Configurational impact of self-regulated writing strategy, writing anxiety, and perceived writing difficulty on EFL writing performance: an fsQCA approach.

Previous research has indicated that writing performance of foreign/second language (L2) learners is influenced by their utilization of self-regulated writing strategies. Yet, the relationship between various self-regulated strategies and individual characteristics, such as writing anxiety and perceived writing difficulty, has not been sufficiently examined. To bridge this gap, this study classified self-regulated writing strategies into four distinct types: cognitive, metacognitive, social behavioral, and motivational. These types were combined with L2 learners' writing anxiety and writing difficulty to form conceptual models to predict high or low writing performance. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to gain a detailed understanding of the causal intricacies of writing performance. Data was collected from a sample of 94 students attending a university in eastern China. fsQCA revealed a variety of configurations associated with EFL writing performance, with six of them leading to high performance and four to low performance. These configurations highlight the complex causal relationship between students' use of self-regulated writing strategies and their writing performance, while considering their writing anxiety and perceived writing difficulty. The study provided theoretical and practical implications for L2 teachers and educators who wish to enhance L2 learners' writing performance.

Light Quality-Mediated Influence of Morphogenesis in Micropropagated Horticultural Crops: A Comprehensive Overview.

In plants, light quality plays significant roles in photomorphogenesis and photosynthesis. Efficient in vitro plant propagation techniques involve tailoring of various environmental cues and culture media according to the plant species. Plant tissue culture consists of several applications in scientific research, agriculture, biotechnology, and commercial industrial purposes. Utilization of light to enhance the quality of the in vitro raised plants have been evidenced by numerous researchers in plant tissue culture. The advent of light-emitting diode- (LED-) based artificial lighting systems in plant tissue culture for micropropagation has enhanced callus induction, shoot and root organogenesis, and acclimatization of in vitro propagated plants. Plants tend to perceive the light spectra present in the photosynthetically active region (PAR) ranging from 400 to 700 nm; this includes blue and red light wavelengths. Although the influence of spectral quality is being investigated in diverse plant species, particularly, its importance in in vitro propagated horticultural crops is gaining notable interest among researchers. In recent days, the application of LEDs provides better amenability according to the plant species of interest for efficient plant regeneration. Considering the growing necessity and emerging applications of LED supplemental lights for propagation of plants in in vitro, the present review summarizes the outcomes of various research studies dealing with LEDs in plant tissue culture. Moreover, the present endeavor has provided a comprehensive overview on the effects of LEDs in the morphogenesis of plants cultured in vitro.

Ectopic expression of tea MYB genes alter spatial flavonoid accumulation in alfalfa (Medicago sativa).

Flavonoids are one of the largest secondary metabolite groups, which are widely present in plants. Flavonoids include anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols and isoflavones. In particular, proanthocyanidins possess beneficial effects for ruminant animals in preventing lethal pasture bloat. As a major legume forage, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) contains little proanthocyanidins in foliage to combat bloat. In an attempt to improve proanthocyanidin content in alfalfa foliage, we over-expressed two MYB transcription factors (CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2) from tea plant that is rich in proanthocyanidins. We showed that, via targeted metabolite and transcript analyses, the transgenic alfalfa plants accumulated higher levels of flavonoids in stems/leaves than the control, in particular anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Over-expression of CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2 induced the expression levels of genes involved in flavonoid pathway, especially anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin-specific pathway genes DFR, ANS and ANR in stems/leaves. Both anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin content and the expression levels of several genes were conversely decreased in flowers of the transgenic lines than in control. Our results indicated that CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2 differently regulate anthocyanins/proanthocyanidins in stems/leaves and flowers. Our study provides a guide for increasing anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin accumulation in foliage of legume forage corps by genetic engineering. These results also suggest that it is feasible to cultivate new varieties for forage production to potentially solve pasture bloat, by introducing transcription factors from typical plants with high proanthocyanidin level.

Genome-Wide Identification and Functional Characterization of UDP-Glucosyltransferase Genes Involved in Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Glycine max.

Flavonoids, natural products abundant in the model legume Glycine max, confer benefits to plants and to animal health. Flavonoids are present in soybean mainly as glycoconjugates. However, the mechanisms of biosynthesis of flavonoid glycosides are largely unknown in G. max. In the present study, 212 putative UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes were identified in G. max by genome-wide searching. The GmUGT genes were distributed differentially among the 20 chromosomes, and they were expressed in various tissues with distinct expression profiles. We further analyzed the enzymatic activities of 11 GmUGTs that are potentially involved in flavonoid glycosylation, and found that six of them (UGT72X4, UGT72Z3, UGT73C20, UGT88A13, UGT88E19 and UGT92G4) exhibited activity toward flavonol, isoflavone, flavone and flavanol aglycones with different kinetic properties. Among them, UGT72X4, UGT72Z3 and UGT92G4 are flavonol-specific UGTs, and UGT73C20 and UGT88E19 exhibited activity toward both flavonol and isoflavone aglycones. In particular, UGT88A13 exhibited activity toward epicatechin, but not for the flavonol aglycones kaempferol and quercetin. Overexpression of these six GmUGT genes significantly increased the contents of isoflavone and flavonol glucosides in soybean hairy roots. In addition, overexpression of these six GmUGT genes also affected flavonol glycoside contents differently in seedlings and seeds of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. We provide valuable information on the identification of all UGT genes in soybean, and candidate GmUGT genes for potential metabolic engineering of flavonoid compounds in both Escherichia coli and plants.

Over-Expression of Arabidopsis EDT1 Gene Confers Drought Tolerance in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important legume forage crop with great economic value. However, as the growth of alfalfa is seriously affected by an inadequate supply of water, drought is probably the major abiotic environmental factor that most severely affects alfalfa production worldwide. In an effort to enhance alfalfa drought tolerance, we transformed the Arabidopsis Enhanced Drought Tolerance 1 (AtEDT1) gene into alfalfa via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Compared with wild type plants, drought stress treatment resulted in higher survival rates and biomass, but reduced water loss rates in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, transgenic alfalfa plants had increased stomatal size, but reduced stomatal density, and these stomatal changes contributed greatly to reduced water loss from leaves. Importantly, transgenic alfalfa plants exhibited larger root systems with larger root lengths, root weight, and root diameters than wild type plants. The transgenic alfalfa plants had reduced membrane permeability and malondialdehyde content, but higher soluble sugar and proline content, higher superoxide dismutase activity, higher chlorophyll content, enhanced expression of drought-responsive genes, as compared with wild type plants. Notably, transgenic alfalfa plants grew better in a 2-year field trial and showed enhanced growth performance with increased biomass yield. All of our morphological, physiological, and molecular analyses demonstrated that the ectopic expression of AtEDT1 improved growth and enhanced drought tolerance in alfalfa. Our study provides alfalfa germplasm for use in forage improvement programs, and may help to increase alfalfa production in arid lands.