Interactive effect of Moringa oleifera mediated green nanoparticles and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth, root system architecture, and nutrient uptake in maize (Zea mays L.)
Authors: Ain, Q. u., Hussain, H. A., Rahman, L., Zhang, Q., Rehman, A., Hussain, S., Uddin, S., Imran, A.
The study evaluated how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Funnaliformis mosseae) together with Moringa oleifera‑derived green nanoparticles (FeO, ZnO, and Zn/Fe) affects maize growth, root architecture, organic acid production, mycorrhizal colonization, and nutrient uptake. Characterization of the nanoparticles (SEM, FTIR, UV‑Vis, XRD) and metabolomic profiling of Moringa leaves were performed, revealing that while Zn/Fe NPs performed best alone, the AMF + ZnO combination gave the greatest overall growth benefits and colonization compatibility, suggesting a promising sustainable agricultural strategy.
A biparental Vicia faba mapping population was screened under glasshouse conditions for resistance to a mixture of Fusarium avenaceum and Fusarium oxysporum, revealing several families with moderate to high resistance. Using the Vfaba_v2 Axiom SNP array, a high-density linkage map of 6,755 SNPs was constructed, enabling the identification of a major QTL on linkage group 4 associated with partial resistance to foot and root rot.
The study investigates how miR394 influences flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana by combining transcriptomic profiling of mir394a mir394b double mutants with histological analysis of reporter lines. Bioinformatic analysis identified a novel lncRNA overlapping MIR394B (named MIRAST), and differential promoter activity of MIR394A and MIR394B suggests miR394 fine‑tunes flower development through transcription factor and chromatin remodeler regulation.
A maize near-isogenic line population designed for gene discovery and characterization of allelic effects
Authors: Zhong, T., Mullens, A., Morales, L., Swarts, K., Stafstrom, W., He, Y., Sermons, S., Yang, Q., Lopez-Zuniga, L. O., Rucker, E., Thomason, W., Nelson, R., Jamann, T. M., Balint-Kurti, P., Holland, J. B.
The study characterized 1,264 maize near‑isogenic lines derived from 18 donor inbreds crossed to the recurrent parent B73, using genotyping‑by‑sequencing and SNP‑chip data to detect 2,972 introgression segments via a novel hidden Markov model pipeline. Disease phenotyping enabled QTL mapping for foliar disease resistance, revealing extensive allelic variation among donor lines, and establishing the nNIL population as a valuable resource for dissecting complex traits in maize.