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The development of floral organs, crucial for the establishment of floral symmetry and morphology in higher plants, is regulated by MADS-box genes. In sunflower, the capitulum is comprised of ray and disc florets with various floral organs. In the sunflower long petal mutant (lpm), the abnormal disc (ray-like) floret possesses prolongated petals and degenerated stamens, resulting in a transformation from zygomorphic to actinomorphic symmetry. In this study, we investigated the effect of MADS-box genes on floral organs, particularly on petals, using WT and lpm plants as materials. Based on our RNA-seq data, 29 MADS-box candidate genes were identified, and their roles on floral organ development, especially in petals, were explored, by analyzing the expression levels in various tissues in WT and lpm plants through RNA-sequencing and qPCR. The results suggested that HaMADS3, HaMADS7, and HaMADS8 could regulate petal development in sunflower. High levels of HaMADS3 that relieved the inhibition of cell proliferation, together with low levels of HaMADS7 and HaMADS8, promoted petal prolongation and maintained the morphology of ray florets. In contrast, low levels of HaMADS3 and high levels of HaMADS7 and HaMADS8 repressed petal extension and maintained the morphology of disc florets. Their coordination may contribute to the differentiation of disc and ray florets in sunflower and maintain the balance between attracting pollinators and producing offspring. Meanwhile, Pearson correlation analysis between petal length and expression levels of MADS-box genes further indicated their involvement in petal prolongation. Additionally, the analysis of cis-acting elements indicated that these three MADS-box genes may regulate petal development and floral symmetry establishment by regulating the expression activity of HaCYC2c. Our findings can provide some new understanding of the molecular regulatory network of petal development and floral morphology formation, as well as the differentiation of disc and ray florets in sunflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Really Interesting New Gene (RING) proteins are referred to as CHY zinc and ring finger protein (CHYR) members because they have the CHY domain, a type of protein that responds to abiotic stress. However, there are scant data on CHYR members in Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean). This study identified eight CHYR members (PvCHYRs) in the reference genome. A comprehensive analysis was performed to determine function, location, basic information, evolution, motifs, gene structure, cis-acting elements, collinearity, and expression patterns at the seeding stage. The results demonstrated that PvCHYRs might be involved in response to abiotic stressors, whereas some PvCHYRs were screened and can be used as candidate CHYR genes in further research. This study provides a basis for identifying and analyzing PvCHYR members and provides insights for their screening in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat quality is an important trait in the pig industry. To identify genomic regions and haplotype blocks responsible for meat quality traits in pigs, a genome-wide association study was conducted for five traits including intramuscular fat content, pH at 45 min and 24 h, drip loss within 24 h and water-holding capacity in 231 Yorkshire barrows using illumina porcine 60k SNP chips. The results showed that a total of 344 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were significantly associated with five meat quality traits (P-4). Moreover, 323 SNPs were within the reported QTL regions, of which 21 were novel. Also, 158 SNPs fell into the proximal region of meat quality related genes. In addition, 25 haplotype blocks based on 116 SNPs were revealed with SNP combination patterns for five traits. Our study added new SNP information for identification of meat quality traits in pigs and will help elucidate the mechanisms of meat quality in pigs.