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The morphological development of rice (Oryza sativa L.) leaves is closely related to plant architecture, physiological activities, and resistance. However, it is unclear whether there is a co-regulatory relationship between the morphological development of leaves and adaptation to drought environment. In this study, a drought-sensitive, roll-enhanced, and narrow-leaf mutant (renl1) was induced from a semi-rolled leaf mutant (srl1) by ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS), which was obtained from Nipponbare (NPB) through EMS. Map-based cloning and functional validation showed that RENL1 encodes a cellulose synthase, allelic to NRL1/OsCLSD4. The RENL1 mutation resulted in reduced vascular bundles, vesicular cells, cellulose, and hemicellulose contents in cell walls, diminishing the water-holding capacity of leaves. In addition, the root system of the renl1 mutant was poorly developed and its ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) was decreased, leading to an increase in ROS after drought stress. Meanwhile, genetic results showed that RENL1 and SRL1 synergistically regulated cell wall components. Our results revealed a theoretical basis for further elucidating the molecular regulation mechanism of cellulose on rice drought tolerance, and provided a new genetic resource for enhancing the synergistic regulation network of plant type and stress resistance, thereby realizing simultaneous improvement of multiple traits in rice.

The pollution of soil with heavy metals is an increasingly serious worldwide problem, and cadmium (Cd) has attracted attention because of its high toxicity to almost all plants. Since castor tolerates the accumulation of heavy metals, it has the potential for heavy metal soil remediation. We studied the mechanism of the tolerance of castor to Cd stress treatments at three doses: 300 mg/L, 700 mg/L, and 1,000 mg/L. This research provides new ideas for revealing the defense and detoxification mechanisms of Cd-stressed castor. By combining the results of physiology, differential proteomics and comparative metabolomics, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the networks that regulate the response of castor to Cd stress. The physiological results mainly emphasize the super-sensitive responses of castor plant roots to Cd stress and the effects of Cd stress on plants’ antioxidant system, ATP synthesis and ion homeostasis. We confirmed these results at the protein and metabolite levels. In addition, proteomics and metabolomics indicated that under Cd stress, the expressions of proteins involved in defense and detoxification, energy metabolism and other metabolites such as organic acids and flavonoids were significantly up-regulated. At the same time, proteomics and metabolomics also show that castor plants mainly block the root system’s absorption of Cd2+ by enhancing the strength of the cell wall, and inducing programmed cell death in response to the three different doses of Cd stress. In addition, the plasma membrane ATPase encoding gene (RcHA4), which was significantly upregulated in our differential proteomics and RT-qPCR studies, was transgenically overexpressed in wild type Arabidopsis thaliana for functional verification. The results indicated that this gene plays an important role in improving plant Cd tolerance.

Based on the advantages of high resolution and accuracy, Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) method for Th-U-Pb is conducted to date monazite and zircon, is not typically applied in uraninite, pitchblende and other minerals which contain high contents of Th, U and Pb. Uraninite with a high content of U was first found in the iron deposit, whose rock type was chlorite and actinolite biotite altered rock. Based on the region′s geological background, the microscopic alteration, age calculation and other related elements analysis, the uraninite mineralization age and metallogenic regularity have been studied intensely by Microscope and EPMA. The research results indicate that the genetic type of uraninite is similar to the famous metamorphic uraninite in Australia, belonging to the old metamorphic type. The gangue minerals are all chlorite altered by biotite. Occurrence characteristics of the uraninite reveal the close relationship between uraninote and biotite-chlorite. The mineralization age is also intimately related to the formation age of biotite and chlorite. According to the oxide content data of elements (U, Th and Pb) by EPMA, mineralized periods were obtained as the main mineralization stage is (1654±17) Ma-(1805±17) Ma, which is the mid Proterozoic and relate to the hydrothermal alteration of biotite. The later activation and enrichment period is (657±17) Ma-(807±17) Ma, which is the Neoproterozoic Nanhua period when hydrotherm invaded and chloritization was widely developed. Large-sized uraninite grains were selected to calculate their zoning ages. The age distribution shows that the strong fluid activity occurs at the late stage, and is mainly related to the chloritization. In addition, comparing the elements′ content (Y2O3 and UO2) between metamorphic uranium and sedimentary uranium, a negative correlation relationship was found between the two types. This relationship may have significance in determining whether it is metamorphic or sedimentary type, but this conclusion needs further study due to the lack of convincing evidence.