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Emerging Insights into Phytohormone Signaling in Plants

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 1462

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Long Ping Branch, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410125, China
Interests: plant hormone; signal transduction; molecular biology; transcription factor; phylogeny

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants exhibit an incredible diversity, spanning from simple algae to complex flowering plants, each with unique morphological, physiological, and ecological traits. Despite this vast diversity, the roles of plant hormones as fundamental regulators of growth, development, and responses to environmental stimuli are deeply conserved across plant lineages. Plant hormones serve as the cornerstone of physiological processes, ensuring the survival and adaptability of plants in various environments. However, due to the distinct evolutionary trajectories of different plant species, the pathways and mechanisms by which these hormones function also exhibit significant variation.

Suggested topics for inclusion in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conserved roles of plant hormones across lineages, specifically comparative analyses of hormone biosynthesis and signaling networks in diverse plant species;
  • Evolutionary divergence in hormone pathways through phylogenetic studies of hormone receptors and signaling components across different plant lineages;
  • Hormone-mediated regulation of plant traits, elucidating the roles of phytohormones in plant bioactivities, such as growth, development, stress responses, plant defense, and plant–microbe interactions;
  • Molecular mechanisms of hormone action via structural and functional studies of hormone receptors and their interaction partners;
  • Biotechnological approaches for engineering plants with enhanced hormone responsiveness.

Dr. Meng Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • phytohormone
  • signal transduction
  • evolutionary and functional diversity
  • implications for plant science and agriculture

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 4619 KB  
Article
Physiological and Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Regulatory Mechanisms of Adventitious Root Formation in In Vitro Culture of Cinnamomum camphora
by Yuntong Zhang, Ting Zhang, Yongjie Zheng, Jun Wang, Chenglin Luo, Yuhua Li and Xinliang Liu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(15), 7264; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26157264 - 27 Jul 2025
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Abstract
Cinnamomum camphora is an ecologically and economically significant species, highly valued for its essential oil production and environmental benefits. Although a tissue culture system has been established for C. camphora, large-scale propagation remains limited due to the inconsistent formation of adventitious roots [...] Read more.
Cinnamomum camphora is an ecologically and economically significant species, highly valued for its essential oil production and environmental benefits. Although a tissue culture system has been established for C. camphora, large-scale propagation remains limited due to the inconsistent formation of adventitious roots (ARs). This study investigated AR formation from callus tissue, focusing on associated physiological changes and gene expression dynamics. During AR induction, contents of soluble sugars and proteins decreased, alongside reduced activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO). Levels of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) decreased significantly throughout AR formation. Zeatin riboside (ZR) levels initially declined and then rose, whereas gibberellic acid (GA) levels displayed the opposite trend. Comparative transcriptomic and temporal expression analyses identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were grouped into four distinct expression patterns. KEGG pathway enrichment indicated that 67 DEGs are involved in plant hormone signaling pathways and that 38 DEGs are involved in the starch and sucrose metabolism pathway. Additionally, protein–protein interaction network (PPI) analysis revealed ten key regulatory genes, which are mainly involved in auxin, cytokinin, GA, ABA, and ethylene signaling pathways. The reliability of the transcriptome data was further validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Overall, this study provides new insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying AR formation in C. camphora and offers valuable guidance for optimizing tissue culture systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Insights into Phytohormone Signaling in Plants)
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16 pages, 2611 KB  
Article
The OsNAC25 Transcription Factor Enhances Drought Tolerance in Rice
by Aohuan Yang, Qiong Luo, Lei Liu, Meihe Jiang, Fankai Zhao, Yingjiang Li and Bohan Liu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(10), 4954; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26104954 - 21 May 2025
Viewed by 602
Abstract
Drought represents a prevalent abiotic stress in terrestrial plants, frequently impairing crop growth and yield. In this paper, we characterized the functional role of OsNAC25, a member of the NAC transcription factor family, in drought tolerance. OsNAC25 was predominantly localized in both [...] Read more.
Drought represents a prevalent abiotic stress in terrestrial plants, frequently impairing crop growth and yield. In this paper, we characterized the functional role of OsNAC25, a member of the NAC transcription factor family, in drought tolerance. OsNAC25 was predominantly localized in both the cytoplasm and nucleus, with its expression being markedly induced under drought conditions. Under severe drought stress, the overexpression of OsNAC25 rice exhibited decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, attenuated oxidative damage, and improved survival rate during the vegetative growth stage. The transcriptome analysis revealed that OsNAC25 coordinates drought response through key pathways associated with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and diterpenoid biosynthesis. Collectively, our findings highlight OsNAC25 as a pivotal transcriptional regulator governing drought resistance in rice. This study not only provides a candidate gene for improving drought tolerance in rice but also offers valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying drought adaptation in cereal crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Insights into Phytohormone Signaling in Plants)
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