Yong Zhao^1,#, Yaxuan Jiang^3,#, Li Wen¹, Rui Luo², Guorui Li², Jianjun Di², Mingda Yin², Zhiyan Wang², Fenglan Huang^2,4,5,6,7,*, Fanjuan Meng^3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.4, pp. 713-723, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.047657

Abstract The yield of castor is influenced by the type of inflorescence and the proportion of female flowers. However, there are few studies on the genetic mechanism involved in the development and differentiation of castor inflorescences. In this study, we performed transcriptomic analyses of three different phenotypes of inflorescences at the five-leaf stage. In comparison to the MI (complete pistil without willow leaves), 290 and 89 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in the SFI (complete pistil with willow leaves) and the BI (monoecious inflorescence), respectively. Among the DEGs, 104 and 88 were upregulated in the SFI and BI, respectively, compared… More >

Mingda Yin^1,#, Rui Luo^1,#, Tana Liang¹, Qi Wen¹, Xiaotian Liang¹, Yanpeng Wen¹, Xuemei Hu¹, Zhiyan Wang¹, Chang Gao¹, Wenjing Ren¹, Fenglan Huang^1,2,3,4,5,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.1, pp. 97-117, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.031228

Abstract Castor is one of the top 10 oil crops in the world and has extremely valuable uses. Castor inflorescences directly affect yield, so the study of inflorescence development is very important in increasing castor yield. Our previous studies have shown that the PIP5K gene family (PIP5Ks) is associated with inflorescence development. In this study, to determine the function of each PIP5K gene in castor, a female Lm-type castor line, aLmAB2, was used to determine the relative expression levels of the PIP5Ks in castor inflorescences. Six PIP5K genes were heterologously overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana, the relative expression of each gene and… More >

Yong Zhao^2,#, Lili Li^1,#, Rui Luo¹, Mu Peng¹, Tongtong Jiang¹, Mingda Yin¹, Yanpeng Wen¹, Zihan Wang¹, Fenglan Huang^1,4,5,6,7,*, Fanjuan Meng^3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.12, pp. 3237-3250, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.031495

Abstract Castor, scientifically known as Ricinus communis L., is among the top ten oil crops globally. It is considered a renewable resource and is commonly referred to as ‘green oil’. Castor seeds contain castor oil as their main component, which is predominantly composed of ricinoleic acid. This study utilized RNAi technology to silence the NPC6 gene in NO.2129 castor, resulting in the creation of mutant plants L1 and L2. The weight of 100 dry seed kernels from L1 and L2 exceeds that from NO.2129. The crude fat and ricinoleic acid levels of L1 and L2 were higher than those of NO.2129… More >

Yanpeng Wen^1,#, Rui Luo^1,#, Lili Li¹, Xiaotian Liang¹, Xuemei Hu¹, Ruxin Li¹, Zhiyan Wang¹, Fenglan Huang^1,2,3,4,5,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.11, pp. 3091-3112, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.030960

Abstract Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is one of the top 10 oil crops in the world, and inflorescence is a trait that directly affects its yield. Phospholipase C (PLCs) is involved in many plant activities and metabolic processes. To study the functions of PLC family genes in the regulation of the inflorescence development of the female line of Lm-type castor aLmAB2, we determined the expression levels of six PLC family genes of three types of inflorescences of aLmAB2 (isofemale line, female line, bisexual line) at different developmental stages. The results showed that the 6 genes of the castor PLC family had… More >

Xiaotian Liang^1,#, Qi Wen^1,#, Rui Luo¹, Yanxin Zhang¹, Mingda Yin¹, Yanpeng Wen¹, Xuemei Hu¹, Zhiyan Wang¹, Yumiao Huo¹, Fenglan Huang^{1,2,3,4,5,6,*}

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.6, pp. 1765-1792, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026935

Abstract Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), is one of the top 10 oilseed crops in the world and, therefore, of high economic value. Hybridization is one of the most effective ways to breed new varieties with high yield, high oil content, and better stress resistance. Therefore, prediction of desired traits in castor hybrid offspring is particularly important. In this study, proteomic analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in seeds between castor hybrid offspring and their female (Lm female line aLmAB₂) and male parents (CSR·181). Among the DEPs upregulated in the seeds of hybrid offspring, the majority were related… More >

Xue Lei^1,#, Yong Zhao^2,#, Rui Luo¹, Mingda Yin¹, Yanpeng Wen¹, Zhiyan Wang¹, Xuemei Hu¹, Fenglan Huang^1,3,4,5,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.5, pp. 1621-1632, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.027046

Abstract Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is one of ten oil crops in the world and has complex inflorescence styles. Generally, castor has three inflorescence types: single female inflorescence (SiFF), standard female inflorescence (StFF) and bisexual inflorescence (BF). StFF is realized as a restorer line and as a maintainer line, which was applied to castor hybrid breeding. However, the developmental mechanism of the three inflorescences is not clear. Therefore, we used proteomic techniques to analyze different inflorescence styles. A total of 72 diferentially abundant protein species (DAPs) were detected. These DAPs are primarily involved in carbon and energy metabolism and carbon fixation… More >

Zhipeng He^1,2, Junqi Xue^1,2, Yanzi Ke^1,2, Ying Luo^1,2,*, Qiming Lu^1,2, Yuehua Xu^1,2, Chaoqun Zhang^1,2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 591-604, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.017790

Abstract Nowadays, waterborne polyurethanes (WPUs) prepared from renewable resources has attracted more and more attention. However, due to its structure, the prepared films easily swells in water and greatly affects the application range of WPUs. Therefore, solving the problem of water resistance is a way to improve the application range of WPUs. In this study, a series of WPU dispersions were prepared using castor oil as the bio-based polyol. Besides, the thiol-ene photo click reaction was carried out on the WPU films for silane modification. The effect of the silane modification on the chemical structures of the WPU dispersions and the… More > Graphic Abstract

TING YANG^#, JIANNONG LU^#, AKWASI YEBOAH, SHUAILEI GU, DONGNA LI, YUZHEN SHI, XUEGUI YIN^*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.3, pp. 381-388, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.09112

Abstract In order to provide a molecular basis for selecting good hybrid combinations for the identification of castor bean germplasm resources, fingerprint and genetic diversity analysis of 52 castor bean materials from 12 regions in 5 countries were constructed by using the Functinal Markers (FMs) associated with fatty acid metabolism-related genes. A total of 72 alleles were amplified by 29 pairs of FMs with an average of 2.483 per marker and the polymorphic information content was 0.103–0.695. Shannon’s information index (I), observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) were 0.699, 0.188 and 0.436 respectively. The clustering results indicated that the castor… More >

Akwasi Yeboah¹, Jiannong Lu¹, Ting Yang¹, Yuzhen Shi¹, Hanna Amoanimaa-Dede¹, Kwadwo Gyapong Agyenim Boateng², Xuegui Yin^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.89, No.3, pp. 453-472, 2020, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2020.09267

Abstract Increased urbanization and industrialization have greatly contributed to the emission of higher amount of heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel, and lead into the environment. These metals are non-biodegradable and toxic, causing much effects on plants and by extension to animals and humans, which have become a major global concern. The inherent ability of plants to resist heavy metal toxicity seems to be the most sustainable and cost-effective strategy. Castor plant is widely studied due to its tolerance to the effects of heavy metal contaminated soils, owing to its large biomass content and high accumulating capacity. Castor plants to some… More >

Huang FL^1,2, GL Zhu^2,3, YS Chen^1,2, FJ Meng⁴, M Peng^1,4, XF Chen^1,2, ZB He³, ZY Zhang³, YJ Chen^1,2

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.84, No.1, pp. 26-33, 2015, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2015.84.026

Abstract Oil content and fatty acid composition were investigated on 12 castor varieties and strains by using the soxhlet extraction method and capillary gas chromatography. This was made to provide a reference and theoretical basis for castorbean breeding with high oil content, determine variability of seed compounds for breeding purposes, and broaden chemical material choices. Results revealed that crude fat percentage in seeds ranged from 18.91 to 35.84% with an average of 25.91%; the absolute content of ricinoleic acid varied between 171.65 g/kg and 314.03 g/kg with an average of 222.43 g/kg, and kernel crude fat percentage was between 24.28 and… More >