Artificial selection of two antagonistic E3 ubiquitin ligases finetunes soybean photoperiod adaptation and grain yield.

The precise control of flowering time is of utmost importance for crop adaptation to varying environmental conditions and consequently determines grain yield and plant fitness. Soybean E2, the homolog of Arabidopsis GIGANTEA, is a major locus contributing to high-latitude adaptation and is involved in photoperiod sensitivity. However, due to major effects of E2, additional genetic loci controlling soybean flowering and adaptation have historically been masked and difficult to identify. Here, by eliminating the effect of E2, we identified a Tof9 locus controlling flowering in which ZEITLUPE 2 (ZTL2) is the causal gene. ZTL2 encodes an F-box E3 ubiquitin ligase with homology to Arabidopsis ZEITLUPE and is shown to play a key role in the soybean photoperiodic flowering pathway. ZTL2 physically interacts with E2 to mediate its degradation. Intriguingly, ZTL2 and FKF1, both belong to the F-box-type E3 ubiquitin-ligase family, exhibit opposite roles in regulating soybean flowering. ZTL2 degrades E2, leading to early flowering, while FKF1 stabilizes E2, resulting in delayed flowering. The balance between ZTL2-mediated degradation and FKF1-mediated stabilization enables soybeans to finetune flowering time and maximize grain yield. Field-grown ztl2 mutants are taller, flower late, and have increased yield parameters. ZTL2 and FKF1b bear contrasting artificial-selection patterns to adapt to different latitudes. This antagonistic regulation is crucial for soybean adaptation to diverse ecological settings and allows plants to fine-tune their flowering time in response to photoperiod and latitudinal changes.

The AP2/ERF transcription factor TOE4b regulates photoperiodic flowering and grain yield per plant in soybean.

Photoperiod-mediated flowering determines the phenological adaptability of crops including soybean (Glycine max). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified a new flowering time locus, Time of flowering 13 (Tof13), which defined a gene encoding an AP2/ERF transcription factor. This new transcription factor, which we named TOE4b, is localized in the nucleus. TOE4b has been selected for soybean latitude adaptability. The existing natural variant TOE4bH4 was rare in wild soybean accessions but occurred more frequently in landraces and cultivars. Notably, TOE4bH4 improved high-latitude adaptation of soybean to some extent. The gene-edited TOE4b knockout mutant exhibited earlier flowering, conversely, TOE4b overexpression delayed flowering time. TOE4b is directly bound to the promoters and gene bodies of the key flowering integration factor genes FT2a and FT5a to inhibit their transcription. Importantly, TOE4b overexpression lines in field trials not only showed late flowering but also altered plant architecture, including shorter internode length, more internodes, more branches and pod number per plant, and finally boosted grain yield per plant by 60% in Guangzhou and 87% in Shijiazhuang. Our findings therefore identified TOE4b as a pleiotropic gene to increase yield potential per plant in soybean, and these results provide a promising option for breeding a soybean variety with an idealized plant architecture that promotes high yields.

Natural variation of FKF1 controls flowering and adaptation during soybean domestication and improvement.

Soybean (Glycine max) is a major source of protein and edible oil world-wide and is cultivated in a wide range of latitudes. However, it is extremely sensitive to photoperiod, which influences flowering time, maturity, and yield, and severely limits soybean latitude adaptation. In this study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified a novel locus in accessions harboring the E1 allele, called Time of flowering 8 (Tof8), which promotes flowering and enhances adaptation to high latitude in cultivated soybean. Gene functional analyses showed that Tof8 is an ortholog of Arabidopsis FKF1. We identified two FKF1 homologs in the soybean genome. Both FKF1 homologs are genetically dependent on E1 by binding to E1 promoter to activate E1 transcription, thus repressing FLOWERING LOCUS T 2a (FT2a) and FT5a transcription, which modulate flowering and maturity through the E1 pathway. We also demonstrate that the natural allele FKF1bH3 facilitated adaptation of soybean to high-latitude environments and was selected during domestication and improvement, leading to its rapid expansion in cultivated soybean. These findings provide novel insights into the roles of FKF1 in controlling flowering time and maturity in soybean and offer new means to fine-tune adaptation to high latitudes and increase grain yield.

CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE38 regulates flowering time and common cutworm resistance in soybean.

Photoperiod-sensitive plants such as soybean (Glycine max) often face threats from herbivorous insects throughout their whole growth period and especially during flowering; however, little is known about the relationship between plant flowering and insect resistance. Here, we used gene editing, multiple omics, genetic diversity and evolutionary analyses to confirm that the calcium-dependent protein kinase GmCDPK38 plays a dual role in coordinating flowering time regulation and insect resistance of soybean. Haplotype 2 (Hap2)-containing soybeans flowered later and were more resistant to the common cutworm (Spodoptera litura Fabricius) than those of Hap3. gmcdpk38 mutants with Hap3 knocked out exhibited similar flowering and resistance phenotypes as Hap2. Knocking out GmCDPK38 altered numerous flowering- and resistance-related phosphorylated proteins, genes, and metabolites. For example, the S-adenosylmethionine synthase GmSAMS1 was post-translationally upregulated in the gmcdpk38 mutants. GmCDPK38 has abundant genetic diversity in wild soybeans and was likely selected during soybean domestication. We found that Hap2 was mostly distributed at low latitudes and had a higher frequency in cultivars than in wild soybeans, while Hap3 was widely selected at high latitudes. Overall, our results elucidated that the two distinct traits (flowering time and insect resistance) are mediated by GmCDPK38.

Genome-wide identification and functional prediction of BYPASS1-related (BPS1) homologs in soybean.

The BYPASS1-related gene (BPS1) encodes a protein with an unknown functional domain that regulates plant organ growth and development by inhibiting the continuous production of a root-derived long-distance signaling molecule called bypass (bps). We conducted a comprehensive study to investigate the BPS gene family in soybean and identified twenty-three BPS genes in Glycine max and twenty BPS genes in Glycine soja (wild soybean). Collinearity analysis revealied the existence of multiple orthologs of soybean BPS genes in wild soybean, indicating incomplete conservation between the BPS genes of soybean and wild soybean. Phylogenetic analysis successfully categorized all BPS genes into five distinct groups. We further scrutinized their chromosomal locations, gene structures, conserved motifs, cis-acting elements, and expression patterns. Leveraging publicly available data on genetic variation, phenotypic variation, and single-cell transcriptome sequencing of root nodules, we discovered a potential association between BPS genes and multiple soybean traits, particularly those related to the root nodule phenotype. This pioneering study provides a systematic and comprehensive examination of the BPS gene family in soybean. The findings establish a robust foundation for future investigations into the functional roles of BPS genes in plant growth and development. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-023-01403-2.

Sensor Fusion and Advanced Controller for Connected and Automated Vehicles.

Nowadays, intelligent vehicles are equipped with a number of advanced sensors, such as radar and cameras [...].

Understandings and future challenges in soybean functional genomics and molecular breeding.

Soybean (Glycine max) is a major source of plant protein and oil. Soybean breeding has benefited from advances in functional genomics. In particular, the release of soybean reference genomes has advanced our understanding of soybean adaptation to soil nutrient deficiencies, the molecular mechanism of symbiotic nitrogen (N) fixation, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, and the roles of flowering time in regional adaptation, plant architecture, and seed yield and quality. Nevertheless, many challenges remain for soybean functional genomics and molecular breeding, mainly related to improving grain yield through high-density planting, maize-soybean intercropping, taking advantage of wild resources, utilization of heterosis, genomic prediction and selection breeding, and precise breeding through genome editing. This review summarizes the current progress in soybean functional genomics and directs future challenges for molecular breeding of soybean.

A Driving-Adapt Strategy for the Electric Vehicle with Magneto-Rheological Fluid Transmission Considering the Powertrain Characteristics.

The additional energy consumption caused by the incompatibility between existing electric vehicle (EV) powertrain characteristics and driving conditions inevitably curbs the promotion and development of EVs. Hence, there is an urgent demand for the driving-adapt strategy, which aims to minimize EV energy consumption due to both powertrain characteristics and driving conditions. In order to fully explore the EV driving-adapt potential, this paper equips the EV with a magneto-rheological fluid transmission (MRFT). First, an EV dynamics analysis of the driving conditions, the powertrain model considering the energy transmission process, and the driving-adapt transmission model considering magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) is conducted to clarify the quantitative relation between the driving conditions and the powertrain. Second, a driving-adapt optimization strategy in the specific driving condition is proposed. Finally, the results and discussions are executed to study (i) the determination of the MRFT fixed speed ratio and variable speed ratio range, (ii) the application potential analysis of the proposed strategy, and (iii) the feasibility analysis of the proposed strategy. The results indicate that (i) the urban driving condition has higher requirements for the MRFT, (ii) EVs equipped with MRFT achieve the expected driving performance at the most states of charge (SOCs) and environmental temperatures, except for the SOC lower than 10%, and (iii) the driving time with efficiency greater than 80% can be increased by the MRFT from 10.1% to 58.7% and from 66.8% to 88.8% in the urban and suburban driving conditions, respectively. Thus, the proposed driving-adapt strategy for the EV equipped with the MRFT has the potential to alleviate or eliminate the traffic problems caused by the incompatibility of the EV powertrain characteristics and the driving conditions.

A Study on Dynamic Motion Planning for Autonomous Vehicles Based on Nonlinear Vehicle Model.

Autonomous driving technology, especially motion planning and the trajectory tracking method, is the foundation of an intelligent interconnected vehicle, which needs to be improved urgently. Currently, research on path planning methods has improved, but few of the current studies consider the vehicle's nonlinear characteristics in the reference model, due to the heavy computational effort. At present, most of the algorithms are designed by a linear vehicle model in order to achieve the real-time performance at the cost of lost accuracy. To achieve a better performance, the dynamics and kinematics characteristics of the vehicle must be simulated, and real-time computing ensured at the same time. In this article, a Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy-model-based closed-loop rapidly exploring random tree algorithm with on-line re-planning process is applied to build the motion planner, which effectively improves the vehicle performance of dynamic obstacle avoidance, and plans the local obstacle avoidance path in line with the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle. A nonlinear vehicle model is integrated into the motion planner design directly. For fast local path planning mission, the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy modelling method is applied to the modeling process in the planner design, so that the vehicle state can be directly utilized into the path planner to create a feasible path in real-time. The performance of the planner was evaluated by numerical simulation. The results demonstrate that the proposed motion planner can effectively generate a reference trajectory that guarantees driving efficiency with a lower re-planning rate.

Advanced Sensing and Control for Connected and Automated Vehicles.

In recent years, connected and automated vehicles (CAV) have been a transformative technology that is expected to reduce emissions and change and improve the safety and efficiency of the mobilities [...].

Achieving Long Distance Sensing Using Semiconductor Laser with Optical Feedback by Operating at Switching Status.

In this study, a novel distance sensing method is presented by using a semiconductor laser (SL) with optical feedback (OF) and operating the SL at a switching status happened between two nonlinear dynamic states (stable state and period-one state). In this case, without the need for any electronic or optical modulation devices, the laser intensity can be modulated in a square wave form due to the switching via utilizing the inherent SL dynamics. The periodicity in the switching enables us to develop a new approach for long-distance sensing compared to other SL with OF-based distance measurement systems and lift the relevant restrictions that existed in the systems. Moreover, the impact of system controllable parameters on the duty cycle of the square wave signals generated was investigated on how to maintain the proposed system robustly operating at the switching status. Both simulation and experiment verified the proposed sensing approach.

Genome-Wide Association Studies Reveal Novel Loci for Herbivore Resistance in Wild Soybean (Glycine soja).

The production of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is seriously threatened by various leaf-feeding insects, and wild soybean [Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.] has a greater resistance capacity and genetic diversity. In this study, a natural population consisting of 121 wild soybean accessions was used for detecting insect resistance genes. The larval weight (LW) of the common cutworm (CCW), the resistance level (RL) and the index of damaged leaf (IDL) were evaluated as resistance indicators to herbivores. An association synonymous SNP AX-94083016 located in the coding region of the respiratory burst oxidase gene GsRbohA1 was identified by genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses. The overexpression of GsRbohA1 in soybean hairy roots enhanced resistance to CCW. One SNP in the promoter region cosegregated with AX-94083016 contributing to soybean resistance to CCW by altering GsRbohA1 gene expression and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Two major haplotypes, GsRbohA1A and GsRbohA1G, were identified based on the SNP. The resistant haplotype GsRbohA1A predominates in wild soybeans, although it has been gradually lost in landraces and cultivars. The nucleotide diversity around GsRbohA1 is much lower in landraces and cultivars than in its ancestors. In conclusion, a new resistant haplotype, GsRbohA1A, was identified in wild soybean, which will be a valuable gene resource for soybean insect resistance breeding through introducing into improvement lines, and it offers a strategy for exploring resistance gene resources from its wild relatives.

Genome-wide association mapping for protein, oil and water-soluble protein contents in soybean.

As a globally important legume crop, soybean provides excellent sources of protein and oil for human and livestock nutrition. Improving seed protein and oil contents has always been an important objective in soybean breeding. Water-soluble protein plays a significant role in the processing and efficacy of soybean protein. Here, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of seed compositions (protein, oil, and water-soluble protein contents) was conducted using 211 diverse soybean accessions genotyped with a 355 K SoySNP array. Three, four, and five QTLs were identified related to the protein, oil, and water-soluble protein contents, respectively. Furthermore, five QTLs (qPC-15-1, qOC-8-1, qOC-12-1, qOC-20-1 and qWSPC-8-1) were detected in multiple environments. Analysis of the favorable alleles for oil and water-soluble protein contents showed that qOC-8-1 (qWSPC-8-1) exerted inverse effects on oil and water-soluble protein synthesis. Relative expression analysis suggested that Glyma.15G049200 in qPC-15-1 affects protein synthesis and Glyma.08G107800 in qOC-8-1 and qWSPC-8-1 might be involved in oil and water-soluble protein synthesis, producing opposite effects. The candidate genes and significant SNPs detected in the present study will allow a deeper understanding of the genetic basis for the regulation of protein, oil and water-soluble protein contents and provide important information that could be utilized in marker-assisted selection for soybean quality improvement.

Estimation of Vehicle Dynamic Parameters Based on the Two-Stage Estimation Method.

Vehicle dynamic parameters are of vital importance to establish feasible vehicle models which are used to provide active controls and automated driving control. However, most vehicle dynamics parameters are difficult to obtain directly. In this paper, a new method, which requires only conventional sensors, is proposed to estimate vehicle dynamic parameters. The influence of vehicle dynamic parameters on vehicle dynamics often involves coupling. To solve the problem of coupling, a two-stage estimation method, consisting of multiple-models and the Unscented Kalman Filter, is proposed in this paper. During the first stage, the longitudinal vehicle dynamics model is used. Through vehicle acceleration/deceleration, this model can be used to estimate the distance between the vehicle centroid and vehicle front, the height of vehicle centroid and tire longitudinal stiffness. The estimated parameter can be used in the second stage. During the second stage, a single-track with roll dynamics vehicle model is adopted. By making vehicle continuous steering, this vehicle model can be used to estimate tire cornering stiffness, the vehicle moment of inertia around the yaw axis and the moment of inertia around the longitudinal axis. The simulation results show that the proposed method is effective and vehicle dynamic parameters can be well estimated.

A Three-Dimensional Integrated Non-Linear Coordinate Control Framework for Combined Yaw- and Roll-Stability Control during Tyre Blow-Out.

A tyre blow-out can greatly affect vehicle stability and cause serious accidents. In the literature, however, studies on comprehensive three-dimensional vehicle dynamics modelling and stability control strategies in the event of a sudden tyre blow-out are seriously lacking. In this study, a comprehensive 14 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) vehicle dynamics model is first proposed to describe the vehicle yaw-plane and roll-plane dynamics performance after a tyre blow-out. Then, based on the proposed 14 DOF dynamics model, an integrated control framework for a combined yaw plane and roll-plane stability control is presented. This integrated control framework consists of a vehicle state predictor, an upper-level control mode supervisor and a lower-level 14 DOF model predictive controller (MPC). The state predictor is designed to predict the vehicle's future states, and the upper-level control mode supervisor can use these future states to determine a suitable control mode. After that, based on the selected control mode, the lower-level MPC can control the individual driving actuator to achieve the combined yaw plane and roll plane control. Finally, a series of simulation tests are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Knockdown of GmVQ58 encoding a VQ motif-containing protein enhances soybean resistance to the common cutworm (Spodoptera litura Fabricius).

Plants have evolved complex defense mechanisms to withstand insect attack. Identification of plant endogenous insect resistance genes is of great significance for understanding plant-herbivore interactions and improving crop insect resistance. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is an important crop that is often attacked by the common cutworm (CCW) (Spodoptera litura Fabricius). In this study, based on our transcriptomic data, the gene GmVQ58, encoding a FxxxVQxxTG (VQ) motif-containing protein, was cloned and characterized. This gene showed the highest expression in the leaves and roots and was up-regulated significantly after CCW attack. Constitutive expression of GmVQ58 rescued the susceptibility of an Arabidopsis mutant to CCW, and interference of GmVQ58 in soybean hairy roots enhanced the resistance to CCW. Furthermore, GmVQ58 was localized to the nucleus and physically interacted with the transcription factor GmWRKY32. The expression of two defense-related genes, GmN:IFR and GmVSPß, was up-regulated in GmVQ58-RNAi lines. Additionally, the promoter region of GmVQ58 was likely selected during domestication, resulting in different expression patterns in cultivated soybeans relative to wild soybeans. These results suggest that silencing GmVQ58 confers soybean resistance to CCW.

RNA-Seq analysis reveals transcript diversity and active genes after common cutworm (Spodoptera litura Fabricius) attack in resistant and susceptible wild soybean lines.

BACKGROUND: Common cutworm (CCW) is highly responsible for destabilizing soybean productivity. Wild soybean is a resource used by breeders to discover elite defensive genes. RESULTS: The transcriptomes of two wild accessions (W11 and W99) with different resistance to CCW were analyzed at early- and late-induction time points. After induction, the susceptible accession W11 differentially expressed 1268 and 508 genes at the early and late time points, respectively. Compared with W11, the resistant accession W99 differentially expressed 1270 genes at the early time point and many more genes (2308) at the late time point. In total, 3836 non-redundant genes were identified in both lines. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in W99 at the late time point were mostly associated with specific processes and pathways. Among the non-redundant genes, 146 genes were commonly up-regulated in the treatment condition compared with the control condition at the early- and late-induction time points in both accessions used in this experiment. Approximately 40% of the common DEGs were related to secondary metabolism, disease resistance, and signal transduction based on their putative function. Excluding the common DEGs, W99 expressed more unique DEGs than W11. Further analysis of the 3836 DEGs revealed that the induction of CCW not only up-regulated defense-related genes, including 37 jasmonic acid (JA)-related genes, 171 plant-pathogen-related genes, and 17 genes encoding protease inhibitors, but also down-regulated growth-related genes, including 35 photosynthesis-related genes, 48 nutrition metabolism genes, and 28 auxin metabolism genes. Therefore, representative defense-related and growth-related genes were chosen for binding site prediction via co-expression of transcription factors (TFs) and spatial expression pattern analyses. In total, 53 binding sites of 28 TFs were identified based on 3 defense-related genes and 3 growth-related genes. Phosphate transporter PT1, which is a representative growth-related gene, was transformed into soybean, and the transgenic soybean plants were susceptible to CCW. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we described transcriptome reprograming after herbivore induction in wild soybean, identified the susceptibility of growth-related genes, and provided new resources for the breeding of herbivore-resistant cultivated soybeans.

The Combined Effects of Adaptive Control and Virtual Reality on Robot-Assisted Fine Hand Motion Rehabilitation in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Case Study.

Robot-assisted therapy is regarded as an effective and reliable method for the delivery of highly repetitive training that is needed to trigger neuroplasticity following a stroke. However, the lack of fully adaptive assist-as-needed control of the robotic devices and an inadequate immersive virtual environment that can promote active participation during training are obstacles hindering the achievement of better training results with fewer training sessions required. This study thus focuses on these research gaps by combining these 2 key components into a rehabilitation system, with special attention on the rehabilitation of fine hand motion skills. The effectiveness of the proposed system is tested by conducting clinical trials on a chronic stroke patient and verified through clinical evaluation methods by measuring the key kinematic features such as active range of motion (ROM), finger strength, and velocity. By comparing the pretraining and post-training results, the study demonstrates that the proposed method can further enhance the effectiveness of fine hand motion rehabilitation training by improving finger ROM, strength, and coordination.

Development of a novel magnetophoresis-assisted hydrophoresis microdevice for rapid particle ordering.

Focusing and ordering of micro- or nanoparticles is an essential ability in microfluidic platforms for bio-sample processing. Hydrophoresis is an effective method utilising hydrodynamic force to focus microparticles, but it is limited by the fixed operational range and the lack of flexibility. Here, we report a work to tune and improve the dynamic range of hydrophoresis device using magnetophoresis. In this work, a novel approach was presented to fabricate the lateral fluidic ports, which allow the flipped chip to remain stable on the stage of microscope. Diamagnetic polystyrene microparticles suspended in a ferrofluidic medium were repelled to the lower level of the channel by negative magnetophoretic force, and then interact with grooves of microchannel to obtain an excellent hydrophoretic ordering. The effects of (i) flow rate, (ii) particle size, (iii) magnetic susceptibility of the medium, and (iv) number of magnets on the particle focusing efficiency were also reported. As the proposed magnetophorsis-assisted hydrophoretic device is tuneable and simple, it holds great potential to be integrated with other microfluidic components to form an integrated sample-to-answer system.

Combination of Weight-Bearing Training and Anti-MSTN Polyclonal Antibody Improve Bone Quality In Rats.

Weight-bearing exercise is beneficial to bone health. Myostatin (MSTN) deficiency has a positive effect on bone formation. We wondered if a combination of weight-bearing training and polyclonal antibody for MSTN (MsAb) would augment bone formation to a greater degree than single treatment. In this study, rats were randomly assigned to four groups: Control, weight-bearing training (WT), MsAb, and WT+MsAb. The trained rats ran at 15 m/min bearing with 35% of their body weight, 40 min/day (2 min of running followed by 2 min of rest), 6 days/week, for 8 weeks. The rats with MsAb were injected once a week with MsAb for 8 weeks. MicroCT analysis showed that compared with the MsAb group, WT+MsAb significantly enhanced cortical bone mineral density (BMD) (p < .01), bone volume over total volume (BV/TV) (p < .01), trabecular thickness (p < .05), and reduced trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) (p < .01). Compared with the WT group, WT+MsAb significantly increased trabecular BMD (p < .05), BV/TV (p < .05), and decreased Tb.Sp (p < .05). Three-point bending test demonstrated that MsAb failed to improve bone biomechanical properties (p > .05), weight-bearing training significantly increased energy absorption (p < .05) and elastic modulus (p < .05). However, when they combined, biomechanical properties including maximum load (p < .05), stiffness (p < .05), elastic modulus (p < .01) and energy absorption (p < .01) were all significantly enhanced. In conclusion, the combination of weight-bearing training and MsAb have a greater positive effect on bone than treatment with either MsAb or weight-bearing training alone, suggesting that resistance training in combination with MSTN antagonists could be an effective approach for improving bone health and reducing osteoporosis risk.