Plants constantly face multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, which they counteract through sophisticated immune mechanisms based on the recognition of endogenous and exogenous elicitors. Tomato Systemin (Sys), released from the C-terminal region of Prosystemin (ProSys), is a well-known peptide that activates jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent defense responses. In contrast, the N-terminal fragment ProSys(1-178), lacking the Sys peptide, has recently emerged as an independent defense inducer, likely involving an OG-mediated pathway distinct from the JA signalling triggered by Sys. In this study, we investigated the molecular and biological responses elicited by ProSys(1-178) in comparison with Sys by combining comparative transcriptomic analyses of ProSys(1-178) and full-length ProSys (ProSysFL) transgenic tomato plants with bioassays of peptide treated plants. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that ProSys(1-178) induced a substantially broader transcriptional reprogramming than ProSysFL, with only 46 differentially expressed genes in common, that displayed opposite expression patterns. Both transgenic lines conferred resistance against Spodoptera littoralis and Botrytis cinerea. Moreover, exogenous application of ProSys(1-178) and Sys differentially modulated local and systemic defense-related gene expression and significantly reduced B. cinerea disease severity. Although Sys provided stronger protection against the fungal pathogen, ProSys(1-178) modulated a broader set of defense-related genes, suggesting the activation of a distinct immune pathway. The induction of a polygalacturonase gene, together with the previous detection of short OGs in ProSys(1-178)-expressing plants, is consistent with, but does not establish, an OG-associated component of this response. Overall, our findings support a multifaceted role for ProSys(1-178) in tomato immunity.
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is an emerging leafy vegetable and microgreen crop rich in health-promoting flavonoids, yet the regulatory mechanisms linking light perception to early metabolic adaptation remain unclear. Here, we integrated phenotypic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and molecular analyses to investigate early de-etiolation responses in quinoa seedlings. Short-term light exposure rapidly promoted seedling establishment and induced transcriptional programs associated with photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, hormone signaling, and flavonoid biosynthetic gene expression, whereas metabolite changes were more limited, indicating temporal uncoupling between transcriptional activation and metabolic accumulation. Genome-wide bZIP analysis identified CqbZIP55 as a light-responsive regulator that directly binds and activates the CqCHS promoter. CqPIF3 also bound the CqCHS promoter and showed stronger transactivation activity than CqbZIP55 in transient reporter assays. Protein interaction and dual-luciferase assays showed that CqbZIP55 physically interacts with CqPIF3 and modulates CqPIF3-associated promoter activity. Exogenous quercetin upregulated CqbZIP55 and prolonged CqCHS expression, suggesting a candidate metabolite-associated reinforcement mechanism. Together, these findings support functional interplay between CqbZIP55 and CqPIF3 in light-responsive regulation of flavonoid biosynthetic gene expression in quinoa seedlings, while further quinoa-based perturbation and in vivo promoter-occupancy assays are required to establish their physiological role in planta. This study provides a framework for further investigation of photoprotective metabolic regulation in quinoa.
Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa is a maritime grass native to sea cliffs, a habitat characterized by high salinity and low nutrient availability. This species forms symbiotic associations with Epichloë festucae, a vertically transmitted endophytic fungus that colonizes aerial tissues. Two experiments evaluated whether E. festucae influences the salinity tolerance of its host. In Experiment 1, symbiotic and non-symbiotic plants were irrigated with saline solution or tap water, whereas Experiment 2 additionally included fertilization. In both experiments, unfertilized symbiotic plants exhibited the highest leaf biomass under saline conditions, whereas in the absence of salinity they showed the lowest biomass. Fertilized symbiotic plants produced less biomass than non-symbiotic ones. Spectral vegetation indices further suggested that symbiosis effects on plant performance under salinity depended strongly on nutrient availability and that its occurrence enhanced fertilized plants resilience to salinity. Overall, these results indicate that the symbiosis between Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa and Epichloë festucae is context-dependent, conferring benefits under saline and nutrient-poor conditions characteristic of its natural habitat. Regardless of endophyte presence, plant growth was either enhanced or unaffected by salinity, demonstrating the high salt tolerance of Festuca rubra subsp. pruinosa. Salinity increased foliar concentrations of Na, photosynthetic pigments, proline, glycine betaine, glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Additionally, salinity increased the leaf concentration of the fungal alkaloid ergovaline, which was also detected in roots. Anatomical observations revealed a nearly tubular leaf morphology with a thick epicuticular wax layer and stomata confined to the inner adaxial surface, traits likely associated with osmotic stress tolerance.
Cyclin D proteins are key regulators of cell cycle progression and plant growth. Here, we identified BpCYCD3;1, a CYCD3 family member in birch, and investigated its function. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses showed that BpCYCD3;1 is evolutionarily conserved and contains canonical cell cycle-related domains. Promoter and expression analyses suggested responsiveness to environmental and hormonal signals, with preferential expression in leaves. BpCYCD3;1 overexpression promoted leaf expansion and and biomass accumulation, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 knockout reduced vegetative growth. Cytological analyses revealed increased cell density and epidermal cell number in overexpression lines, indicating enhanced cell proliferation. At the molecular level, BpCYCD3;1 upregulated G1/S transition regulators and DNA replication-related genes. Yeast two-hybrid and docking analyses suggested interaction between BpCYCD3;1 and CDKA;1, as well as the interaction between RBR and E2F transcription factors, and binding of E2FA/E2FB to downstream promoters. Together, these results indicate that BpCYCD3;1 promotes vegetative growth by activating the CDKA-RBR-E2F regulatory module, providing a potential target for improving tree growth and biomass production.
Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is an abundant agro-industrial by-product rich in transformed organic matter, nutrients and potentially bioactive compounds, which makes it a promising raw material for biostimulant production. However, the plant-growth-promoting potential of chemically obtained alkaline SMS extracts, particularly under different application routes, remains insufficiently investigated. This study tested whether an alkaline extract of spent button mushroom substrate stimulates the growth and physiology of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). SMS was extracted with 10% potassium hydroxide, and the extract was compared with a commercial humic-based product. Both were applied to cucumber as a foliar spray or a soil drench at 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0% organic carbon (Corg). Growth, biomass, chlorophyll content, root architecture and oxidative markers were measured, and the extract was profiled by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. The SMS extract promoted growth relative to the untreated control, with the strongest responses at 0.5-1.0% Corg. Foliar application increased chlorophyll content and stem length, which rose by about 26% at 1.0% Corg, whereas soil application produced the largest root response, with root length and root volume reaching about 72% and 74% above the control at 1.0% Corg, and raised dry biomass by up to 30%. Hydrogen peroxide content, lipid peroxidation and catalase activity did not change significantly, indicating no detectable oxidative stress under the tested conditions. Chemical profiling revealed a multicomponent matrix of humic-like substances together with microbial peptide-like and indole-related metabolites, phenolics and organic acids, a plausible basis for the growth and chlorophyll responses. Part of the response may be nutritional, because the extract supplies potassium and nitrogen; effects on fruit yield and quality were not measured and remain to be confirmed. Alkaline SMS extracts merit further development as waste-derived biostimulants for horticulture.
Foxtail millet is an important drought-tolerant crop, yet its production is threatened by weed competition due to limited herbicide options. The 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibiting herbicide mesotrione shows promise but causes differential responses among varieties. This study investigated the physiological and transcriptomic responses underlying differential mesotrione tolerance in two foxtail millet cultivars, Jingu 21 (JG21, sensitive) and Zhangzagu 10 (ZZG10, tolerant). Physiological analyses revealed that ZZG10 maintained higher net photosynthetic rate (Pn), photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (Fv/Fm), and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) compared to JG21. Chloroplast ultrastructure showed that ZZG10 preserved membrane integrity under stress, whereas JG21 chloroplasts disintegrated with ruptured thylakoid membranes. Enzyme activity assays demonstrated that ZZG10 exhibited stronger HPPD activity and higher cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP450) and glutathione S-transferases (GST) activities. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that ZZG10 had higher basal HPPD expression and stronger induction of detoxification-related genes, along with upregulated uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (UROD) and suppressed chlorophyllase (CLH) expression associated with chlorophyll homeostasis. Protein sequence alignment confirmed no amino acid changes in HPPD between cultivars, indicating that tolerance differences are associated with gene expression levels and non-target metabolic pathways. WGCNA identified a turquoise module significantly correlated with 12 phenotypic traits, representing a core gene network associated with potential detoxification, photosynthetic maintenance, and growth recovery. Collectively, these findings reveal a multi-level synergistic tolerance strategy in foxtail millet and identify candidate genes for future functional validation to support breeding herbicide-resistant varieties and the scientific application of mesotrione in sustainable agriculture.
Sweetpotato is widely grown across diverse agroecological areas due to its broad adaptability. However, drought stress significantly reduces productivity by causing morphological, physiological, and metabolic changes. This study examined the carbon partitioning and metabolic responses during the early growth stage of two genotypes, LA11-88 and 'Beauregard', under water deficit in a controlled growth chamber with two irrigation treatments: 100% crop evapotranspiration (ETc) as control and 50% ETc as drought stress (DS). Drought significantly reduced aboveground and belowground growth, net carbon assimilation, and stomatal conductance in both genotypes. However, differences were genotype-specific, with LA11-88 showing modifications in traits associated with drought tolerance. While 'Beauregard' favored vine elongation, LA11-88 allocated more carbon to stem diameter and total biomass. Under drought, LA11-88 displayed enhanced root architectural traits, including increased root length, volume, surface area, and diameter, supporting superior physiological tolerance and storage root development. In contrast, 'Beauregard' developed longer but thinner roots, reflected by its higher specific root length and specific root area. Drought increased sucrose and starch accumulation in leaves and storage roots of both genotypes, with a stronger increase in LA11-88. GC-MS profiling identified 31 leaf and 47 fibrous root metabolites, with higher accumulation of sugars, organic acids, and amino acids under drought, particularly in LA11-88. LA11-88 exhibited overall superior drought resilience, with a stress tolerance index of 0.61 compared to 0.31 for 'Beauregard'. A novel contribution of our study is the comparison of drought-tolerant and susceptible sweetpotato genotypes, which reveals distinct adaptation traits associated with drought tolerance and highlights LA11-88's suitability for arid environments and breeding programs.
Bio-based nanomaterials (BNMs) have emerged as promising modulators of plant growth hormone (phytohormone) signaling pathways under combined heavy metal (HM) stress conditions. This review investigates how BNMs influence hormone-regulated stress signaling networks to improve plant tolerance to HM stress at biochemical, molecular and physiological levels. Plant extract and microbial-mediated synthesis strategies use biological metabolites as reducing and stabilizing agents, providing environmentally compatible routes for agricultural nanomaterials. BNMs may influence phytohormone-regulated stress responses through multiple, partly interconnected mechanisms, including surface-mediated interactions, redox modulation, metal chelation and transcriptional regulation of hormone-related pathways. By combining ROS attenuation, metal chelation and stress-responsive gene regulation, BNMs may help preserve phytohormone biosynthesis and signaling while reducing HM toxicity. This review highlights how BNMs reshape gene expression networks associated with phytohormone biosynthesis and signaling, including abscisic acid, ethylene, auxin and jasmonic It also examines how these nanomaterials enhance plant defense systems by upregulating stress-responsive genes and antioxidant enzyme activities. Furthermore, we discuss current challenges in synthesis standardization, scale-up, delivery efficiency and field validation, together with future directions for optimizing BNM-phytohormone interactions under multiple metal stress. Finally, this review highlights BNMs as environmentally compatible tools for improving crop performance in HM-contaminated soils, while emphasizing that precise hormone-pathway targeting requires further mechanistic and field-level validation.
Cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal, harms plant growth and human health. This study shows that under hydroponic conditions foliar nano-selenium (SeNPs) spraying better alleviates Cd stress in cherry tomatoes than sodium selenate. It boosts seedling biomass, chlorophyll levels, and photosynthetic parameters, reduces malondialdehyde and proline levels in leaves, enhances superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities. Consistently, gene expression analysis revealed that SeNPs markedly upregulated antioxidant-related genes (CAT1, POD) and the auxin-regulating gene (IAA) in leaves. Importantly, SeNPs reduced the Cd translocation factor by 31.47% (vs. 19.24% for sodium selenate) and increased cell wall-bound Cd proportions (54% in leaves, 55% in roots), thereby restricting Cd migration to organelles. Metabolomic profiling further revealed that SeNPs induced stronger metabolic reprogramming than sodium selenate, with 116 unique differential metabolites identified (vs. 48 for sodium selenate). Key upregulated metabolites included amino acid derivatives, carbohydrates, and flavonoids, while downregulated ones were mainly heterocyclic compounds. Notably, SeNPs uniquely and significantly enriched the glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism pathway, which was absent in the sodium selenate treatment. These changes were primarily routed through plant secondary metabolism, ABC transporters, and amino acid (tryptophan, glycine, serine, phenylalanine) pathways. This study offers new mechanistic insights into mitigating heavy metal stress in cherry tomatoes via nanomaterial‑based metabolic modulation.
Rice lines enriched with anthocyanins were developed from the Thai rice cultivar Pathum Thani 1 (PTT1) through gamma irradiation to investigate coordinated physiological, biochemical, and transcriptional responses associated with grain pigmentation and antioxidant metabolism. Three stable M6 lines were evaluated for agronomic, photosynthetic, carbohydrate, anthocyanin, antioxidant, redox, and transcriptional traits. The irradiation-derived lines showed significant increases in flag leaf area and shoot biomass compared with the parental cultivar, while PTTM-A2 and PTTM-A3 also exhibited significantly higher tiller number and grain yield than PTT1. Grain dry weight increment was enhanced in the irradiation-derived lines. PTTM-A3 exhibited the highest chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence performance, sucrose accumulation, total anthocyanin content, cyanidin-3-glucoside concentration, and antioxidant activity. Higher anthocyanin accumulation coincided with reduced H2O2 and malondialdehyde accumulation together with increased superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase activities. RT-qPCR analysis showed higher transcript abundance of anthocyanin-related genes, particularly Kala4, OsC1, OsDFR, OsANS, and OsUFGT, together with higher transcript abundance of the OsTPS1 and OsHXK6 in the irradiation-derived lines. Pearson correlation and principal component analyses demonstrated relationships among photosynthetic performance, sucrose metabolism, anthocyanin accumulation, antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress markers, and grain productivity. These findings indicate that anthocyanin accumulation was associated with coordinated source-sink and redox-related traits in the selected M6 lines. However, because the underlying genetic alteration(s) associated with these phenotypes remain unidentified, these relationships should be interpreted as associative rather than causal. This study highlights the potential of gamma irradiation for developing functional rice lines with enhanced nutritional quality and agronomic performance.
Pear fruit semi-russeting is a surface disorder that frequently occurs during fruit development and significantly diminishes fruit appearance quality and commercial value. Although Gibberellin 4 + 7 (GA4+7) has been used to reduce fruit surface defects in horticultural crops, the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying its inhibitory effect on pear fruit semi-russeting remain poorly understood. In this study, preharvest GA4+7 treatment of 'Cuiguan' pear significantly reduced russet coverage and lignin accumulation in mature fruit skin without adversely affecting fruit size, fruit shape index, or total soluble solids content. Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed that GA4+7 treatment was associated with the repression of phenylpropanoid and lignin biosynthesis at both metabolic and transcriptional levels. Among the lignin-related differentially expressed genes, two class III peroxidase genes, PpyPRX22 and PpyPRX65, were strongly downregulated by both GA4+7 and bagging treatments. Both proteins localized to the cell wall, and transient expression assays in pear fruit skin supported positive roles for PpyPRX22 and PpyPRX65 in lignin deposition. Furthermore, dual-luciferase reporter assays combined with transient overexpression experiments suggested that several PpyMYB transcription factors may regulate PpyPRX expression and lignin accumulation, with PpyMYB138 and PpyMYB139 significantly activating PpyPRX22 and/or PpyPRX65 promoter activity. Taken together, these results suggest that GA4+7 alleviates pear fruit semi-russeting at least partly by reducing lignin deposition in the fruit skin, with PpyPRX22 and PpyPRX65 potentially contributing to this process.
Protein glycosylation, an essential co- and post-translational modification, plays critical roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. However, its functional role in tomato fruit ripening has not been extensively investigated. Here, key protein glycosylation-related genes involved in tomato fruit ripening were identified by genome-wide screen and subsequently functional characterization. First, a dataset comprising 242 glycosylation-related proteins was established based on Gene Ontology annotations in tomato, combined with sequence homology to protein glycosylation-related proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana and Homo sapiens. Then, Subsequently, 28 genes encoding highly expressed glycosylation-related proteins (RPKM > 30) at the breaker (BR) stage were selected for functional screening, and subsequently 6 genes were identified as regulators of fruit ripening by method of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Among them, Solyc03g098600 (STT3B), Solyc01g109410 (OST48), Solyc04g082670 (RPN1), and Solyc08g076460 (DAD1) functioned as positive regulators of tomato fruit ripening, whereas Solyc04g005340 (UAM2) and Solyc08g075340 (XEG113), acted as negative regulators. The expression of these genes responded dynamically to multiple ripening-related cues, including temperature, light, ethylene, and transcription factors. Furthermore, silencing of these genes individually affected the expression of genes involved in fruit ripening, including ethylene biosynthesis genes (ACS2, ACS4, ACO1, and ACO3), ripening-associated transcription factors (RIN, NOR, NOR-LIKE1, FUL1, and FUL2), and the key gene (PSY1) of lycopene biosynthesis pathway. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that protein glycosylation plays an important role in tomato fruit ripening by modulating ethylene signaling, ripening-associated transcriptional regulation, and lycopene biosynthesis.
Stomata regulate gas exchange and water loss by closing in response to high vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Yet, it remains unclear whether stomata directly sense external conditions (e.g., relative humidity [RH] or temperature) or instead respond to internal changes associated with VPD (e.g., transpiration rate [E] or water status). Moreover, the stomatal response to VPD integrates both passive hydraulic and active metabolic mechanisms and involves inherent coupling between E and RH, which complicates our understanding of stomatal signal perception and response. In addition, recent findings challenging the long-held assumption that leaf airspaces are saturated, raise new questions about the VPD that stomata actually experience and how internal regulation of RH interacts with stomatal control. In this review, we examine the relationships between stomatal aperture, transpiration, and conductance, alongside the underlying mechanisms governing the stomatal response to VPD. We also revisit and refine a previously proposed mechanism by which guard cells may sense changes in VPD by perceiving local changes in RH. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is critical for improving models of plant water use and for breeding drought-resilient crops that optimize CO₂ uptake while minimizing water loss in a changing climate.
The ongoing climate change scenario is characterised by unprecedented increase in the concentrations of tropospheric ozone (O3) and atmospheric CO2. The oxidative stress induced by O3, perturb the plant functioning, resulting in severe consequences on plant performance. The present study investigates the role of elevated CO2 in amelioration of O3 stress in Rauwolfia serpentina, a well-documented medicinal plant, by exposing the plants to single treatments of elevated O3 (EO), elevated CO2 (EC), and a combination of elevated doses of O3 and CO2 (ECO), in open top chambers. The objective of the study was to investigate the role of elevated CO2 in modulating the mechanistic response of the plants in manoeuvring their disarrayed metabolic pathways due to elevated O3 stress. The results of the present study suggest that elevated CO2 was associated with changes in antioxidant and metabolic profiles in O3 stressed plants, indicating coordinated biochemical responses that may contribute to enhanced resilience towards the O3 induced oxidative stress. Under elevated CO2, whereas the plant's defense was more inclined towards strengthening the antioxidant pool during the vegetative stage, reproductive stage of plants relied more upon secondary metabolite production to cope with elevated O3 stress. The results support the positive effect of elevated CO2 in management of elevated O3 stress in R. serpentina, and explore the mechanistic modulation induced by elevated CO2 on the plant metabolism under elevated O3 stress.
Soil salinity is a major threat to crop productivity, sustainable agriculture, and global food security, with more than 833 million hectares of land affected worldwide. Salt stress restricts plant growth through osmotic stress, ion toxicity, oxidative damage, membrane disruption, reduced photosynthesis, and yield loss. Plants respond through coordinated regulatory networks that connect early stress perception with ion balance, osmotic adjustment, hormone signaling, transcript regulation, and protein modification. Recent advances have identified several sensory and signaling modules involved in salinity responses, including calcium signaling, receptor like kinases, FERONIA, OSCA, MOCA, annexins, and mechanosensitive channels that detect ionic, osmotic, and mechanical changes. Established pathways such as the SOS pathway and GABA shunt are included as established background mechanisms for sodium homeostasis and metabolic adjustment under saline conditions. Hormonal networks involving abscisic acid, ethylene, jasmonic acid, auxin, gibberellins, and brassinosteroids coordinate root architecture, stomatal control, antioxidant defense, growth restraint, and post-stress recovery. Emerging regulatory layers mediated by microRNAs, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and SUMOylation further fine tune transcript stability, protein activity, ion transport, redox balance, and stress resilience. A central challenge is the translational gap between model species and crops, since many mechanisms defined in Arabidopsis and rice still lack functional validation in major crop species and halophytes. Integrating conserved and species dependent mechanisms with crop centered validation will help convert molecular knowledge into breeding, genome editing, and management strategies for saline agriculture.
Heat stress threatens the yield and quality of plants. Brassinosteroid (BR) is widely used in agricultural production and plays important roles in regulating plant growth and stress response, but it is rarely reported on its function in thermotolerance in Chinese cabbage. In this study, we found that BR improves thermotolerance by alleviating the inhibition of leaf growth, and the BR biosynthesis inhibitor brassinazole (BRZ) treatment significantly reduced thermotolerance and plant growth in Chinese cabbage. Under heat stress, the accumulation of malondialdehyde and H2O2 was inhibited, and antioxidant-related enzyme activities and the contents of soluble protein and free proline were increased under BR treatment. Multiple transcriptome assays showed that BR may affect the expression levels of some BrSAUR genes in the auxin pathway, and ABA biosynthesis and metabolism genes to improve heat tolerance. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and VIGS assay showed that BrBZR1 can activate BrSAUR9 expression and the BrSAUR9-silenced plants inhibit plant growth. Furthermore, BR alleviated photosynthetic system damage and increased the fresh weight under heat stress. Our results provide new insights about the function of BR in conferring thermotolerance and biomass increase under heat stress in Chinese cabbage.
Genetic improvement of the strawberry is constrained by low regeneration efficiency and pronounced genotype-dependency. While the combination of microRNA396 and Growth-Regulating Factor (GRF)-GRF-Interacting Factor (GIF) chimeras have emerged as potent morphogenic triggers, previous use of heterologous regulators in diploid strawberry reported severe developmental abnormalities. Here, we developed an endogenous, miR396-resistant morphogenic toolkit (FverGRF4-GIF1) that achieves high-efficiency, genotype-independent transformation across both diploid and octoploid strawberry backgrounds without compromising vegetative vigor. Beyond its role in organogenesis, we show that the rGRF4-GIF1 module acts as a master regulator of epidermal cell fate. Constitutive expression of the endogenous chimera induced a systemic development of dense unicellular trichomes on leaves, sepals, and stolon tissues. Integrative transcriptomic and transient Dual-LUC reporter assays revealed that this developmental shift is driven by an epigenetic relay; rGRF4-GIF1 transactivates the histone acetyltransferase GCN5, which in turn promotes trichome initiation through the indirect activation of GL1. Concurrently, the trichome branching program is actively prevented by a GCN5-facilitated induction of the R3-MYB repressor CPC, bypassing canonical GIS-dependent signaling. Physiologically, this epidermal change shifted the leaf surface to a highly hydrophobic state (increased contact angle) and significantly reduced non-stomatal water loss in young tissues by increasing boundary layer resistance. Our findings establish the miR396-GRF-GIF axis as a central coordinator of strawberry morphogenesis and physical desiccation barriers, offering a robust strategy for enhancing environmental resilience in complex polyploid crops.
Drought stress affects plant growth, and it can directly kill plants in severe cases. Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting soybean growth and yield. The Bax Inhibitor-1 (BI-1) can inhibit cell death mediated by both biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the function of GmBI-1 genes from soybean remains unclear under drought stress. In this study, we found four GmBI-1 genes in soybean, and the GmBI-1b was significantly induced under drought stress at RNA and protein levels. The expression level of GmBI-1b was highest in leaves, and the GmBI-1b protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. Overexpression of GmBI-1b enhanced drought tolerance in soybeans by reducing cell death under drought stress. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed that GmBI-1b contributes to drought tolerance, which is associated with the upregulation of ABA-related genes, cell death suppression genes and aquaporin genes.
Seed dormancy is a critical agronomic trait that affects uniform germination and seedling establishment in Luffa cylindrica. In this study, we performed phenotypic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses on two contrasting Luffa cylindrica materials: Z-184 and Z-114. Phenotypic evaluation revealed that compared with Z-114 seeds, Z-184 seeds exhibited significantly lower germination potentials and germination rates. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the DEGs were predominantly associated with plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling, and metabolic pathways. Metabolomic profiling revealed 2469 metabolites, with 728 showing significant changes during dormancy release. Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses highlighted coordinated changes in hormone-, energy-, and secondary metabolism-related pathways. Hormone quantification further demonstrated that the differential accumulation of GA₄, trans-zeatin and trans-zeatin riboside (tZ + tZR), and 2- cis-4-trans- (+) abscisic acid (an isomer of abscisic acid, ABA) was closely associated with the contrasting dormancy phenotypes. These findings provide reference data for the study of the seed dormancy mechanism in Luffa cylindrica and lay the foundation for the breeding of weakly dormant Luffa cylindrica.
Helianthus annuus is an economically important Asteraceae species used for seed oil production and ornamental purposes, but its production is seriously affected by the root-parasitic plant Orobanche cumana. GATA transcription factors are zinc-finger DNA-binding regulators involved in plant development and stress adaptation. However, the molecular characteristics of GATA transcription factors in Helianthus annuus and their contribution to Helianthus annuus -Orobanche cumana interaction remain poorly understood. Here, 36 HaGATA members were retrieved from the Helianthus annuus genome and classified into four phylogenetic clades. Chromosomal placement, collinearity, gene structure, motif composition, and promoter elements varied among the 36 HaGATA members, indicating evolutionary conservation coupled with functional diversification. Expression analysis and RT-qPCR analyses revealed differential expression patterns among HaGATA genes under O. cumana stress, with HaGATA23 markedly downregulated and HaGATA36 strongly upregulated. Overexpression of HaGATA23 was associated with increased malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and unfavorable changes in antioxidant enzyme activities, whereas its silencing showed the opposite physiological tendency. In contrast, overexpression of HaGATA36 reduced malondialdehyde accumulation, increased peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, while its silencing showed the reverse tendency. These results indicate that HaGATA23 and HaGATA36 are candidate genes associated with contrasting redox-related physiological responses during O. cumana stress. This work provides evidence that GATA transcription factors are associated with redox-related physiological responses in sunflower under O. cumana treatment and identifies HaGATA23 and HaGATA36 as functionally divergent candidate genes for further validation.
