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Plants
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Cell Biology, Development, Adaptation and Evolution of Plants
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Cell Biology, Development, Adaptation and Evolution of Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Development and Morphogenesis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 3875

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Hiroyasu Motose

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Okayama University, Tsushimanaka 3-1-1, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
Interests: plant morphology; plant cell biology; plant signaling; cell division; growth polarity; organ development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce this Special Issue on the cellular and molecular aspects of plants’ development, environmental adaptation, and evolution. 

Plants have evolved various shapes and developmental patterns, enabling them to adapt and thrive in diverse environments across the globe. In recent years, rapid advances in technologies such as next-generation sequencing, mass spectrometry, genome editing, and imaging have considerably expanded research possibilities—not only in established model plants but also in a variety of non-model species. This Special Issue presents recent studies on the cell biology, morphology, development, signaling, environmental adaptation, and evolution of plants, aiming to uncover the molecular and cellular basis of their diversity, flexible developmental patterns, and remarkable environmental adaptability.

Dr. Hiroyasu Motose
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • morphology and development
  • cell division and growth
  • signaling and gene expression
  • adaptation to the environment
  • genomics
  • technological evolution and new model systems
  • evolution

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 21259 KB  
Article
Origin and Development of Phloem and Xylem as Revealed in 3D Models of the Vascular Cylinder in Primary Roots of Oryza sativa L. cv. Hitomebore
by Yasushi Miki, Susumu Saito, Teruo Niki and Daniel K. Gladish
Plants 2026, 15(4), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15040607 - 14 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1813
Abstract
Xylem and phloem are the defining features of vascular plants and are central to their evolutionary success. The origin and development of phloem and xylem within the vascular cylinder of rice primary roots (Oryza sativa L.) were investigated using serial sectioning and [...] Read more.
Xylem and phloem are the defining features of vascular plants and are central to their evolutionary success. The origin and development of phloem and xylem within the vascular cylinder of rice primary roots (Oryza sativa L.) were investigated using serial sectioning and three-dimensional (3D) image processing techniques improved and developed by the authors. Protophloem mother cells and metaphloem sieve tube members were derived from vascular initials at about 20 μm from the apex of the vascular cylinder (AVC). Protophloem tissue and companion cells were generated through two successive divisions of protophloem mother cells 60–95 μm from the AVC of a 20 mm-long primary root. Metaxylem and late-metaxylem were initiated by the division of vascular initials at about 20 μm from the AVC of a 20 mm long root. Protoxylem was formed basipetally from secondary initials produced through periclinal division of pericycle cells at distances ranging 175–560 μm from the AVC. Protoxylem vessels could be clearly identified with a thickened cell wall preceding the thickening of metaxylem cell walls. Around 15 mm from the AVC of the 20 mm-long root, three kinds of xylem vessels (protoxylem, metaxylem and late metaxylem) were confirmed. The histogenesis of protophloem and protoxylem in rice primary roots was carefully analyzed and discussed in this study. In particular, the view has been confirmed regarding the pericycle origin of protoxylem in rice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biology, Development, Adaptation and Evolution of Plants)
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19 pages, 8208 KB  
Article
Transcriptomic Analysis Provides Insights into Flowering in Precocious-Fruiting Amomum villosum Lour.
by Yating Zhu, Shuang Li, Hongyou Zhao, Qianxia Li, Yanfang Wang, Chunyong Yang, Ge Li, Wenlin Zhang, Zhibin Guan, Lin Xiao, Yanqian Wang and Lixia Zhang
Plants 2026, 15(2), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15020198 - 8 Jan 2026
Viewed by 671
Abstract
Precocious-fruiting Amomum villosum Lour. is characterized by early fruit set, rapid yield formation, and shortened economic return cycles, indicating strong cultivation potential. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its flowering transition remain unclear. To elucidate the flowering mechanism of A. villosum, we used [...] Read more.
Precocious-fruiting Amomum villosum Lour. is characterized by early fruit set, rapid yield formation, and shortened economic return cycles, indicating strong cultivation potential. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its flowering transition remain unclear. To elucidate the flowering mechanism of A. villosum, we used the Illumina NovaSeq X Plus platform to compare gene expression profiles in three tissues (Rhizomes, R; Stems, S; Leaves, L) during the vegetative stage and three tissues (Rhizomes and Inflorescences, R&I; Stems, S; Leaves, L) during the flowering stage of individual plants: VS-R vs. FS-R&I, VS-S vs. FS-S, and VS-L vs. FS-L. We obtained 52.5 Gb clean data and 789 million reads, and identified 2963 novel genes. The 3061 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, FDR ≤ 0.05 and |log2FC| ≥ 1) identified in the three comparison groups included six overlapping genes. The DEGs were enriched primarily in GO terms related to cellular process, metabolic process, binding, catalytic activity, and cellular anatomical entity, as well as multiple terms associated with development and reproduction. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed enrichment primarily in metabolic pathways, including global and overview maps, energy metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. Moreover, the most significantly enriched core pathways included metabolic pathways, photosynthesis, and carbon assimilation. Among all alternative splicing (AS) events, skipped exons (SEs) accounted for the largest proportion (59.5%), followed by retained introns (RI, 19.4%), alternative 3′ splice sites (A3SS, 10.7%), alternative 5′ splice sites (A5SS, 6.8%), and mutually exclusive exons (MXE, 3.6%). A preliminary set of 43 key DEGs was predicted, displaying spatiotemporal expression specificity and strong interactions among certain genes. Nine genes were further selected for RT-qPCR validation to confirm the reliability of the RNA-seq results. This study established a foundational framework for elucidating the flowering mechanism of precocious-fruiting A. villosum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biology, Development, Adaptation and Evolution of Plants)
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16 pages, 5564 KB  
Article
Cytological and Ploidy Analyses Revealing Fertility Defects of Cultivar Cyperus esculentus L. in China
by Meng Wang, Ke Hu, Yan Wang, Yilin Tian, Xiaoying Du, Jiaying Zhu, Huiwei Wang, Chunxin Li and Pingli Lu
Plants 2025, 14(22), 3431; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14223431 - 10 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1092
Abstract
Cyperus esculentus L., commonly known as Yellow Nutsedge or Tiger Nut, belongs to the Sedge family (Cyperaceae), which is widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions around the world. The species is particularly noted for its underground tuber, which is rich in starch [...] Read more.
Cyperus esculentus L., commonly known as Yellow Nutsedge or Tiger Nut, belongs to the Sedge family (Cyperaceae), which is widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions around the world. The species is particularly noted for its underground tuber, which is rich in starch and oil, and can be used for both food and industrial purposes. However, cultivated C. esculentus rarely flowers in the field, and when it does, flowering is often accompanied by sterility, significantly hindering the development of superior varieties through sexual hybridization. Our investigation into the causes of pollen abortion in C. esculentus yielded several key findings. Initially, we observed pollen abortion within the anthers using Alexander’s red staining and starch-iodide staining techniques. Further examination through semi-thin sections of the anthers revealed that, although the pollen appeared normal during the pachytene stage, the pollen failed to stain blue in later developmental stages, indicating abnormal development. This was followed by vacuolation, collapse, and degradation of the pollen, ultimately resulting in abortion. Additionally, we monitored chromosome behavior throughout meiosis and observed premature chromosome separation during metaphase II, leading to disarray in the subsequent pseudomonad phase. Chromosomal karyotype analysis and ploidy predictions suggested that the triploid nature of C. esculentus contributes to meiotic disorders, which may explain the phenomenon of pollen abortion. These findings provide valuable insights into the reproductive challenges faced by this species and may inform future breeding efforts aimed at overcoming its sterility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biology, Development, Adaptation and Evolution of Plants)
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