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The method is validated by showing that measured liquid and solid proton densities accurately reflect WC and DMC of reference samples. The NMR plant sensor is demonstrated in an experimental context by monitoring WC of rice leaves under osmotic stress, and by measuring the dynamics of water and dry matter accumulation during seed filling in a developing wheat ear. It is further demonstrated how the method can be used to estimate leaf water potential on the basis of changes in leaf water content.In this paper, we present and use a coupled xylem/phloem mathematical model of passive water and solute transport through a reticulated vascular system of an angiosperm leaf. We evaluate the effect of leaf width-to-length proportion and orientation of second-order veins on the indexes of water transport into the leaves and sucrose transport from the leaves. We found that the most important factor affecting the steady-state pattern of hydraulic pressure distribution in the xylem and solute concentration in the phloem was leaf shape narrower/longer leaves are less efficient in convecting xylem water and phloem solutes than wider/shorter leaves under all conditions studied. The degree of efficiency of transport is greatly influenced by the orientation of second-order veins relative to the main vein for all leaf proportions considered; the dependence is non-monotonic with efficiency maximized when the angle is approximately 45° to the main vein, although the angle of peak efficiency depends on other conditions. The sensitivity of transport efficiency to vein orientation increases with increasing vein conductivity. The vein angle at which efficiency is maximum tended to be smaller (relative to the main vein direction) in narrower leaves. The results may help to explain, or at least contribute to our understanding of, the evolution of parallel vein systems in monocot leaves.Seagrass wasting disease, caused by protists of the genus Labyrinthula, is an important stressor of the dominant macrophyte in Florida Bay (FB), United States, Thalassia testudinum. Blasticidin S supplier FB exhibits countervailing gradients in plant morphology and resource availability. A synoptic picture of the Thalassia-Labyrinthula relationship was obtained by assessing the activity of four immune biomarkers in conjunction with pathogen prevalence and load [via quantitative PCR (qPCR)] at 15 sites across FB. We found downregulated immune status paired with moderate pathogen load among larger-bodied host phenotypes in western FB and upregulated immunity for smaller-bodied phenotypes in eastern FB. Among the highest immune response sites, a distinct inshore-offshore loading pattern was observed, where coastal basins exposed to freshwater runoff and riverine inputs had the highest pathogen loads, while adjacent offshore locations had the lowest. To explain this, we propose a simple, conceptual model that defines a framework for testable hypotheses based on recent advances in resistance-tolerance theory. We suggest that resource availability has the potential to drive not only plant size, but also tolerance to pathogen load by reducing investment in immunity. Where resources are more scarce, plants may adopt a resistance strategy, upregulating immunity; however, when physiologically challenged, this strategy appears to fail, resulting in high pathogen load. While evidence remains correlative, we argue that hyposalinity stress, at one or more temporal scales, may represent one of many potential drivers of disease dynamics in FB. Together, these data highlight the complexity of the wasting disease pathosystem and raise questions about how climate change and ongoing Everglades restoration might impact this foundational seagrass species.CONSTANS-LIKE (COL) genes play important roles in the regulation of plant growth and development, and they have been analyzed in many plant species. However, few studies have examined COL genes in mungbean (Vigna radiata). In this study, we identified and characterized 31 mungbean genes whose proteins contained B-Box domains. Fourteen were designated as VrCOL genes and were distributed on 7 of the 11 mungbean chromosomes. Based on their phylogenetic relationships, VrCOLs were clustered into three groups (I, II, and III), which contained 4, 6, and 4 members, respectively. The gene structures and conserved motifs of the VrCOL genes were analyzed, and two duplicated gene pairs, VrCOL1/VrCOL2 and VrCOL8/VrCOL9, were identified. A total of 82 cis-acting elements were found in the VrCOL promoter regions, and the numbers and types of cis-acting elements in each VrCOL promoter region differed. As a result, the expression patterns of VrCOLs varied in different tissues and throughout the day under long-day and short-day conditions. Among these VrCOL genes, VrCOL2 showed a close phylogenetic relationship with Arabidopsis thaliana CO and displayed daily oscillations in expression under short-day conditions but not long-day conditions. In addition, overexpression of VrCOL2 accelerated flowering in Arabidopsis under short-day conditions by affecting the expression of the flowering time genes AtFT and AtTSF. Our study lays the foundation for further investigation of VrCOL gene functions.Plants, as sessile organisms, are continuously threatened by multiple factors and therefore their profitable production depends on how they can defend themselves. We have previously reported on the characterization of fitness mutants which are more tolerant to environmental stresses due to the activation of defense mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that in fitness mutants, which accumulate moderate levels of salicylic acid (SA) and have SA signaling activated, pathogen infection is restricted. Also, we demonstrate that NPR1 is essential in fitness mutants for SA storage and defense activation but not for SA synthesis after Pseudomonas syringae (Pst) infection. Additionally, these mutants do not appear to be metabolically impared, resulting in a higher seed set even after pathogen attack. The FITNESS transcriptional network includes defense-related transcription factors (TFs) such as ANAC072, ORA59, and ERF1 as well as jasmonic acid (JA) related genes including LIPOXYGENASE2 (LOX2), CORONATINE INSENSITIVE1 (COI1), JASMONATE ZIM-domain3 (JAZ3) and JAZ10.