Empowered by breakthroughs in hybrid potato breeding technology and the well-established molecular design breeding in rice cultivation, we propose a new eco-circular agricultural model, referred to as "rice-potato-pig (RPP)". This model involves planting rice in spring and summer, growing potatoes in winter, and using potatoes and bran as feed for pigs, while simultaneously utilizing pig manure and urine to fertilize the fields. RPP has the potential to alleviate the pressure of China's feed imports and address issues such as low efficiency, resource wastage, and environmental harm caused by the gap between planting and feeding. In this paper, we analyze the feasibility of the RPP model, which utilizes winter fields for potato cultivation to produce animal protein. We also discuss the operational characteristics and implementation of this model. Based on the design principles of agricultural system engineering, the entire RPP system is divided into four sub-systems, including field planting management, potato storage, pig feeding with potatoes, and manure and urine treatment followed by returning nutrients to the fields. Through stepwise optimization, integration, and modeling of these sub-systems, we explore the practical implementation of the eco-circular agricultural model of RPP according to local conditions and moderate scale in southern China.

Plant biomass is an important agronomic trait that has been subjected to intense human selection for yield improvement. The underlying mechanism regulating biomass formation is currently gaining increasing attention, but it remains unexplored. In this study, we isolated a cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) minicuke mutant with remarkably reduced biomass. The causative gene was identified as CsNMT1, a homologue of the Arabidopsis thaliana N-myristoyltransferase1. Our clustered regularly interspaced shot palindromic repeat-based genome editing confirmed the key role of CsNMT1 in biomass regulation. Multi-omics analyses integrating metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed the suppression of a very early step of lignin biosynthesis and the corresponding down-regulation of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis in the minicikue mutant, suggesting an unexpected pathway for regulating biomass accumulation through lignin sink strength. Our findings demonstrate the function of NMT1 in regulating plant biomass and its potential application value for biomass improvement in cucurbits.

The deterioration in fruit quality of commercial tomatoes is a major concern of modern tomato breeding. However, the metabolism and genetics of fruit quality are poorly understood. Here, we performed transgenic and molecular biology experiments to reveal that tomato phytoene synthase 1 (SlPSY1) is responsible for the accumulation of an important flavor chemical, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (MHO). To dissect the function of SlPSY1 in regulating fruit quality, we generated and analyzed a dataset encompassing over 2000 compounds detected by GC–MS and LC-MS/MS along with transcriptomic data. The combined results illustrated that SlPSY1 deficiency imparts novel flavor to yellow tomatoes with 236 volatiles significantly changed and improves fruit firmness, possibly due to accumulation of seven cutins. Further analysis indicated SlPSY1 is essential for carotenoid-derived metabolite biosynthesis by catalyzing prephytoene-PP (PPPP) to 15-cis-phytoene. Notably, we showed that SlPSY1 can influence the metabolic flux between carotenoid and flavonoid pathways, and this metabolic flux was confirmed by silencing SlCHS1. Our study provided insights into the multiple effects of SlPSY1 on tomato fruit metabolome and highlights the potential to produce high-quality fruit by rational design of SlPSY1 expression.

Thigmotropism and thigmomorphogenesis are two related and pervasive processes that play crucial roles in plant adaptation to the environment. However, there have been few investigations into the molecular regulatory mechanisms of these phenomena. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) tendrils are ideal material for studying thigmotropism and thigmomorphogenesis because they display a combination of the two processes. Here, we generated the transcriptome profiles of cucumber tendrils at the young, stretch, and coiling stages. Genes related to receptor proteins, transmembrane transport, and ion transport were significantly enriched among those differentially expressed between stages. Pharmacological assays illustrated that three GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR (GLR) genes might play a vital function in perceiving or transducing touch stimulation signals. Comparing the transcriptomes of tendrils and roots after touch stimulation, we found that genes related to extracellular stimulus and xyloglucan metabolism might have conserved functions in the regulation of thigmomorphogenesis. The transcriptome atlas of thigmotropism and thigmomorphogenesis of cucumber tendrils constructed in this study will help further elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind these processes.