Menghan Liu1
Xiaoyang Ge
Hang Zhao- 1Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-Breeding and Integrated Utilization, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- 2National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-Breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang, China
- 3Western Agricultural Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji, Xinjiang, China
- 4Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Lab, Sanya, Hainan, China
- 5College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China
Editorial on the Research Topic
Identification and functional dissection of genes regulating early maturity and disease resistance in crops
Early maturity and disease resistance are two crucial agronomic traits that can mitigate the negative impacts of seasonal climate changes and natural disasters (Wang et al., 2018; Fang et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2023a). However, our understanding of the molecular regulatory networks governing early maturity and disease resistance in crops is incomplete. Consequently, uncovering the functions of candidate elite alleles associated with early maturity and disease resistance in crops, and developing early-maturing and disease-resistant crop varieties, have always been fundamental goal in crop breeding (Song et al., 2022; Wei et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2023b). This Research Topic focuses on identifying elite alleles or loci in major crops and creating superior crop germplasm by combining early maturity and disease resistance through the aggregation of multiple elite genes. Various methods, such as genetic transformation, gene editing, and molecular marker-assisted selection, are employed for this purpose. In this Research Topic, we present four original research articles contributed by 29 authors, which cover aspects of early maturity and disease resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Medicago ruthenica, cotton, and iron walnut (Juglans sigillata Dode). This editorial provides a summary of the key highlights from these articles.
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive fungal disease affecting wheat worldwide, caused by Fusarium verticillioides. However, research progress involving this area has not been reported enough. Song et al. conducted a study using a population of 262 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) to map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with Fusarium head blight resistance. They employed 50K wheat SNP genotyping and identified 22 QTLs related to FHB resistance on eight wheat chromosomes. To explore potential gene resources for disease resistance, Tong et al. performed a genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR) gene family in M. ruthenica. They investigated the domain composition, chromosome distribution, duplication types, and evolutionary patterns of NLR genes, shedding light on their evolutionary features. Additionally, this study analyzed the transcriptomes of M. ruthenica varieties resistant to powdery mildew and susceptible varieties, characterizing the expression of these NLR genes. This research provides valuable insights for discovering disease-resistance genes and facilitates disease-resistant breeding.
Zhou et al. employed bioinformatics methods to analyze the Hsp40 and Hsp70 gene families in four cotton species: G. arboreum, G. raimondii, G. hirsutum, and G. barbadense. They conducted a comprehensive analysis of the chromosome location, phylogeny, gene structure, and expression profile of Hsp40 and Hsp70 family genes under biotic and abiotic stresses. Additionally, they investigated the interaction among members of the Hsp40s and Hsp70s gene families. The results provide a foundation for understanding the function of Hsp40 and Hsp70 in resistance against Verticillium dahliae and abiotic stress to a certain extent. Moreover, Yu et al. identified 117 NAC members in iron walnut based on the genome reference of iron walnut and revealed that 11 NACs were specifically expressed in the endocarp of the walnut. They performed sequence analysis, gene structure analysis, chromosomal localization, gene similarity analysis, and expression pattern analysis of NAC genes in five different tissues (e.g., bud, root, fruit, endocarp, and xylem) to investigate the role of NAC genes in the walnut endocarp.
In summary, this Research Topic includes a diverse collection of original research articles, covering a wide range of research interests. These articles have provided a substantial amount of QTL intervals and gene resources related to disease resistance in different crops. They offer theoretical references for crop disease resistance breeding and accelerated genetic improvement. After the discovery of these genes and QTLs, the next important step in crop improvement is to validate their potential application in crop breeding and conduct broad-spectrum studies, which will then provide valuable genes and germplasm resources for developing improved crop varieties. With the increasing use of genomic resources and new technologies as powerful tools for genetic studies in various crop species (Wang et al., 2017; Ge et al., 2023), we anticipate that more key genes and chromatin sites associated with early maturity and disease resistance will be identified and evaluated for agricultural production. This will ultimately facilitate the efficient integration of early-maturing and disease-resistant traits, thereby accelerating crop improvement.
Author contributions
XG and HZ prepared the first draft of the editorial. ML contributed to different versions of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32201762), the Outstanding Youth Foundation of He’nan Scientific Committee (222300420097), the University Discipline (Major) Top Talent Cultivation Funding Project (gxbjZD2021072), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2022QC003), and Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory (Grant No. B23CJ0208).
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to all authors and reviewers for their contributions and to the editorial board of Frontiers in Genetics for their support.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
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Song, N., Lin, J., Liu, X., Liu, Z., Liu, D., Chu, W., et al. (2022). Histone acetyltransferase TaHAG1 interacts with TaPLATZ5 to activate TaPAD4 expression and positively contributes to powdery mildew resistance in wheat. New Phytol. 236, 590–607. doi:10.1111/nph.18372
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Keywords: crop, early maturity, disease resistance, molecular marker-assisted breeding, high-quality, multi-omics, regulatory mechanism
Citation: Liu M, Ge X and Zhao H (2023) Editorial: Identification and functional dissection of genes regulating early maturity and disease resistance in crops. Front. Genet. 14:1240198. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1240198
Received: 14 June 2023; Accepted: 19 July 2023;
Published: 24 July 2023.
Edited and reviewed by:
Andrew H. Paterson, University of Georgia, United StatesCopyright © 2023 Liu, Ge and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Hang Zhao, hangzhaolgl@163.com
†ORCID: Xiaoyang Ge, orcid.org/0000-0003-3428-2942; Hang Zhao, orcid.org/0000-0002-8763-4596