Genetius

The study demonstrates that short‑term low phosphate treatment delays leaf senescence in rice by increasing photosynthetic pigments, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities, and reducing oxidative damage, whereas high phosphate accelerates senescence. CRISPR/Cas9 editing of MIR827 to lower Pi levels also postpones senescence, while overexpression of MIR827 or MIR399, which raises Pi, speeds it up. Transcriptomic profiling reveals coordinated changes in senescence‑associated and metabolic pathways underlying the low‑phosphate response.

A two‑year field trial compared conventional and organic nutrient management on the Basmati rice cultivar Pant Basmati 1, revealing that conventional fertilizer enhanced later‑stage growth and grain yield, while organic inputs increased early plant height and markedly improved soil health and harvest index in the second year. Despite some yield differences, organic management achieved comparable productivity with superior soil macro‑ and micronutrient status, water‑holding capacity, aggregate stability, and enzyme activities, supporting its sustainability as an alternative nutrient regime.

The study examined the pre‑activation state of the rice NLR pair Pik‑1 (sensor) and Pik‑2 (helper) when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Both wild‑type and engineered Pik‑1 variants constitutively associate with Pik‑2 to form ~1 MDa hetero‑oligomeric complexes that localize to the plasma membrane in the absence of effector. These results reveal that some NLRs exist as pre‑assembled membrane‑associated complexes prior to pathogen perception.

The researchers identified a sperm‑specific transcription factor in rice that, when ectopically expressed in egg cells, initiates embryogenesis and induces parthenogenesis, producing haploid progeny. By coupling this factor with clonal gametogenesis, they achieved synthetic apomixis with over 99% clonal seed production and seed yields comparable to conventional F1 hybrids, offering a scalable method to permanently fix heterosis.

The study systematically identified heterosis-associated genes and metabolites in rice, functionally validated three genes influencing seedling length, and integrated these molecules into network modules to explain heterosis variance. Predominant additive and partially dominant inheritance patterns were linked to parental genomic variants and were shown to affect 17 agronomic traits in rice, as well as yield heterosis in maize and biomass heterosis in Arabidopsis. The work highlights the quantitative contribution of transcriptomic and metabolomic variation, especially in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, to hybrid vigor.

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) transfers mRNAs and highly stable long non‑coding RNAs into rice plants, where these RNAs migrate systemically from feeding sites. The lncRNA BSCL1 acts as a virulence factor by binding the HIRA histone chaperone complex and displacing histone H3.3 at promoters of jasmonic acid‑responsive transcription factors, thereby repressing host immune transcription. These results identify insect‑derived lncRNAs as systemic epigenetic effectors that reprogram plant defense.

The authors created the Rice E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Database (RE3DB), integrating 15 datasets to annotate 1,602 rice E3‑ligase genes and predict substrates via multi‑omics evidence. Using RE3DB they identified hundreds of F‑box genes enriched in mature anthers and down‑regulated in male‑sterile mutants, pinpointing candidates that likely regulate pollen germination and tube growth in rice.

The study identifies the rice E2 ubiquitin‑conjugating enzyme PHO2 as a negative regulator of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonisation under high phosphate conditions. pho2 mutants in Oryza sativa (and Nicotiana benthamiana) maintain AM fungal entry and show enhanced phosphate accumulation in shoots, linked to sustained expression of AM‑related genes and altered phosphate transporter activity.

This study applied multiple computational approaches to characterize the SUMOylation machinery, focusing on the ULP family, in cultivated Asian rice (Oryza sativa). Comparative analyses across the reference genome, a rice population panel, and wild rice genomes revealed a notable expansion of ULP genes in domesticated varieties, likely driven by selective breeding, and identified candidates potentially involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses. The findings provide a resource for future rice breeding and crop improvement efforts.

The study evaluated barley stripe mosaic virus and foxtail mosaic virus vectors for virus-induced gene silencing and overexpression in rice (Oryza sativa) and found they failed to alter gene expression across multiple cultivars, despite successful application in wheat. This suggests intrinsic resistance mechanisms in rice that limit VERG efficacy, highlighting the need for alternative viral systems for functional genomics in this species.