OsBRW1, a novel blast-resistant gene, coded a NBS-LRR protein to interact with OsSRFP1 to balance rice growth and resistance.

It is urgent to mine novel blast-resistant genes in rice and develop new rice varieties with pyramiding blast-resistant genes. In this study, a new blast-resistant gene, OsBRW1, was screened from a set of rice near-isogenic lines (NILs) with different blast-resistant ability. Under the infection of Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae), OsBRW1 in the resistant NIL Pi-4b was highly induced than that in the susceptible NIL Pi-1 and their parent line CO39, and the blast-resistant ability of OsBRW1 was further confirmed by using CRISPR/Cas9 knockout and over-expression methods. The protein encoded by OsBRW1 was a typical NBS-LRR with NB-ARC domain and localized in both cytoplasm and nucleus, and the transient expression of OsBRW1 was capable of triggering hypersensitive response in tobacco leaves. Protein interaction experiments showed that OsBRW1 protein directly interacted with OsSRFP1. At the early infection stage of M. oryzae, OsBRW1 gene induced OsSRFP1 to highly expression level and accumulated H2O2, up-regulated the defence responsive signalling transduction genes and the pathogenesis-related genes and increased JA and SA content in the resistant NIL Pi-4b. By contrary, lower content of endogenous JA and SA in osbrw1 mutants was found at the same stage. After that, OsSRFP1 was down-regulated to constitution abundance to balance the growth of the resistant NIL Pi-4b. In summary, OsBRW1 solicited OsSRFP1 to resist the infection of blast fungus in rice by inducing the synergism of induced systemic resistance (ISR) and system acquired resistance (SAR) and to balance the growth of rice plants.

Niche differentiation modulates metabolites abundance and composition in silicon fertilizer amended soil during sugarcane growth.

BACKGROUND: As one of the vital crops globally, sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) has been one of model crops for conducting metabolome research. Although many studies have focused on understanding bioactive components in specific sugarcane tissues, crucial questions have been left unanswered about the response of metabolites to niche differentiation such as different sugarcane tissues (leaf, stem and root), and soil regions (rhizosphere and bulk) under silicon (Si) amended soils. Here, nontargeted metabolite profiling method was leveraged to assess the similarities and differences in the abundance and community composition of metabolites in the different sugarcane and soil compartments. Identify the compartment-specific expression patterns of metabolites, and their association with cane agronomic traits and edaphic factors. We also investigated the response of sugarcane agronomic traits and edaphic factors to Si amended soil. RESULTS: We found that Si fertilizer exhibited the advantages of overwhelmingly promoting the height and theoretical production of cane, and profoundly increased soil Si content by 24.8 and 27.0%, while soil available potassium (AK) was enhanced by 3.07 and 2.67 folds in the bulk and rhizosphere soils, respectively. It was also noticed that available phosphorus (AP) in the rhizosphere soil tremendously increased by 105.5%. We detected 339 metabolites in 30 samples using LC-MS/MS analyses, 161 of which were classified and annotated, including organooxygen compounds (19.9%), carboxylic acids and derivatives (15.5%), fatty acyls (15.5%), flavonoids (4.4%), phenols (4.4%), and benzene and substituted derivatives (3.7%). In addition, the total percentages covered by these core metabolites in each compartment ranged from 94.0% (bulk soil) to 93.4% (rhizosphere soil), followed by 87.4% (leaf), 81.0% (root) and 80.5% (stem), suggesting that these bioactive compounds may have migrated from the belowground tissues and gradually filtered in various aboveground niches of the plant. We also observed that the variations and enrichment of metabolites abundance and community were compartment-specific. Furthermore, some key bioactive compounds were markedly associated with plant growth parameters and soil edaphic. CONCLUSION: Taken together, we hypothesized that Si utilization can exhibit the advantage of enhancing edaphic factors and cane agronomic traits, and variations in metabolites community are tissue-specific.

Plant growth and stress-regulating metabolite response to biochar utilization boost crop traits and soil health.

Introduction: The utilization of biochar (BC) as a soil amendment in agriculture has gained significant traction among many farmers and researchers, primarily due to its eco-friendly role in boosting crop output. However, the performance of specific metabolites (e.g., zeatin, melatonin, sucrose, and phenyllactic acid) in the various tissues of sugarcane plant (leaf, stem, and root) and rhizosphere soil-deemed plant growth and stress regulators in a long-term BC-amended field remains poorly understood. Additionally, literature on the shift in soil attributes and crop growth triggered by the strong response of these bioactive compounds to longterm BC utilization remains undocumented. Methods: Metabolome integrated with highthroughput sequencing analyses were conducted to identify and quantify the performance of plant growth and stress-regulating metabolites in a long-term BC-amended field. Additionally, we investigated how the response of these compounds to BC-treated soil influences crop traits and soil biochemical properties. Results: We also identified and quantified the performance of pathogenic bacteria and unraveled the association between these compounds and potential plant growth-promoting bacteria. The BC-supplemented soil significantly boosted the crop traits, including brix, sucrose content, and chlorophyll, as well as soil nutrients, such as soil total nitrogen (TN), ammonium (NH4 +-N), and nitrate (NO3 --N). We also noticed that metabolite-deemed plant growth and stress regulators, including melatonin and phenyllactic acid, were enriched considerably in the stem and root tissues of the BC-amended soil. Zeatin in the leaf, stem, and root tissues exhibited the same trend, followed by sucrose in the leaf tissue of the BC-treated soil, implying that the strong response of these compounds to BC utilization contributed to the promotion of crop traits and soil quality. Pathogenic bacteria belonging to Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were suppressed under the BC-supplemented soil, especially in the root tissue and rhizosphere soil, whereas plant growth-regulating bacteria, mainly Bradyrhizobium, responded strongly and positively to several metabolites. Discussion: Our finding provides valuable information for agronomists, farmers, and environmentalists to make informed decisions about crop production, land use, and soil management practices. Proper soil assessment and understanding of the interaction between the attributes of soil, BC, and metabolites are essential for promoting sustainable agriculture practices and land conservation.