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Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a member of the Asteraceae family, is widely used in traditional herbal medicine. This review summarized agronomic conditions, genetic diversity, clinical application, and phytochemicals and pharmacological properties of safflower. The genetic diversity of the plant is rich. Abundant in secondary metabolites like flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, polysaccharides, fatty acids, polyacetylene, and other bioactive components, the medicinal plant is effective for treating cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and respiratory diseases. Especially, Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HYSA) has a variety of pharmacological effects. In terms of treatment and prevention of some space sickness in space travel, safflower could be a potential therapeutic agent. Further studies are still required to support the development of safflower in medicine. Our review indicates that safflower is an important medicinal plant and research prospects regarding safflower are very broad and worthy of further investigation.

To explore the causal pathogen and the correlated rhizosphere soil microecology of sugarcane root rot, we sampled the sugarcane root materials displaying different disease severity, and the corresponding rhizosphere soil, for systematic root phenotype and microbial population analyses. We found that with increased level of disease severity reflected by above-ground parts of sugarcane, the total root length, total root surface area and total volume were significantly reduced, accompanied with changes in the microbial population diversity and structure in rhizosphere soil. Fungal community richness was significantly lower in the rhizosphere soil samples from mildly diseased plant than that from either healthy plant, or severely diseased plant. Particularly, we noticed that a peculiar decrease of potential pathogenic fungi in rhizosphere soil, including genera Fusarium, Talaromyces and Neocosmospora, with increased level of disease severity. As for bacterial community, Firmicutes was found to be of the highest level, while Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi of the lowest level, in rhizosphere soil from healthy plant compared to that from diseased plant of different severity. FUNGuild prediction showed that the proportion of saprophytic fungi was higher in the rhizosphere soil of healthy plants, while the proportion of pathogenic fungi was higher in the rhizosphere soil of diseased plants. By co-occurrence network analysis we demonstrated the Bacillus and Burkholderia were in a strong interaction with Fusarium pathogen(s). Consistently, the biocontrol and/or growth-promoting bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere soil were mostly (6 out of 7) belonging to Bacillus and Burkholderia species. By confrontation culture and pot experiments, we verified the biocontrol and/or growth-promoting property of the isolated bacterial strains. Overall, we demonstrated a clear correlation between sugarcane root rot severity and rhizosphere soil microbiome composition and function, and identified several promising biocontrol bacteria strains with strong disease suppression effect and growth-promoting properties.

Plant and fruit surfaces are covered with cuticle wax and provide a protective barrier against biotic and abiotic stresses. Cuticle wax consists of very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) and their derivatives. β-Ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of VLCFAs and provides a precursor for the synthesis of cuticle wax, but the KCS gene family was yet to be reported in the passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). In this study, thirty-two KCS genes were identified in the passion fruit genome and phylogenetically grouped as KCS1 -like, FAE1 -like, FDH -like, and CER6 -like. Furthermore, thirty-one PeKCS genes were positioned on seven chromosomes, while one PeKCS was localized to the unassembled genomic scaffold. The cis -element analysis provides insight into the possible role of PeKCS genes in phytohormones and stress responses. Syntenic analysis revealed that gene duplication played a crucial role in the expansion of the PeKCS gene family and underwent a strong purifying selection. All PeKCS proteins shared similar 3D structures, and a protein–protein interaction network was predicted with known Arabidopsis proteins. There were twenty putative ped-miRNAs which were also predicted that belong to nine families targeting thirteen PeKCS genes. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation results were highly associated with fatty acid synthase and elongase activity, lipid metabolism, stress responses, and plant-pathogen interaction. The highly enriched transcription factors (TFs) including ERF, MYB, Dof, C2H2, TCP, LBD, NAC, and bHLH were predicted in PeKCS genes. qRT-PCR expression analysis revealed that most PeKCS genes were highly upregulated in leaves including PeKCS2, PeKCS4, PeKCS8, PeKCS13 , and PeKCS9 but not in stem and roots tissues under drought stress conditions compared with controls. Notably, most PeKCS genes were upregulated at 9th dpi under Fusarium kyushuense biotic stress condition compared to controls. This study provides a basis for further understanding the functions of KCS genes, improving wax and VLCFA biosynthesis, and improvement of passion fruit resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]