Flag leaf senescence is an important determinant of wheat yield, as leaf senescence occurs in a coordinated manner during grain filling. However, the biological process of early senescence of flag leaves post-anthesis is not clear. In this study, early senescence in wheat was investigated using a high-throughput RNA sequencing technique. A total of 4887 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and any showing drastic expression changes were then linked to particular biological processes. A hierarchical cluster analysis implied potential relationships between NAC genes and post-anthesis senescence in the flag leaf. In addition, a large set of genes associated with the synthesis; transport; and signaling of multiple phytohormones (JA, ABA, IAA, ET, SA, BR, and CTK) were expressed differentially, and many DEGs related to ABA and IAA were identified. Our results provide insight into the molecular processes taking place during the early senescence of flag leaves, which may provide useful information in improving wheat yield in the future.

As an important physiological indicator, wheat canopy temperature (CT) can be observed after flowering in an attempt to predict wheat yield and quality. However, the relationship between CT and wheat yield and quality is not clear. In this study, the CT, photosynthetic rate (Pn), filling rate, wheat yield, and wheat quality of 68 wheat lines were measured, in an attempt to establish a connection between CT and yield and quality and accelerate the selection of new varieties. This experiment used an infrared imaging camera to measure the CT of wheat materials planted in the field in 2022. Twenty materials with significant temperature differences were selected for planting in 2023. By comparing the temperature trends in 2022 and 2023, it is believed that materials 4 and 13 were cold-type materials, while materials 3 and 11 were warm-type materials. The main grain filling period of cold-type materials occurs in the middle and late stages of the grain filling period and the Pn and the thousand-grain weights of cold-type materials were higher than those of warm-type materials. Similarly, under continuous rainy conditions, cold-type materials had a higher protein and wet gluten contents, while warm-type materials had higher sedimentation values and shorter formation times.

Heat stress is a major abiotic stress that can cause serious losses of a crop. Our previous work identified a gene involved in heat stress tolerance in wheat, TaPLC1-2B. To further investigate its mechanisms, in the present study, TaPLC1-2B RNAi-silenced transgenic wheat and the wild type were comparatively analyzed at both the seedling and adult stages, with or without heat stress, using transcriptome sequencing. A total of 15,549 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at the adult stage and 20,535 DEGs were detected at the seedling stage. After heat stress, an enrichment of pathways such as phytohormones and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling was mainly found in the seedling stage, and pathways related to metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, circadian rhythms, and ABC transporter were enriched in the adult stage. Auxin and abscisic acid were downregulated in the seedling stage and vice versa in the adult stage; and the MYB, WRKY, and no apical meristem gene families were downregulated in the seedling stage in response to heat stress and upregulated in the adult stage in response to heat stress. This study deepens our understanding of the mechanisms of TaPLC1-2B in regard to heat stress in wheat at the seedling and adult stages.

Sorafenib resistance has been a major factor limiting its clinical use as a targeted drug in liver cancer. The present study aimed to investigate whether cryptotanshinone can enhance the sensitivity of liver cancer and reduce the resistance to sorafenib. Sorafenib-resistant cells were established based on HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines. And the anti-tumor effect of sorafenib combined with cryptotanshinone on the sorafenib-resistant cells was verified by MTT, colony formation, transwell assays and tumor growth xenograft model. Moreover, the effects of the combined treatment on the expression of phosphorylated (p)-STAT3, as well as epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apoptosis related proteins of cells were evaluated by western blot analysis. It was identified that cryptotanshinone inhibited the viability of both HepG2 and Huh7 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and decreased p-STAT3 expression rather than total STAT3 expression at a concentration of 40 μmol/L. In the sorafenib-resistant cells, sorafenib in combination with cryptotanshinone markedly inhibited cell viability, invasion and migration compared with sorafenib alone. In contrast, increased p-STAT3 level by colivelin led to the inhibition of the synergistic effect of cryptotanshinone and sorafenib not only on cell viability, but also on EMT and apoptosis, suggesting that cryptotanshinone and sorafenib may act by downregulating STAT3 signaling. Further, the inhibition of carcinogenicity effect was also verified in xenografted tumor models. The present results indicated that cryptotanshinone could synergize with sorafenib to inhibit the proliferative, invasive, and migratory abilities of sorafenib-resistant cells by downregulating STAT3 signaling.