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Background Different mulches have variable effects on soil physicochemical characteristics, bacterial and fungal communities and ecosystem functions. However, the information about soil microbial diversity, community structure and ecosystem function in tea plantation under different mulching patterns was limited. In this study, we investigated bacterial and fungal communities of tea plantation soils under polyethylene film and peanut hull mulching using high-throughput 16S rRNA and ITS rDNA gene Illumina sequencing. Results The results showed that the dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria , Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi, and the dominant fungal phyla were Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota and Basidiomycota in all samples, but different mulching patterns affected the distribution of microbial communities. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Nitrospirae in peanut hull mulching soils (3.24%) was significantly higher than that in polyethylene film mulching soils (1.21%) in bacterial communities, and the relative abundances of Mortierellomycota and Basidiomycota in peanut hull mulching soils (33.72, 21.93%) was significantly higher than that in polyethylene film mulching soils (14.88, 6.53%) in fungal communities. Peanut hull mulching increased the diversity of fungal communities in 0–20 cm soils and the diversity of bacterial communities in 20–40 cm soils. At the microbial functional level, there was an enrichment of bacterial functional features, including amino acid transport and metabolism and energy production and conversion, and there was an enrichment of fungal functional features, including undefined saprotrophs, plant pathogens and soils aprotrophs. Conclusions Unique distributions of bacterial and fungal communities were observed in soils under organic mulching. Thus, we believe that the organic mulching has a positive regulatory effect on the soil bacterial and fungal communities and ecosystem functions, and so, is more suitable for tea plantation.

Drought stress often affects the expression of genes and proteins in tea plants. However, the global profiling of ubiquitinated (Kub) proteins in tea plants remains unearthed. Here, we performed the ubiquitome in tea leaves under drought stress using antibody-based affinity enrichment coupled with LC-MS/MS analysis. In total, 1,409 lysine Kub sites in 781 proteins were identified, of which 14 sites in 12 proteins were up-regulated and 123 sites in 91 proteins down-regulated under drought stress. The identified Kub proteins were mainly located in the cytosol (31%), chloroplast (27%) and nuclear (19%). Moreover, 5 conserved motifs in EK ub , EXXXK ub , K ub D, K ub E and K ub A were extracted. Several Kub sites in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis-related proteins, including RGLG2, UBC36, UEV1D, RPN10 and PSMC2, might affect protein degradation and DNA repair. Plenty of Kub proteins related to catechins biosynthesis, including PAL, CHS, CHI and F3H, were positively correlated with each other due to their co-expression and co-localization. Furthermore, some Kub proteins involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, including FBPase, FBA and GAD1, might promote sucrose, fructose and GABA accumulation in tea leaves under drought stress. Our study preliminarily revealed the global profiling of Kub proteins in metabolic pathways and provided an important resource for further study on the functions of Kub proteins in tea plants.

Background Laccase (LAC) is the pivotal enzyme responsible for the polymerization of monolignols and stress responses in plants. However, the roles of LAC genes in plant development and tolerance to diverse stresses are still largely unknown, especially in tea plant ( Camellia sinensis ), one of the most economically important crops worldwide. Results In total, 51 CsLAC genes were identified, they were unevenly distributed on different chromosomes and classified into six groups based on phylogenetic analysis. The CsLAC gene family had diverse intron–exon patterns and a highly conserved motif distribution. Cis -acting elements in the promoter demonstrated that promoter regions of CsLACs encode various elements associated with light, phytohormones, development and stresses. Collinearity analysis identified some orthologous gene pairs in C. sinensis and many paralogous gene pairs among C. sinensis , Arabidopsis and Populus . Tissue-specific expression profiles revealed that the majority of CsLACs had high expression in roots and stems and some members had specific expression patterns in other tissues, and the expression patterns of six genes by qRT‒PCR were highly consistent with the transcriptome data. Most CsLACs showed significant variation in their expression level under abiotic (cold and drought) and biotic (insect and fungus) stresses via transcriptome data. Among them, CsLAC3 was localized in the plasma membrane and its expression level increased significantly at 13 d under gray blight treatment. We found that 12 CsLACs were predicted to be targets of cs-miR397a, and most CsLACs showed opposite expression patterns compared to cs-miR397a under gray blight infection. Additionally, 18 highly polymorphic SSR markers were developed, these markers can be widely used for diverse genetic studies of tea plants. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the classification, evolution, structure, tissue-specific profiles, and (a)biotic stress responses of CsLAC genes. It also provides valuable genetic resources for functional characterization towards enhancing tea plant tolerance to multiple (a)biotic stresses.

Drought tolerance and quality stability are important indicators to evaluate the stress tolerance of tea germplasm resources. The traditional screening method of drought resistant germplasm is mainly to evaluate by detecting physiological and biochemical indicators of tea plants under drought stresses. However, the methods are not only time consuming but also destructive. In this study, hyperspectral images of tea drought phenotypes were obtained and modeled with related physiological indicators. The results showed that: (1) the information contents of malondialdehyde, soluble sugar and total polyphenol were 0.21, 0.209 and 0.227 respectively, and the drought tolerance coefficient (DTC) index of each tea variety was between 0.069 and 0.81; (2) the comprehensive drought tolerance of different varieties were (from strong to weak): QN36, SCZ, ZC108, JX, JGY, XY10, QN1, MS9, QN38 , and QN21 ; (3) by using SVM, RF and PLSR to model DTC (drought tolerance coefficient) data, the best prediction model was selected as MSC-2D-UVE-SVM (R 2 = 0.77, RMSE = 0.073, MAPE = 0.16) for drought tolerance of tea germplasm resources, named Tea-DTC model. Therefore, the Tea-DTC model based on hyperspectral machine-learning technology can be used as a new screening method for evaluating tea germplasm resources with drought tolerance.

Drought stress triggers a series of physiological and biochemical changes in tea plants. It is well known that flavonoids, lignin and long-chain fatty acids play important roles in drought resistance. However, changes in proteins related to these three metabolic pathways in tea plants under drought stress have not been reported. We analysed the proteomic profiles of tea plants by tandem mass tag and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 4789 proteins were identified, of which 11 and 100 showed up- and downregulation, respectively. The proteins related to the biosynthesis of lignin, flavonoids and long-chain fatty acids, including phenylalanine ammonia lyase, cinnamoyl-CoA reductase, peroxidase, chalcone synthase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase, flavonol synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1,3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase 6 and 3-ketoacyl-CoA reductase 1, were downregulated. However, the contents of soluble proteins, malondialdehyde, total phenols, lignin and flavonoids in the tea plants increased. These results showed that tea plants might improve drought resistance by inhibiting the accumulation of synthases related to lignin, flavonoids and long-chain fatty acids. The proteomic spectrum of tea plants provides a scientific basis for studying the pathways related to lignin, flavonoid and long-chain fatty acid metabolism in response to drought stress.

Background Tuberization represents the most critical biological process during the growth and development of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.), as it directly dictates the final yield and quality of the crop. The APETALA2 (AP2) family of transcription factors (TFs) serves as key regulators of plant development, orchestrating diverse processes including organogenesis, hormone signaling, and environmental adaptation. Nevertheless, the precise functions of StAP2 genes in potato tuberization remain elusive, limiting our understanding of the molecular regulatory network underlying this agriculturally important trait. Results A total of 18 StAP2 genes, designated StAP2-1 to StAP2-18 according to their chromosomal positions in the potato genome, were identified. Herein, we present a comprehensive genome-wide systematic analysis of these StAP2 genes, encompassing their phylogenetic relationships, conserved motif characteristics, and tuberization-related expression profiles. Our expression data demonstrated that StAP2-13 and StAP2-18 are most likely involved in potato tuberization, as evidenced by their marked upregulation in tuberization-related leaves and developing tubers, respectively. In addition, both StAP2 genes exhibit distinct circadian rhythmic expression patterns - a regulatory feature known to modulate potato tuberization via crosstalk with photoperiod signaling. Yeast two-hybrid experiment verified that StAP2-13 and StAP2-18 physically interact with the key tuberization regulatory factor StCDF1. Furthermore, yeast one-hybrid experiment and dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that StAP2-13 and StAP2-18 directly bind to the promoter of the tuber-inducing gene StSP6A and activate its transcriptional activity. More importantly, transgenic overexpression of StAP2-13 or StAP2-18 markedly promoted tuber initiation in potato plants under long-day conditions, a non-favorable photoperiod for tuberization in most potato cultivars. Conclusions These results provide a comprehensive genome-wide characterization of the StAP2 gene family in potato, and identify StAP2-13 and StAP2-18 as promising candidate targets for genetic improvement of tuberization-related traits in potato, particularly for enhancing productivity under long-day growing environments.

Objective Research is lacking regarding the experiences of patients after colostomy, which is needed so as to take necessary specific actions. In this study, we aimed to describe the trajectory of symptom clusters experienced by patients after colostomy over time. Methods This was a longitudinal observational study using data from 149 patients with colorectal cancer after colostomy. We investigated symptoms and symptom clusters at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after colostomy. Results Four main symptom clusters were identified, including a psychological symptom cluster, digestive and urinary symptom cluster, lack of energy symptom cluster, and pain symptom cluster in patients after colostomy in the first year after surgery. We further explored the symptom trajectory. Conclusions We explored symptom clusters and the trajectory of symptom resolution in patients after colostomy during the first year after surgery. Four stages were proposed to describe the different statuses of symptom clusters experienced by patients. Our findings may provide insight into how to improve symptom management and postoperative quality of life for patients after colostomy.

With the rapid development of agricultural intelligence, nondestructive testing (NDT) has shown considerable promise for agricultural product inspection. Compared with traditional methods—which often suffer from subjectivity, low efficiency, and sample damage—NDT offers rapid, accurate, and non-invasive solutions that enable precise inspection without harming the products. These inherent advantages have promoted the increasing adoption of NDT technologies in agriculture. Meanwhile, rising quality standards for agricultural products have intensified the demand for more efficient and reliable detection methods, accelerating the replacement of conventional techniques by advanced NDT approaches. Nevertheless, selecting the most appropriate NDT method for a given agricultural inspection task remains challenging, due to the wide diversity in product structures, compositions, and inspection requirements. To address this challenge, this paper presents a review of recent advancements and applications of several widely adopted NDT techniques, including computer vision, near-infrared spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, computed tomography, and electronic noses, focusing specifically on their application in agricultural product evaluation. Furthermore, the strengths and limitations of each technology are discussed comprehensively, quantitative performance indicators and adoption trends are summarized, and practical recommendations are provided for selecting suitable NDT techniques according to various agricultural inspection tasks. By highlighting both technical progress and persisting challenges, this review provides actionable theoretical and technical guidance, aiming to support researchers and practitioners in advancing the effective and sustainable application of cutting-edge NDT methods in agriculture.

With the rapid development of agricultural intelligence, nondestructive testing (NDT) has shown considerable promise for agricultural product inspection. Compared with traditional methods—which often suffer from subjectivity, low efficiency, and sample damage—NDT offers rapid, accurate, and non-invasive solutions that enable precise inspection without harming the products. These inherent advantages have promoted the increasing adoption of NDT technologies in agriculture. Meanwhile, rising quality standards for agricultural products have intensified the demand for more efficient and reliable detection methods, accelerating the replacement of conventional techniques by advanced NDT approaches. Nevertheless, selecting the most appropriate NDT method for a given agricultural inspection task remains challenging, due to the wide diversity in product structures, compositions, and inspection requirements. To address this challenge, this paper presents a review of recent advancements and applications of several widely adopted NDT techniques, including computer vision, near-infrared spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, computed tomography, and electronic noses, focusing specifically on their application in agricultural product evaluation. Furthermore, the strengths and limitations of each technology are discussed comprehensively, quantitative performance indicators and adoption trends are summarized, and practical recommendations are provided for selecting suitable NDT techniques according to various agricultural inspection tasks. By highlighting both technical progress and persisting challenges, this review provides actionable theoretical and technical guidance, aiming to support researchers and practitioners in advancing the effective and sustainable application of cutting-edge NDT methods in agriculture.