Plants, Volume 15, Issue 2

Understanding seasonal water acquisition strategies of desert plants is critical for predicting vegetation resilience under increasing hydrological stress in arid inland river basins. In hyper-arid oases, strong evaporative demand and declining groun...

The optimal branch bending angle for Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü (Korla fragrant pear) remains undefined. In this study, the optimal angle was determined by integrating the phenological, nutritional, hormonal, and fruit-quality responses across a 15-...

The multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) protein plays a crucial role in mediating plant responses to aluminum (Al) toxicity. The key candidate gene BnaMATE43b related to Al toxicity stress in rapeseed was identified using GWAS and transcrip...

The increasing demand for food is the driving force behind the search for novel, more selective, and less hazardous agrochemicals. Natural products are gaining prominence recently due to the promise of being green agrochemicals, but many natural prod...

Tetraploid non-apomictic citrus genotypes are key female parents for 4x × 2x hybridizations aimed at producing seedless triploid hybrids. However, the extent to which different tetraploidization methods affect genome integrity remains insuffici...

Clonal propagation often must incorporate heaters to warm stock plants and stabilize growth. This study investigates the impact that different temperature regimes for stock plants have on the rooting capacity of mini-cuttings derived therefrom. Exper...

Rational nitrogen applications can not only improve nutrient use efficiency, but also reduce environmental pollution caused by nitrogen leaching. To explore reasonable nitrogen application strategies for synergistically enhancing alfalfa production a...

We developed OmicIntegrator, a broadly adaptable pipeline designed to standardize and integrate publicly available transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic datasets. We applied this workflow to Arabidopsis thaliana etiolated seedlings to ident...

Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most devastating diseases affecting global rice production. Plant essential oils (EOs) have been considered as a promising green alternative to synthetic fungicides. In this...

Melatonin (MEL), also known as N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, has been reported in plants as a secondary messenger involved in regulating abiotic stress responses. MEL treatment, either preharvest or postharvest, regulates several physiological and bi...

Waterlogging stress severely limits crop photosynthesis and energy supplies, resulting in significant yield reductions. However, the critical duration of waterlogging stress during the maize jointing stage remains unclear, and the physiological and m...

The consequences of stacking multiple insect-resistance and herbicide-tolerance genes, particularly across the entire plant life cycle, remain inadequately understood. This study investigated the impact of stacked-trait transgenic soybeans on rhizosp...

Heat and waterlogging are critical abiotic stresses that threaten crop productivity, especially as climate change intensifies their frequency and severity. While both stresses independently disrupt essential physiological functions such as photosynth...

The genus Agave L. is a key component of Mediterranean alien flora, yet its inland distribution in the Iberian Peninsula remains poorly understood. This research integrates exhaustive field surveys with Species Distribution Models (SDMs) to character...

Steviol glycosides (SGs) are high-intensity, zero-calorie natural sweeteners with demonstrated safety and potential health benefits, positioning them as ideal sucrose substitutes for metabolic disorder management. However, their broad application is...

Conventional wheat breeding in the field is limited to two generations per year and is susceptible to environmental fluctuations. Speed-breeding in a plant factory offers a solution; however, recommendations for lighting strategies remain limited. To...

Adventitious shoot regeneration in woody species is regulated by interactions between plant growth regulators, endogenous hormone metabolism, and environmental cues such as light quality. Here, we investigated the effects of thidiazuron (TDZ) and the...

Knowledge related to the use of plants and mushrooms in the Baranja region of Croatia was documented through semi-structured interviews of 105 informants in 12 villages. We found 117 plant species and 7 mushrooms with medicinal uses. Rosaceae, Lamiac...

Therapeutic strategies that fine-tune epithelial inflammatory responses are highly sought after in respiratory and mucosal disorders, but few molecules selectively target these pathways. Vernoniastrum migeodii (S. Moore) Isawumi (Asteraceae) represen...

Rice blast and bacterial blight cause severe harm to rice production, and the breeding of resistant varieties guarantees the safety of rice production. Meanwhile, multigene pyramiding breeding based on molecular marker-assisted selection is a crucial...

Adlay (Coix lacryma-jobi L.) stands out as a vital health-promoting cereal due to its dual nutritional and medicinal properties; however, it remains significantly underdeveloped compared to major crops. The lack of mechanistic understanding of its ca...

Sasa quelpaertensis, a multipurpose bamboo plant endemic to Jeju Island in South Korea, is used by the population in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-gastritis, and diuretic activities. Studies have shown the potent...

Alpine forests are key regulators of soil biogeochemical cycles, yet the extent to which forest type constrains soil microbial diversity and soil quality in high-elevation regions remains insufficiently resolved. Here, we assessed how contrasting alp...

GmSRC7 is a broad-spectrum antiviral R gene from soybean, but its downstream and functionally related genes remain unclear. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) assays in Nicotiana benthamiana (Nb) showed that suppression of several gene families&mdas...

This study evaluated the effects of foliar silicon (Si) and sulfur (S) applications under contrasting climatic conditions on macro- and micronutrient accumulation in oat grain. The three-year field experiment (2022–2024) was conducted in Debrec...

Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl. (Apiaceae) is an orophilous species with notable traditional uses, particularly across the broader Middle East region. Over the past 50 years, research on its essential oil has revealed the existence of several chemotype...

Cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) is a crop of great economic importance, as the superior quality of its fiber is highly valued worldwide. The objective of this research was to evaluate the agromorphological diversity of cotton germplasm using both qu...

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) root system plays a critical role in water and nutrient uptake, influencing overall plant growth and crop yield. In this study, we characterized the Osdrp2b mutant, which exhibits a short-root phenotype and was identified throu...

This review explores the innovative approaches in the development of next-generation biopesticides, focusing on molecular and microbial strategies for effective control of fungal plant pathogens. As agricultural practices increasingly seek sustainabl...

The species Inula helenium belongs to the genus Inula (Asteraceae) and exhibits antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is used in respiratory and skin diseases. Its bioactivity is attributed to its eudesmanolide components, mainly to alan...

Tea plants are frequently threatened by insect pests, resulting in substantial yield and quality losses. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a key defense signaling molecule in plants; however, its integrated effects on tea plant growth, resistance, and quali...

Gibberellic Acid-Stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) proteins are cysteine-rich peptides broadly conserved in plants and implicated in growth regulation, stress adaptation, and hormone signaling. Here, we identified 13 GASA genes in the maize genome, distr...

Candidatus Liberibacter spp. can infect most citrus plants and rely entirely on phloem sieve tube cells of the host plant for survival. Candidatus Liberibacter primarily contains Ca. L. asiaticus (CLas), Ca. L. africanus (CLaf), and Ca. L. americanus...

Improving wheat processing quality is a crucial objective in modern wheat breeding. Among various quality parameters, grain protein content (GPC) and wet gluten content (WGC) significantly influence the end-use quality of flour. These traits are cont...

The expansin-like subfamilies (EXLA and EXLB) are vital for plant cell wall dynamics, but it remains uncharacterized in wild tetraploid and hexaploid Ipomoea batatas, and its role in the storage root (SR) development is poorly understood. In this wor...

The last few decades have seen the evolution of crop systems management studies from the traditional production-based agronomy domain, not only as a way of addressing the challenges of contemporary agriculture but also as a result of the complexity o...

Seed coat color in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a critical agronomic trait that affects both nutritional quality and market appeal. In this study, we identified two bHLH transcription factor genes, AhWSC1a and AhWSC1b, homologues of Arabidopsis TR...

The present study investigates the suitability of the invasive herbaceous species Sosnowsky’s hogweed (Heracleum sosnowskyi) and giant knotweed (Fallopia sachalinensis), together with reed (Phragmites australis), as feedstock for pressed biofue...

Injecting chemical agents into tree trunks is a key method for preventing pine wilt disease (PWD). However, the long-term use of conventional trunk injection agents such as emamectin benzoate (EB) and avermectin (AVM) may lead to nematode resistance....

AIG1 (avrRpt2-induced gene 1)-like proteins are a class of GTPases that play crucial roles in plants, functioning both in chloroplast protein import and disease resistance. However, their evolutionary history and the mechanisms driving this functiona...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important horticultural crop. Carotenoid cyclase dioxygenase (CCD) is an enzyme responsible for cleaving carotenoids, which is involved in regulating plant growth and response to abiotic stresses. However, the r...

Drought stress severely restricts plant growth and substantially reduces crop productivity. Although drought-response mechanisms have been extensively characterized within individual plant species, the conserved metabolic strategies shared across spe...

Research for sustainable viticulture practices has fostered interest in ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation as non-chemical tool for vineyard pathogen control; however, little information is available on their potential elicitation of berry metabolites. T...

The cacao tree is naturally adapted to shade; however, cultivation in full-sun systems is becoming increasingly common. However, high light intensity can damage the photosynthetic apparatus, making the choice of genotype fundamental to the success of...

Berry skins are rich in phenolic compounds but are commonly discarded as low-value waste during berry wine production. The present study evaluated how primary alcoholic fermentation affects the retention and transformation of phenolics in berry skins...

Arid and semi-arid ecosystems harbor a wealth of underexplored plant biodiversity with untapped ecological and pharmacological potential. This study integrates morphological and molecular barcoding (ITS and rbcL) to confirm the identity of eight wild...

Asian soybean rust (ASR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi (Syd.), poses a serious threat to global soybean production. The main approach to managing this disease has been through repeated fungicide applications which have reduced efficacy due to fung...

A field experiment was conducted in 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 at Rogoza, Fala, and Brežice in Slovenia to examine the biological viability of a mixed intercropping system and the effect of winter catch crops (WCCs) on maize growth para...

This paper aims to address the problem of the low success rate of seedling picking and throwing, and the high damage rate of pot seedling, caused by the unclear interaction and parameter mismatch between the seedling picking end effector and the pot...

Plant biostimulatory effects of the green alga Chlorella sp. MACC-360, the Kocuria rhizophila FSP120 bacterial strain, and the combined inter-kingdom co-culture of the alga and bacterium were investigated using Solanum lycopersicum as a model plant g...