The applications of research progress of common wheat in teaching genetics.

Common wheat (T. aestivum L.) is also known as allohexaploid wheat. Its genome is composed of A/B/D sub-genomes from three closely related diploid ancestors. The evolutionary history of common wheat is used as a classic example to illustrate the mechanism of species formation and chromosome number variation in the current genetics class. In recent years, with the rapid development and application of research technologies, there have been many breakthroughs in the study of common wheat, at the cytological, molecular and genomic level. Here, we summarize the latest research achievements on common wheat, and discuss our practice in combining them with the genetics teaching. Our approach is not only a supplement to the current genetics textbooks, but also enables students to realize that genetics is a constantly evolving natural science. We aim to enhance students' interests in learning, as well as their systematic learning abilities on genetics and related scientific research frontiers.

Progresses in the plant 3D chromatin architecture.

Chromatin architecture involves the patterns of chromatin coiling and packing as well as the mutual relative allocations of different chromatins. Besides the canonical microscopic observations, the chromatin architectural capture techniques, including the Hi-C and ChIA-PET, have been widely applied in characterization of chromatin architecture in various plant and animal model species, in which chromatin architectural features, such as the chromosome territory, compartment A/B, topological associated domains (TADs) and chromatin loops, were defined. As for the studies in plant species, replying on the two techniques above (with differences in experimental techniques and data structures), scientists have compared the variation of specific chromatin architecture features across species and/or in different cell types of the same plant species, besides detailed analyses in each individual model. Here, we mainly review the recent progresses in studies of plant chromatin architectures, in which their composition, establishing mechanism and effective factors were described and discussed. We also propose the main technical bottlenecks, describe the breaking-through progresses, and anticipate future research directions, which may offer more theoretical references for related researches in the field.

Genome-wide analysis and expression profiling under heat and drought treatments of HSP70 gene family in soybean (Glycine max L.).

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) perform a fundamental role in protecting plants against abiotic stresses. Previous studies have made great efforts in the functional analysis of individual family members, but there has not yet been an overall analysis or expression profiling of the HSP70 gene family in soybeans (Glycine max L.). In this study, an investigation of the soybean genome revealed 61 putative HSP70 genes, which were evaluated. These genes were classified into eight sub-families, denoted I-VIII, based on a phylogenetic analysis. In each sub-family, the constituent parts of the gene structure and motif were relatively conserved. These GmHSP70 genes were distributed unequally on 17 of the 20 chromosomes. The analysis of the expression profiles showed that 53 of the 61 GmHSP70 genes were differentially expressed across the 14 tissues. However, most of the GmHSP70s were differentially expressed in a tissue-specific expression pattern. Furthermore, the expression of some of the duplicate genes was partially redundant, while others showed functional diversity. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of the 61 soybean HSP70 genes confirmed their stress-inducible expression patterns under both drought and heat stress. These findings provide a thorough overview of the evolution and modification of the GmHSP70 gene family, which will help to determine the functional characteristics of the HSP70 genes in soybean growth and development.