zhang Hu, Sidong Li, Chuyan Li, Zijuan Li 05 Two kinds of new characteristics of the ektexine ornamentation of ginkgo pollen Guoxia Wang, Yuzhen Yang, Gang Chen, Qing Luo 06 Analysis of nutrient and medicinal ingredients of Ginkgo pollen in different regions Guoxia Wang, Ruixia Liu, Yuzhen Yang, Lipei Chen 07 Photosynthetic performance of greening seedlings of seven species to drought stress Zhiyang Lie, Tongtong Zhou, Weilong Huang, Li Xue 08 Changes of fluorescence parameters of greening seedlings of seven species under drought stress Jie Li, Zhuomin Wang, Li Xue 09 Mammalian sex hormone affects regeneration capacity and enzymes activity of Triticale L in vitro culture Ismail Bezirganoglu, Pınar Uysal 10 Fractional Fourier entropy increases the recognition rate of fruit type detection Shuihua Wang, Zhihai Lu, Jiquan Yang, Yudong Zhang, John Liu, Ling Wei, Shufang Chen, Preetha Phillips, Zhengchao Dong 11 Banana-peanut intercropping reduces Fusarium wilt disease in banana from enhancing soil bacterial microorganisms and leaf nutrition Hong Li, Xutong Wang, Fengliang Zhao, Guisheng Yang 12 Manganese stress impairs stem ureide nitrogen fixation in yardlong-bean plants in the acidic environment Hong Li 13 A new pest control method for Rhytidodera bowringii Larvae Haijie Huang, Li Zhao, Weijian Huang, Jinhui Wang, Zhongrun Zhang 14 Research on the seed-like Fruits of Subg. Sclarea of Salvia of Labiatae in China Xiaojuan Li, Ning Xu, Guofu Zhou, Ming Wan, Qi Lin, Fanyun Meng, Jianxiu Li 15 Three pulling resistance models of pioneer plant in landslide area Yichang Chen, Koayung Yu, Chunpin Chang 16 The comparison of physiological and biochemical mechanisms of Reaumuria soongorica and Salsola passerine in different growth pattern Zijuan Zhou, Peixi Su, Rui Shi, Tingting Xie 17 Resources use efficiency of the cosmopolitan plant Potentilla anserina L. in different alpine habitats in China Rui Shi, Peixi Su, Zijuan Zhou 18 Cloning of PPDK gene from Red Amaranand transformation of Alfalfa Xuelan Liu, Yan Zhang, Xiangfa Wei 19 Variation and cluster analysis of morphological characters and nutrient content of Chucrasia tabularis seed Chong Wu, Yanlei Yin, Lijuan Feng, Xuemei Yang, Fei Wang 20 Effect of the planting density of the areca nut on the growth of intercropped Vanilla Hua Wang, Huifa Zhuang, Zihui Zhu, Hui Wang

Chlormequat chloride (CCC), as a commonly used plant growth regulator in the production of rhizomatous medicinal herbs, can effectively control the bolting phenomenon in Angelica sinensis, significantly increasing the yield of underground rhizomes (medicinal part). However, its specific effects on the intrinsic quality of Angelica sinensis, especially medicinal components, require further investigation. The objective of this study is to conduct a thorough examination of CCC residue and its influence on the yield and medicinal components of Angelica sinensis. By spraying different concentrations of CCC on Angelica sinensis, we systematically monitored the final yield of Angelica sinensis Radix (ASR) in each treatment group and the residual concentration of CCC in ASR. Using UPLC-QTOF-MS technology, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the metabolic profile of ASR. Subsequently, UFLC-MS/MS was employed to accurately quantify the changes in the content of nine key active components in ASR. The results of this study indicate that the application of CCC significantly improves the yield of ASR, with the best effect observed at 0.1 g/L, resulting in a yield increase of 24.8%. Meanwhile, the residual amount of CCC in ASR is positively correlated with the application concentration, with the residual levels as high as 7.12 mg/kg in the high-concentration treatment group. Metabolomic analysis preliminarily identified 21 chemical components in ASR, including four organic acids and 13 phthalides. It is worth noting that the quantitative analysis results indicate significant changes in active components such as butylphthalide, Z-ligustilide, and ferulic acid after the application of CCC. Specifically, high-concentration CCC significantly increased the content of butylphthalide and levistolide A, while low-concentration CCC significantly promoted the accumulation of coniferyl ferulate and senkyunolide A, accompanied by a significant decrease in Z-ligustilide and ferulic acidy. In conclusion, while CCC use can increase yield, the associated increase in residues and imbalanced composition ratios may threaten the quality and safety of ASR. Therefore, it is crucial to control the amount of CCC used rationally to balance yield enhancement and quality assurance.

The primary constituents of the essential oil derived from Santalum album L. are (Z)-α-santalol, (Z)-β-santalol, (Z)-α-exo-bergamotol, and (Z)-epi-β- santalol. SaCYP736A167 plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of these sesquiterpene alcohols within S. album, but the mechanisms governing the expression of the SaCYP736A167 gene is far from being deciphered. In this research, a promoter sequence of the SaCYP736A167 gene, spanning 2808 base pairs, was isolated from S. album. A bioinformatics analysis of the 2384-bp SaCYP736A167 promoter (PSaCYP736A167) showed that abundant stress-inducible cis-acting elements were distributed in different regions of PSaCYP736A167. The histochemical β-glucuronidase (GUS) staining of T1 transgenic Nicotiana tabacum plants harboring PSaCYP736A167 demonstrated that the predominant GUS activity was exhibited in the parenchyma cells of the stem cortex and phloem, suggesting that PSaCYP736A167 is a tissue-specific expression promoter. GUS fluorometric assays of transiently transgenic N. benthamiana leaves revealed that seven distinct segments of PSaCYP736A167 exhibited notably varied levels of GUS activity. A 936-base pair sequence upstream of the transcription initiation codon ATG constitutes the core promoter section of PSaCYP736A167. Our findings shed light on the regulatory mechanisms controlling the transcription of the SaCYP736A167 gene, potentially serving as a novel tissue-specific promoter for applications in transgenic plant biotechnology.

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), a native fruit of southern China valued for its flavor and nutrition, is widely cultivated in subtropical regions (Yao et al. 2021). In May 2024, a postharvest disease was observed on ripe litchi fruits (cv. Guiwei) in Nanning, Guangxi Province, with an incidence of approximately 50% across 200 samples in each of three inspected cartons. Brown circular lesions initially appeared on the exocarp, with corresponding lesions on the endocarp. Within two days, lesions spread across the entire pericarp, typically displaying sparse mycelium at lesion centers. In severe cases, the pericarp cracked and exuded liquid. To isolate the pathogen, tissue samples (5 × 5 mm) were excised from necrotic lesion margins on the pericarps of six symptomatic litchi fruits, surface-disinfected in 1% sodium hypochlorite for 2 minutes, rinsed three times in sterile water, and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 28°C for 3 days (12-hour photoperiod). Hyphal tips were transferred to fresh PDA for purification. Ten morphologically similar isolates were obtained, with an 83% isolation frequency. On PDA plates, fungal mycelia were initially grayish-white, turning gray to dark gray, with dense, fluffy aerial hyphae. Conidiogenous cells were smooth, hyaline, cylindrical, and holoblastic. Conidia were ellipsoidal with rounded ends and thick walls; immature conidia were colorless, hyaline, and aseptate, while mature conidia were dark brown, one-septate, measuring 24.2-34.6 × 12.1-17.1 μm (n = 29). The genomic DNA from two randomly selected isolates (LC141 and LC142) was extracted using the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method (Guo et al. 2000). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and partial translation elongation factor-1 alpha (TEF-1α), and β-tubulin (TUB) genes were amplified and sequenced using primer pairs ITS1/4 (White et al. 1990), TEF-Las-F/R (AGA CGA TCG AGA AAT TTG AGA AG/GCG AGG TAC CAG TGA TCA TGT TC), and TUB-Las-F/R (TGC CAA AAC ACA CCT GCT CCT GC/TGT AGT GAC CCT TGG CCC AGT TG), respectively. The resulting sequences (ITS: PQ835290-91; TEF-1α: PQ862852-53; TUB: PQ862854-55) showed 99-100% similarity (487/487, 512/516 bp for ITS; 293/300, 303/306 bp for TEF-1α; 416/421, 417/420 bp for TUB) to Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae ex-type CBS116459 sequences (EF622077, EF622057, EU673111) (Alves et al. 2008). Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated ITS, TEF-1α, and TUB sequences grouped LC141 and LC142 with L. pseudotheobromae. Based on morphological and molecular characteristics, the isolates were identified as L. pseudotheobromae (Alves et al. 2008).To verify pathogenicity, six healthy litchi fruits (cv. Guiwei) were stab-wounded and inoculated with mycelial fragments of L. pseudotheobromae isolates LC141 and LC142, with three fruits per isolate. Three control fruits were treated with sterile water. Fruits were incubated in transparent plastic boxes at 28°C. Three days post-inoculation, symptoms appeared on inoculated fruits, while controls remained asymptomatic. Experiments were repeated thrice with consistent results. To fulfill Koch's postulates, L. pseudotheobromae was re-isolated from symptomatic tissues and identified by morphology and sequencing; no fungi were isolated from controls. This is the first report of L. pseudotheobromae causing postharvest fruit rot in litchi in China, providing a foundation for developing targeted disease management strategies.