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Pineapple is a globally significant tropical fruit, but its cultivation faces numerous challenges due to abiotic and biotic stresses, affecting its quality and quantity. WRKY transcription factors are known regulators of stress responses, however, their specific functions in pineapple are not fully understood. This study investigates the role of AcWRKY31 by overexpressing it in pineapple and Arabidopsis. Transgenic pineapple lines were obtained using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods and abiotic and biotic stress treatments. Transgenic AcWRKY31-OE pineapple plants showed an increased sensitivity to salt and drought stress and an increased resistance to biotic stress from pineapple mealybugs compared to that of WT plants. Similar experiments in AcWRKY31-OE, AtWRKY53-OE, and the Arabidopsis Atwrky53 mutant were performed and consistently confirmed these findings. A comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed 5357 upregulated genes in AcWRKY31-OE pineapple, with 30 genes related to disease and pathogen response. Notably, 18 of these genes contained a W-box sequence in their promoter region. A KEGG analysis of RNA-Seq data showed that upregulated DEG genes are mostly involved in translation, protein kinases, peptidases and inhibitors, membrane trafficking, folding, sorting, and degradation, while the downregulated genes are involved in metabolism, protein families, signaling, and cellular processes. RT-qPCR assays of selected genes confirmed the transcriptomic results. In summary, the AcWRKY31 gene is promising for the improvement of stress responses in pineapple, and it could be a valuable tool for plant breeders to develop stress-tolerant crops in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: This review aims to synthesize the available evidence of what patients experience when infected with COVID‐19, both in hospital and post‐discharge settings. Design: This review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for qualitative systematic reviews and evidence synthesis. Reporting of results was presented according to the Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research (ENTREQ) checklist. Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) continues to be a public health crisis worldwide. Many patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 have varied levels of persisting mental disorders. Previous studies have reported the degree, prevalence and outcome of psychological problems. Minimal research explored the experience of patients with long COVID. The real‐life experience of patients with COVID‐19 from diagnosis to post‐discharge can deepen the understanding of nurses, physicians and policymakers. Methods: All studies describing the experience of patients were included. Two authors independently appraised the methodological quality of the included studies using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research 2020. Results: This systematic review aggregated patients' experience of being diagnosed with COVID‐19 in both hospitalized and post‐discharge settings. Finally, 17 studies met inclusion criteria and quality appraisal guidelines. The selected studies in the meta‐synthesis resulted in 12 categories, and further were concluded as five synthesized findings: physical symptoms caused by the virus, positive and negative emotional responses to the virus, positive coping strategies as facilitators of epidemic prevention and control, negative coping strategies as obstacles of epidemic prevention and control, and unmet needs for medical resource. Conclusions: The psychological burden of patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 is heavy and persistent. Social support is essential in the control and prevention of the epidemic. Nurses and other staff should pay more attention to the mental health of the infected patients both in and after hospitalization. Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses should care about the persistent mental trauma of COVID‐19 survivors and provide appropriate psychological interventions to mitigate the negative psychological consequences of them. Besides, nurses, as healthcare professionals who may have the most touch with patients, should evaluate the level of social support and deploy it for them. It is also needed for nurses to listen to patient's needs and treat them with carefulness and adequate patience in order to decrease the unmet needs of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verticillium wilt which produced by the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae is an important biotic threat that limits cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) growth and agricultural productivity. It is very essential to explore new genes for the generation of V. dahliae resistance or tolerance cotton varieties. Ca2+ signaling as a secondary messenger is involved in pathogen stress response. Despite Ca2+-responsive phospholipid-binding BONZAI (BON) genes have intensively been investigated in Arabidopsis, their function has not still been characterized in cotton. Here, we showed that three copies of GhBON1, two copies of GhBON2 and GhBON3 were found from the genome sequences of upland cotton. The expression of GhBON1 was inducible to V. dahliae. Knocking down of GhBON1, GhBON2 and GhBON3 using virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) each increased up-regulation of defense responses in cotton. These GhBON1, GhBON2 and GhBON3-silenced plants enhanced resistance to V. dahliae accompanied by higher burst of hydrogen peroxide and decreased cell death and had more effect on the up-regulation of defense response genes. Further analysis revealed that GhBON1 could interacts with BAK1-interacting receptor-like kinase 1 (GhBIR1) and pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) receptor regulator BAK1 (GhBAK1) at plasma membrane. Our study further reveals that plant Ca2+ -responsive phospholipid-binding BONZAI genes negatively regulate Verticillium wilt with the conserved function in response to disease resistance or plant immunity. Key message: Plant Ca2+-responsive phospholipid-binding BONZAI genes negatively regulate cotton disease resistance to V. dahliae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]