As a class of small non-coding RNAs, microRNA (miRNA) is widely present and plays important regulatory roles in plant growth, development and stress response. Based on the mechanism of miRNAs in plants, we review the identification of miRNAs in some genera of Orchidaceae, the specific functions of several miRNAs and other relevant studies on miRNAs in the last decade, in order to provide a reference for better understanding function and regulatory network of small RNAs in orchids.
MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Orchidaceae/genetics* ; Plants/genetics*

The history of Rehmannia glutinosa breeding has already beyond 100 years. There are rich cultivated varieties and wild germplasm resources in R. glutinosa. However, there also exist a lot of problems, such as, the pedigree of the existing varieties is not clear, the genetic basis is narrow, backward method of germplasm enhancement and breeding. Breeding of new varieties has been unable to meet the demand of R. glutinosa production in the new era. This paper summarizes the species of Rehmannia and their distribution, the diversity of plant morphology and the quality of R. glutinosa germplasm resources, as well as the progress of R. glutinosa breeding in recent 100 years. For ensuring the orderly, effective and safe production of R. glutinosa, the authors suggest to establish the wild resources protection area and germplasm resources garden, deeply study the genetic base of quality, strengthen application of new breeding method such as mutation breeding, haploid breeding and gene editing.
Plant Breeding ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; Rehmannia ; genetics

As traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, Physalis plants have a variety of pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects, and have been used for the treatment of malaria, rheumatism, hepatitis, asthma, and cancer. In addition to the medicinal value, many Physalis species are also the high-grade nutrition health care fruits, can be made canned and candied etc. In the study, the application progress of DNA molecular marker technologies in medicinal Physalis plants in recent years was reviewed, in order to provide an important molecular technical basis for the identification, classification and rational development and protection of medicinal Physalis resources.
DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Genetic Markers ; Physalis ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics

WUSCHEL-related homebox (WOX) gene family is a type of plant specific transcription factor, and belongs to the homeobox (HB) transcription factor superfamily. WOX genes play an important role in plant development, such as stem cell regulation and reproductive progress, and have been identified in many plant species. However, the information of mungbean VrWOX genes is limited. In this study, we identified 42 VrWOX genes in mungbean genome using Arabidopsis AtWOX genes as BLAST queries. VrWOX genes are unevenly distributed on 11 mungbean chromosomes, and chromosome 7 contains the most VrWOX genes. VrWOX genes are classified into three subgroups, the ancient group, the intermediate group and the modern/WUSCHEL group, which contains 19, 12 and 11 VrWOX members, respectively. Intraspecific synteny analysis revealed 12 VrWOX duplicated gene pairs in mungbean. Mungbean and Arabidopsis thaliana have 15 orthologous genes, and mungbean and Phaseolus vulgaris have 22 orthologous genes, respectively. The gene structure and conserved motif are different among VrWOX genes, indicating their functional diversity. The promoter regions of VrWOX genes contain different number and type of cis-acting elements, and VrWOX genes show distinct expression levels in eight mungbean tissues. Our study investigated the bioinformation and expression profiles of VrWOX genes, and provided essential information for further functional characterization of VrWOX genes.
Vigna/genetics* ; Fabaceae/genetics* ; Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Plants

Agroinfiltration is a newly developed plant transient gene expression technique, which is simple, rapid and reproducible. It has been widely used in analyses of foreign gene expression, hypersensitive reaction, gene silencing, promoter activity and identification of new disease-resistance genes. In this paper, we describe the principle and the operation procedure of Agroinfiltration and its application in diverse aspects of plant molecular biology research. Our experiences in modification of the Agroinfiltration technique are also provided.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Plants ; genetics ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; Research Design

Chemical modification of DNA bases in recent years has been one of the hot areas of life science research. DNA methylation is a common epigenetic phenomenon and can change the genetic performance without changing the DNA sequence. Various stress factors can induce the variation of DNA methylation in plants, but the response mechanism is still unknown. In this paper, the progress of DNA methylation in plants was reviewed. In combination with the researchconclusions of our own research group, the DNA methylation variation induced by 7Li ion beam and gamma ray was reported to provide a basis for DNA methylation, which may be involved in the phenotypic plasticity of plants.
DNA Methylation ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Epigenomics ; Plants ; genetics

Medicinal plants are beneficial to human health. However,most of the major producing regions of medicinal plants suffer from rust disease,which threatens the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal materials,thus causes huge economic loss,and hinders the sustainable development of the Chinese medicine industry. By the end of 2020,rust disease had been reported in medicinal plants of 76 species and 33 families. In the 76 species,79 rust pathogens were detected. The majority of these pathogens belonged to Puccinia( 33,39. 24%),Coleosporium( 14,15. 19%),and Aecidium( 11,13. 92%). Of these 79 rust pathogens,10 were autoecious and 13 were heteroecious. Through literature research,this study reviewed the symptoms,pathogen species,severity and distribution,prevalence and occurrence conditions,and control measures of rust disease in medicinal plants,and thereby summarized the research status of rust disease in medicinal plants and the gap with other plants,which is expected to serve as a reference for further research on rust disease in medicinal plants.
Basidiomycota/genetics* ; Humans ; Plant Diseases ; Plants, Medicinal

Seed quality plays an important role in the agricultural and animal husbandry production, the effective utilization of genetic resources, the conservation of biodiversity and the restoration and reconstruction of plant communities. Seed aging is a common physiological phenomenon during storage. It is a natural irreversible process that occurs and develops along with the extension of seed storage time. It is not only related to the growth, yield and quality of seed and seedling establishment, but also has an important effect on the conservation, utilization and development of plant germplasm resources. The physiological mechanisms of seed aging are complex and diverse. Most studies focus on conventional physiological characterization, while systematic and comprehensive in-depth studies are lacking. Here we review the recent advances in understanding the physiology of seed aging process, including the methods of seed aging, the effect of aging on seed germination, and the physiological and molecular mechanisms of seed aging. The change of multiple physiological parameters, including seed vigor, electrical conductivity, malondialdehyde content and storage material in the seed, antioxidant enzyme activity and mitochondrial structure, were summarized. Moreover, insights into the mechanism of seed aging from the aspects of transcriptome, proteome and aging related gene function were summarized. This study may facilitate the research of seed biology and the conservation and utilization of germplasm resources.
Germination ; Plants ; Proteome ; Seedlings ; Seeds/genetics*

Triterpenoid saponins are widely used in medicine, health cares, cosmetics, food additives and agriculture because of their unique chemical properties and rich pharmacological activities. UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are the key enzymes involved in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis, and play important roles in the diversity of triterpenoid saponin structures and pharmacological activities. This review summarized the UGTs involved in plant triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis based on the sources of UGTs and the types of receptors. Moreover, the application of UGTs in heterologous biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins based on synthetic biology was also discussed.
Glycosyltransferases/genetics* ; Plants ; Saponins/chemistry* ; Triterpenes

Tetrapyrrole compounds are a class of compounds with important functions. They exist in living organisms and have been widely used in agriculture, food, medicine, and other fields. The cumbersome process and high cost of chemical synthesis, as well as the shortcomings of unstable quality of animal and plant extraction methods, greatly hampered the industrial production and applications of tetrapyrrole compounds. In recent years, the rapid development of synthetic biology has provided new tools for microorganisms to efficiently synthesize tetrapyrrole compounds from renewable biomass resources. This article summarizes various strategies for the biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole compounds, discusses methods to improve its biosynthesis efficiency and future prospects, with the aim to facilitate the research on biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole compounds.
Biomass ; Plants/genetics* ; Synthetic Biology ; Tetrapyrroles