MutL homolog 1 participates in interference-sensitive meiotic crossover formation in soybean.

MutL homolog 1 (MLH1), a member of the MutL-homolog family, is required for normal recombination in most organisms. However, its role in soybean (Glycine max) remains unclear to date. Here, we characterized the Glycine max female and male sterility 1 (Gmfms1) mutation that reduces pollen grain viability and increases embryo sac abortion in soybean. Map-based cloning revealed that the causal gene of Gmfms1 is Glycine max MutL homolog 1 (GmMLH1), and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout approach further validated that disruption of GmMLH1 confers the female-male sterility phenotype in soybean. Loss of GmMLH1 function disrupted bivalent formation, leading to univalent mis-segregation during meiosis and ultimately to female-male sterility. The Gmmlh1 mutant showed about a 78.16% decrease in meiotic crossover frequency compared to the wild type. The residual chiasmata followed a Poisson distribution, suggesting that interference-sensitive crossover formation was affected in the Gmmlh1 mutant. Furthermore, GmMLH1 could interact with GmMLH3A and GmMLH3B both in vivo and in vitro. Overall, our work demonstrates that GmMLH1 participates in interference-sensitive crossover formation in soybean, and provides additional information about the conserved functions of MLH1 across plant species.

GmUFO1 Regulates Floral Organ Number and Shape in Soybean.

The UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS (UFO) gene is an essential regulatory factor of class B genes and plays a vital role in the process of inflorescence primordial and flower primordial development. The role of UFO genes in soybean was investigated to better understand the development of floral organs through gene cloning, expression analysis, and gene knockout. There are two copies of UFO genes in soybean and in situ hybridization, which have demonstrated similar expression patterns of the GmUFO1 and GmUFO2 genes in the flower primordium. The phenotypic observation of GmUFO1 knockout mutant lines (Gmufo1) showed an obvious alteration in the floral organ number and shape and mosaic organ formation. By contrast, GmUFO2 knockout mutant lines (Gmufo2) showed no obvious difference in the floral organs. However, the GmUFO1 and GmUFO2 double knockout lines (Gmufo1ufo2) showed more mosaic organs than the Gmufo1 lines, in addition to the alteration in the organ number and shape. Gene expression analysis also showed differences in the expression of major ABC function genes in the knockout lines. Based on the phenotypic and expression analysis, our results suggest the major role of GmUFO1 in the regulation of flower organ formation in soybeans and that GmUFO2 does not have any direct effect but might have an interaction role with GmUFO1 in the regulation of flower development. In conclusion, the present study identified UFO genes in soybean and improved our understanding of floral development, which could be useful for flower designs in hybrid soybean breeding.

Current Status and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence Technology Application in Oil and Gas Field Development.

Artificial intelligence technology will be increasingly applied in the oil and gas industry. The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology can solve problems such as high environmental sensitivity and complex production processes in the oil and gas industry. In recent years, emerging technologies represented by artificial intelligence have developed rapidly, assisting petroleum enterprises in digital transformation and intelligent upgrading. This article elaborates on the development trend of artificial intelligence technology. Based on the business scenarios and characteristics of the oil and gas industry, the application status of artificial intelligence technology in domestic and foreign petroleum technology service enterprises was summarized and analyzed. The application scenarios of artificial intelligence technology in the fields of dynamic analysis of oil and gas reservoirs, intelligent historical fitting, numerical simulation proxy models, and production plan optimization were analyzed with emphasis. Based on the problems and challenges faced in the development process of oil and gas reservoirs, it is proposed that petroleum enterprises should attach importance to the "three modernizations" innovation of data standardization, oil and gas field intelligence, and platform collaboration, in order to achieve more refined intelligent analysis and management of oil and gas reservoirs and quickly develop more targeted oil and gas reservoir development plans to assist in the intelligent transformation of oil and gas reservoir development. On this basis, prospects for future artificial intelligence technology are proposed, pointing out that the development of artificial intelligence technology will be faster and faster, and there will be higher demand for artificial intelligence technology in the construction of digital oil and gas fields in China in the future. The research results have important reference value for the development of the oil and gas industry.