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Rice panicles, a major component of yield, are regulated by phytohormones and nutrients. How mineral nutrients promote panicle architecture remains largely unknown. Here, we report that NIN-LIKE PROTEIN3 and 4 (OsNLP3/4) are crucial positive regulators of rice panicle architecture in response to nitrogen (N). Loss-of- function mutants of eitherOsNLP3orOsNLP4produced smaller panicles with reduced primary and secondary branches and fewer grains compared with wild type, whereas their overexpression plants showed the opposite phenotypes. Notably, the OsNLP3/4-regulated panicle architecture was positively correlated with N availability. OsNLP3/4 directly bind to the promoter ofOsRFLand activate its expression to promote inflorescence meristem development. Furthermore, OsRFL activatesOsMOC1expression by binding to its promoter. Our findings reveal the novel N- responsive OsNLP3/4-OsRFL-OsMOC1 module that integrates N availability to regulate panicle architecture, shedding light on how nutrient signals regulate panicle architecture and providing candidate targets for the improvement of crop yield.

Nutrients must be balanced for optimal plant growth. However, the potential significance of balanced nitrogen-iron (N-Fe) for improving crop yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has never been addressed. Here, we show that balanced N-Fe substantially increases tiller number and boosts yield and NUE in rice and wheat. NIN-like protein 4 plays a pivotal role in maintaining the N-Fe balance by coordinately regulating the expression of multiple genes in N and Fe metabolism and signaling. Moreover, we show that foliar spraying of balanced N-Fe at the tillering stage can effectively increase rice tillers, yield and NUE in the field, which can be reproduced with wheat. Our findings provide guidelines for innovative fertilization to reduce N fertilizer input and promote yield, thus benefitting environment-friendly and sustainable agriculture worldwide.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for crop growth and yield. Improving the N use efficiency (NUE) of crops is important to agriculture. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying NUE regulation remain largely elusive. Here we report that the OsNLP3 (NIN-like protein 3) regulates NUE and grain yield in rice under N sufficient conditions. OsNLP3 transcript level is significantly induced by N starvation and its protein nucleocytosolic shuttling is specifically regulated by nitrate. Loss-of-function of OsNLP3 reduces plant growth, grain yield, and NUE under sufficient nitrate conditions, whereas under low nitrate or different ammonium conditions, osnlp3 mutants show no clear difference from the wild type. Importantly, under sufficient N conditions in the field, OsNLP3 overexpression lines display improved grain yield and NUE compared with the wild type. OsNLP3 orchestrates the expression of multiple N uptake and assimilation genes by directly binding to the nitrate-responsive cis-elements in their promoters. Overall, our study demonstrates that OsNLP3, together with OsNLP1 and OsNLP4, plays overlapping and differential roles in N acquisition and NUE, and modulates NUE and the grain yield increase promoted by N fertilizer. Therefore, OsNLP3 is a promising candidate gene for the genetic improvement of grain yield and NUE in rice.

Sessile plants constantly experience environmental stresses in nature. They must have evolved effective mechanisms to balance growth with stress response. Here we report the MADS-box transcription factor AGL16 acting as a negative regulator in stress response in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-AGL16 confers resistance to salt stress in seed germination, root elongation and soil-grown plants, while elevated AGL16 expression confers the opposite phenotypes compared with wild-type. However, the sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) in seed germination is inversely correlated with AGL16 expression levels. Transcriptomic comparison revealed that the improved salt resistance of agl16 mutants was largely attributed to enhanced expression of stress-responsive transcriptional factors and the genes involved in ABA signalling and ion homeostasis. We further demonstrated that AGL16 directly binds to the CArG motifs in the promoter of HKT1;1, HsfA6a and MYB102 and represses their expression. Genetic analyses with double mutants also support that HsfA6a and MYB102 are target genes of AGL16. Taken together, our results show that AGL16 acts as a negative regulator transcriptionally suppressing key components in the stress response and may play a role in balancing stress response with growth.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for crop growth and yield, but excessive application of N fertilizer has caused serious environmental pollution and greatly increased the cost of agricultural production. One of the effective and economical solutions to this dilemma is to improve the N use efficiency (NUE) of crops. Although some components involved in regulating NUE have been identified, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely elusive in rice. Here we report that the OsNLP3 (NIN-like protein 3) is an important regulator in NUE and grain yield under nitrate-sufficient conditions. Both NUE and grain yield were significantly improved by enhanced OsNLP3 expression in the field, but reduced in osnlp3 mutants. The expression of OsNLP3 responds to both nitrate and ammonium, while OsNLP3 nuclear retention is only induced by nitrate, not by ammonium. OsNLP3 regulates the expression of a set of genes involved in N transport and assimilation by directly binding to the nitrate-responsive cis-element in the promoters of these genes. Our study demonstrates that OsNLP3 is significant for the regulation of NUE and grain yield, particularly in nitrate-rich conditions, thus providing a candidate for improving NUE and grain yield in rice.

Summary Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavour in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the rice NIN‐like protein 4 (OsNLP4) significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss‐of‐OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signalling genes by directly binding to the nitrate‐responsive cis‐element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 plays a pivotal role in rice NUE and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.

Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavor in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the NIN-like protein OsNLP4 significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss-of-OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signaling genes by directly binding to the nitrate-responsive cis-element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 is a master regulator of NUE in rice and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.

Polysaccharides were extracted from Broussonetia papyrifera ((L.) L'Herit. ex Vent.) fruits (BPP), and response surface methodology was used to maximize extraction yield. The optimum extraction conditions were: ratio of water to solid, 30mL/g; extraction duration, 50min; extraction power, 180W; and extraction temperature, 60°C. Under these conditions, the yield of BPP was 8.61%. Then, BPP was purified, and three purified fractions (designated BPP-1, BPP-2 and BPP-3) were obtained for further physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity analysis. These fractions were mainly composed of glucose, mannose and arabinose residue, meanwhile, BPP-3 had a significantly higher rhamnose and uronic acid content than BPP-1 and BPP-2. And BPP-3 showed the best hydroxyl radial scavenging activity, ferric reducing activity power (FRAP), antihemolytic activity and antibacterial activity.

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an important biological hormone in many abiotic stress responses and developmental processes. In this study, the protective roles of melatonin were investigated by measuring the antioxidant defense system and photosynthetic characteristics in maize under salt stress. The results indicated that NaCl treatment led to the decrease in plant growth, chlorophyll contents and photochemical activity of photosystem II (PSII). However, the levels of reactive oxygen species increased significantly under salt stress. Meanwhile, we found that application of exogenous melatonin alleviated reactive oxygen species burst and protected the photosynthetic activity in maize seedlings under salt stress through the activation of antioxidant enzymes. In addition, 100 μM melatonin-treated plants showed high photosynthetic efficiency and salinity. Immunoblotting analysis of PSII proteins showed that melatonin application alleviated the decline of 34 kDa PSII reaction center protein (D1) and the increase of PSII subunit S protein. Taken together, our study promotes more comprehensive understanding in the protective effects of exogenous melatonin in maize under salt stress, and it may be involved in activation of antioxidant enzymes and regulation of PSII proteins.

Introduction We report outcomes for a phase II study of the combination of weekly docetaxel and cisplatin in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Methods Patients with chemotherapy-naive, stage IIIB/IV, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1, ages 70 years or older, were eligible. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (25 mg/m 2 ) on days 1, 8, and 15 and docetaxel (20 mg/m 2 ) on days 1, 8, and 15 every 4 weeks. Results Forty-six (95.8%) of the 48 patients were assessable for response, 1 case of complete response and 18 cases of partial response were confirmed, giving an overall response rate of 39.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25.7–53.5%). The median time to progression and overall survival for all patients was 5.0 months (95% CI, 4.1–5.7 months) and 10.9 months (95% CI, 9.6–12.2 months), respectively. The most severe hematologic adverse event was anemia, which occurred with grade 3 intensity in 6 (13.0%) patients and grade 4 in 2 (4.3%) patients. Neutropenia occurred with grade 3 intensity in 4 (8.7%) patients. Grade 3 asthenia, diarrhea, neuropathy, stomatitis, and nausea/vomiting were observed in 2 (4.3%), 5 (10.9%), 5 (10.9%), 5 (10.9%), and 3 (6.5%) patients, respectively. Yet, no grade 4 nonhematologic toxicity was observed. Conclusions The combination of weekly docetaxel and cisplatin is a well-tolerated treatment modality with encouraging activity and survival outcome in previously untreated elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: Diagnosis of lung cancer at an early disease stage is important for successful treatment and improving the outcome of patients. To improve its prognosis, we attempted to explore novel tools for screening serum biomarkers to distinguish lung cancer from healthy individuals by serum protein profiles and a classification tree algorithm. Methods: Serum samples were applied to metal affinity protein chips to generate mass spectra by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ ionization (SELDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Protein peak identification and clustering were performed using the Biomarker Wizard software. Proteomic spectra of serum samples from 89 lung cancer patients and age- and sex-matched 68 healthy individuals were used as a training set and a classification tree with 3 distinct protein masses was generated by using Biomarker Pattern software. The validity of the classification tree was then challenged with a blind test set including another 62 lung cancer patients and 34 healthy individuals. We additionally determined Cyfra21-1 and carcinoembryonic antigen in all the serum samples included in this study using an electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: The software identified an average of 48 mass peaks/ spectrum and 3 of the identified peaks at 5808, 5971, and 7779 d were used to construct the classification tree. The classification tree separated effectively lung cancer from healthy individuals, achieving a sensitivity of 91% (81 of 89) and a specificity of 97% (66 of 68). The blind test challenged the model with a sensitivity of 89% (55 of 62) and a specificity of 91% (31 of 34), and a positive predictive value of 90% (86 of 96), respectively. The specificity of Cyfra21-1 and the sensitivity provided by Cyfra21-1 and carcinoembryonic antigen used individually or in combination were significantly lower than that of the SELDI marker pattern (P < 0.05 or P < 0.005, respectively). Conclusion: The results suggest that SELDI time-of-flight mass spectrometry technique can correctly distinguish lung cancer patients from healthy individuals and shows great potential for the development of a screening test for the detection of lung cancer.