Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192936

Authors: Xin Song Xixiong Hong Huaiyuan Wu Peipei Su Minshan Sun

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) increasingly encounters combinations of abiotic stresses that interact in time and whose effects are not predictable from single-stress responses. We define yield-stable resilience as the capacity to maintain grain yield under compound climate extremes without a significant penalty in yield or quality under favourable conditions; both components are required, and a line that tolerates stress while losing yield potential does not satisfy the definition. This critical review addresses three dimensions: the temporal architecture of stress across development; the biological control layers that run from perception through recovery to stress memory; and the precision-engineering strategies enabled by genome editing. We argue that field-level yield stability is rarely achieved by constitutively overexpressing or deleting a single stress-response gene. Instead, stress-integration networks must be engineered in a context-dependent, dosage-aware manner. To explain why single-gene solutions fall short, we examine molecular and physiological trade-offs, including water conservation versus transpirational cooling, photoprotection versus carbon acquisition, and stay-green versus remobilization. Stress-memory mechanisms, which range from chromatin modifications to persistent signalling states, offer a route to primed protection, but causal validation in wheat remains largely absent. The hexaploid wheat genome affords distinctive engineering opportunities through homoeologue-dosage control, promoter tuning and tissue-specific regulation. We propose an evidence-gated pathway that proceeds from mechanism to calibrated editing, to biologically realistic stress testing, to multi-environment yield testing, and finally to equitable deployment, and we treat breeding integration, introgression, recurrent selection and precision editing as a single pipeline rather than as competing alternatives.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192935

Authors: Luis Rafael Garibay-Castro Alma Rosa López-Laredo Elizabeth Rubio-Rodríguez Gabriela Trejo-Tapia José Luis Trejo-Espino

Climate change can reshape the climatic conditions available to mountain plants. Using MaxEnt, we modelled the current and future climatic suitability of Castilleja tenuiflora Benth., a medicinal hemiparasitic plant, across Mexico and quantified its spatial overlap with Mexican Protected Natural Areas (PNAs). The final model (LQ, RM = 0.5), calibrated with 194 spatially filtered presence records and seven bioclimatic predictors, achieved a mean spatial-validation AUC of 0.794 ± 0.093. Annual mean temperature and temperature seasonality were the dominant predictors, jointly accounting for approximately 96% of model contribution. Current climatic suitability above the 10th-percentile training-presence threshold (P10 = 0.162865) covered approximately 548,819 km2. Future projections using CMCC-ESM2 under SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 for three periods spanning 2021–2080 showed net contractions in climatically suitable area under all scenarios. By 2061–2080, the area above P10 decreased by 41.6% under SSP1-2.6 and by 65.3% under SSP5-8.5. Across all projections, losses of climatically suitable area substantially exceeded gains, while the area maintaining suitable conditions decreased towards the end of the century; proportionally greater contractions were observed at more restrictive suitability thresholds. Currently, approximately 48,690 km2 of ≥P10 climatic suitability overlaps the PNA network, decreasing to 23,638 km2 under SSP5-8.5 by 2061–2080. Nevado de Toluca, Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl, and Pico de Orizaba consistently retained areas above the P90 suitability threshold under current conditions and all six future projections. These results indicate a substantial potential contraction of climatic suitability for C. tenuiflora and highlight protected areas retaining suitable climatic conditions as priorities for field verification, monitoring, and conservation planning.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192937

Authors: Xiuli Yue Tengfei Liu Chunhua Wu Yandang Liu Siyuan Chen Kai Zhang Jianbo He Junyi Gai Yan Li

First pod height (FPH) is a critical agronomic trait in soybean because it directly affects mechanized harvesting efficiency and harvestable yield. Pods below the cutter-bar height are left uncollected, leading to direct seed loss. However, the genetic architecture underlying FPH remains largely underexplored. Here, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on FPH data using 386 soybean accessions evaluated across three environments, together with best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values. Phenotypic analysis showed that cultivated soybean exhibited significantly greater FPH than wild accessions, consistent with selection for improved harvestability during domestication. Using two GWAS methods, RTM-GWAS and EMMAX, we identified seven stable (detected by the same method at least three times) quantitative trait nucleotides/loci (QTNs/QTLs) significantly associated with FPH. By integrating sequence variation, gene expression, and functional description, we identified GmAIR9 (corresponding to Glyma.09G084300/SoyZH13_09G078900), which encodes a microtubule-associated protein preferentially expressed in stems, as a candidate gene for further investigation. Haplotype analysis of GmAIR9 revealed that haplotype H3 was associated with low FPH and was detected exclusively in wild soybean accessions, whereas haplotype H1 was associated with increased FPH. Moreover, the frequency of H1 increased from 50.00% in wild soybeans to 71.03% in landraces and 83.47% in improved cultivars. These findings provide valuable genetic resources and promising candidate loci for future validation and breeding applications to optimize FPH and improve the suitability of soybean cultivars for mechanized harvesting.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192934

Authors: Daniyar Alibekov Serik Kubentayev Marcin Nobis Victor Chepinoga Margarita Ishmuratova Alexander N. Sennikov

Biological invasions contribute to global biodiversity change, yet Kazakhstan’s alien vascular flora remains insufficiently documented. We provide the first comprehensive verified inventory of alien vascular plants in Kazakhstan, synthesizing literature, herbarium collections, field observations, and iNaturalist and Plantarium records. The alien flora comprises 263 taxa in 181 genera and 54 families: 141 taxa (53.6%) are naturalized, 120 are casual, and two have unresolved establishment status. Neophytes predominate (218 taxa: 104 naturalized, 112 casual, two unresolved), whereas archaeophytes comprise 45 taxa (37 naturalized, eight casual). Asteraceae is the most taxon-rich family (47 taxa), followed by Poaceae (30), Brassicaceae and Fabaceae (20 each), Amaranthaceae (15), and Lamiaceae (14), while annual taxa dominate the life-cycle spectrum. Mediterranean-origin taxa form the largest biogeographical group (39.9%), followed by taxa native to the Americas (22.8%). Most taxa are associated with human-modified habitats; 75 taxa (28.5%) also occur in natural ecosystems. Twenty taxa are invasive; under the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT), 17 have Moderate and three Major impacts. Alien taxon richness is spatially heterogeneous, with the highest values in the Trans-Ili Alatau, Altai, and Western Tian-Shan. This study establishes a national baseline for monitoring, invasion-risk assessment, biodiversity management, and conservation in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192933

Authors: Lihui Mao Yu Shen Xuerui Cao Qing Dong Wei Hu Danqing Tian Kaimei Zhang Qingcheng Zou

Temporal comparisons drawn from aggregated occurrence databases assume that the records compared were produced by a comparable community of collectors. We tested that assumption using 297 voucher-backed records of Lycoris radiata, L. aurea, and L. chinensis retrieved from the Chinese Virtual Herbarium, comparing 2010–2015 with 2016–2020. Recorded habitat composition changed; Forest/Woodland fell from 44.9% to 22.3% of coded records and Urban/Residential rose from 8.9% to 20.4% (χ2 = 20.308, df = 6, p = 0.002; permutation p = 0.002; Cramér’s V = 0.279). The contributing institutions and provinces, however, also fluctuated significantly (institution V = 0.550; province V = 0.380; both p < 0.001), and both were themselves strongly associated with recorded habitat. Stratification separated the two components: the Forest/Woodland decline persisted (Mantel–Haenszel χ2 = 8.574, p = 0.003 by province; χ2 = 6.250, p = 0.012 by institution), whereas the Grassland change did not (p = 0.871; p = 0.409). Record totals fell from 189 to 108, which we attribute to digitization lag rather than population change. Before interpreting temporal differences in aggregated occurrence data, researchers should examine changes in contributor composition and use stratified analyses to assess potential confounding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192932

Authors: Xinyu Zhang Shuhong Huang Yanbing Chen Yiwei Han Wenhao Liu Wei Ren Donghui Peng

In the context of urban renewal, spaces beneath elevated bridges are gradually becoming important public activity areas, with their microclimate and landscape quality influenced by multiple factors including bridge structure, vegetation configuration, and traffic conditions. This study focuses on 12 typical elevated bridge underpass spaces in Fuzhou and Xiamen, two hot–humid subtropical cities in China, and integrates field environmental monitoring, questionnaire surveys, spatial landscape metrics, and statistical analysis to explore how plant landscape factors are significantly associated with thermal and acoustic conditions and overall comfort levels. Results show the following: (1) Overall comfort refers to the overall subjective evaluation of the elevated bridge underpass environment under combined thermal and acoustic conditions. Thermal and acoustic comfort jointly explained 71.3% of its variance (R2 = 0.713), with thermal comfort contributing more strongly. (2) Bridge orientation was associated with differences in shading conditions and microclimatic characteristics, with east–west-oriented elevated bridge underpass spaces generally offering better overall comfort. (3) Green coverage rate, green buffer width, distance from roads, and hard paving proportion were identified as key landscape factors associated with overall comfort. Controlled regression showed significant associations, with green coverage rate showing the strongest positive association with OCV (β = 0.612), whereas hard paving proportion showed the strongest negative association (β = −0.628); the models explained 66.8–68.4% of OCV variance. (4) Appropriate plant landscape configurations were associated with more favorable microclimatic conditions under bridges. Within the studied sites, higher comfort was associated with approximately 40–55% green coverage, 8–15 m green-buffer width, a road distance above 60 m, and a hard paving ratio below 50%. These values should be regarded as context-specific design references derived from the observed regression patterns rather than universal optimal thresholds. This study identifies associations among plant landscape configuration, microclimate, and environmental comfort in elevated bridge underpass spaces based on field evidence from Fuzhou and Xiamen, providing context-specific references for landscape renewal in similar hot–humid subtropical settings.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192931

Authors: Yanan Ren Patiguli Wumaier Yaxin Ge Jinyang Li Xuena Rang Zhifeng Zhu Wei Dong Mingjing Zhang Yuquan Duan

Green pepper is highly susceptible to chilling stress during extended low-temperature storage. This study examined the physiological responses and associated transcriptional changes in postharvest green pepper fruit following exogenous 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) treatment. After treatment with 15 μmol·L−1 EBR, fruits were maintained at 4.0 ± 1.0 °C for 25 d. Chilling injury, quality attributes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defenses, and membrane damage-related parameters were monitored, and transcriptomic profiling was performed at 25 d. EBR treatment reduced chilling injury and weight loss and delayed softening and storage-related quality deterioration. It also helped maintain antioxidant defenses, limited O2•− production and H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, and lowered relative electrical conductivity and phospholipase D (PLD) and lipoxygenase (LOX) activities. Transcriptomic analysis identified EBR-associated changes in processes involving cell wall remodeling, stress responses and signaling, ROS production, and membrane lipid-related functions. These results indicate that improved chilling tolerance in EBR-treated green pepper is closely associated with sustained antioxidant defenses, lower ROS accumulation, and reduced membrane damage, while the transcriptomic data provide additional molecular clues linked to these physiological responses.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192930

Authors: Mengsi Li Dongmei Huang Youwei Yu Kanghui Zhang Ping Yang Yuhao Qiu Xiangzi Zheng Wenfang Lin Yujun Ren Binghua Wu Ying Miao

The WHIRLY family comprises DNA/RNA-binding proteins localized to multiple subcellular compartments, including organelles and the nucleus. However, the subcellular distribution and functional roles of WHIRLY protein complexes are not fully characterized. In this study, a WHIRLY1 protein pulldown coupled with mass spectrometry analysis was used to profile the interacting proteome in an Arabidopsis thaliana plant overexpressing WHIRLY1–GFP. This analysis identified over 770 interacting proteins, with RNA-binding proteins representing the most enriched functional category. Subcellular compartmental mapping revealed distinct spatial organization: oxidation-related, cytoskeleton-associated, and chloroplast/mitochondrion-targeted RNA-binding proteins were significantly enriched at the chloroplast periphery. Conversely, a subset of nuclear envelope-associated proteins, including NOT3, TUBB3, and histone H4, were connected with the formation of tubular stromule-like structures under growth light conditions as opposed to extended dark conditions. Under DBMIB-induced stress, however, reconfiguration of the WHIRLY1 interactome occurred: plastid ribosomal structural components declined, while the transcription factor GRF6 accumulated in the nucleus, concomitant with the formation of vesicular stromule-like structures. Biomolecular fluorescence complementation and yeast two-hybrid assays confirmed direct interactions between WHIRLY1 and stromule-localized proteins, several RNA-binding proteins, and nuclear proteins. Collectively, these findings suggest that the dynamic assembly of the WHIRLY1 interactome in conjunction with stromule biogenesis acts as a regulatory nexus coordinating chloroplast functions under stressful conditions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192929

Authors: Erli Tian Yongchuang Liu Mengdi Mu Yunmin Wei Guoyin Li

Photosynthetic induction is a critical physiological process through which plants rapidly adjust their photosynthetic machinery in response to a step increase in light intensity. While steady-state photosynthetic responses to elevated CO2 (eCO2) are well characterized, the characteristics of photosynthetic induction in honeysuckle under varying CO2 concentrations remain underexplored, particularly for ecologically important species such as honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). In this study, we investigated the photosynthetic induction responses of L. japonica leaves subjected to an abrupt light transition from 100 to 1200 µmol m−2 s−1 under three CO2 concentrations: 420 μmol mol−1 (ambient, aCO2), 620 μmol mol−1 (medium, mCO2), and 820 μmol mol−1 (elevated, eCO2). Key photosynthetic parameters, including net photosynthetic rate (A), stomatal conductance (gs), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and apparent maximum Rubisco carboxylation rate (V′cmax), were continuously estimated throughout the induction process. Results showed that eCO2 significantly enhanced steady-state A while simultaneously reducing gs and V′cmax, indicating that higher CO2 availability drives carbon gain primarily through increased substrate supply rather than enhanced enzymatic performance. Importantly, the time required to reach 90% induction state of steady-state A (tA90) and V′cmax (tV′cmax90) decreased markedly with increasing CO2. Time-integrated limitation analysis revealed that biochemical limitation consistently dominated the induction process regardless of CO2 treatment, while stomatal limitation remained uniformly low. These findings demonstrate that eCO2 substantially accelerated photosynthetic induction in L. japonica, as reflected by faster gas-exchange-derived induction parameters (e.g., tA90 and tV′cmax90), without altering the fundamental limitation hierarchy governing the induction process.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192928

Authors: Tong Qi Jian Huang Zhiguo Wang Wanli Xu Kelin Hu

Soil salinity can constrain cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) establishment in southern Xinjiang, where emergence may vary sharply within uniformly managed fields. We conducted a paired observational field survey of 130 commercial cotton fields, comparing well-established microsites (A; live-seedling stand ≥ 80%) with non-emerged or nearly non-emerged microsites (B; emergence < 5%) in Kashgar (90 pairs) and Aksu (40 pairs). Soil was sampled 14–28 d after sowing, after establishment status was evident. B microsites had higher total water-soluble salts (13.54 vs. 5.95 g kg−1), EC1:5 (2.98 vs. 1.21 mS cm−1), and SAR1:5 (4.17 vs. 1.32; all q < 0.001). Matched models showed that EC1:5 remained associated with the B class after adjustment for soil texture and either Na+ or Cl−. Direct pair-level tests confirmed regional differences in ionic-composition change (permutation p < 0.001), with relatively stronger Na+–Cl− enrichment in Kashgar and Ca2+–SO42− enrichment in Aksu. Exploratory in-sample EC1:5 diagnostic cut-points were 2.51 mS cm−1 for Kashgar and 1.17 mS cm−1 for Aksu. Because sampling was post-outcome and the cut-points were internally derived from a contrast-selected dataset, causal interpretation and field application require longitudinal evidence and external validation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192927

Authors: Juan Liu Ruitong Yao Qingyuan Yang Runa Liu Jie Hu Jia Lyu Zichen Wang Zhilin Zhang Mengshuai Feng Feifan Wei

The early detection of wildland forest fires is a crucial task for protecting vulnerable plant ecosystems, yet it remains physically challenging due to the extreme limitations imposed by micro-scale targets and severe environmental interference within dense vegetation. Traditional monocular vision systems typically rely on statistical fitting and are highly prone to false alarms when facing complex optical interference from vegetation canopies, such as penetrating sunlight through foliage and specular reflections. Although multispectral fusion aims to mitigate this issue, existing dual-stream architectures frequently fall into the “heterogeneous negative transfer” trap, where modal conflicts and misaligned physical priors degrade the detection performance. To address these issues, this study introduces a causality-driven and physical-feature-decoupled YOLO (CPD-YOLOv8) framework. Adhering to the principle of physical fidelity, we implement an early R-G-NIR channel replacement strategy to ensure the fundamental physical alignment of spatial and thermodynamic properties. Furthermore, an Adaptive Cross-Modal Attention (ACMA) module is incorporated to facilitate non-destructive feature decoupling, and a Regional Causal-Preserving Downsampling (RCPD) module is designed to intercept environmental confounders (e.g., high-frequency leaf reflections) at the local micro-scale. This framework explores the transition of detection methods from pure statistical correlation toward physical causality. Experimental results on the Corsican wildland multispectral forest fire dataset demonstrate that CPD-YOLOv8 yields an mAP@0.5 of 70.3% and a precision of 87.1%. By mitigating the constraint between precision and recall, this method provides a low-false-alarm solution, offering a technical reference for proactive vegetation management and the reliable deployment of fire early-warning algorithms in real-world complex wildland terrains.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192926

Authors: Diyanira Castillo-Novales Natalia Riquelme Claudio Henríquez Catalina Ferreira Pia Varas Ximena Besoain

Species within the genus Phytopythium have recently been recognized as significant soilborne pathogens impacting various crops globally. However, their occurrence and pathogenicity in sweet cherry (Prunus avium) have not been studied in Chile before. This study aimed to identify Phytopythium isolates associated with root rot decline in cherry plants and to assess their pathogenicity under controlled conditions and in the field. Symptoms were recorded, and cherry plants grafted onto Maxma14 samples were collected from a commercial orchard in the Valparaíso region. We obtained isolates using selective media and characterized them based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX I), and β-tubulin regions. Phylogenetic analysis based on the three concatenated regions supported the placement of the three isolates within the Phytopythium. helicoides clade. Incidence across three sectors of a commercial orchard ranged from 24.3% to 42.8%. Pathogenicity tests involved inoculating one-year-old Prunus avium ‘Lapins’ plants grafted onto MaxMa14 rootstock by drenching the substrate with 300 mL of a zoospore suspension (1 × 104 zoospores/mL) and evaluating them 90 days post-inoculation. Inoculated plants exhibited reduced growth, foliar symptoms, and root necrosis, compared with non-inoculated controls. These findings confirm that Phytopythium helicoides can be pathogenic in cherry trees and underscore its emerging role as a soilborne pathogen in Chilean cherry production systems.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192925

Authors: Luzhen Zhao Feng Hu Mei Li Bingshan Zeng Liejian Huang

Caladium bicolor (Aiton) Vent. is an ornamental foliage plant; efficient in vitro regeneration remains a challenge. This study established an integrated computational workflow combining Latin hypercube sampling (LHS), Gaussian process regression (GPR), and Cellular Automata (CA). Using cultivar ‘Liuguang Diecai’, 18 PGR combinations were designed by LHS and evaluated for callus induction and adventitious shoot regeneration, quantified by shoot induction rate and shoot number per callus after 45 days on MS + 2.0 mg/L 6-BA + 0.2 mg/L NAA. Four machine learning models were benchmarked against RSM; multi-objective optimization was performed via NSGA-II and TOPSIS, and the CA model was calibrated with dynamic morphological indicators. Results revealed that 6-BA exerted the strongest nonlinear control over callus induction rate and formation time; 2,4-D governed biomass accumulation; and NAA modulated formation time. The model-recommended combination (2.0 mg/L 2,4-D + 0.6 mg/L 6-BA + 0.8 mg/L NAA) was validated, yielding an 80.1% callus induction rate and 5.41 g fresh weight—less than 1% deviation from GPR predictions. The calibrated CA model reproduced spatiotemporal growth, with mean IoU 0.83. Optimized calli showed enhanced regenerative capacity, achieving 88.9% adventitious shoot induction. By integrating predictive modeling with dynamic simulation, this workflow offers a promising strategy for optimizing in vitro regeneration systems.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192924

Authors: Chenrui Gu Xinran Ou Xianfeng Yang Xiaochuan Gu Quannan Zhou Jing Cheng Shichao Xin Ji Li Tiandai Huang

The rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Müll. Arg.) is the predominant global source of natural rubber; however, its cultivation is largely confined to tropical regions due to chilling sensitivity. Although the chilling-tolerant clone GT1 holds considerable promise for expanding cultivation latitudes and serving as a genetic transformation recipient, its utility is severely compromised by a recalcitrant somatic embryogenesis (SE) capacity relative to the elite clone Reyan 7-33-97 (R73397). Despite prior media optimization efforts, an efficient callus subculture system for GT1 remains elusive, and the molecular basis of its SE recalcitrance is poorly characterized. Here, we establish a repeated GT1 callus subculture system using a pulsed plant growth regulators regimen and integrated comparative transcriptomics, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), and Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) with Tn5 footprinting to elucidate the regulatory bottlenecks distinguishing GT1 from R73397. Our results suggest that, although the GT1 callus has not completely lost the expression of genes that characterize the tendency to develop into embryos, it does not complete the morphogenetic transition into globular embryos, possibly due to the reduced levels of transcription factors critical for embryo patterning. The epigenetic analyses indicate that the differential expression of these regulators is not tightly coupled with DNA methylation or chromatin accessibility, but reveal distinct transposable element silencing mechanisms between the two genotypes. Furthermore, construction of a hierarchical TF-DNA binding network predicts the positions of several transcription factors, which have previously been reported to positively regulate somatic embryogenesis within the gene regulatory network. Collectively, this work overcomes the technical bottleneck associated with multiple subcultures of GT1 callus tissue and provides a multi-omics framework for identifying the precise genetic targets to facilitate SE in chilling-tolerant rubber tree breeding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192922

Authors: Saba Shahrivari-Baviloliaei Liege Aguiar Pascoalino Filipa S. Reis Spyridon A. Petropoulos Agnieszka Konopacka Pawel Konieczynski Ilkay Erdogan Orhan Alina Plenis Agnieszka Viapiana

Investigations into the chemical composition and biological properties of Astragalus flowers remain limited. In this context, the present study aimed to investigate the nutritional profile, chemical composition, and in vitro biological activities of Astragalus cicer and Astragalus glycyphyllos hydroethanolic flower extracts. A. cicer flowers had a significantly higher content of ash and crude fats, whereas A. glycyphyllos flowers were richer in carbohydrates. The fatty acid profiles varied between the two species, while among tocopherols, only α-tocoferol was detected in both species. Moreover, ten phenolic compounds were identified, with cinnamic acid and rutin being the most abundant phenolic constituents in A. cicer and A. glycyphyllos flowers, respectively. Mineral analysis revealed that K and Ca were present at the highest levels. Antioxidant activity was determined using the DPPH, FRAP, ABTS and CUPRAC tests, and A. cicer flowers were characterized by higher antioxidant activity than A. glycyphyllos flowers. Regarding antibacterial activity, growth inhibition zones were observed only for Staphylococcus aureus, with diameters ranging from 12 to 14 mm. In conclusion, the results indicate the potential of A. cicer and A. glycyphyllos flowers as nutritional resources and important dietary sources of natural antioxidants.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192923

Authors: Jin-Lin Bao Han Li Jian-Xin Wei Yu-Xian Huang Jia-Tong He Jian Jin Jing Huang

Rice panicle architecture plays a critical role in determining grain yield; however, the regulatory networks influencing axillary meristem formation remain inadequately elucidated. A previous study identified LAX1 as a canonical bHLH transcription factor, detailing its direct targets and global transcriptomic alterations in lax1 mutants. In this study, an independent CRISPR/Cas9 LAX1 knockout mutant was generated, followed by transcriptome profiling of young panicles. The lax1-KO mutant displayed a reduction in secondary branches and grain number. Applying a more stringent threshold (|log2 fold change (log2FC)| ≥ 1), 518 high-confidence differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, 131 of which overlapped with previously reported DEGs (direction concordance: 88.5%), supporting the core LAX1-regulated network. The analysis revealed member-specific PIN regulation (OsPIN1c/1d and OsPIN2 downregulated; OsPIN3t and OsPIN9 upregulated), expression changes in hormone-associated genes (OsPP2C09, OsPP2C49, OsRR3, OsRR9, OsGASR9) and OsTPP genes (OsTPP1, OsTPP4, OsTPP9), and altered expression of panicle regulators (IPA1, OsTB1, DEP1, DEP3, CUC, and MADS-box genes). Motif enrichment analysis further identified bHLH motifs as the most frequently represented, whereas CAMTA and FRS/FRF motifs exhibited the highest statistical significance in DEG promoters, suggesting a possible multi-layered transcriptional architecture. Collectively, these findings validate and refine the LAX1-regulated network, positioning LAX1 as a pivotal coordinator of rice panicle development.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192921

Authors: Paula Žurga Igor Pasković Nikola Major Smiljana Goreta Ban Soukaina Lahmaoui Igor Lukić Marija Polić Pasković

Foliar silicon (Si) application can affect phenolic compounds in olive leaves, but little is known about the onset and duration of this response or the extent to which it depends on cultivar. Therefore, this study examined short-term changes in secondary metabolism in ‘Istarska Bjelica’ and ‘Leccino’ at the onset of spring vegetative growth. Four biological replicates were analysed per cultivar × treatment × sampling period combination, and the data were evaluated by three-way factorial ANOVA. Thirty-four phenolic compounds were analysed at 1, 8 and 15 days after treatment. One day after treatment, oleuropein concentration was 30.1% higher compared with the control during the same sampling period and the sum of all other identified phenolic compounds (TP-Ole) by 12.5% irrespective of sampling period. Overall, ‘Istarska Bjelica’ contained 16.5% more TP-Ole than ‘Leccino’. The oleuropein response did not persist beyond day 8. The treatment, considered as a main factor, was generally associated with lower concentrations of several low-abundance phenolic compounds, including apigenin, luteolin, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and oleacein, as well as the more abundant apigenin-7-glucoside in ‘Istarska Bjelica’. By contrast, verbascoside showed a nominally significant cultivar-dependent response, with its concentration increasing following the treatment only in ‘Istarska Bjelica’ but this interaction was not retained after correction. Such responses were observed in fewer compounds than previously reported, which may reflect the applied element and the duration of the post-treatment period, which were not compared experimentally in this research. Nominally significant cultivar × treatment × sampling period interactions were found for three flavonoids only, and none was retained after correction. Multivariate analysis ranked cultivar as the dominant source of variation in the phenolic profile (35.2%), followed by sampling period (8.3%) and treatment (5.0%). A single foliar treatment was therefore associated with selective and temporary changes in the phenolic profile, without uniformly increasing all phenolic groups.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192920

Authors: Daise Feitoza da Rocha Kleane Targino Oliveira Pereira Maria Valdiglezia de Mesquita Arruda Salvador Barros Torres Clarisse Pereira Benedito Giovanna Dias de Sousa Emanuele Lucas Moura Iracema de Azevedo Monte Paiva Jéssica Christie Dantas de Oliveira Costa Pablo Ferreira da Silva Roseane Rodrigues de Oliveira Emerson de Medeiros Sousa Angie Alejandra Rodriguez Cruz José Eduardo Santos Barboza da Silva Marciana Bizerra de Morais

Salinity compromises seed germination and early seedling growth, highlighting the need to identify tolerant cultivars and effective management strategies. This study aimed to evaluate tolerance to salt stress, antioxidant activity, and the effectiveness of seed-applied stress attenuators in pumpkin cultivars. The research was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, six cultivars (Tetsukabuto, Soberana, Kin, Bahiana Tropical, Sergipana, and Adele) were subjected to three levels of osmotic potential induced by NaCl (0.0, −0.2, and −0.4 MPa). Germination, growth, and biochemical variables were evaluated. In the second stage, two contrasting cultivars were subjected to six treatments: control (0.0 MPa), salt stress (−0.4 MPa), hydropriming, gibberellic acid, ascorbic acid, and salicylic acid, all under salt stress (−0.4 MPa). In addition to germination and growth variables, oxidative damage (H2O2 and lipid peroxidation) and antioxidant activity (SOD, CAT, and APX) were evaluated. Salt stress significantly reduced germination, growth, and biomass accumulation. Cultivar Adele showed greater tolerance, whereas Tetsukabuto was more sensitive. Hydropriming, gibberellic acid, ascorbic acid, and salicylic acid mitigated the effects of salinity, with hydropriming showing the greatest reduction in lipid peroxidation. It is concluded that Adele, combined with gibberellic acid, and Tetsukabuto, combined with hydropriming and gibberellic acid, showed better performance under salinity stress, highlighting the potential of physiological and biochemical traits for identifying contrasting responses to salinity.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192919

Authors: Dina Abd Al-Aty Soliman Ahmed Gamal A. G. Ammar Tartil M. Emam Emad F. Aboukila Maneea Moubarak

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L., syn. Salvia rosmarinus Spenn., Lamiaceae) is a Mediterranean perennial herb with high tolerance to environmental stress, but its long-term response to combined drought and salinity and the potential of biostimulants to modulate acclimation remain insufficiently understood. This study evaluated the effects of chronic drought and salinity, applied individually or in combination, on rosemary growth, water status, ion homeostasis, physiological stability, and essential oil composition, and assessed the mitigating effects of foliar nano-chitosan and seaweed extract. The experiment was conducted under arid Mediterranean conditions over two consecutive years (2024–2025) with four harvests, using a split–split–plot randomized complete block design with three irrigation levels, three salinity levels, and three biostimulant treatments. Drought, salinity, and their interaction significantly affected all evaluated traits. Severe combined stress reduced dry weight by 33.3%, while overall physiological performance remained relatively stable. Under severe combined stress, B2 treatment increased relative water content and the K+/Na+ ratio by 14.9% and 66.7%, respectively, and reduced Na+ accumulation by 17.9%. B2 showed a consistently higher Biostimulant Efficiency Index than B1, indicating a greater response to the higher-concentration combined formulation. Moderate drought with B2 increased essential oil contents of camphor, a-pinene, and 1,8-cineole. Overall, rosemary maintained relatively stable physiological performance despite significant stress-induced changes in individual traits, indicating a degree of physiological resilience to chronic combined stress while the nano-chitosan–seaweed formulation was associated with improved water relations and ionic balance under severe combined stress, although these changes did not translate into biomass recovery.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192918

Authors: Reneta Gevrenova Inci Kurt-Celep Gokhan Zengin Dimitrina Zheleva-Dimitrova

Scleranthus perennis L. is an Eurasian species from Caryophyllaceae family, Sclerantheae tribe. The work aimed at investigating the profiling of secondary metabolites in S. perennis aerial parts by means of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS). The profile was delineated by phenolic compounds with a γ-pyrone core, including 49 C-glycosyl flavones O-glycosylated on the sugar of the C-glycosylation and their acetyl, galloyl, and methoxycinnamoyl esters alongside di-C-flavone glycosides. For the first time, a variety of maltol-glycosides was annotated together with phenolic acids and their glycosides. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were 27.7 ± 0.4 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry extract (de) and 31.6 ± 0.1 mg rutin equivalents/g de. Moderate ABTS radical scavenging activity (IC50: 1.21 mg/mL) and reducing power in CUPRAC (EC50: 1.40 mg/mL) and FRAP (EC50: 0.61mg/mL) assays were observed. Pronounced inhibitory activity towards α-glucoside (IC50: 1.03 mg/mL) and acetylcholinesterase (IC50: 1.45 mg/mL) was established. Our results are a prerequisite for further phytopharmacological and chemophenetic studies.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192917

Authors: Margarita Koleva Petkova Mima Hristova Todorova Milena Tankova Tzanova Neli Hristova Grozeva

Biochemical variation in wild medicinal plants may reflect both species-associated characteristics and habitat conditions. This study characterized six wild populations (three per species) of Galium verum L. and Galium aparine L. from southeastern Bulgaria using matched soil–plant sampling. Plant material was analyzed for proximate composition, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), anthocyanin assay responses, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity; associated soils were characterized for physicochemical properties, nutrient concentrations, and texture. Descriptive species-associated summaries showed that G. verum had higher mean DPPH values (26.4 vs. 14.7 µmol Trolox equivalents per gram of dry extract), percentage inhibition (49.0% vs. 21.3%), and slightly higher TFC. Conversely, G. aparine had higher mean crude protein, ash, and TPC. The anthocyanin assay produced only trace-level responses, which were generally higher in G. aparine and were interpreted qualitatively. Exploratory principal component analysis showed coordinated variation in plant and soil variables and separated the two species-associated groups along the first component. Two-sided exact permutation Spearman analysis at the sampling-point level (n = 6) identified nominal associations, including zinc (Zn) with crude protein (ρ = 1.000) and cation exchange capacity with TFC (ρ = −0.943). Because species identity coincided with sampling site and collection period, while aerial biomass composition was not quantified, the observed patterns cannot distinguish independent taxonomic, seasonal, and edaphic effects or support causal inference. By providing ecological context for the biochemical heterogeneity of Bulgarian populations of G. verum and G. aparine, this integrated soil–plant approach offers a descriptive, hypothesis-generating basis for further phytochemical and ecological investigations using balanced sampling across comparable habitats and collection periods.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192916

Authors: Nataša Nastić Kristian Pastor

Frankincense is an aromatic oleo-gum resin obtained from Boswellia species and is widely used in traditional medicine, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, perfumery, and incense products. Its expanding trade has intensified concerns over species substitution, geographical mislabeling, adulteration, compositional variability, and inconsistent product quality. Authentication is complicated by an extensive overlap in volatile and non-volatile metabolites among commercially important species and by variation arising from provenance, environment, harvesting, storage, processing, and extraction. This review examines chemical profiling and authentication strategies for Boswellia resins and frankincense-derived products, focusing on volatile terpenes, diterpenoids, boswellic acids, methoxyalkanes, stereochemical signatures, and multivariate quality markers. The available evidence shows that single markers and nonspecific total-acid assays are insufficient for robust authentication, whereas orthogonal workflows integrating targeted quantification, chemical fingerprints, stereochemical information, and validated multivariate models provide substantially greater confidence. Future progress depends on authenticated reference collections, standardized sampling and analytical protocols, certified reference materials, expanded spectral libraries, interlaboratory validation, explainable machine learning, and traceable supply-chain metadata.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192915

Authors: Pengbo Pan Rong Guo Gang Sa Hongyu Yang Lixiang Cheng Jianlong Yuan Juan Liu Bin Yu

RING-zf E3 ligases play key roles in plant development and light signaling, but their genome-wide characterization and light-responsive functions in potatoes remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified 291 StRING-zf genes containing complete RING domains in the potato genome and classified them into four major RING domain types, with RING-H2 being the predominant and structurally conserved group. Evolutionary analyses indicated that gene duplication contributed to the expansion of the StRING-zf genes, while promoter analysis revealed abundant cis-regulatory elements associated with light, hormones, and abiotic stress responses. Transcriptome analysis of the terminal leaflets of the third leaves of potato seedlings under different light qualities, combined with qRT-PCR validation, revealed diverse and gene-specific expression patterns among StRING-zf genes. Five candidate genes (Soltu.DM.01G022260.1, Soltu.DM.04G001050.1, Soltu.DM.10G023720.1, Soltu.DM.11G009040.1, and Soltu.DM.11G017440.1) exhibited distinct light-quality-dependent expression responses. These expression patterns provide preliminary evidence for their potential involvement in light-responsive regulatory processes and ubiquitin-mediated protein modification. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic resource for elucidating the evolutionary characteristics and potential functions of the StRING-zf genes and identifies candidate genes for further functional validation of light-responsive mechanisms in potatoes.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192914

Authors: Jie He Zhengwei Shao Xinpei Han Fengli Zhao Yuan Wang Xinjie Zhang Yuanyuan Liu Lu Yang Zhanshuai Li Jun Peng

AOC is a key enzyme in jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis and plays important roles in plant development and stress responses. However, the evolutionary characteristics and functional diversification of the AOC gene family in cotton remain poorly understood. In this study, AOC genes were identified and systematically characterized in four representative cotton species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that cotton AOCs were mainly distributed in Clade II and Clade IV. Structural and promoter analyses indicated that cotton AOCs possess conserved Allene_ox_cyc domains but exhibit diversification in gene structures and regulatory elements. Synteny analysis revealed that tandem duplication and WGD/segmental duplication were the major driving forces underlying AOC gene family expansion in diploid and tetraploid cotton species, respectively. Expression analysis of GhAOC genes showed that GhAOC6 and its homologous gene GhAOC4 exhibited strong responses to Verticillium dahliae infection. Co-silencing of GhAOC4/6 significantly reduced cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt. Overall, this study provides new insights into the evolutionary conservation and functional diversification of the AOC gene family in cotton and identifies the highly homologous GhAOC4/6 pair as a candidate component associated with cotton resistance to Verticillium wilt.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192913

Authors: Yinjuan Li Richu Gao Yuxin Liu Xuxia Jia Tongshun Wang

Green manure application is widely used to improve soil quality in saline-alkaline soils, yet the combined effects of green manure species and return methods on soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization and field SOC retention remain poorly understood. A field experiment was conducted in coastal saline soil of Jiangsu Province with five treatments: no green manure (CK), alfalfa mulching (AM), alfalfa incorporation (AF), ryegrass mulching (RM), and ryegrass incorporation (RF). A 60-day laboratory incubation was performed to assess SOC mineralization dynamics, apparent priming effects, labile carbon fractions and soil enzyme activities. Our results showed that compared with CK, green manure incorporation significantly increased SOC mineralization and induced positive priming effects. Alfalfa showed higher mineralization rates and stronger priming effects (peaking at day 5, 403.67–551.61%) than ryegrass which peaked at day 21 (395.02–432.50%). After 60 days of incubation, SOC increased by 0.34–0.54 mg·g−1 in alfalfa treatments, while it decreased by 1.15–2.42 mg·g−1 in ryegrass treatments. In the field, however, SOC content in the 0–10 cm layer was highest in RM (6.88 mg·g−1), which was 76.9% higher than that in CK, whereas AF showed the lowest SOC content among the green manure treatments in the 10–20 cm layer. Soil MBC and ROC were highest in AF (196.18 mg·kg−1 and 1.973 mg·g−1 in the 0–10 cm layer, respectively), while lowest in RM (118.46 mg·kg−1 and 1.623 mg·g−1). Sucrase and cellulase activities were significantly higher in AF than in other treatments, while RM showed the lowest enzyme activities. These results indicated that alfalfa incorporation stimulated microbial activity and carbon turnover, whereas ryegrass mulching suppressed decomposition and favored carbon retention. Ryegrass mulching is recommended as a promising practice for enhancing short-term SOC retention in this study.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192912

Authors: Wenjie Zheng Zhengyong Cui Peng Li Miao Wang Chen Huang Wei Li Xin Sun Ying Liu Mingzhu Sun Baiqiang Yan

Pumilio (Pum)-family proteins are evolutionarily conserved RNA-binding proteins that regulate post-transcriptional processes; however, their specific functions in staple crops, for example, wheat (Triticum aestivum), remain poorly understood. We identified 56 TaPum genes and classified them into three phylogenetic subgroups (I–III). The larger TaPum family size in allohexaploid wheat was associated with retention of A-, B-, and D-subgenome homoeologs, segmental duplication, and tandem duplication. After separating homoeologous pairs, 17 segmental duplication pairs and five tandem duplication pairs were identified, and ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions (Ka/Ks) below 1 were consistent with purifying selection. Subgroup-specific motifs and the uneven distribution of cis-acting elements, particularly abscisic acid (ABA)- and methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-responsive elements, suggested potential divergence in promoter regulatory architecture. Transcriptomic profiling and independent quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed more consistent response of TaPum genes to salt stress than to cold or drought stress. Salt stress strongly promoted TaPum-III-5b expression, and its encoded protein exhibited nuclear and cytoplasmic localization. Heterologous overexpression of TaPum-III-5b in Arabidopsis thaliana increased salt tolerance, as indicated by enhanced survival; augmented peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities; and diminished accumulation of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) demonstrated sequence-specific binding of TaDREB2B to a dehydration-responsive element (DRE)-containing sequence in the TaPum-III-5b promoter, whereas dual-luciferase (Dual-LUC) analysis showed activation of the wild-type promoter. Together, these results support a proposed regulatory framework in which TaPum-III-5b may contribute to salt-stress responses through as-yet-unidentified downstream RNA targets. This study characterizes the Pum gene family in wheat and identifies the TaDREB2B-TaPum-III-5b module as a candidate regulatory pathway associated with salt-stress responses. Its potential application in wheat improvement requires further validation in wheat.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192911

Authors: Jinling Xu Dongwen Yu Mufan Liu Xuehan Zhang Hangyu Liu Yuzhen Liu

Microplastics (MPs) can affect growth, photosynthetic, and oxidative stress-related traits in plants, but the reported effects vary among studies. However, the roles of plant groups, MP characteristics, soil properties, and exposure conditions have not been systematically compared across these three trait groups. We compiled 2613 paired observations from 100 independent studies and combined meta-analysis with random forest modeling to quantify MP effects on the three trait groups and compare the relative importance of candidate predictors. Overall, MPs increased oxidative stress-related traits by 19.92% and reduced photosynthetic and growth traits by 12.87% and 12.31%, respectively. Plant-group differences were trait-specific, with numerically larger root reductions in monocotyledons, a larger numerical decline in shoot fresh biomass in dicotyledons, and stronger POD and SOD responses in monocotyledons. Higher MP concentrations corresponded to larger reductions in several biomass traits and plant height. The effects of particle size were less consistent. Biodegradability showed limited differences across traits, with a significant difference detected only for H2O2. Temperature was related to trait responses across all three groups and also ranked highly in the random forest analysis. These results improve our understanding of differences in plant responses to MPs and provide a basis for evaluating MP effects across plant groups, MP characteristics, soil properties, and exposure conditions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192910

Authors: Mirjana Šipek Eva Horvat Nina Šajna

Duchesnea indica (Andrews) Teschem. is an invasive alien species increasingly recorded in urban environments; however, its habitat characteristics, ecological preferences, and associated vegetation communities remain insufficiently studied in Central Europe. This study investigated the distribution and habitats of D. indica in the urban area of Maribor, Slovenia, aiming to assess its ecological amplitude across urban vegetation. Field surveys identified 47 sites, of which 24 vegetation plots were analyzed to characterize associated plant communities, while environmental conditions were assessed at 18 plots. The species was recorded in forest understories, forest edges, parking lots, lawns, and ruderal sites and showed the highest affinity for semi-shaded habitats. Habitats differed significantly in light availability, soil nitrogen and copper content, while soil moisture, pH, and other analyzed soil chemical properties did not differ significantly but displayed substantial variation within individual habitat. Cluster analysis revealed four vegetation clusters associated with D. indica habitats, which partially corresponded to the habitat groups defined along the light gradient. Ordination analysis further supported a partial differentiation of vegetation assemblages associated with contrasting light conditions, although the environmental variables did not explain a significant proportion of variation in species composition. These results indicate that D. indica occurs across a broad ecological range and can persist within heterogeneous urban vegetation communities. Its ability to establish under contrasting environmental conditions, particularly in disturbed and semi-shaded habitats, may contribute to its continued spread within urban landscapes and facilitate potential expansion into adjacent natural habitats.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192909

Authors: Xiaoyan Wang Nannan Hu Mingdan Song Mei Han Zhengpeng Li

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is a key component of global plateau ecosystems, but the synergistic yield-enhancing mechanism integrating aboveground photosynthetic productivity and belowground increase in soil organic carbon stock under combined green manure and wheat straw incorporation remains unclear. Based on a field experiment established in 2021, four treatments were designed (green manure return (G), straw return (W), combined return (GW), and no-return control (N)) to systematically investigate the effects of return methods on the photosynthetic characteristics, carbon-cycling functional genes, and grain yield of spring wheat. All return treatments significantly increased spring wheat yield, dry matter accumulation, and yield components, with GW showing the greatest effect. The return treatments also increased the net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and chlorophyll content, while decreasing intercellular CO2 concentration. Straw return improved bacterial community evenness; the GW treatment increased microbial β-diversity, enriched Chloroflexi and Fusarium, and constructed a functionally complementary microbial community. Green manure return increased the community richness of the cbbS gene, while straw return reduced the community evenness of the ppdK gene; different return materials directionally reshaped carbon-cycling microbial communities. rbcL was predominantly affiliated with Bradyrhizobium; korA, ppdK, and sdhA were mainly hosted by Nocardioides; Amaricoccus was the dominant genus carrying cbbS, while Flavobacterium prevailed in communities harboring accA and gapA. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that green manure or straw return alone formed compact networks with high clustering coefficients and short path lengths, dominated by Rokubacteriota and Dormibacterota; the GW network exhibited lower average degree and shorter path length, with Saccharimonadales replacing the original dominant taxa to form a modular structure characterized by low redundancy and high efficiency. Soil organic carbon stock increased under all treatments, with the greatest increment observed under GW. In summary, combined green manure and wheat straw return enhances spring wheat yield by strengthening aboveground photosynthetic performance and optimizing yield components, while simultaneously activating belowground carbon-cycling functional genes, restructuring microbial co-occurrence networks, and promoting soil organic carbon accumulation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192908

Authors: Yuke Shi Zihao Ye Lingling Yan Jiasen Wu

Long-term monoculture management of plantation forests has caused declining soil fertility and biodiversity loss, a key bottleneck for sustainable forestry. Understory cultivation of medicinal plants, forming a multi-layered vertical structure, offers a promising pathway to improve land-use efficiency while balancing ecological protection and economic benefit. Using the framework “plant functional traits–soil processes–ecosystem functions,” this paper examines how forest–medicinal plant agroforestry systems affect soil quality and the understory environment. Aboveground traits (specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) regulate soil carbon stability via litter input, while belowground traits (root architecture, exudates) drive soil structure and nutrient cycling through rhizosphere effects. These systems optimize soil pore structure through root penetration, influence organic matter accumulation via litter decomposition and root carbon input, and enhance nutrient availability via mycorrhizal symbiosis and organic acid secretion. However, poor long-term management may cause acidification, nutrient imbalance, and replant problems. Diversified carbon inputs also reshape microbial community structure, functional genes, and enzyme activities, while enhanced plant diversity regulates understory microclimate (light, temperature, moisture). Finally, the paper outlines future research directions and proposes a core “context-dependency” hypothesis, emphasizing that effect direction and intensity are nonlinearly modulated by forest type, medicinal species, and management duration.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192907

Authors: Zhengjing Wu Taoran Wang Xinrong Fu Xun Liu Mengting Ma Yimiao Sun

Chinese Cymbidium orchids (Cymbidium spp.), collectively known as Guolan, are highly valued ornamental plants renowned for their elegant and persistent floral fragrance. Floral scent contributes to pollinator attraction, plant defense, and ornamental and commercial value. This review summarizes the composition of floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs), scent-emitting tissues, and spatiotemporal emission patterns in major cultivated Chinese Cymbidium orchids, including C. goeringii, C. faberi, C. ensifolium, C. sinense, and C. kanran. Floral scent emission exhibits strong tissue specificity and is dynamically regulated by floral developmental stages and circadian rhythms. Emphasis is placed on the biosynthesis and genetic regulation of the two dominant volatile classes, terpenoids and fatty acid derivatives. Current evidence indicates that terpenoids, especially sesquiterpenes, and fatty acid derivatives, particularly methyl jasmonate, are the major fragrance components, although their composition and abundance vary considerably among species. At the molecular level, terpene synthases and jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase play central roles in characteristic scent formation, while multiple transcription factors regulate their expression. Future studies should clarify phenylpropanoid and benzenoid volatile biosynthesis, develop stable genetic transformation systems, and integrate multi-omics and ecological approaches to support fragrance-oriented breeding and germplasm utilization.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192906

Authors: Iva Bažon Dean Ban Martina Grdiša Tvrtko Karlo Kovačević Nikola Major Anja Batel Zlatko Šatović Smiljana Goreta Ban

Preservation of plant genetic resources has become crucial for agricultural sustainability, particularly for vegetatively propagated crops like garlic. Modern agricultural practices, monoculture farming, environmental degradation, and climate change have led to genetic erosion, and there is growing interest in traditional garlic varieties, which may harbor superior traits. Despite being an asexually propagated crop, garlic exhibits a diverse range of ecotypes in phenotypic and agronomic characteristics. This study analyzed 77 garlic accessions from Istria and Kvarner, Dalmatia, Continental Croatia, and other countries, examining morphological traits alongside biochemical properties, namely allicin content, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant capacity (with ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay). Morphological analysis categorized the accessions into two distinct morphotypes, which did not differ significantly in any biochemical parameter. In contrast, accession provenance was associated with differences in TPC and FRAP, with the highest values in accessions from Istria and Kvarner; in 2018/2019, these reached 820.8 mg GAE/100 g DW (TPC) and 354.6 µmol TE/100 g DW (FRAP), significantly exceeding Continental Croatia (494.1 and 180.4, respectively). This regional pattern varied between the two vegetation years. DPPH and allicin content instead differed between the two vegetation years, with DPPH increasing markedly from 2018/2019 to 2019/2020 (from 358.1 to 892.2 µmol TE/100 g DW in QlG1 and from 380.6 to 836.3 µmol TE/100 g DW in QlG2). These results indicate that, in this collection, morphotype was not a reliable predictor of biochemical quality in garlic and underscore the importance of combining morphological and biochemical assessment in germplasm conservation and breeding programs.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192905

Authors: Muhammad Ali Shah Imran Azeem Rehmat Ullah Haseeb Ahmad Waqas Liaqat Muhammad Faheem Jan

Cereal crops increasingly encounter drought, salinity and alkalinity, heat, waterlogging, potentially toxic elements, and compound stresses that constrain productivity and grain quality. Secondary metabolites, also referred to as specialized metabolites in the recent literature, represent a dynamic component of cereal stress adaptation rather than a passive catalogue of stress markers. This review aims to synthesize current evidence on how specialized-metabolite pathways contribute to abiotic stress responses in cereals, with particular emphasis on regulatory mechanisms, evidence strength, chemical form, subcellular localization, recovery, and translational relevance. We critically assess evidence from transcriptomics, metabolomics, genetic perturbation, biochemical assays, multi-omics integration, and physiological studies across major cereal crops and evaluate evidence according to causal, associative, and in vitro categories. The evidence reveals that perturbations at the plasma membrane, cell wall, chloroplast, mitochondrion, and endomembrane system levels generate reactive oxygen species, Ca2+ signatures, phospholipid signals, and hormone changes that are decoded by CDPK/CPK, CBL–CIPK, SnRK2, and MAPK cascades. These signaling networks converge on MYB–bHLH–WD40, WRKY, NAC, ERF/AP2, HSF, and bZIP regulators and redirect carbon and reducing power through phenylpropanoid, flavonoid, lignin, carotenoid, terpenoid, benzoxazinoid, cyanogenic, and related pathways. Comparative analysis across rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), and millets shows conserved regulatory features but substantial crop-, genotype-, tissue-, developmental-stage-, and dose-dependent variation. Functional evidence further indicates that enzyme activity, chemical modification, transport, and subcellular compartmentation can determine whether metabolites contribute to ROS buffering, photosynthetic and membrane protection, cell-wall reinforcement, osmotic or ionic homeostasis, toxic-ion sequestration, or signaling. The review also identifies important limitations in current research, including overreliance on associative omics evidence, insufficient consideration of combined stresses and rehydration, growth–defence trade-offs, and limited field and reproductive-stage validation. To distinguish growth dilution from genuine biosynthetic increases, absolute metabolite content per grain or organ should be measured alongside concentration per unit dry weight. We conclude that improving cereal resilience requires context-dependent and experimentally validated coordination of regulators, biosynthetic enzymes, chemical modification, transport, and compartmentation rather than indiscriminate elevation of total specialized-metabolite concentration.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192904

Authors: Jiantao Ma Shihui Nie Yanting Zhang Chunwu Wang Chuanxin Chen Juan Li Yuting Hou Haiyan Bi Yongqiang Zhang Junjie Lei

Phosphorus (P) management may interact with the method used to supply water for crop establishment in drip-irrigated winter wheat. A two-year field experiment (2023–2025) in northern Xinjiang compared pre-sowing irrigation (F) with dry sowing followed by drip irrigation for emergence (D) under three P regimes: 100% basal P (P1), 70% basal + 30% fertigated P (P2), and 50% basal + 50% fertigated P (P3). Across the years, D increased the mean 0–100 cm soil water content by 15.76% relative to F. Under D, P3 increased the soil water content by 12.53% and maturity dry matter per plant by 31.02% relative to P1. DP3 produced the highest two-year mean grain yield (8416.2 kg ha−1), which was 29.60% higher than DP1 and 33.12% higher than FP1, and also achieved the highest water-use efficiency (WUE). The significant emergence-water method × P-management interaction for yield and yield components indicated that the response to split P application depended on the establishment-water regime. Random-forest analysis identified kernels per spike, spike number, 1000-grain weight, and soil water content as the principal predictors of yield variation. Under the conditions of this two-year single-site study, dry sowing followed by drip irrigation for emergence combined with 50% basal P + 50% fertigated P improved soil water availability, late-season biomass accumulation, grain yield, and WUE; multi-site validation is required before broader recommendation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192903

Authors: Tihomir Čupić Ivana Plavšin Branimir Tokić Sonja Petrović Marijana Tucak Goran Krizmanić

Yield variation across environments is closely related to the response of individual yield components to environmental conditions. In this study, nine pea (Pisum sativum L.) breeding lines were evaluated over four growing seasons at the site where they were selected. Seed productivity per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and thousand-seed weight were measured at the individual plant level. Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effects of genotype, year, and genotype × year interaction on seed productivity per plant and to assess whether the relationships between yield components and this trait changed between growing seasons. A significant genotype × year interaction indicated that genotypes responded differently across growing seasons. Pod number showed the strongest association with seed productivity per plant and the largest standardized effect. In contrast, the interaction between year and thousand-seed weight was not significant, indicating a relatively consistent relationship with seed productivity across growing seasons. These results show that the relationships between individual yield components and seed productivity changed across growing seasons. Identifying the importance of yield components under varying environmental conditions provides useful phenotypic information for understanding yield stability and adaptive responses to interannual environmental variation and may contribute to breeding for improved performance under growing conditions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192902

Authors: Alex Guillen Samuel Valle-Asan Javier Barragan-Bustamante Rafael Lazo-Sulca

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus is a sugarcane-associated diazotrophic endophyte whose functional relevance includes carbon oxidation, auxin-related signaling, colonization, and persistence. This study evaluated early sugarcane seedling responses to G. diazotrophicus inoculation under greenhouse conditions using phenotypic, multivariate, and semi-mechanistic analyses. The inoculum was supported by culture recovery, preservation continuity, and PCR-based molecular evidence, while seedling performance was assessed across eight treatments using shoot length, root length, net gains, total biomass, and root-to-shoot allocation. Responses were treatment-dependent rather than uniformly growth-promoting. The non-inoculated water control T8 reached the highest absolute endpoint performance, whereas T2 was the strongest inoculated treatment, showing the most balanced profile across shoot gain, root gain, and total biomass. Treatment contrasts separated absolute control performance from inoculated-treatment ranking. Multivariate profiling confirmed strong treatment separation (PERMANOVA: pseudo-F = 114.07, R2 = 0.700, p = 0.001), and the standardized fingerprint showed that greater inoculum complexity did not necessarily translate into stronger plant response. The semi-mechanistic model explained 72.8% of total biomass variation, with acceptable collinearity (maximum VIF = 2.77). Overall, early seedling performance was structured by exposure, inoculum architecture, and phenotypic expression rather than inoculation presence alone.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192901

Authors: Sandro Pinheiro da Costa Verônica da Silva Cardoso Alane Beatriz Vermelho Marcel Vasconcellos Valéria Cristina Lopes Marques Maria Eduarda Monteiro Silva Ana Carolina Borba de Frias Naomi Kato Simas Ivana Correa Ramos Leal Maria Helena Amaral Simone Sacramento Valverde Eduardo Ricci-Júnior

This study developed and evaluated a dual-component nanoemulsion containing Brugmansia suaveolens (Willd.) Sweet hydroethanolic leaf extract and copaiba oil (BSLE-NE). BSLE and copaiba oil were chemically characterized using high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, respectively. BSLE-NE was optimized and characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The formulation was also subjected to a preliminary 28-day physicochemical stability study at 8, 25, and 40 °C, as well as antimicrobial and cytocompatibility assays and evaluation in an excisional wound model using female Wistar rats. The antioxidant activity of BSLE was also assessed. Chemical profiling of BSLE revealed 39 chromatographic features, including putatively annotated tropane alkaloids, whereas β-caryophyllene (48.91%) was the predominant compound in copaiba oil. BSLE-NE exhibited a mean droplet diameter of 144 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.135, and a spherical morphology. The formulation maintained its nanometric droplet size for 28 days at 8 and 25 °C. Both BSLE and BSLE-NE exhibited >90% relative inhibition against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis. At a BSLE-equivalent concentration of 500 μg mL−1, nanoemulsification increased J774 macrophage viability from approximately 61% to 84%, while maintaining high viability in fibroblasts and keratinocytes. In vivo, both Copaiba-NE and BSLE-NE improved wound repair relative to the untreated control, while BSLE-NE produced the smallest residual wound diameter and the most advanced tissue organization. These findings support the preclinical wound-repair potential of BSLE-NE as a dual-component topical formulation integrating BSLE and bioactive copaiba oil.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192900

Authors: Amal Gamal Mohamed Amira M. I. Mourad Atif Aboelwafa Helmy M. Youssef Mohammed A. Sayed

Improving wheat for climate change requires understanding how seedling root systems affect adult plant performance. We evaluated 116 spring bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes across 25 traits under non-limiting moisture conditions. Analysis of variance revealed significant genotypic variation (p < 0.01) for all traits. High broad-sense heritability (H2 up to 99.81%) and close alignment between genotypic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficients of variation indicated substantial genotypic differentiation among the evaluated accessions under these experimental conditions. A 21-predictor path analysis (R2 = 0.80) identified the number of spikes per plant (NSP; direct effect = 0.51) and heading date (HD; −0.32) as the primary positive and negative determinants of grain yield per plant (GYP), respectively. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) resolved four distinct clusters, revealing a functional trade-off between early vegetative vigor and mature yield: elite cultivars and accessions (Cluster 1) combined compact shoots, a high root-to-shoot ratio (RSR = 1.55), and superior yield (GYP = 11.76 g), whereas excessive seedling biomass was associated with yield penalties. Deep seminal-root angle (DRA) established a steep spatial distribution. The multi-trait genotype-ideotype distance index (MGIDI) identified 17 elite genotypes (e.g., G024, G020, G106, Sids14, and Gemiza11), offering an expected +32.3% genetic gain in GYP. These constitutive baseline architectural criteria provide reliable early-stage tools for breeding climate-adapted wheat.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192899

Authors: Zihan Xu Tao Huang Yue Chen Changsheng Shao Huijun Zheng Chunjing Zou Mingli Zhang Luying Huang Zhongxing Gong Fengrong Hu

Age-dependent flowering is a prominent feature of perennial orchids, yet its physiological and small RNA basis remains poorly understood in Cymbidium goeringii. Here, floral bud formation, carbohydrate contents, and endogenous hormones were examined across successive shoot age stages, and four representative stages were selected for small RNA sequencing. Floral bud formation showed a clear age-dependent rise-and-fall pattern, accompanied by distinct changes in carbohydrate and hormone levels. Small RNA sequencing identified 810 miRNAs, including 356 known and 454 putative novel miRNAs, of which 311 were differentially expressed. Temporal expression analysis grouped 210 DEMIs into four significant profiles, all showing reduced expression in the oldest shoots. Functional analysis of predicted targets highlighted starch and sucrose metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction, and further pathway analysis identified multiple predicted miRNA–target associations related to carbohydrate metabolism and hormone signaling. qRT-PCR analysis generally supported the sequencing-based expression patterns. These findings reveal coordinated age-related changes in flowering competence, physiological status, and miRNA expression, and identify candidate miRNAs and functional pathways potentially associated with age-dependent flowering in C. goeringii.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192898

Authors: Yujing Bai Lan Yang Yongmin Liu Wenlei Yan Hongqiu Zeng

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has significant economic value as a vital source of food, feed, and bio-energy. However, the production of cassava is severely restricted by cassava bacterial blight (CBB). Sirtuins (SRTs) are conserved histone deacetylases that play essential roles in the plant energy metabolism and stress response. However, the family of SRTs has not been identified in cassava. In this study, we isolated and identified three MeSRTs in response to CBB infection and found that they were negative regulators of cassava resistance using a transient gene-silencing assay. Further studies found that MeSRT1 physically interacted with the transcription factor Nuclear Factor YC15 (MeNF-YC15). Transient silencing and overexpression assays suggested that MeSRT1 negatively regulated the transcription of gibberellin 2-oxidases 1/2 (MeGA2ox1/2), which promoted the accumulation of gibberellic acid 1 (GA1). However, MeNF-YC15 promoted the transcription of MeGA2ox1/2 and further increased the metabolism of GA1. Taken together, MeSRT1 and MeNF-YC15 antagonistically regulated the GA1 content and resulted in an antagonistic effect on cassava disease resistance. This study identified a MeSRT1-MeNF-YC15 molecular module in CBB resistance responses by regulating the GA1 content in cassava.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192897

Authors: Youfu Wang Xuejiao Yu Fangfang Qiang Guangquan Liu Changhai Liu Ning Ai

To assess soil quality in micro-topographic units of loess hilly regions, this study selected five typical micro-landforms (shallow gully, collapse, steep slope, gentle terrace, cut gully) along with the original slope as a control. We measured 23 indicators covering soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, and plant diversity. A soil quality evaluation model was constructed using principal component screening combined with fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, and structural equation modeling was applied to identify driving factors. The results showed that the first five principal components had a cumulative contribution rate of 79.915%. The SQI values ranked as follows: collapse (0.604) > gentle terrace (0.550) > cut gully (0.538) > shallow gully (0.530) > original slope (0.527) > steep slope (0.466), with the collapse micro-landform consistently ranking first across the physical, chemical, enzymatic, and plant diversity indicators. The structural equation models further showed that soil moisture had the strongest association with soil quality in collapses, shallow gullies, and the original slope, whereas soil organic matter showed the strongest association in steep slopes, gentle terraces, and cut gullies. These findings provide a scientific basis for precision soil quality management and ecological function enhancement based on micro-topographic units in the implementation of the Grain-for-Green program.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192896

Authors: Chunmei Jin Sabine M. Klauck Xiao Lei Dongxiao Li Yuanping Hai Thomas Efferth Xiaohua Lu

Daily supplements have emerged as a compelling strategy for heavy metal detoxification (e.g., Hg and Pb), given that conventional chelation therapy lacks chronic exposure data and is heavily reliant on the doctor’s experience. Among such natural agents, Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris), a commercially available supplement, is known for its notable heavy metal-binding capacity and ancillary benefits. Yet, the detoxification mechanisms of action of C. vulgaris have remained largely unexplored. In this study, our transcriptomic and signaling analyses demonstrated that the chemically characterized aqueous extract of C. vulgaris may have attenuated Hg2+-induced mitotic catastrophe in HEK-293 cells and was predicted to activate AKT signaling and modulate the expression of zinc finger protein-related genes. Furthermore, in corresponding DMT1-overexpressing cells, the protective effects of the extract were associated with the modulation of translation and ubiquitination pathways. These changes may coincide with the partial recovery of the two major ribosomal stress surveillance pathways. Intriguingly, under conditions in which Hg2+ did not provoke the more severe ribotoxic stress response, the C. vulgaris extract appeared to alleviate Hg2+-induced ribosomal stress by engaging both ribosomal quality control and the integrated stress response, particularly the response of GCN2 to amino acid deficiency. Ultimately, these findings suggest the protective effect of C. vulgaris extract against Hg2+ toxicity is associated with DMT1 at the transcriptome level, warranting further experimental investigation of its potential as a nutraceutical adjuvant in mercury detoxification.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192895

Authors: Yifan Wang Jing Han Xinkang Ma Bing Wu Bin Yan Peina Lu Yuhong Gao

Interspecies interaction is key to achieving intercropping advantages. However, in semi-arid rainfed agricultural areas, research on how strip width influences interspecific relationships and system productivity in maize–flax intercropping remains insufficient. A three-year field experiment was conducted to assess the impacts of varying strip widths (80, 120, and 160 cm) on system productivity and interspecies interactions in a maize–flax intercropping system. The results demonstrated that the 160 cm strip-width treatment achieved the highest land equivalent ratio (LER) and total system yield, with average increases of 11.3% and 37.5%, 7.3% and 38.8% compared to the 120 cm and 80 cm strip-width treatments, respectively. The improvement in grain yield was primarily attributed to synergistic increases in maize kernel number per ear and 1000-kernel weight, as well as enhanced capsule number per plant, seeds per capsule, and 1000-seed weight of flax. Analysis of interspecific competition dynamics revealed that flax exhibited stronger competitive ability during its later growth stages (kernel-filling and maturity stage) under the 160 cm strip width, with an average increase of 97.2% compared to other treatments. Furthermore, the wider strip width optimized the relative crowding coefficient (RCC) and promoted the recovery effect of maize (RE) after flax harvest. Correlation analysis indicated a significant negative relationship between the intensity of interspecific competition during the maize V3 and V12 stages and flax yield. In conclusion, adopting a 160 cm strip width in the maize–flax intercropping system maximizes overall productivity by optimizing yield components, promoting dry matter accumulation, and balancing interspecific interactions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192893

Authors: Ai-Ting Li Yun-Chen Tsai Yun-Ching Tsai Sabrina Diana Blanco Hsin-Ying Chung Tzu-Pi Huang Yi-Hsien Lin

Bacterial soft rot, caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, affects numerous vegetable crops. Beneficial microbes like Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PMB05 offer a sustainable alternative to traditional copper- or antibiotic-based controls, which risks the development of pathogen resistance. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PMB05 enhances disease resistance to soft rot by intensifying PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Although our previous research showed that PMB05-intensified PTI correlates with a reduced photosynthetic electron transport rate under high light conditions, it remains unclear whether increasing light intensity can strengthen PMB05-mediated immune signaling to further enhance disease resistance in plant leaves. In this study, Arabidopsis plants were grown under varying light intensities to address this question. Furthermore, expression of the type III elicitor, HrpN protein, was applied to evaluate the impact of PMB05 treatment on immune activation. HrpN acts as a PAMP that can trigger plant defense responses. The results revealed that higher growth light intensity was associated with PMB05-intensified PTI response by increasing reactive oxygen species generation but suppresses callose deposition. In addition, PMB05-facilitated PTI-mediated stomatal closure occurred more rapidly and tightly under high light, thereby restricting pathogen invasion into leaf tissues. Disease assays further confirmed that higher light intensity significantly reduced soft rot severity in A. thaliana, while the combination of high light and PMB05 treatment achieved superior control efficacy. Furthermore, PMB05-associated disease protection under high growth light was not detected in sid2, npr1, and nahG plants, indicating that intact SA-associated functions are required for the detectable protective phenotype under the conditions tested. These findings demonstrate that environmental light management can strategically potentiate immunity-intensifying microbes, establishing a novel paradigm for sustainable disease control through the coordinated manipulation of light conditions and microbial application.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192894

Authors: Wei Huang Zhiyuan Zhao Hong Zhang Jingwen Yang Jinghua Zhai Hongjin Dong Zhiwei Chen Xiuli Li Wei Tu Xiaomei Ji

Wild kiwifruit germplasm can broaden breeding pools through complementary fruit-quality and stress-response traits. The Hubei Dabie Mountains contain heterogeneous habitats, but coordinated evaluation of their wild Actinidia resources remains limited. Taxonomy and ploidy were determined for 117 accessions from eight sites spanning 170–1730 m. Nine descriptive fruit traits and detached-leaf responses to bacterial canker and heat were assessed in 41 fruiting accessions. Bacterial canker response was assessed using Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), and heat response using maximum photosystem II quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm) after 47 °C treatment. Seven fruit-quality traits were measured in 27 accessions with normally ripened fruit. Three taxa were identified: A. chinensis, A. polygama, and A. chinensis var. deliciosa. Diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid cytotypes were detected. Shannon–Wiener indices for descriptive traits ranged from 0.26 to 1.64. Twenty-three accessions were classified as highly or moderately resistant to Psa. Heat screening classified 23 accessions as heat tolerant, 16 as moderately heat tolerant, and two as heat sensitive. Fruit-quality coefficients of variation ranged from 12.92% to 120.41%. Fruit-quality ranking followed by Psa screening identified MC-021, MC-026, YS-031, YS-037, and YS-038 as candidate elite germplasm. These accessions are priorities for conservation and further breeding evaluation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192892

Authors: Humberto Prieto

Modern plant biology stands at a transformative juncture where integrating advanced tissue culture, high-throughput genomics, and precise genome editing is driving a new era of agricultural resilience [...]

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15192891

Authors: Elena Piedra-Bonilla Gabriel de Sampaio Morais Joel Gómez Heidy Toala Laís Rosa-Oliveira Nallely Molina-Velasco

The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are increasing, yet their implications for perennial tree crops such as cocoa remain understudied. Existing cocoa-climate evidence is based on mean climate variables, discrete shocks, and concentrated in West and Central Africa. This study addresses these gaps with plot-level cocoa evidence for Ecuador, the world’s second-largest exporter, linking the 2016 ESPAC survey to parish-level ET-SCI indices. We estimated the associations of three climate extreme indices: consecutive dry days (CDD), very heavy precipitation days (R20mm), and warm days (TX90p), on observed yield. Each index is summarized over 1-, 5-, and 10-year look-back windows to separate recent from cumulative exposure, within cross-sectional Poisson pseudo-maximum-likelihood (PPML) models with province fixed effects, survey weights, parish-clustered standard errors, and farm-level controls including management intensity. CDD showed no significant association, and TX90p estimates were imprecise, whereas R20mm was negatively associated with yield across all windows, with stronger evidence for longer windows. Each additional very heavy precipitation day (in the window average) was associated with 0.5–0.8% lower yield. Adjustment for management intensity attenuated this association in the intermediate window, although the cross-sectional design precludes a causal buffering interpretation. Recurrent very heavy precipitation emerges as a climatic risk for Ecuadorian cocoa.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182890

Authors: Zhengwei Zhang Qian Li Guang Li Le Chen Xiaobing Xie Yongjun Zeng

Water management during grain filling plays a critical role in determining rice quality, but its coordinated regulation of eating and aroma quality in aromatic rice remains unclear. In this study, two indica cultivars, Nongxiang 32 and Yuzhenxiang, were subjected to three irrigation regimes: continuous flooding (CF), alternate wetting and drying (AWD), and saturated soil irrigation (SSI). Our results showed that 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) content exhibited the highest level under AWD and the lowest under SSI. Starch pasting properties were improved under AWD and SSI, as reflected by higher peak viscosity and breakdown and lower setback values. Further analysis of Nongxiang 32 showed that AWD enhanced amylopectin and total starch contents, elevated proline and putrescine levels, and differentially regulated enzyme activities, maintaining higher proline dehydrogenase activity at early filling stage and favorable Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase, ornithine δ-aminotransferase, and diamine oxidase activities at late filling. Meanwhile, AWD was associated with reduced γ-aminobutyric acid accumulation, consistent with greater precursor availability for 2AP biosynthesis. Antioxidant enzyme activities followed the order AWD > SSI > CF, whereas malondialdehyde and free fatty acids showed SSI > AWD > CF. Hormonal responses differed: gibberellic acid (SSI > AWD > CF), abscisic acid (AWD > SSI > CF), and indole-3-acetic acid (AWD > CF > SSI). Collectively, in Nongxiang 32, AWD optimally coordinates precursor metabolism, enzyme activities, antioxidant defense, and hormone regulation, thus improving both the aroma and starch quality of aromatic rice. This work provides a mechanistic understanding of water-driven quality formation in aromatic rice and offers a feasible irrigation strategy for high-quality aromatic rice cultivation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182889

Authors: Ruining Liu Kai Jiang Lehao Li Jimei Han

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and global warming jointly affect plant photosynthesis and water use, but how elevated CO2 regulates photosynthetic short-term thermal response and its implications for leaf carbon-water balance remain poorly understood. We investigated the temperature responses (25–45 °C) of net photosynthetic rate (An), intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), stomatal conductance (gs), and mesophyll conductance (gm) in Liriodendron tulipifera L., a fast-growing and economically important hardwood species sensitive to heat stress, under five CO2 concentrations (150–800 μmol mol−1), and quantified the partitioning of stomatal, mesophyll, and biochemical limitations. Elevated CO2 increased the optimal temperature (Topt) of An, iWUE, and gm, but decreased that of gs, creating a divergent thermal response pattern that decoupled carbon acquisition from water loss. The upward shift in the Topt of gm enhanced CO2 supply to chloroplast carboxylation sites at high temperatures, sustaining higher carboxylation rates, indicating that improved mesophyll diffusion, rather than biochemical capacity, drove photosynthetic short-term thermal response. The downward shift in Topt of gs aligned with optimal stomatal behavior theory, promoting earlier stomatal closure to conserve water, which together with enhanced mesophyll diffusion resulted in a net improvement in water use efficiency below 40 °C. At 45 °C, however, mesophyll limitation (lm) became dominant (~70% of total limitation), indicating that elevated CO2 cannot prevent photosynthetic breakdown under extreme heat, and the water-saving benefit was lost. We suggest that terrestrial biosphere models incorporating separate temperature dependencies of gm and gs would improve predictions of tree carbon-water balance under future climates.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182888

Authors: Ivana Varga Marinka Andraković Patricia Crljić Marta Đaković Manda Antunović Monika Tkalec Kojić Dejan Agić

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) are two crops with long and important histories in human societies. This review aims to compare industrial hemp and tobacco from traditional uses to modern applications, focusing on bioactive compounds, health implications, and socio-economic and environmental aspects. Industrial hemp has traditionally been used for fibre, textiles, and paper and is now increasingly recognized as a multifunctional crop for food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and other bio-based industries. Tobacco, in contrast, has developed mainly as a commercial leaf crop and remains strongly associated with nicotine dependence and major public health concerns. Industrial hemp contains cannabinols, terpenes and antioxidant phenolics. These substances support hemp’s growing use in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and other bio-based industries. In contrast, tobacco is dominated by alkaloids, especially nicotine, along with related compounds such as nornicotine and anatabine. Because of this, research on tobacco is mostly focused on addiction, toxic constituents, and major public health risks, while hemp research increasingly highlights potential biological activities and industrial benefits. However, hemp products still require strict quality control due to variability and the risk of THC contamination. Regulatory frameworks reflect these differences: tobacco products are tightly controlled globally due to proven health harms, while restrictions on industrial hemp cultivation have been gradually relaxing in many regions. Generally, the review shows two contrasting development paths—industrial hemp is increasingly positioned as a sustainable resource for the bioeconomy, whereas tobacco continues to raise serious health, environmental, and regulatory challenges.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182887

Authors: Pietro Bellitto Fabiana Mancuso Leo Sabatino Georgia Ntatsi Salvatore La Bella Beppe Benedetto Consentino

Lignosulfonate-based biostimulants (LS) are recognized to play a role as chelating and careering agents for micronutrients. Concomitantly, vegetable grafting is a recognized technique with which to improve yield and fruit quality and increase plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic distresses. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the integration of these complementary approaches could affect agronomic attributes, colorimetric parameters, qualitative and nutritional characteristics, and the physiological traits of watermelon plants. The combined effects of LS biostimulant and grafting (non-grafting, self-grafting, or grafting onto ‘RS 841’ rootstock) were evaluated in a two-year (2024 and 2025) open-field study. Plots treated with LS biostimulant yielded 5% more than control plots, whereas grafted plots yielded between 12 and 13% more than self-grafted and non-grafted plots, respectively. In addition, biostimulant treatment reduced physiological traits such as stomatal conductance and transpiration, whereas grafting only enhanced stomatal conductance. Furthermore, LS biostimulant increased β-carotene (+25%), lycopene (+21%) and carotenoid (+21%) contents, while grafting had the same effect and increased β-carotene (+55%), lycopene (+50%) and carotenoids (+48%) when compared with the control treatment. Results indicated that the effects of the biostimulant and grafting technique were dependent on the year. Accordingly, this study suggested that for yield, physiological traits, quality, nutritional characteristics and colorimetric parameters, the year of experimentation should be no taken into consideration, whereas for percentage of fruit dry matter, solid soluble content, pulp firmness, and epicarp thickness, the year of experimentation should be taken into consideration in order to improve crop quality.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182886

Authors: Chao Fu Siyang Tao Shifang Wen Xindong Wang

1-Deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of the plastidial 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway and governs carbon flux toward terpenoid biosynthesis. The Lauraceae constitute an economically important plant lineage characterized by specialized terpenoid metabolism and divergent essential-oil chemotypes; however, the evolutionary dynamics and functional divergence of the DXS gene family across this family remain poorly understood. Here, we performed a comprehensive pan-genomic survey of the DXS family across 14 Lauraceae genomes, integrating phylogenomics, synteny analysis, selection-pressure assessment, structural-variation profiling, spatiotemporal expression profiling, and heterologous functional validation. We identified 92 DXS genes assigned to six orthogroups. DXS2 and DXS4 were conserved ohnologs likely derived from the Lauraceae-specific whole-genome duplication, whereas DXS5 and DXS6 underwent recent lineage-specific duplications. All DXS orthogroups were under purifying selection (Ka/Ks < 1), with divergent selection intensities among subclades within Clade 2. Structural variations in DXS genes were predominantly located in introns and untranslated regions rather than coding regions. Spatiotemporal expression profiling in Camphora officinarum revealed distinct tissue-specific expression patterns: CoDXS2 was specifically expressed in developing fruits, CoDXS4 exhibited flower-bud-specific expression, and CoDXS6 was highly expressed in developing leaves and fruits. Notably, CoDXS6 transcript abundance showed a strong positive correlation with monoterpenoid accumulation (r = 0.945, p < 0.001), and functional assays confirmed its canonical catalytic activity. Furthermore, CoDXS6 exhibited 6.32- to 9.18-fold higher leaf expression in terpenoid-dominant chemotypes compared with phenylpropanoid-dominant chemotypes. Collectively, retention following recent whole-genome duplication, recent genome-specific duplications, and regulatory variations jointly drove the functional divergence of Lauraceae DXS genes, highlighting CoDXS6 as a key contributor to leaf monoterpenoid biosynthesis in C. officinarum.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182885

Authors: Eleftheria Deligiannidou Ioannis Ganopoulos Vasileios Papasotiropoulos

Vegetable crops are of fundamental nutritional and economic importance worldwide, yet their improvement through conventional breeding remains time consuming and constrained by genomic complexity. For that reason, over the period 2020–2026, CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing, a new genomic technique (NGT), has emerged as the leading tool for precise, rapid and targeted modification of vegetable crop genomes. In this review, we summarize selected peer-reviewed studies on CRISPR/Cas applications across a broad range of vegetable species. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and potato (Solanum tuberosum) are the most edited species with the CRISPR/Cas system, with tomato being at the forefront, while other crops such as cucumber, watermelon, Brassica species, pepper, eggplant and lettuce, follow. We studied eight trait categories that have been improved, namely biotic stress resistance, abiotic stress resistance, yield and growth regulation, food/feed quality modification, color/flavor modification, storage conditions, herbicide resistance and industrial utilization. Out of these, biotic stress resistance is the most actively targeted category across both tomato and potato, with viral, fungal, bacterial and oomycete pathogens being addressed through the editing of host susceptibility genes. Some advances include editing SlDMR6-1 and DMR6 orthologs to confer broad-spectrum disease resistance, multiplex editing of the MLO gene family to achieve powdery mildew resistance, the utilization of the CRISPR/Cas13 system to confer resistance in RNA viruses in potato, and the engineering of drought-tolerant and quality-improved varieties across multiple species. Finally, the regulatory landscape for genome-edited products in the European Union is currently evolving with efforts to distinguish them from genome-modified products and drive further growth for the field.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182883

Authors: Shuai Si Yi Zhu Yu Cheng Hailong Lu Huibin Li Junqin Zong

Soil salinization threatens global agriculture, yet the mechanisms of salt tolerance in bioenergy crops like Miscanthus remain poorly understood. While root surface electrochemistry has been studied in crop species, its effect on salt tolerance among Miscanthus accessions remains underexplored. Therefore, this study examined whether root surface electrochemical properties are associated with differential salt tolerance and Na+ adsorption in eight Miscanthus accessions. Hydroponically grown plants were subjected to 1% NaCl for three weeks. Salt-tolerant accessions (394, 390, 422, 401) showed significantly higher relative growth parameters (81.49–89.21%) than salt-sensitive accessions (403, 1143, 01293, 11024; 61.82–66.87%; p < 0.05). Root surface zeta potential measurements revealed that salt-tolerant accessions carried less negative charge (ζ = −16.30 mV at pH 6.0) than salt-sensitive accessions (ζ = −30.90 mV; p < 0.01). Also, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy revealed a trend toward fewer ionizable functional groups, particularly carboxylates, on salt-tolerant root surfaces. Consequently, salt-sensitive accessions adsorbed significantly more Na+ (6847 mg kg−1) than salt-tolerant accessions (5163 mg kg−1; p < 0.05). Moreover, significant correlations among zeta potential, Na+ adsorption, and growth indices (R2 = 0.56, p < 0.5 for zeta potential vs. Na+ adsorption; R2 = 0.85, p < 0.01 for zeta potential vs. RRDW; R2 = 0.65, p < 0.05 for Na+ adsorption vs. RRDW) were consistent with the mechanistic link. This shows that fewer functional groups result in less negative charge and consequently reduced Na+ adsorption and enhanced salt tolerance. Therefore, salt-tolerant Miscanthus accessions possess fewer ionizable functional groups and less negative root surface charge, resulting in reduced Na+ adsorption, a mechanism not previously described in this bioenergy crop. These findings establish root surface electrochemical properties as a determinant of salt tolerance in Miscanthus and provide a rapid phenotyping tool for germplasm screening.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182884

Authors: Dan Ioan Avasiloaiei Mariana Calara Petre Marian Brezeanu Barbara Pipan Lovro Sinkovič Creola Brezeanu

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is among the world’s most widely consumed grain legumes and a foundational species for organic and low-input agriculture, yet its agroecological value extends far beyond nitrogen fixation and nutritional provisioning. This review reframes P. vulgaris as a breeding target defined by ecosystem function rather than by yield alone, synthesizing evidence on functional biology, biological nitrogen fixation, rhizosphere microbiome assembly and soil ecosystem engineering to identify the trait complexes that ecosystem-oriented breeding programs must select for. We examine the constraints limiting expression of these traits under organic management, including weed competition, biotic and abiotic stress, nutrient limitation, and the scarcity of cultivars and certified seed adapted to low-input environments, and evaluate the agroecological management practices, resource-use efficiency metrics and emerging technologies—spanning precision agriculture, phenomics, molecular breeding, genome editing and microbiome engineering—that can accelerate their genetic improvement. Central to this synthesis is a paradigm shift in breeding objectives: common bean is conceptualized as a holobiont whose performance emerges from coordinated plant–microbiome interaction, requiring breeding programs to select explicitly for nitrogen-fixation efficiency, root system architecture, rhizosphere recruitment capacity, nutrient-use efficiency and multi-stress resilience as heritable, ecosystem-oriented traits. We conclude by outlining priority breeding research directions integrating genomics, phenomics, envirotyping and rhizosphere ecology, positioning common bean breeding as a strategic lever for the transition toward regenerative, climate-smart organic agriculture.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182882

Authors: Hanlin Liu Meixuan Wang Weihao Song Xiaoshuo Jiang Yaxuan Wang Ruichen Shan Qian Zhang Ruixue Wang Limin Sun

In this study, the rare and endangered tree species Tilia taishanensis S. B. Liang was selected as the research material, and its embryonic developmental characteristics and abortion mechanism were systematically observed using scanning electron microscopy and resin semi-thin sectioning techniques. The results showed that its pollen was bicellular, the anther wall belonged to the dicotyledonous type with a secretory tapetum, and asynchronous meiosis occurred during microsporogenesis. The pistil possessed a pentalocular ovary and anatropous ovules, and the embryo sac exhibited a typical seven-celled, eight-nucleate structure of the Polygonum type. Male gametophyte development initiated 1–2 weeks earlier than female gametophyte development, although both gametophytes matured synchronously in late June, and the embryo and endosperm developed following the Solanad type and nuclear type, respectively. Multiple reproductive barriers existed in this species: the pollen viability was only approximately 10%, and abnormal tapetal degeneration interrupted nutrient supply for microspores; continuous embryo sac degeneration may contribute to a hollow seed rate of 90%; developmental asynchrony between male and female gametophytes further reduced fertilization efficiency. This study explores the embryonic developmental characteristics and abortion mechanism of T. taishanensis, providing cytological evidence for elucidating its endangered causes and germplasm conservation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182881

Authors: Huan Yu Fenghao Zhang Xiaomin Luo Haoyang Geng Junxian Chen Shuxun Yu Tian Pan Zhen Feng Junfeng Cao Mengyuan Yan

Cotton is a globally vital economic crop and the primary source of natural fiber. Continued world population growth keeps driving demand for cotton lint, while the increasing frequency of extreme weather events exposes cotton production to a range of abiotic stresses, including salinity, drought, and temperature extremes. As the very first step in plant development, the germination phase is particularly vulnerable to these stresses, which severely impair seed germination and seedling establishment through multi-faceted physiological and metabolic disruptions, ultimately compromising crop uniformity and yield potential. A thorough understanding of the underlying tolerance mechanisms holds significant potential for improving cotton germination performance under adverse conditions. However, the precise functions of stress-responsive genes and their regulatory networks during cotton germination remain largely unresolved, which restricts the targeted genetic improvement of stress resilience in breeding programs. Here we systematically review the impacts of these stresses on cotton germination and the morphological, physiological, and molecular pathways underlying stress tolerance, together with current mitigation strategies. Future research should integrate multi-omics technologies, real-time phenotyping, and controlled-environment simulations to elucidate the signal–transcription–metabolism–phenotype regulatory pathways operative during germination, thereby providing a theoretical basis for breeding stress-resilient cotton cultivars and optimizing precision sowing technologies.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182880

Authors: Tianci Shen Binyan Yuan Qingsong Ba Lanlan Zhang Pengfei Zhang Gensheng Zhang Guiping Li Yue Zhuo

Selenium (Se) foliar spraying improves grain nutritional quality of pigmented wheat, yet the physiological and molecular regulatory mechanisms of Se-mediated anthocyanin accumulation in black wheat remain poorly understood. In this study, six concentrations of sodium selenite (0–150 mg·L−1, 0 mg·L−1 served as the blank control) were foliarly applied to black wheat Nongda 3753 and white wheat Jimai 22 to screen the optimal Se dosage. Dynamic changes in grain antioxidants across multiple time points throughout grain filling were characterized, and transcriptome sequencing combined with an Arabidopsis mutant functional assay was performed to dissect the regulatory network. The results showed that grain Se content in Nongda 3753 reached its peak (0.61 mg·kg−1) under the 150 mg·L−1 treatment, representing a 555.63% increase over the control. Under the 75 mg·L−1 treatment, total phenolics (2.68 mg GAE·g−1), total flavonoids (2.96 mg rutin·g−1), and DPPH scavenging rate (89.02%) all reached their maximum levels; therefore, 75 mg·L−1 was determined as the optimal compromise dosage for comprehensive grain quality improvement. Through temporal profiling, 25 days after anthesis (DAA) was identified as the critical Se-responsive stage, at which anthocyanin content reached its highest level among all time points (117.08 mg·kg−1), showing a significant increase of 25.13% compared with the control at the same time point, and the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway was uniquely enriched. The anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) gene was specifically upregulated by Se, and nine key transcription factors were screened. Functional verification revealed that TaMYB20-like acts as a negative regulator of anthocyanin accumulation. This work clarifies the temporal pattern and molecular basis of Se-enhanced antioxidant synthesis, offering gene targets for Se-enriched functional wheat breeding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182879

Authors: Dan Wang Yunqing Zhang Lan Zhang Yanli Xi Chen Zhao Xiaoyu Feng Min Liu Yifan Zhang Jiajun Sun

The western part of north-eastern China is mostly covered by soda soil, which has a significant impact on the growth, breeding and production of crops. The present study investigates the physiological responses and metabolic adaptation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii P.A.Dangeard (C. reinhardtii) under different types of alkaline stress and the potential application to soda soil improvement and plants in response to alkaline stress. The soda–saline soil was treated with C. reinhardtii for 5 and 120 days, respectively, and the chemical properties of the soil were determined. The microalga was cultured for a period of 12 days, with and without an alkaline medium, and then the metabolic profiles of the microalgae were then analyzed by metabolomics. Results showed that C. reinhardtii exhibited a high level of tolerance to 40 mM NaHCO3, pH 8.3, and pH 10.3 with an increase in incubation time. Moreover, C. reinhardtii has been demonstrated to ameliorate selected physicochemical properties of soda–saline soil by reducing soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and the contents of CO32− and HCO3− by 40–100% (w/w, wet biomass) addition for 120 cultivation days, respectively. It was demonstrated that rice seedlings were less affected by alkaline stress in the presence of C. reinhardtii. Furthermore, C. reinhardtii has the capacity to adapt to alkaline environments by regulating key pathways such as cofactor biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, purine metabolism, carbon metabolism, tropane, piperidine, and pyridine alkaloid biosynthesis. This adaptation is characterized by the accumulation of metabolites, including saccharides, amino acids and organic acids. These interact with high pH, CO32− and HCO3− ions. This study elucidates that C. reinhardtii has the capacity to improve soda–saline soil and respond well to diverse alkaline stresses, attributable to its intricate metabolic profile.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182878

Authors: Kiriya Sungthongwises Chanon Lapjit Khomsorn Lomthaisong

Excessive vegetative growth in sweet potato often disrupts source–sink relationships, reducing assimilate allocation to storage roots in containerized systems. This study evaluated the effects of paclobutrazol (PBZ)—a gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor—on the vegetative growth, physiological parameters, and storage root yield of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) cv. Kuri Kogane grown in planting bags. A completely randomized design (CRD) was implemented using PBZ concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 ppm. Applications at 100 and 200 ppm significantly suppressed leaf area and aboveground biomass at 2 months after planting (MAP). Conversely, 100 and 200 ppm PBZ enhanced photosynthetic pigments, significantly increasing SPAD chlorophyll meter readings (SCMRs), with 100 and 200 ppm yielding the highest chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll contents at 1 month after planting. Consequently, 100 and 200 ppm PBZ increased fresh tuber yields to 41,933 and 42,000 kg ha−1, respectively. Although the Harvest Index numerically increased to 0.61–0.63, this non-significant trend was driven primarily by the reduction in aboveground biomass rather than an increase in tuber yield. Furthermore, 200 ppm PBZ promoted foliar nutrient accumulation (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) and elevated tuber protein content to a maximum of 6.32%, while sweetness (°Brix) and carotenoid content remained unchanged. In conclusion, PBZ application effectively restricts excess shoot growth and enhances storage root yield and protein content in container-grown sweet potato.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182876

Authors: Jinyang Li Yagang Du Xianbin Wu Hongfei Dai Chuntao Yu Ziyi Zhu Wei Zhang

Accurate identification of maize seedlings and weeds at the seedling stage in dry farmland of cold regions serves as an essential prerequisite for field variable weeding and intelligent plant protection operations. Existing YOLO networks exhibit prominent limitations in feature extraction for fine weeds that grow close to the ground and feature fusion across different scales, and show poor adaptability to complex field conditions including illumination fluctuations, tiny weed interference, and mixed soil textures. To address these issues, this study focuses on maize fields in the cold region at a high latitude in Heilongjiang and collects RGB field images of maize plants at the two to five leaf stage. Using YOLOv12n as the baseline model, the internal convolutional blocks within the C3k2 structure are replaced with RepViTBlock to construct the C3k2-R module. The Multi-Frequency in Multi-Scale Attention (MFMSA) module is embedded into A2C2f to obtain A2C2f-M. BiFPN is adopted to replace the original concatenation block to form Concat-B. By integrating the above three optimized modules, the improved model YOLOv12n-RMB is developed. The results demonstrate that YOLOv12n-RMB achieves an AP@0.5 of 0.9745 for maize and 0.7820 for weeds, with an overall mAP@0.5 improvement of 0.0421 relative to the original YOLOv12n. The proposed model can perform robustly under diverse field working conditions such as strong light, weak light, and varying seedling ages. This research provides visual technical support for field weed density evaluation and intelligent decision-making for variable weeding equipment.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182877

Authors: Zhixing Jin Yuning Wu Ruisen Wang Huiqi Zhang Yang Zhu Xiangtan Yao Shengguan Cai Imran Haider Shamsi Cheng Qin

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is a globally vital oilseed crop for edible oil, biofuel and animal feed production, yet its yield and quality are severely threatened by a narrow genetic foundation, scarce germplasm and recurrent abiotic stresses including drought and salinity. Mediator subunits have been proven to be critical for abiotic stress tolerance in model plants, but systematic research on the Brassica napus Mediator (BnaMED) gene family and its stress regulatory mechanism in Brassica napus remains largely lacking. In this study, we identified 189 BnaMED members phylogenetically clustered into five subfamilies, with extensive family expansion mainly driven by whole-genome duplications, accompanied by functional differentiation and redundancy to bolster polyploid adaptability. Chromosomal mapping revealed 176 BnaMED genes unevenly distributed across A/C subgenomes. Through gene collinearity analysis among Brassica napus, Arabidopsis thaliana, Glycine max, Oryza sativa, and Zea mays, we found that Brassica napus shares high collinearity with dicotyledonous species, such as Glycine max and Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating evolutionary conservation specific to dicots. Protein physicochemical properties and promoter cis-element analysis uncovered diverse structural features and extensive involvement in light, hormone and stress signaling pathways. Tissue expression profiling demonstrated distinct subfamily specificity and functional divergence. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that under salt stress, endogenous transcript levels of BnaMED family members BnaA09g34000D, BnaA09g23620D, BnaC03g31860D and BnaA06g10800D were up-regulated, whereas BnaA08g23170D and BnaA08g22420D were transcriptionally repressed. Following drought-stress treatment, all six genes (BnaA09g34000D, BnaA09g23620D, BnaA09g50540D, BnaA06g10800D, BnaA08g23170D and BnaA08g22420D) displayed markedly reduced expression. These observations reflect stress-specific regulatory strategies underlying abiotic-stress adaptation. In addition, several BnaMED genes showed dynamic expression during floral transition in the semi-winter Zhong Shuang 11 (ZS11) cultivar. This study provides a foundational insight into functional roles of BnaMED genes in rapeseed abiotic stress responses.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182875

Authors: Jiaojiao Zhang Donglin Li Yu Duan Haile Niu Ru Li

To evaluate trait variation across contrasting understory light environments in a pecan-based agroforestry system, 30 seven-year-old Paeonia ostii plants were assessed at three naturally occurring positions with high (HI), medium (MI), and low (LI) understory light intensity. Microenvironmental conditions, plant growth, leaf photosynthetic pigments and mineral nutrients, seed yield components, seed oil traits, and final germination percentage were measured. Photosynthetically active radiation consistently followed the order HI > MI > LI. Plants at LI had higher chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, and leaf N, P, and K concentrations, indicating leaf-level responses to lower light availability. In contrast, plant height and crown width were lower at LI, while HI showed higher values for 100-seed weight, aggregate fruit number and fresh weight, seeds per plant, and final germination percentage. Ground diameter and seed diameter did not differ significantly among positions. Crude fat and α-linolenic acid contents also showed no significant differences. Integrated trait analysis further showed that HI was associated mainly with higher growth, reproductive, and germination traits, whereas LI was associated with higher leaf pigment and mineral nutrient concentrations. Overall, the results reveal contrasting leaf-level acclimation and whole-plant performance across a naturally occurring understory PAR gradient. Because the study was observational, these patterns should be interpreted as position-associated differences rather than causal effects of light, and they provide a basis for future replicated canopy-management experiments.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182874

Authors: Luis Manzano-Soto Christian Fernández-Campusano Humberto Verdejo-Fredes Cristhian Becker Raúl Carrasco

This study focuses on the detection of pests in citrus fruits using computer vision (CV) techniques and image detection technologies based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Early detection enables pest control, reduces the use of pesticides, and generates alerts for the inspection of surrounding areas. One of the models used is You Only Look Once (YOLO), which is based on a single-stage CNN. This model is fast, resource-efficient, and has low latency, enabling it to run on a personal computer. Another type of neural network is based on the vision transformer, a paradigm that requires more hardware resources than YOLO but offers greater precision. Therefore, a comparison is carried out between CNN models to evaluate their precision and demonstrate that YOLO is an excellent option compared to vision transformer-based models, which are more resource-intensive. Through the capture of images in the field, it will be shown that the difference in precision compared to other models that are more demanding in terms of hardware is minimal. The study also reveals that all the models assessed have difficulties in detecting small objects, suggesting a need to improve this through software techniques or hardware enhancements, such as the optics of drone lenses. A wide-angle lens could be used for preliminary detection, and another with a higher zoom for confirmation and the detection of small insects, thereby facilitating its adoption where computational resources are limited.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182872

Authors: Héctor Coirini María Sol Kruse Mario J. Simirgiotis Jessica Gómez Alejandro Tapia Mariana Rey

Tessaria absinthioides (Hook. & Arn.) DC. (Asteraceae) decoction (DTa) is used to treat hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and digestive disorders in the traditional medicine of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay. The present study evaluated the effects of DTa on glucose metabolism and behavior and compared them with metformin under chronic sucrose exposure and normal conditions. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received water, sucrose, DTa (5 or 10% w/v) with or without sucrose, or metformin (12.5 or 25 mg/kg) under water- or sucrose-fed conditions for 40 days, according to the experimental design. Glucose homeostasis was assessed by fasting glycemia and a glucose tolerance test (GTT), while behavior was evaluated using the open field, elevated plus maze (EPM), and novel object location tests. Under sucrose-fed conditions, DTa was associated with lower fasting glycemia, while both DTa and metformin improved GTT, as evidenced by reduced iAUC values. Behavioral analyses revealed modulation of exploratory and risk-assessment behavior by DTa, particularly in the EPM, where DTa10 increased total distance traveled and head-dip behavior under sucrose-fed conditions. Under normal conditions, DTa10 was associated with lower fasting glucose levels without significant changes in GTT, whereas behavioral effects were mainly restricted to specific ethological parameters. No effects were detected on spatial recognition memory under either condition. In DTa, fifty-one compounds were detected by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array and Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA-OT-MS/MS), of which forty-one were identified, including several caffeoylquinic acids, fatty acids, and characteristic eudesmane sesquiterpenoids. Several of these compounds have been previously associated with metabolic and neurobehavioral effects, providing further support for the pharmacological potential of DTa. Taken together, these findings highlight T. absinthioides as a promising source of bioactive phytocompounds with the potential to modulate glucose homeostasis and behavioral responses.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182871

Authors: Antonela Ninčević Grassino Marija Penić Sandra Pedisić Sven Karlović Maja Dent

This study aimed to characterize the phenolic composition of aqueous extracts obtained as by-products of hydrodistillation of orange, mandarin, and clementine peels and to evaluate the effect of enzymatic pretreatment on phenolic recovery. Different enzymatic pretreatments were applied prior to hydrodistillation, and the resulting extracts were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS. Differences in the mass fractions of phenolic compounds were observed among pretreatments, with the magnitude of these changes depending on the citrus species and extraction conditions. Quercetin and kaempferol were the predominant phenolic compounds in all three citrus species. The highest sum of the mass fractions of quantified phenolic compounds was observed for mandarin peel following combined enzyme pretreatment in citrate buffer (19.73 µg/g) and for clementine peel following xylanase pretreatment in water (34.94 µg/g). For orange peel, the highest value was obtained following combined enzyme pretreatment in citrate buffer (10.88 µg/g), although no increase in the sum of the mass fractions of quantified phenolic compounds was observed compared with the corresponding control. Overall, the observed changes following enzymatic pretreatment were species-dependent, with the most pronounced increases in phenolic mass fractions found for mandarin and clementine peels.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182873

Authors: Chang Lu Xudong Wang Xiaoying Guo Bilal Hussain Shane Wang Xiaoe Yang

Peach fruit quality—including sweetness, firmness, and nutritional value—is strongly determined by mineral nutrition, yet limited soil availability of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) under production activities often constrains high-quality fruit formation in juicy peach production. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of foliar application of Ca and Mg on leaf nutrient status and fruit quality in peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch). Seven treatments were established, including 0.1% (T1), 0.2% (T2), and 0.3% (T3) CaCl2 solutions, 0.1% (T4), 0.2% (T5), and 0.3% (T6) MgSO4 solutions, and a water-sprayed control (CK). All treatments were applied during the fruit development stage, and RNA sequencing analysis was performed on the highest-concentration MgSO4 treatment group. The results of this study showed that high-concentration treatments (0.3% CaCl2, T3; 0.3% MgSO4, T6) significantly increased leaf chlorophyll and Ca/Mg accumulation relative to CK. For Ca treatments, T3 significantly increased sucrose content, whereas T2 enhanced glucose accumulation and total phenolic content, indicating that appropriate CaCl2 supplementation may improve fruit quality through regulation of carbohydrate metabolism and antioxidant responses. T6 produced the greatest gains in soluble sugars, soluble solids, vitamin C, and antioxidant capacity, indicating a close link between leaf Mg status and carbohydrate accumulation. Transcriptomic analysis of peach leaves further revealed that Mg supplementation modulated genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism, contributing to sugar accumulation. This study revealed that foliar application of 0.3% MgSO4 offers an effective strategy for improving peach fruit quality.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182870

Authors: Qiuyou Chen Yang Yang Xia Qiu Min Ding Yitong Lv Zhimin Cheng Siyuan Li Ping Wang

To clarify the effects of shade-net covering on sunburn control and fruit quality of ponkan, white, gray, black, and blue nets with differing light transmittance were applied to assess the canopy microenvironment, leaf photosynthesis, peel antioxidant system, and fruit quality. All shading treatments significantly reduced fruit surface temperature and light intensity compared with the unshaded control. Light transmittance was significantly higher under white (26.49%) and blue (25.69%) nets than under gray (12.97%) and black (12.58%) nets. Consequently, sunburn incidence decreased significantly from 31.41% in the control to 5.47–11.13% under shading. Regarding leaf photosynthesis, white and blue nets maintained a significantly higher net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and PSII photochemical efficiency than gray and black nets, whereas gray and black nets showed no significant difference in Pn from the control. All shading treatments significantly lowered reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, alleviating peel oxidative injury. By contrast, the sunburn peel of the unshaded control accumulated high levels of ROS and MDA and activated SOD, POD, CAT, and the AsA-GSH cycle, thereby elevating total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). At fruit maturity, shading generally improved juice yield and nutritional quality. White and gray nets enhanced soluble solids content (SSC), white and blue nets improved the sugar–acid ratio, and gray, black, and blue nets increased vitamin C content, while the white net showed the best performance in soluble sugar accumulation. These results indicate that white and blue shade nets are more effective in optimizing the canopy microenvironment of ponkan. Shading followed by post-shading light recovery alleviates fruit sunburn and enhances fruit quality.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182869

Authors: Theo Wilde Johanna Marie Lass Marcel Naumann

Limited phosphate rock resources and inefficient phosphorus (P) fertilization challenge sustainable crop production. Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) serves as a model for poorly soluble calcium phosphates relevant to recycled P fertilizers. We tested whether phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) enhance P mobilization from nHA and maize (Zea mays L.) nutrition under moderate-temperature conditions. In vitro assays evaluated six bacterial strains and organic acid (OA)-mediated P mobilization; a climate-chamber pot experiment tested nHA, PSB, and their combinations under low and moderate P supply. Several strains increased supernatant P concentrations in vitro; Pseudomonas rhodesiae showed the strongest response, corresponding to 90% of the P introduced with nHA. OA-mediated P mobilization was greater at pH 3.5 than at pH 5.0, although different OA concentrations were used to reach the respective target pH values. The descriptive differences among OAs may reflect additional OA-specific interactions with Ca, including complexation. In the pot experiment, shoot P uptake did not differ significantly among treatments under low P supply. Under moderate P supply, the treatment with nHA depot fertilization without added medium or bacterial inoculation showed the numerically highest shoot P uptake and dry matter production. No consistent additional PSB-mediated benefit relative to the corresponding sterile-medium controls was demonstrated. Strong in vitro nHA mobilization showed limited transferability to buffered soil systems.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182868

Authors: Xueqiang Su Rong Zhou Manli Zhao Cuimin Xu Qianqian Lu Ran Zhang Taichu Wang Ruixue Li

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important economic tree species, and its leaves are increasingly being used to prepare healthy dishes in addition to serving as food for silkworms. Drought is one of the main stress factors affecting the quality of mulberry leaves; however, the molecular mechanisms through which mulberry plants respond to drought stress are currently unclear. The AP2/ERF gene family is involved in plant growth, development and stress response processes. In response to drought stress, the expression of mulberry MnERF23 is induced. The overexpression of MnERF23 in Arabidopsis thaliana enhances drought tolerance, increases root length, and activates the expression of stress-related genes in transgenic plants. The transient overexpression of MnERF23 in mulberry leaves can reduce stress-related damage in transgenic seedlings and promote better growth. In this study, RNA-seq analysis of mulberry leaves transiently overexpressing MnERF23 in both normal and drought environments revealed 470 and 687 DEGs, respectively. In the DS-1305 vs. DS-ERF23 comparison, genes related to ROS clearance, cell wall precursors, and lignin synthesis were up-regulated. Further analysis revealed that Mn4CL3 is an up-regulated differentially expressed gene and that the promoter retains a DRE/CRT cis-acting element. The Y1H and dual-luciferase assay results reveal that MnERF23 can positively regulate Mn4CL3 in combination with DRE/CRT, synergistically enhancing the drought tolerance of mulberry. We elucidated the regulatory mechanism through which MnERF23-dependent DRE/CRT cis-acting elements promote Mn4CL3 expression and enhance drought tolerance in mulberry. This study contributes to the theoretical research on the regulatory network of plant abiotic stress, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for forest genetic breeding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182867

Authors: Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge Sofie Vanneste Sharmila Majumder Marc Schouppe Stefaan Moreels Sharon Moreels Simeon Beeckman

Drought events are expected to induce both immediate and delayed effects on tree functioning, yet the persistence and dynamics of these legacy effects remain poorly understood. In an experimental set-up, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) saplings were subjected to two consecutive water-withholding treatments during the 2022 growing season, resulting in five drought-severity categories. We monitored these categories over the following three years to assess drought legacy effects on phenology and growth. In the first post-drought year, bud burst proceeded more slowly in all drought categories, with the plants exposed to severe summer drought displaying the longest duration. Minor differences between drought categories and control plants were observed in timing of autumn leaf senescence in the first post-drought year and in the following bud burst, suggesting recovery in these phenological responses. Unexpectedly, differences re-emerged in autumn leaf senescence in the second post-drought year, when all drought categories displayed delayed senescence. This differentiation persisted into the following spring, with delayed bud burst in the severe spring- and summer-drought categories. The severe spring-drought categories maintained delayed senescence in the third post-drought year. Diameter and height growth were strongly reduced in the first year following drought. Although growth differences largely disappeared in the second post-drought year, the severe summer-drought categories exhibited enhanced diameter growth in the third year, indicating compensatory growth. Together, these results demonstrate that drought legacy effects in F. sylvatica are dynamically expressed over multiple years, and that such temporal variability complicates predictions of long-term forest responses to increasingly frequent episodic drought events under climate change.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182865

Authors: Renan Falcioni José Salvador Simoneti Foloni Luis Guilherme Teixeira Crusiol Marcos Rafael Nanni José Renato Bouças Farias

Whether sequential crop phenotypes improve grain yield prediction after transfer to another growing season remains poorly quantified. We evaluated soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) at one experimental site over two seasons in a split-plot experiment with five sowing periods, two cultivars, four seeding rates, and four blocks (160 subplots per season). Information gates were cumulative predictor sets available through V4, R2, R5, and R6. They combined subplot means of leaf area, total dry matter, branching, main-stem nodes, and plant height from distinct destructive samples. Grain yield at R8 was the outcome. Elastic-net models estimated phenotypic corrections to development-season means for matching management combinations. Reciprocal whole-season evaluation used development-only grouped tuning and conditional within-season whole-block bootstrap intervals. The management comparator produced root mean squared errors (RMSEs) of 1398 and 1394 kg ha−1 and predictive R2 values of 0.282 and −0.182 for 2021/22 → 2022/23 and the reciprocal direction, respectively. Paired RMSE gains from cumulative phenotypes ranged from −0.419% to 0.038% and from −0.712% to −0.104%, respectively, where positive values denote lower independent-season error. Alternative management comparators yielded similarly small changes. Predictor distributions and calibration differed between transfer directions. These evaluations identify little incremental benefit from the measured phenotypes under the tested conditions, while demonstrating the importance of distinguishing yield ranking, calibration, and additional predictive information. Broader environmental validation is needed to determine when phenotyping improves forecasting beyond management expectations.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182866

Authors: Dilrabo K. Ernazarova Madina D. Kholova Doston Sh. Erjigitov Feruza U. Rafieva Abdulqahhor Kh. Toshpulatov Barno B. Oripova Asiya K. Safiullina Sevara K. Arslanova Durdona B. Sokiboeva Gavkhar F. Mamatkulova Ezozakhon F. Nematullaeva John Z. Yu Fakhriddin N. Kushanov

The restricted genetic diversity of current cotton varieties (Gossypium hirsutum L.) considerably limits breeding opportunities aimed at enhancing fiber quality and resistance to environmental factors. Wild types of allotetraploid cottons are valuable sources of genetic variation, and their breeding potential has not yet been fully utilized. In this study, the inheritance and variability of important agronomic traits were analyzed in F1 and F2 hybrid generations obtained from intra- and interspecific crosses involving G. hirsutum, G. barbadense, and G. darwinii. The phylogenetic relationships of allotetraploid species were analyzed using molecular-genetic and cytogenetic methods, and their breeding potential was evaluated. Cytogenetic analysis of the F1 hybrids revealed the occurrence of univalents at metaphase I of meiosis, while bivalent numbers reached 25.9 in some hybrid combinations. Based on molecular marker analysis, significant genetic differences and polymorphism were identified between var. gambia and var. m. palmerii. There were reciprocal translocations, shown as multivalents, during ecotypic differentiation in other cross combinations. Positive transgressive segregation for the enhancement of fiber length was identified in F2 populations. Notably, in certain hybrid combinations, fiber length extended to 40.9 mm. Furthermore, molecular analysis identified 113 unique alleles across the genotypes examined. These findings affirm that wild and exotic allotetraploid cotton forms constitute a significant source of genetic diversity for breeding programs.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182864

Authors: Yang Yang Lu Wang Pengpeng He Jin Wang Chunqiao Wang Chao Wang Ziwei Jiao

Pyrophosphate serves as a vital reagent for the chemical remediation of soil heavy metal contamination. However, reports regarding how pyrophosphate regulates plant cadmium (Cd) tolerance at the physiological level remain scarce. In this study, we combined phenotypic, physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic approaches to comprehensively elucidate the response of Arabidopsis to Cd stress mediated by sodium pyrophosphate (Na-PPi). The results demonstrated that oxidative stress triggered by Cd significantly suppressed the growth of Arabidopsis seedlings. In contrast, exogenous Na-PPi effectively lowered the contents of MDA, H2O2, and O2•−, and concurrently diminished Cd accumulation in the plants under the Cd stress condition. Meanwhile, Na-PPi significantly altered the expression of genes associated with “phenylpropanoid biosynthesis” and “cell wall biosynthesis”. Furthermore, Na-PPi application under Cd stress significantly enhanced the expression of the nitrate transporter genes NRT2.1 and NRT2.6 and promoted nitrogen accumulation in Arabidopsis plants. Metabolomic analysis revealed that Na-PPi significantly altered the metabolic profile of Arabidopsis under Cd stress, increasing the accumulation of polydatin while decreasing the levels of nicotinic acid, baicalin, camalexin, and glutathione. These findings provide a crucial scientific basis for a deeper understanding of pyrophosphate-mediated heavy metal soil remediation from a plant-level perspective.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182863

Authors: Yuhong Pu Guangping Qi Yubin Zhang Yanxia Kang Yayu Wang Zhongxia Tang Haohao Dang Fusen Yang Demin Fu

Hydrological fluctuations affect cropping-structure optimization in arid inland river basins by altering agricultural water-supply boundaries and crop yields. This study focused on five counties and districts in the middle and lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin. Based on the 1995–2024 runoff series, four hydrological scenarios—wet, normal, dry, and extremely dry—were constructed. Crop yield responses were incorporated into blue, green, and gray water footprint accounting, and NSGA-III coupled with entropy-weighted TOPSIS was applied for multi-objective optimization. The results showed that (1) under the current cropping structure, unit water footprints generally increased as hydrological conditions shifted from wet to extremely dry, with gray water footprints showing greater sensitivity to yield reductions; (2) the overall directions of cropping-structure adjustment were broadly consistent across scenarios, with the planted areas of wheat, maize, and tubers decreasing by nearly 30% and melon area increasing by nearly 30%, while vegetable and oilseed areas exhibited clear scenario-dependent adjustments; (3) relative to the corresponding 2024 cropping structure evaluated under the same hydrological conditions, the selected compromise schemes increased net economic return by 14.58–16.23 × 108 CNY across the four scenarios. However, the attainable net economic return declined from 73.74 × 108 CNY under the wet scenario to 17.95 × 108 CNY under the extremely dry scenario. The blue water footprint decreased by 18.18–19.07%, whereas the gray water footprint decreased by approximately 17–18% across scenarios. Deteriorating hydrological conditions reduced the attainable economic return and highlighted clear county-level differences in adjustment pathways and economic vulnerability. These findings provide a quantitative basis for scenario- and county-specific cropping-structure optimization and water-resource regulation in arid inland river basins.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182862

Authors: Lekkala Venkata Ravishankar VijayaDurga V. V. Lekkala Dakshayani Lomada Madhava C. Reddy Nidhi Puranik Shraddha Tiwari

Zinc (Zn), an important micronutrient, plays an essential role in plant growth and development. Being the most crucial divalent metallic enzyme, Zn acts as a catalyst in many biochemical processes that regulate growth hormones in plants. Nanoseed priming is an effective agrotechnology that enhances the quality parameters of young seedlings for establishing a good crop stand. In the present study, zinc nanoparticles synthesized from M. oleifera leaf extracts were characterized by UV spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, TEM, TGA, DLS, and zeta analysis. The synthesized nanoparticles showed moderate antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities. Phytosynthesized nanoparticles were tested for their efficiency in modulating plant growth and development, where modern nanoscience technology is at the seedling stage. In the present research, tomato seeds were hydropriming carried out with sample solution of 100 mL from a 1 L stock solution for each treatment with ZnONPs at 50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm, 200 ppm, and 250 ppm, as well as ZnSO4 used as an ionic control at 1.5 g/L. 150 and 200 ppm increased germination percentage. Plant height at seedling stage was enhanced to 22.33 and 19.67 cm at 150 and 250 ppm, respectively. Foliar applications were initiated at 35 DAT, when the plants were at 10–12 true leaves and in the transition phase of tomato plants from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage; 150 ppm induced early flowering, as well as the highest leaf area, TSS content, chlorophyll levels, the number of fruits per cluster, and the number of fruits per plant. Foliar application at 150 ppm enhanced the total and marketable yields to a maximum of 4102.63 and 3984.30 g, respectively. Foliar application at 150 ppm induced the lowest disease severity, at 20.02%, in vivo and in vitro, with the maximum mycelial inhibition of 19.50 mm at 0.15 mg/mL.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182861

Authors: Zornitsa Zherkova Mima Todorova Neli Memdueva Milena Tzanova Neli Grozeva

Halophytes are valuable models for understanding plant adaptation to saline environments and for developing sustainable crops under increasing soil salinization and freshwater scarcity. Salicornia europaea L. is a highly salt-tolerant edible euhalophyte with considerable nutritional and functional potential. However, the influence of natural variability in Solonchak soils on the nutritional composition, mineral profile, and phytochemical characteristics of wild populations remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated the nutritional composition, mineral profile, antioxidant potential, oxalate content, and soil–plant relationships of six wild S. europaea populations growing on coastal Solonchak soils along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The studied soils were characterized by high electrical conductivity (up to 42.10 mS/cm) and strongly alkaline conditions (pH > 9.0). The aboveground biomass was characterized by high ash (48.49 ± 2.46%) and protein (12.91 ± 1.67%) contents, low fiber (6.02 ± 1.11%) and fat (1.03 ± 0.11%) contents, and total oxalates (11.26 ± 3.2 g/100 g), all on a dry weight basis. Na was the predominant mineral (13,866 ± 937 mg/100 g DW), followed by K, Mg, Ca, P, and Fe. The studied populations exhibited high levels of TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activity, reaching 28.6 mg GAE/g, 252.8 mg CE/g and 20.0 µmol TE/g dry weight, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between soil properties and plant mineral composition, oxalate content, and antioxidant traits, indicating that these characteristics are associated with multiple soil factors rather than salinity alone. These findings highlight the potential of wild S. europaea as a valuable source of minerals, protein, and bioactive compounds for functional foods and sustainable agriculture on saline soils.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182860

Authors: Chandrasekhar Manikala Pijug Summpunn Thanet Khomphet Erfan Dani Septia

Coconut is popularly known as the “Tree of Life,” yet precise germplasm characterization of aromatic varieties remains challenging due to the high phenotypic plasticity of vegetative and fruit traits. This study evaluated phenotypic and palynological variation among ten coconut varieties using an integrated multidimensional morphometric (MIM) approach that combined morpho-agronomic traits with scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-based pollen observations and multivariate analyses. Analysis of variance and genetic variability analysis indicated substantial variation in plant height, stem girth, and especially fruit weight (Hb2 = 0.97, GAM = 53.03%), suggesting that fruit weight may be a useful trait for further evaluation and selection within the studied collection. Pollen length (PL), width (PW), and pollen width-to-length ratio (PW/PL) did not differ significantly among varieties, indicating relatively limited variation in pollen dimensions within this collection. Polar length ranged from 33.82 to 44.55 μm, while the pollen width-to-length ratio (PW/PL), ranged from 1.06 to 1.37. Different pollen shapes, including navicular, reniform, ovoid, spherical, and subglobose forms, were observed within the examined samples. Multivariate analyses revealed variation among the varieties at both morphological and pollen levels. The agro-morphological-based PCA explained 74.4% of the total variation in the first two components and separated Var 10, Var 4, and Var 5 from several other varieties based on their combinations of vegetative, reproductive, and fruit-related traits. PCA based on pollen morphometrics explained 99.8% of the variation in the first two components, with pollen width, size index, and pollen length contributing strongly to varietal separation, particularly for Var 9 and Var 7. Qualitative pollen morphotype ordination further indicated differences in the distribution of pollen shape categories among varieties, while hierarchical clustering grouped varieties according to similarities in pollen dimensions and ratios, with Var 10 and Var 5 forming a group associated with relatively higher pollen width and size index values. These findings demonstrate that integrating morpho-agronomic and pollen-related characteristics can provide complementary information for characterizing variation within the evaluated coconut collection.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182859

Authors: Kebei Chen Pardeep Kumar Guoyun Jia Hao Chen Yiduo Zhang Hadi Bux Shouhang Zheng Xinli Zhou

Wheat powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Bgt) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, Pst) are two foliar diseases that threaten global wheat production. The development of germplasms with resistance to both diseases and acceptable agronomic performance is a priority for improving wheat. A total of 660 wheat lines derived from crosses between elite commercial cultivars and resistant donors were evaluated for agronomic traits across five field environments (2019–2024), seedling resistance to Bgt races E15 and E17, and field resistance to stripe rust and were genotyped using markers linked to 14 known Pm loci. Resistance to Bgt was race dependent: only 22 lines (3.3%) exhibited high resistance to both E15 and E17, with infection types (ITs) ≤ 1 on the 0–4 powdery mildew scale, and resistance to the two races was weakly correlated, indicating race-specific variation. Stripe rust resistance was strongly environment dependent: the proportion of immune to highly resistant reactions (stripe rust IT ≤ 3 on the 0–9 scale) ranged from 94.4% (622/659) in 2020QL to 33.1% (218/659) in the highest-pressure environment (2022QL). At the line level, 382 of 659 lines (58.0%) had a mean stripe rust IT ≤ 3 across environments and were classified as immune or highly resistant. Marker analysis detected at least one marker allele linked to known Pm loci in 502 lines (76.1%), involving eight Pm-linked loci (Pm1c, Pm2, Pm5e, Pm6, Pm30, Pm42, Pm45 and Pm52). Because these markers indicate the presence of linked or associated loci rather than direct functional validation, the detected loci are referred to here as marker-detected Pm-linked loci. Notably, resistance to Bgt was not simply proportional to the number of marker-detected Pm-linked loci. Lines carrying three marker-detected Pm-linked loci showed significantly lower infection types to E17 than lines carrying two or fewer loci (p < 0.05), whereas four-locus lines did not show additional resistance. This result suggests a possible combination-associated pattern rather than a strictly number-dependent relationship; however, this interpretation should be considered cautiously because marker-count and marker-combination classes differed in sample size. The MBH1 marker, which is linked to Pm21 and PmV, was not detected in the overall group, suggesting that the identified resistant lines represent valuable resources without the MBH1-tagged Pm21/PmV background. Nineteen selected lines that combined high resistance to both stripe rust and powdery mildew with acceptable agronomic performance were identified. Among these, SWUST-675, SWUST-716, and SWUST-718 represent promising germplasms for disease-resistance breeding in wheat, particularly as lines with strong dual-disease resistance and without the MBH1-tagged Pm21/PmV background.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182857

Authors: Knowledge Muchaonyerwa Maqsooda Mahomed Shaeden Gokool Alistair Clulow Gary Denton Kyle Reddy Richard Kunz

Water availability is typically a limiting factor in rainfed sub-Saharan farming systems. Smallholder farmers in this region grow neglected and underutilized crops (NUCs) such as taro to supplement food shortages. Understanding the water use of NUCs could contribute to improving productivity. Traditional methods of monitoring actual evapotranspiration (ETa) are point-based and do not capture the variability in smallholder fields. In contrast, empirical models that use vegetation indices derived from multispectral unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have demonstrated the potential to provide reliable spatial variability of ETa. This study evaluated the viability of a VI-based empirical model to estimate the ETa of taro under different weed management practices in a smallholder farm using multispectral UAV imagery. Three treatments were tested: a consistently weeded plot, a plot that remained unweeded throughout the season, and an intermediate field that was partially managed for a short period after planting. A validated VI-based model that used the enhanced vegetation index (EVI2) as a proxy for the crop coefficient (Kc) was combined with reference evapotranspiration (ETo) to determine ETa on the three taro plots. The results demonstrated that the weeded plot used 27.0% less water, while the unweeded field used 35.5% more water than the intermediate field (representing the farmer’s typical integrated weed management practices throughout the growing season). Although ETa in the unweeded plot represents combined evapotranspiration from taro, weeds, and the soil surface rather than taro water use alone, the findings support an association between reduced crop–weed competition, lower evapotranspiration, and increased taro yield. The VI-based empirical models derived from multispectral UAV imagery showed great potential for promoting water use efficiency through integrated weed management (IWM) in smallholder farms.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182858

Authors: Jinqiu Liao Tong Peng Zheng’e Han Kecen Pan Meishen Liu Li Zhang Ruiwu Yang

Cadmium (Cd) contamination poses a severe threat to the quality of cultivated land and the safe production of food crops and Chinese herbal medicines in China. The Cd accumulation characteristics of Salvia miltiorrhiza are closely associated with rhizosphere microorganisms; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, two S. miltiorrhiza genotypes with high or low Cd accumulation (designated SD and SC, respectively) were employed to comparatively analyze the differences in their rhizosphere bacterial community structures. Combined with reinoculation experiments using bacterial strains tolerant to Cd, we aimed to elucidate the mechanistic roles of rhizosphere bacteria in modulating Cd accumulation in S. miltiorrhiza. 16S rRNA sequencing revealed significant differences in the rhizosphere bacterial community structures between SD and SC, with SC exhibiting higher bacterial diversity and richness, confirming a correlation between rhizosphere microbial community composition and Cd accumulation in S. miltiorrhiza. Functional validation demonstrated that strain Bacillus sp. C4, isolated from SC, significantly reduced Cd accumulation in S. miltiorrhiza roots by 20.35%, whereas strain Bacillus sp. D9, isolated from SD, exerted a contrasting effect, drastically increasing root Cd accumulation by 440.97%. Two distinct rhizobacterial strains were identified with contrasting strategies for modulating Cd partitioning in the soil root continuum of S. miltiorrhiza. Strain C4 acts as a Cd excluder: it elevates rhizosphere pH and adsorbs Cd externally, while decreasing pectin and hemicellulose contents in root cell walls to reduce Cd binding sites, collectively impeding Cd entry into roots. In contrast, strain D9 functions as a Cd accumulator through a dual mechanism. It acidifies the rhizosphere to mobilize sparingly soluble Cd, thereby increasing Cd influx. Concurrently, it upregulates hemicellulose abundance in root cell walls, which amplifies Cd binding capacity and promotes root sequestration. Furthermore, inoculation with strain C4 significantly elevated the contents of bioactive components in S. miltiorrhiza, including cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, and salvianolic acid B, demonstrating a dual beneficial functionality of concurrent Cd reduction and quality improvement. This study offers functional strains that reduce Cd accumulation and enhance pharmacopoeial constituents of S. miltiorrhiza, supporting the production of low-Cd, high-quality medicinal materials in Cd-contaminated farmland.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182856

Authors: Jin-Long Shang Lu-Yao Shi Jun-Ying Lv Qiao-Chu Zhou Jin-Yan Guan

Nostoc sphaeroides is a diazotrophic cyanobacterium that forms macroscopic spherical colonies in seasonally flooded paddy fields. Studies of its environmental physiology, colony development and cultivation have largely proceeded independently. This review integrates strain-resolved genomic, transcriptomic, physiological and ecological evidence to examine spherical multicellularity as a possible adaptation to a variable habitat. Developmental transitions between motile hormogonia and vegetative, heterocyst-forming filaments link dispersal with establishment, while an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix promotes water retention, ion binding and formation of an associated cyanosphere. Colony enlargement may improve persistence but also produces gradients of light, gases and nutrients that can limit carbon acquisition. Visible light, low-dose ultraviolet radiation, nitrogen form, phosphate, calcium, hydration and agrochemicals influence photosynthetic electron flow, carbon-concentrating mechanisms, repair and developmental investment. The NsHik33-NsRpaB pathway provides a causal connection between environmental sensing and ultraviolet acclimation, whereas many proposed colony-level functions remain supported mainly by omics data or evidence from model cyanobacteria. Important research priorities include spatial chemical mapping, defined cyanosphere communities, multiplex genetics and experiments under fluctuating environmental conditions. Together, the evidence identifies N. sphaeroides as a promising organism for studying how cyanobacterial developmental multicellularity promotes persistence in variable environments and may inform cultivation practices.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182854

Authors: Xiao Liang Qingbo Song Hongli Lian Bo Pang Hongze Zhang Fuxu Guo Ying Zang Yingli Cao

Rice leaf blast can develop rapidly under field conditions, creating a need for fast, non-destructive, and spatially explicit monitoring. UAV multispectral imagery and synchronized ground disease surveys were collected from artificially induced rice leaf blast experiments conducted in 2024 and 2025. After image registration, U-Net canopy segmentation, and ROI quality screening, 1801 curated 3 × 3-pixel canopy ROIs were retained. Each ROI was represented by four reflectance bands and 10 vegetation indices selected by Pearson correlation analysis, and the resulting dataset supported model development and spatial mapping. The improved 1DCNN-Transformer branch combined multi-scale Inception convolution, SE recalibration, and Focal Loss with RF and GBDT probability fusion. In the hold-out evaluation, the model achieved an overall accuracy of 98.90% and a weighted F1-score of 98.89%. Five repetitions of five-fold grouped cross-validation were performed, with identical 14-feature vectors constrained to the same fold. RF, GBDT, and equal RF-GBDT probability fusion achieved mean accuracies of 99.63%, 99.29%, and 99.33%, respectively, supporting strong class separability after duplicate-group isolation. The resulting severity and prescription maps provide an end-to-end digital workflow from canopy extraction to spatial decision support.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182855

Authors: Qi Yang Yu Zhang Zhuo Wang Zetian Cui Liangchang Zhang Fengzhen Li Zehuai Yu

Centromeres are essential for chromosome segregation, yet their repetitive nature makes them among the most difficult genomic regions to assemble and interpret. In polyploid plants, centromeres provide a unique record of chromosome evolution because centromeric repeats can be reshaped by polyploidization, subgenome differentiation and chromosomal rearrangement. Here, we combined low-coverage repeatome profiling, genome-wide mapping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), fiber-FISH and higher-order repeats (HORs) analysis to investigate centromere-associated repeats in Miscanthus sinensis (2n = 2x = 38). We identified MsSat1, a 137 bp satellite repeat representing approximately 2.1% of the genome, as a major centromere-associated satellite repeat. MsSat1 signals overlapped with the Saccharum officinarum centromeric retrotransposon probe and formed continuous tandem arrays on DNA fibers, supporting its association with centromeric domains. MsSat1-based clustering further recovered 13 related satellite variants, many of which showed strongly biased distribution between the A and B subgenomes. Among them, MsSat1-G displayed the most striking pattern, with strong B-subgenome enrichment and chromosome 7-specific localization. Detailed analysis revealed that MsSat1-G was embedded within an expanded MsSat1-rich domain on the fusion-derived chromosome 7, where it showed a more heterogeneous HORs architecture than the major MsSat1 array. These findings suggest that chromosome fusion was accompanied by local centromeric satellite amplification and repeat-architecture remodeling. Together, our study reveals that fusion-derived centromeres can preserve distinct satellite signatures and provides cytogenetic and genomic evidence that centromeric repeats record both subgenome differentiation and chromosome restructuring in M. sinensis.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182853

Authors: Konstantin S. Troshin Rashit I. Tarakanov Peter V. Evseev Anastasia S. Lysikova Kirill M. Vorobev Fevzi S.-U. Dzhalilov

Colletotrichum coccodes (Wallr.) S. Hughes is an important causal agent of potato black dot, but variation among isolates collected in Russia remains insufficiently characterized. In this study, 68 isolates obtained from potato tubers and stems collected in major potato-producing regions of Russia and Belarus were characterized using morphological, physiological, pathogenic, multilocus, and whole-genome approaches. The collection showed variation in colony pigmentation and sclerotial distribution, together with statistically significant differences in colony growth rate and lesion diameter in a wounded detached tuber-slice assay. Among the six isolates tested for temperature response, mean growth was highest at 25 °C among the tested temperatures and was strongly reduced at 35 °C. Multilocus sequence analysis of ITS, act, cal, and his3 loci identified five haplotypes, revealing limited sequence variation in the four loci analyzed and no obvious geographic pattern in this dataset. Comparative genome analysis of two C. coccodes isolates and one C. nigrum isolate revealed high genomic similarity between C. coccodes genomes, conserved repertoires of secreted proteins, effectors, carbohydrate-active enzymes, cytochrome P450 proteins, and secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, together with 407 orthogroups present in both sequenced C. coccodes isolates and absent from the single C. nigrum genome examined. These findings provide a comprehensive characterization of the collection of C. coccodes isolates from Russia and show that substantial phenotypic variation within the collection was accompanied by limited sequence variation in the analyzed loci, while representatives of two multilocus haplotypes remained highly similar at the whole-genome level.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182852

Authors: Hyun Hwa Park Pyae Pyae Win Yong In Kuk

Wheat cultivation has recently expanded into new agro-climatic regions of South Korea owing to increasing concerns about food security and changing climatic conditions. However, comprehensive evaluations of regional cultivation suitability remain limited. This study evaluated regional variations in wheat growth, yield, grain quality, and cultivation suitability across three agro-climatic groups classified primarily by January minimum temperature: G1 (<−10 °C; central inland and high-altitude regions), G2 (−8 to −7 °C; southern inland and plain regions), and G3 (−4 to −3 °C; southern coastal and warmer regions). During the 2024 and 2025 growing seasons, field experiments were conducted, and growth traits, yield components, meteorological data, soil properties, and grain quality were analyzed. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to examine the relationships among agronomic and grain quality traits. In both years, G3 exhibited superior growth performance, characterized by earlier heading, higher biomass, and greater tiller and spike numbers, resulting in the highest grain yield (4.3 t ha−1), compared with G1 (2.8 t ha−1). The superior growth and yield performance observed in G3 was associated with relatively higher winter temperatures and differences in soil nutrient statuses, although other environmental factors may also have contributed. In contrast, the lower productivity observed in G1 may have been related to colder winter conditions and differences in soil nutrient statuses. G2 demonstrated a balance between productivity and stability. Grain quality traits also exhibited regional variability. PCA further indicated that G3 was associated with productivity-related traits, whereas G1 was associated with crude protein content and grain quality-related characteristics. Overall, regional differences in winter temperature and soil fertility were associated with contrasting patterns of wheat productivity and grain quality. These findings highlight the importance of integrated, region-specific cultivation strategies for optimizing wheat production under changing climatic conditions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182851

Authors: Asta Judžentienė Jurga Būdienė

Erigeron sp. has been employed for medicinal purposes in the ethnopharmacology of numerous countries worldwide, as well as in modern-day herbal applications. Their healing capacity is determined by their bioactive compound content, with polyphenols playing a predominant role. Phytochemistry of two alien species in Lithuania, E. annuus (L.) Pers. and E. strigosus Muhl. ex Willd. was investigated. The phytochemicals in the extracts of flowers, leaves and roots were identified by the HPLC/DAD/TOF technique. Some acids, such as fumaric, succinic, quinic, malic, protocatechuic, p-coumaric, gelseminic and (iso-, neo-) chlorogenic, were found in the extracts of both investigated Erigeron species. Additionally, flavonoids and other constituents were tentatively identified in the plant extracts. Umbelliferone, loliolide, kaempferol/luteolin, erigeside I, baicalin, quercetin and its glucoside, apigenin and its glucuronide, apigenin-7-O-glucuronide-6′-ethyl ester, astragalin/quercitrin, scutellarin, caffeoylshikimic acid glucoside, sesquiterpene hydrocarbon(s) and rutin were found to be common compounds in all extracts. A toxicity test using brine shrimp Artemia sp. larvae revealed that the activity order between both fleabane organs was as follows: leaves > flowers > roots. E. strigosus extracts exhibited slightly stronger toxic effects than E. annuus. Total phenolic content (TPC) varied from 11.88 ± 1.27 to 304.94 ± 3.81 (mg/L, expressed in gallic acid equivalent (GAE)) in aqueous E. annuus root and methanolic E. strigosus leaf extracts, respectively. TPC and antioxidant ability differed significantly between the plant organs of both fleabanes. ABTS●+ and DPPH● scavenging capacity was detected for aqueous extracts of both Erigeron species, ranging from 0.16 ± 0.02 (ABTS●+) to 17.55 ± 0.07 (DPPH●) (mmol/L, TROLOX equivalent) for E. strigosus roots and E. annuus leaves, respectively. A strong positive correlation between TPC and ABTS●+ scavenging capacity was determined (p = 0.01996 and p = 0.01171 for E. annus and E. strigosus extracts, respectively), while the correlation between TPC and DPPH● assay values was also positive, but did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). For the first time, the data concerning the phytochemistry, toxicity and radical-scavenging capacity of E. strigosus have been documented. The present study makes a substantial contribution to studies already existing on bioactive phytochemicals of E. annuus, with a particular focus on E. strigosus plants.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182850

Authors: Jazmin A. López-Herrejón Rocío Vega-Frutis Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas

Domestication-driven shifts toward resource acquisition are well-documented above ground, but how it impacts belowground strategies remains controversial. Furthermore, the role of environmental variation and phenotypic plasticity in shaping root economic space traits has been largely neglected. Here, the effects of domestication, soil origin, and their interaction on four root economic traits (average root diameter, specific root length, root tissue density, and root nitrogen content) were experimentally assessed using wild and domesticated chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) grown in forest, home garden, and intensive orchard soils. Domestication did not trigger a unidirectional shift to more acquisitive roots, but significantly enhanced phenotypic plasticity across soils. Significant interactions for average root diameter and nitrogen content showed that domesticated plants exhibited variable, decoupled responses in agroecosystem soils, while domesticated and wild plants remained very similar in forest soils. Wild plants remained phenotypically canalized. Multivariate analysis revealed that expected trade-offs among traits and orthogonality between conservation and collaboration gradients were only partially met. In conclusion, belowground strategies in this perennial crop are reconfigured by domestication through increased phenotypic plasticity, allowing independent modulation of key root traits, particularly under nutrient-rich environments.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182849

Authors: Volodymyr Rudas Olga Ovcharenko Olha Yaroshko Nadiia Zholobak Vladyslav Moseiko Nataliia Shcherbak Bogdan Morgun Taras Pasternak Mykola Kuchuk

Human interferon α-2b (HuIFNα-2b) is a cytokine with antiviral and antiproliferative activities and is widely used as a therapeutic protein. Here, we investigated the production of biologically active HuIFNα-2b in transgenic tomato plants. Long-shelf-life Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. ‘Shedevr 1’ plants were transformed via an Agrobacterium-mediated protocol using the binary vector pCB124 carrying nptII and HuIFNα-2b genes. PCR and RT-PCR analyses confirmed transgenes presence and expression in regenerated kanamycin-resistant plants. Antiviral activity was evaluated in vitro by the inhibition of vesicular stomatitis virus replication in MA-104 epithelial cells. Interferon activity reached 14.90 × 103 IU g−1 FW in fresh fruit pulp and 854.00 × 103 IU g−1 FW in leaves. Importantly, transgenic fruits retained substantial activity (2.42 × 103–6.72 × 103 IU g−1 FW) after three months of storage, with detectable activity (0.36 × 103 IU g−1 FW) remaining after five months. Transgene inheritance and interferon activity were confirmed in the T1 and T2 generations. These results demonstrate the potential of long-shelf-life transgenic tomatoes as a platform for the production and extended storage of biologically active recombinant proteins, potentially reducing dependence on costly purification and cold storage procedures.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182848

Authors: Xueqian Niu Chengda Lu Chengcheng Pei Di Sun Xin Zhao Yang Li

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a legume crop with diverse nutritional and bioactive properties, yet the metabolic basis underlying inter-varietal quality differences remains poorly understood. This study investigated four faba bean varieties (JD, GB, DB, and XJ) to test the hypothesis that variety-specific metabolomic configurations systematically govern phenotypic variations in seed color, nutritional composition, and antioxidant activity. Seed color parameters, proximate components (protein, soluble sugar, starch, and total dietary fiber), and antioxidant activities (DPPH and FRAP) were evaluated. Untargeted UPLC-MS/MS-based metabolomics was employed to characterize global metabolic profiles, screen differential metabolites, and perform KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, followed by TCMSP-based identification of bioactive compounds. JD exhibited the darkest seed color and the strongest antioxidant activity, whereas XJ showed the highest crude protein and total dietary fiber contents. Metabolomic profiling revealed that phenolic acids and flavonoids were predominantly up-regulated in JD, with coordinated down-regulation of multiple lipid species. KEGG enrichment indicated that JD’s antioxidant superiority was associated with activation of the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway and suppression of carotenoid biosynthesis. Ten JD-specific bioactive compounds were identified through TCMSP screening, among which gallic acid and licochalcone B exhibited strong DPPH radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibitory activities, providing a material basis for the superior antioxidant capacity of JD. These findings demonstrate that variety-specific metabolomic configurations serve as the intrinsic basis for quality differentiation in faba bean and provide metabolite-level markers for breeding programs targeting enhanced antioxidant capacity and functional quality.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182846

Authors: Hanli Dang Zhilin Zhang Aifang Ma Tao Zhang

As early-spring pioneer ephemeroids in arid and semi-arid regions, Ferula species exert irreplaceable ecological functions through distinctive life-history strategies. However, their impacts on soil microhabitats and soil quality remain unclear. Taking Ferula species (Ferula feruloides, Ferula lehmannii, Ferula krylovii, and Ferula sinkiangensis) as the research subject, this study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the soil abiotic (physicochemical properties) and biological (microbial (bacterial/fungal) community diversity, composition, structure, and co-occurrence networks) factors as well as their correlations in the Ferula-planted areas (EX) and the unplanted areas (CK), and comprehensively assessed the soil quality index (SQI). Results showed the following: (1) The EX significantly affected soil nutrient contents and microbial community diversity indices (p < 0.05), with interspecific specificity and temporal dynamics. (2) The EX enhanced the stability/connectivity of microbial co-occurrence networks but reduced connection density (opposite to CK). (3) Changes in soil physicochemical factors were correlated with variations in the composition and distribution of rhizosphere microbial communities in Ferula species, with bacteria showing closer associations with soil nutrients and fungi with soil properties. Additionally, rhizosphere bacterial diversity indices explained the greatest proportion of SQI improvement. This study clarifies relationships of Ferula to the “soil−microbe−quality” continuum, providing scientific support for arid-region soil remediation, vegetation protection, and ecosystem stability.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182847

Authors: Verónica Pereira Lúcia Santos Paula C. Castilho

The global spread and incidence of microbial phytopathogens are expected to increase due to climate change and the intensification of international food trade, threatening crop productivity. While pesticides remain essential for managing disease severity, European regulations and initiatives, such as the Green Deal, have emphasized the urgent need to reduce their indiscriminate use, which has contributed to pest resistance, environmental contamination, and human health issues. Botanical pesticides, particularly flavonoids, represent promising complements to traditional pesticides because of their diverse composition of antimicrobial agents. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the antimicrobial potential of flavonoids for microbial phytopathogens, focusing on agricultural fungal pathogens and bacterial phytopathogens. The mechanisms of action by which flavonoids exert their pesticidal activity are detailed, along with structure–activity relationships, formulation, and market perspectives. The literature reveals that flavonoids possess strong potential against pre- and postharvest crop diseases caused by fungal and bacterial pathogens owing to their ability to exert multisite activity, although limited data is verified for antibacterial studies. However, their successful transition to the pesticide market requires field performance validation, formulation technologies, toxicological assessment, and regulatory harmonization.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182845

Authors: Laura Gómez-Devia Christopher N. Kaiser-Bunbury Anna Traveset Alba Costa

Understanding how habitat transformation and non-native species shape plant–pollinator interactions is important for conserving and restoring oceanic islands, where both disturbances are widespread yet rarely examined together. Here, we investigated pollination networks across six contrasting vegetation types spanning a temporal gradient of invasion by non-native flowering plants on a tropical island. We recorded 5263 visits involving 327 unique plant–pollinator interactions over a three-month sampling period. We found that vegetation type and plant invasion intensity jointly structure different components of plant–pollinator networks at fine spatial scales. Pollinator assemblage composition differed more substantially across vegetation types than across months, although pollinators did not form distinct vegetation-type-specific assemblages. Plant–pollinator interactions also differed among vegetation types, primarily due to plant species turnover. In parallel, increasing invasion intensity was associated with pollinators visiting fewer native plant species, reducing the proportion of visits received by native plants and their importance to pollinators within the network. Moreover, non-native pollinators became more specialized with increasing invasion intensity. Flower abundance was negatively related to the contribution of both plant and pollinator species to nestedness, a structural network property associated with robustness, possibly reflecting altered pollinator visitation patterns associated with honeybee dominance. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering both vegetation heterogeneity and invasion intensity for understanding and conserving island plant–pollinator networks.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182842

Authors: Guangyan Li Wajahat Hussain Ting Pan Yingyan Chen Jiaqi Li Yunxia Zeng Yonghong Zhou Dianqiu Lv

Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) infection can induce tuber cracking and knob-like protuberances at tuber eyes, but the molecular differences between these two localized symptoms remain unclear. In this study, smooth surface regions and normal eye tissues were collected from mock-inoculated tubers of the potato cultivar ‘Kexin 18’, whereas crack regions and regions of knob-like protuberances at tuber eyes were collected from PSTVd-infected tubers. RNA sequencing and targeted phytohormone quantification were combined with weighted gene co-expression network analysis, infection × region interaction analysis, and gene-hormone association analysis. PSTVd infection markedly inhibited plant growth and tuber development, and 2972 genes with significant infection × region interaction effects were identified. Crack regions were characterized primarily by enhanced defense and oxidative stress related transcriptional responses, remodeling of cell wall and surface barrier related processes, and accumulation of several cytokinin (CK) metabolites, salicylic acid/salicylic acid glucoside (SA/SAG), and 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA); CRK2, RBOHA, and CSLG2 were among the representative candidate genes. Regions of knob-like protuberances at tuber eyes showed pronounced reprogramming of processes related to DNA replication, the cell cycle, chromosome maintenance, and chromatin organization, together with decreases in several CK metabolites, a downward trend in jasmonate-related oxylipins, and an increase in indole-3-butyric acid; ACL5-like, PILS7-like, CYCA3;1, and MCM4 were identified as candidate genes. Gene-hormone association analysis further revealed distinct molecular association patterns in the two regions. Collectively, the two symptomatic regions exhibited distinct region-dependent transcriptomic and phytohormone metabolic states after symptom development.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182844

Authors: Alina Savinova Pipob Suwanchaikasem Balamurugan Shanmugaraj Waranyoo Phoolcharoen

Plant molecular farming has emerged as a promising platform to produce recombinant biopharmaceuticals. The expression of foreign proteins changes the host proteome and metabolome, and these changes might have an effect on the accumulation of recombinant proteins. In this study, we investigated how fusion partners and ER-retention strategies influence host responses during transient production of recombinant human interleukin-15 (IL-15) in Nicotiana benthamiana. Four IL-15 constructs carrying either an 8 × His tag or an IgG1 Fc fusion, with or without an N-terminal signal peptide and C-terminal SEKDEL motif (KD), were compared at 4 days post-infiltration. Western blot analysis detected IL-15 only in the Fc-fusion constructs. Plants expressing IL15-Fc accumulated more antioxidant enzymes and phenylpropanoid-derived phenolics. Expression of IL15-Fc with the SP/KD construct showed increased abundance of proteins involved in protein folding and translation, together with reduced representation of secondary metabolic pathways. Overall, the results demonstrate that fusion partner and SP/KD targeting strategy jointly shape the host response to recombinant IL-15 expression and should therefore be evaluated together during construct design for plant molecular farming.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182843

Authors: Panfeng Liu Xiujie Xue Hongyan Du Jiajia Zhang Kunhao Xie Gengxin Lv Mengke Lian Qingxin Du

1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS) is the first key enzyme in the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway of plant terpenoid biosynthesis, and it plays a vital role in Eucommia ulmoides terpenoid biosynthesis. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to comprehensively identify and analyze the expression pattern of the EuDXS gene family, aiming to provide a basis for further functional study of EuDXS genes. A total of four EuDXS gene family members were identified and named EuDXS1 to EuDXS4. The encoded proteins contained 625 to 713 amino acid residues, with molecular weight ranging from 67.98 kDa to 76.61 kDa. The theoretical isoelectric points varied from 6.79 to 8.69, aliphatic index was between 85.29 and 91.29. In silico subcellular localization prediction revealed that all EuDXS proteins were localized in chloroplasts. EuDXS gene members were categorized into three subfamilies, which were unevenly distributed on three chromosomes. The promoters of EuDXS genes contained various cis-acting elements related to stress response, phytohormone signaling, light response and growth regulation. Expression pattern analysis showed that EuDXS genes exhibited tissue-specific expression: EuDXS1 was highly expressed in stem, leaf and fruit, EuDXS2 was predominantly expressed in fruit. EuDXS1 and EuDXS2 exhibited high expression levels at the early developmental stage of fruits and leaves. In addition, EuDXS genes responded to salt and drought stress in varying degrees. Transient expression in tobacco revealed that EuDXS1 and EuDXS2 could increase carotenoid and total chlorophyll content. This study will provide important genetic resources for further exploration of EuDXS gene function and germplasm innovation in E. ulmoides.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182841

Authors: Mncedisi Ndwandwe Hussein Shimelis

Hybrid breeding exploits heterosis from genetically complementary parents to develop desirable products, including in Eucalyptus. The aim of this review is to present integrative techniques for hybrid breeding in Eucalyptus based on conventional methods such as phenotypic selection and controlled hybridization, and modern genomic-assisted approaches to guide product development. Molecular breeding tools such as marker-assisted selection (MAS), quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) have enhanced the precision of selection in Eucalyptus for traits such as growth rate, wood density, fibre quality, disease resistance, drought tolerance and adaptability. Modern approaches have enabled the identification of trait-specific QTL and genes in popular Eucalyptus species such as Eucalyptus grandis, E. urophylla, E. camaldulensis, and E. nitens, thereby accelerating hybrid development. Genome editing techniques offer new opportunities for genetic modification of traits, especially in Eucalyptus, where the final product may not require stringent regulatory oversight. In Eucalyptus breeding, the key market-preferred traits are pulp and paper, lumber, and bioenergy, requiring high-performance and better biomass hybrids. For successful hybrid breeding, a multidisciplinary approach is required that integrates genetic and genomic resources. Furthermore, investment in forest genomics and multi-institutional collaboration will be needed to keep up with advances in Eucalyptus breeding. The review may serve as a framework to guide Eucalyptus breeding and genetics, aiming to develop next-generation hybrids that adapt to environmental changes and meet market demands.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182840

Authors: Jie Wang Na Sun Runbin Zhong Jinyi Tian Rongrong Xue Yingying Zheng Yuanyuan Song Rensen Zeng Dongmei Chen

Brown planthopper (BPH) is a devastating rice pest worldwide, and enhancing intrinsic plant resistance represents a sustainable strategy for its control. Here, we report that OsJAC1, a gene encoding a protein harboring dirigent and jacalin-related lectin domains, positively regulates BPH resistance in rice by priming diterpenoid biosynthesis and amplifying jasmonic acid (JA) signaling. Overexpression of OsJAC1 (OE) in japonica cv. Zhonghua 11 significantly enhanced resistance, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 knockout (KO) increased susceptibility. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that OE plants constitutively upregulated diterpenoid biosynthetic genes, including OsCPS4, OsKSL4 and CYP99A3, with further induction upon BPH infestation, accompanied by enrichment of MYB and bHLH transcription factors. Targeted metabolomics showed elevated momilactone A and B levels in OE plants. Hormonal assays demonstrated that JA accumulation was amplified in OE after BPH attack. Collectively, OsJAC1 confers resistance via a dual mechanism: constitutive priming of diterpenoid metabolism and attack-triggered amplification through JA signaling, but the precise biochemical function remains to be determined. Our findings uncover a regulatory cascade from transcriptional activation to phytoalexin accumulation and identify OsJAC1 as a promising target for breeding BPH-resistant rice.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182839

Authors: Wenbo Liu Fangang Meng Demin Rao Xingdong Yao

Continuous cropping obstacles severely restrict soybean production; nitrogen application can alleviate continuous cropping obstacles. However, it remains unclear how nitrogen metabolism and nodulation differ between soybean cultivars with contrasting continuous cropping tolerance under varied nitrogen levels. In this study, two soybean cultivars, Liaodou 14 (L14, continuous-cropping-tolerant) and Liaodou 10 (L10, continuous-cropping-sensitive), were cultivated in a sand culture system. Three nitrogen levels, low (LN), medium (MN), and high (HN), were set with three soybean soil extract treatments, namely continuous cropping (CC), continuous cropping + sodium orthovanadate (CS), and crop rotation (CR). Key nitrogen metabolic enzyme activities and gene expression in leaves and fine roots, nodule number, nitrogenase activity, and nitrogen content were systematically determined. The results show that the CC treatment significantly inhibited nitrogen metabolism enzyme activities, gene expression, and nitrogen accumulation, whereas the HN treatment partially alleviated the growth-related inhibitory effects induced by continuous cropping, although HN treatment did not fully restore symbiotic nitrogen fixation function. Under the CC treatment, L14 exhibited superior performance over L10 for most measured parameters, except for GDH activity and GmNADH-GOGAT expression. Specifically, the leaf NR activity of L14 was 8.51% and 8.47% higher than that of L10 at the R1 and R6 growth stages, respectively. The maximum nodule number was observed under the HN treatment, while the highest nitrogenase activity occurred under the LN treatment. Most indicators under the CS treatment showed intermediate values between the CC and CR treatments. Collectively, through optimized nitrogen management, continuous-cropping-tolerant cultivars maintain higher enzyme activities, stable gene expression and efficient nitrogen translocation and allocation, potentially alleviating continuous cropping obstacles and improving yield potential.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15182837

Authors: Chenhui Wang Yin Song

Photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) are highly optimized pigment–protein complexes that drive the primary charge separation essential for solar energy conversion. Despite deep evolutionary divergence, many RCs share a conserved two-branch structural architecture, raising fundamental questions about how physical symmetry, excitonic interactions, and protein environments dictate electron-transfer directionality and efficiency. This review provides a comparative analysis of primary charge separation in two paradigmatic systems—the pseudo-symmetric purple bacterial reaction center (PbRC, Type II) and the homodimeric heliobacterial reaction center (HbRC, Type I). We first examine their structural and excitonic properties and discuss how protein-induced energetic asymmetry in PbRC favors electron transfer along a single active branch, whereas the symmetric HbRC supports charge separation through two equivalent branches, involving an A0-centered intermediate. We then highlight insights from ultrafast and multidimensional spectroscopy and first-principles calculations into charge-transfer intermediates, excitonic interactions, and coherent dynamics during the earliest stages of photochemistry. Finally, we discuss how evolutionary changes in cofactor identity, orientation, separation, and protein electrostatics may have shaped the distinct charge-separation mechanisms of Type I and Type II RCs. Together, these comparisons illustrate how photosynthetic RCs combine excitonic coupling, cofactor energetics, and protein-mediated electrostatic tuning to achieve efficient primary charge separation.