Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162492

Authors: Yinglong Yang Xinyi Du Pan Yang Bin Wang Guangji Ye Huijun Li Zhenzhen Zheng

Syringa oblata is a renowned flowering shrub, yet the functional studies on the regulatory factors governing its flower color formation remain limited. In this study, a new MYB transcription factor, named SoMYB1, was isolated from the petals of Syringa oblata by the homologous cloning technique. The open reading frames of SoMYB1 was 705 bp in length. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that SoMYB1 contained the highly conserved R2 and R3 MYB domains. A quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that SoMYB1 was expressed tissue specifically in flowers. Ectopic expression of SoMYB1 induced anthocyanins accumulation in both vegetative and reproductive tissues of transgenic tobacco lines. Overexpression of SoMYB1 in tobacco enhanced the expression of NtAN2 (MYB) and NtAN1b (bHLH), and the expression of structural genes NtCHS, NtCHI, NtF3H, NtF3′H, NtDFR, NtANS, NtUFGT, and Nt3RT increased remarkably. The UPLC-MS/MS analysis of transgenic tobacco leaves showed that the heterologous expression of SoMYB1 significantly promoted the accumulation of anthocyanin metabolites, especially cyanidin, which accounted for more than 50% of the total anthocyanins in the transgenic tobacco lines. This study elucidates the molecular mechanism by which SoMYB1 positively regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis in S. oblata, providing theoretical and technical support for developing plant resources rich in cyanidin.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162491

Authors: Bar Cristina Cosmin Alin Popescu Adina Horablaga Giancarla Velicevici Dorin Camen

Urban green spaces play a fundamental role in maintaining ecological stability, supporting biodiversity, regulating urban microclimates, and improving human wellbeing. Because photosynthetic activity is a key indicator of vegetation functionality and environmental adaptation, this study evaluated the photosynthetic performance of vegetation across eight urban green spaces within the campus of the University of Life Sciences “King Michael I” in Timișoara, Romania. Vegetation structure, spatial organization, and estimated photosynthetic rates of selected ornamental species were comparatively analyzed under the temperate climatic conditions of the study area. Two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the spatial characteristics of the investigated green spaces had a highly significant effect on photosynthetic variability (F(7, 42) = 6.783; p = 0.000021), explaining approximately 46% of the total variance, whereas species identity accounted for only 13.3% and showed no statistically significant influence (p = 0.052863). The highest photosynthetic performance was recorded in structurally diverse green spaces characterized by dense tree canopy and balanced woody–herbaceous vegetation, whereas the lowest values occurred in highly urbanized areas with limited vegetation cover. These findings demonstrate that the structural organization and vegetation composition of urban green spaces strongly influence photosynthetic performance and support the use of integrated ecological assessment as a decision-support tool for sustainable and climate-resilient urban green infrastructure planning.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162490

Authors: Shilin Li Lili Sun Chaoyi Wu Wenyang Zang Shujuan Zhang Fuzhong Li

In complex orchard environments, sweet persimmons tend to grow in dense clusters and display similar coloration across different maturity stages, leading to heavy occlusion and poor inter-class color discriminability. To address these challenges, this paper presents RCPNet, a detection network tailored for such field conditions. The model integrates a Rectangular Self-Calibration Module (RCM) and a Context Feature Calibration Gating (CFCG) module. RCM strengthens axial context capture, while CFCG improves feature calibration; together they reduce local feature ambiguity and help reconstruct missing information in occluded regions. For distinguishing fruits at different ripening stages that share similar colors, a Parallelized Patch-aware Attention (PPA) detection head is adopted. By leveraging self-attention and multi-branch strategies, this head suppresses feature degradation and notably enhances sensitivity to color contrast. Experiments on sweet persimmon images show that RCPNet improves mean Average Precision (mAP) by 2.7 percentage points and mAP@0.5:0.95 by 3.7 percentage points over the baseline, reaching 93.6% detection accuracy for immature fruits. Ablation studies and comparisons with mainstream detectors indicate that the proposed model, though slightly heavier than lightweight detectors of analogous capacity, surpasses the accuracy of a larger small-scale counterpart and exhibits satisfactory robustness. Strong performance on a self-collected flat jujube dataset further confirms its generalization ability. The method delivers highly accurate detection for occluded and near-color fruits, providing technical support for precise fruit recognition and automated picking.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162489

Authors: Yue-Han Zhao Lin Li Ya-Li Wu Hai-Tao Zhao Hua-Ying Fu San-Ji Gao Jin-Da Wang

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) is the most important sugar crop. However, its genetic improvement is severely constrained by genotype-dependent regeneration recalcitrance and lengthy tissue culture cycles. Here, we established a simple, efficient, and genotype-flexible in planta transformation system using two-leaf-stage plantlets. By systematic optimization of three key parameters: Agrobacterium cell density (OD600 = 0.5), dark incubation duration (2 weeks), and infection frequency (two rounds), we achieved a maximum transformation efficiency of 51.2%. The protocol was successfully applied to eight diverse sugarcane varieties, with transformation efficiencies ranging from 33.3% to 51.2%, demonstrating broad genotype applicability. Using this optimized system, we introduced Sh4CL13 into sugarcane. Transgenic lines exhibited a 3.25-fold increase in Sh4CL13 transcript levels and a 13.7-fold elevation in chlorogenic acid (CGA) content compared to controls. Feeding bioassays with Mythimna separata larvae revealed that transgenic lines significantly prolonged larval developmental duration, reduced pupal weight, and decreased adult emergence rates. This in planta transformation system bypasses tissue culture, offers a practical platform for functional genomics and molecular breeding in sugarcane and potentially other monocot crops.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162488

Authors: Caleb Mugove Souta Zamalotshwa Goodness Thungo Julia Sibiya Pangirayi Tongooona Meluleki Zikhali

Sorghum is a strategic food-security and livestock-feed crop in Africa, and molecular characterization of its germplasm underpins genetic diversity assessment and hybrid parent selection. This study evaluated 106 sorghum accessions (23 A-lines, 28 B-lines, 32 R-lines, and 23 hybrids) from ICRISAT and Seed Co gene banks using 79 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) markers. Genetic diversity, population structure, cluster analysis, and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) were assessed to support heterotic grouping. Gene diversity ranged from 0.23 in R-lines to 0.32 in hybrids, and polymorphic information content from 0.19 to 0.26, indicating moderate marker discriminatory power. Population structure analysis identified an optimum of K = 3: Cluster 1 comprised paired A- and B-lines forming a putative maintainer pool, Cluster 2 was dominated by R-lines forming a divergent restorer pool, and Cluster 3 formed a second seed-parent subgroup. AMOVA confirmed highly significant differentiation (ΦST = 0.55; p < 0.001), with molecular variance partitioned among the three clusters (44.0%), among individuals within clusters (45.2%), and among breeding-line types (10.8%). These findings provide a genomic framework for assigning sorghum accessions to putative heterotic groups and accelerating hybrid parent selection for climate-resilient sorghum production.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162487

Authors: Yinghui Zhang Hang Tao Guiping Wan Lulu Pu Tianyou He Lingyan Chen Liguang Chen Jundong Rong Yushan Zheng

Coastal sandy ecosystems face compounded abiotic stresses, including nutrient-poor soils, strong winds, and salt spray, making vegetation restoration highly challenging. Plant functional traits are key indicators of adaptive strategies under environmental stress, yet systematic studies on leaf, twig, and root functional traits of bamboo stands under different silvicultural regimes in coastal sandy land remain scarce. This study examined six stand types on Dongshan Island, Fujian Province: monospecific stands of Bambusa oldhamii Munro, Phyllostachys nidularia f. farcata Wen, and Bambusa tuldoides ‘Swolleninternode’, and their corresponding mixed stands with Casuarina equisetifolia L. (bamboo-to-C. equisetifolia ratio 7:3). Eighteen morphological and structural indices spanning three organ categories, leaf morphology (leaf area, specific leaf area [SLA], leaf tissue density [LTD], etc.), twig structure (wood density, dry matter content, etc.), and root morphology (specific root length [SRL], specific root surface area [SRA], root tissue density [RTD], etc.), were measured and analysed using Pearson correlation and principal component analysis (PCA). Results: (1) Coefficients of variation (CV) for leaf and twig traits ranged from 11.29% to 74.61%; leaf area (CV = 74.61%) and twig wood density (CV = 71.91%) were most variable, indicating high phenotypic plasticity of bamboo in coastal sandy environments. (2) Twig wood density in monospecific stands of B. oldhamii (0.346 g cm−3) was significantly higher than in all other stands (p < 0.05), reflecting a conservative water-transport strategy; mixed stands of B. oldhamii had significantly higher SRL and SRA than other stands (p < 0.05), indicating stronger root resource-acquisition capacity. (3) PCA revealed that leaf area, leaf volume, SLA, LTD, SRL, average root diameter, total root volume, total root surface area, and twig wood density (TWD) were the key traits distinguishing stands under different silvicultural regimes; monospecific stands scored higher overall than mixed stands, reflecting superior leaf, twig, and root functional coordination. Different silvicultural regimes significantly shape the functional adaptive strategies of bamboo in coastal sandy land. Bamboo plants integrate leaf, twig, and root traits in a coordinated, resource-conservative manner to withstand coastal stresses. These findings provide a theoretical basis for bamboo species selection and mixed-stand configuration in coastal shelterbelt management.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162483

Authors: Qi Zhang Jiaxin Liu Yu-e Bai Linlin Pang Shaobin Zhang Dongying Geng Jia Liu Aoga Li

Populus hopeiensis is an important native poplar species in northern China, but herbivorous insect damage seriously affects its growth and ecological function. WRKY transcription factors play important roles in plant stress responses; however, the function of WRKY23 homologs in woody plant resistance to chewing herbivores remains unclear. In this study, a herbivore-responsive WRKY transcription factor gene, PhWRKY23, was identified from P. hopeiensis. PhWRKY23 expression was significantly induced by Spodoptera litura feeding, with a maximum increase of approximately 69.71-fold the control level at the highest damage level, and the encoded protein was predominantly localized in the nucleus. To investigate its function, PhWRKY23-overexpressing and RNA interference transgenic lines were generated. In the choice feeding assay, the consumed leaf area of PhWRKY23-overexpressing plants was approximately 85.5% lower than that of WT plants after 8 h. In the no-choice feeding assay, the total larval mass after 6 d was approximately 38.8% lower in larvae fed on overexpression plants and 51.0% higher in larvae fed on RNAi plants than in those fed on WT plants. Physiological analysis showed that RNAi plants accumulated significantly more MDA than WT and overexpression plants, whereas overexpression plants had higher chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoid contents than the other genotypes. Phytohormone analysis further showed that PhWRKY23-overexpressing plants accumulated higher levels of jasmonic acid, jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine, and salicylic acid, whereas abscisic acid showed no significant difference among genotypes. Yeast two-hybrid screening identified several candidate PhWRKY23-interacting proteins, and pairwise validation confirmed that PhWRKY23 interacted with PhDOX1 in yeast. These results indicate that PhWRKY23 positively contributes to herbivore resistance in P. hopeiensis and that this resistance phenotype is associated with changes in JA, JA-Ile, and SA accumulation and defense-related physiological traits.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162486

Authors: Jing-Pu Tian Bo-Lin Chen Ji-Hong Zhang Xiang-Nan Wang Li Ma Sen-Wen Deng

Camellia oleifera Abel., an economically significant oil-producing crop widely cultivated in southern China, is renowned for its high-quality edible oil and diverse pharmacological activities. The plant is rich in terpenoids, particularly triterpenoid saponins, which contribute to its health-promoting properties. However, a comprehensive review summarizing the diversity, biological activities, biosynthesis, and regulatory mechanisms of terpenoids in C. oleifera is lacking. This review systematically categorizes terpenoids identified from different parts of C. oleifera, elucidates their structural features, and infers their biosynthetic pathways. The biological activities of terpenoid-rich extracts and individual compounds, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, and hypoglycemic effects, are discussed. Furthermore, the potential applications of C. oleifera terpenoids in functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture are explored. This review aims to provide a valuable reference for future research and utilization of C. oleifera terpenoids.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162485

Authors: Yaofu Chen Jilong Lu Xinyun Zhao Peng Lu Jiaxuan Cui Kaiyu Zhang Jiayu Qu Yaru Hou

Background: Rare earth elements (REEs) are present in agricultural ecosystems, but their baseline soil–plant transfer dynamics require systematic understanding. This study investigated the ‘source-to-sink’ biogeochemical distribution of REEs in soybean under background soil conditions. Methods: We characterized REE concentrations and fractionation patterns in the composite surface soil samples and analyzed two soybean cultivars (‘Jiyu 201’ (JY) and ‘Ping’an 16’ (PA)). A seven-stage sampling scheme (20–80 days post-sowing) using whole-plant samples was employed to evaluate temporal concentration dynamics, followed by discrete organ-level analysis at maturity. Results: The composite surface soil samples exhibited a light REE (LREE)-enriched signature with negative cerium (Ce) and europium (Eu) anomalies. While plants consistently mirrored the soil’s negative Eu anomaly, an observable shift toward a positive Ce anomaly was detected in plant tissues during the 45–65 days post-sowing window. REE concentrations were markedly higher in roots than in aerial tissues, indicating strong root-associated retention and limited acropetal translocation; however, the root values include both internalized and surface-associated fractions. Acropetal transport was accompanied by preferential LREE enrichment. Final organ-level partitioning was highly genotype-dependent: the indeterminate cultivar PA accumulated higher REEs in beans, whereas the sub-determinate cultivar JY retained them primarily in vegetative stems. Conclusions: Under background soil conditions, REE uptake and partitioning in soybean exhibit dynamic and genotype-dependent patterns. The observed shift in the Ce anomaly presents a notable biogeochemical phenomenon. Establishing these baseline dynamics is vital for evaluating crop elemental homeostasis and utilizing REEs as biogeochemical tracers.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162484

Authors: Abayhan Buran Aykut Topdemir

Indoor air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a major environmental and public health concern. Ethanol is a common indoor VOC released from cleaning products, disinfectants, and industrial activities. This study evaluated the capacity of Ficus elastica Roxb. to remove airborne ethanol under controlled chamber conditions. Response Surface Methodology was applied to optimise the effects of initial ethanol concentration, relative humidity, and exposure time on removal efficiency. The model predicted a maximum removal efficiency of 97.16%, which was experimentally validated with an average efficiency of 96.2%, confirming the model’s reliability. Analysis of variance identified exposure time as the most influential factor affecting ethanol removal. Desorption experiments showed only limited and transient ethanol re-emission, indicating that ethanol was not merely adsorbed but also partially metabolised by the plant. Scanning electron microscopy revealed structural changes in stomatal morphology after prolonged exposure. Biochemical analyses demonstrated increased total phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity, whereas a moderate decline in total chlorophyll reflected physiological stress accompanied by enhanced defence responses, indicating adaptive tolerance to prolonged ethanol exposure. These findings demonstrate the potential of F. elastica as an effective and sustainable botanical biofiltration system for improving indoor air quality.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162482

Authors: Evelyn Terez Polyak Valer Micle Ioana Monica Sur

Mining-affected soils differ markedly in their physicochemical properties and metal loads, complicating the selection of plant material for phytoremediation. This study evaluated Brassica oleracea var. acephala ‘Pigeon’ growth across 14 mining-affected soils and a growth reference commercial substrate, followed by a site-specific pilot field assessment on a selected multi-metal-contaminated soil from Cavnic, Romania. Plant establishment, vegetative performance, pooled plant mass, and metal partitioning were assessed under controlled and field conditions. Plant responses varied strongly among soils, and final germination at 30 days after sowing did not reliably predict subsequent vegetative performance. On the selected Cavnic soil, establishment was lower in the field than under controlled conditions, whereas plants that established in situ attained greater final size. Within the seven selected field-grown plants, root-associated concentrations exceeded aboveground concentrations for Cu, Zn, Pb, and Mn. The results show that multi-soil laboratory screening and field assessment capture complementary biological components of plant performance.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162481

Authors: Zhaocen Lu Yifei Lu Zhenguo Xie Ying Qin Xiaofeng Jin

Two new species of Carex (Cyperaceae), C. tianlinensis and C. leigongshanica, are described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular evidence. Phylogenetic analyses based on two nuclear (ETS and ITS) and three plastid (matK, trnL-F, and rpl32-trnL(UAG)) DNA markers recovered C. tianlinensis and C. leigongshanica as two distinct, strongly supported monophyletic lineages within the Indica clade. The two new species form a well-supported sister pair that is in turn sister to C. perakensis. Morphologically, C. tianlinensis most closely resembles C. perakensis, but differs in having inflorescences arising near the apex of the culms, pistillate part of spikes sparsely 2–6-flowered, and style glabrous. C. leigongshanica is also morphologically similar to C. perakensis, but differs in having each inflorescence with 6–16 shorter spikes, spikes 0.7–1.5 cm long, sessile or subsessile, utricles shorter, 3–3.5 mm long, and leaf blades narrower, 3–5.5 mm wide. Detailed morphological descriptions, type designations, specimen citations, and information on habitat and phenology are provided for the two new species.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162480

Authors: Tongwen Shang Xiaomei Zhang Lu Tian Yuan Li Dongqing Zhang Youqiang Li Kaiyue Liu Shuzhe Wang Zhaobin Chen Yajie Zhao Shaowei Yu Xiangyu Zhao Chao Zhou

A systematic evaluation of salt tolerance at the seedling stage was conducted using 143 maize inbred lines under a 150 mM mixed-salt solution (NaCl:Na2SO4 = 9:1, EC = 16.78 dS/m) that mirrors the ionic composition of saline groundwater in the Yellow River Delta. The comprehensive salt tolerance index (D value) ranged from 0.15 to 0.85 across the population, with the elite line B114 exhibiting the highest D value (0.835) and the sensitive line PHT55 ranking near the bottom. Under salt stress, B114 displayed remarkable growth stability, with plant height decreasing by only 25.9%, fresh weight by 13.3%, and dry weight remaining unchanged, whereas PHT55 suffered severe growth inhibition (plant height: 61.5% decrease; fresh weight: 63.2% decrease; dry weight: 33.3% decrease). Time-series RNA-seq of root tissues across four time points (5, 8, 11, and 14 days) revealed markedly distinct transcriptional dynamics: B114 exhibited relatively stable temporal regulation (2261–9124 DEGs), whereas PHT55 showed a pronounced early transcriptional burst that progressively intensified (3728–10,108 DEGs). Using random forest-based machine learning, 50 core salt tolerance-related genes were unbiasedly identified from 16,194 significantly differentially expressed genes. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these genes were primarily involved in redox regulation, ion homeostasis maintenance, and stress signal transduction pathways. qRT-PCR validation confirmed biphasic expression patterns, with Zm00001d024160 showing the strongest early induction (48-fold at 5 h). This study established a maize salt tolerance evaluation system closely aligned with field conditions and demonstrated that coordinated temporal transcriptional regulation represents a core molecular mechanism underlying high salt tolerance in maize. The elite salt-tolerant germplasm and key candidate genes identified here provide valuable genetic resources and a theoretical foundation for molecular breeding of salt-tolerant maize adapted to saline-alkaline soils.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162479

Authors: Xiangkun Meng Zhongqiu Fu Wantong Zhao Xu Wu Chang Ma Yanzeng Feng Shibo Du Xue Zhao Yuhe Wang Yingpeng Han

Soybean root rot caused by Fusarium graminearum is an important soil-borne disease. It hinders seedling establishment and ultimately reduces soybean yield. Resistant germplasm and reliable molecular markers are therefore needed for resistance breeding. In this study, 336 soybean accessions were evaluated for resistance to F. graminearum root rot using the disease severity index (DSI), which ranged from 5.71 to 100.00 across the association panel. Genome-wide association analysis was performed using resequencing-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data with mixed linear model (MLM) and Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU) models, which detected 117 and 113 candidate resistance-associated SNPs, respectively. Among these, 105 shared SNPs were used to define candidate genomic intervals containing 247 annotated genes. Based on Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment, functional annotation, and allelic-effect analysis, six candidate genes and their associated exonic SNPs were prioritized. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed infection-responsive expression patterns for all six candidate genes, with Glyma.17g202500 and Glyma.18g266700 showing stronger induction in the resistant accession. Two SNPs in these genes were converted into Kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) assays. KASP-S17_32244510 and KASP-S18_55105706 were successfully developed for genotype screening, with screening efficiencies of 73.08% and 74.29%, respectively. These findings identify useful genetic targets and molecular markers for improving soybean resistance to root rot caused by F. graminearum.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162478

Authors: Delia Maria Luca Marius-Nicuşor Grigore Oscar Vicente

Climate change is placing global agriculture under growing pressure, as plants must withstand extreme environmental conditions such as drought and high salinity, both inducing osmotic and oxidative stress. As part of their survival strategies, plants accumulate protective molecules (osmolytes), including the amino acid proline. For decades, plant biology has largely assumed that high proline accumulation under stress signals strong stress tolerance. However, this review challenges that “proline-centric” perspective. Analyses across a wide range of plant species reveal a more complex picture. Stress-induced proline accumulation is not universal: in some species, proline levels remain relatively unchanged, with other metabolites acting as functional osmolytes, or increase only in response to artificially applied severe stress conditions. Even when proline increases, its absolute concentrations may be too low to contribute significantly to osmotic adjustment. Nevertheless, proline may still be involved in stress tolerance mechanisms through its additional roles, detoxifying reactive oxygen species (ROS), directly stabilising proteins or acting as a stress signalling molecule. Comparative analyses of genetically related taxa with varying degrees of stress tolerance sometimes show negative correlations between proline accumulation and tolerance, with higher proline concentrations measured in the most sensitive genotypes. Overall, the evidence indicates that proline‘s role in plant survival is highly context-dependent and strongly influenced by genetic background and must therefore be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Distinguishing whether proline acts as an adaptive defence or merely as a biochemical marker of physiological strain under stress is essential for accurately assessing plant stress tolerance.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162477

Authors: Yunyun Li Junru Mao Song Kou

Plants have evolved sophisticated immune systems to defend against diverse pathogens, whereas pathogens deploy effectors to manipulate host cellular processes for successful infection. Recent studies have revealed that pathogen effectors can target host RNA processing, particularly pre-mRNA alternative splicing (AS), to reshape transcript isoform profiles and modulate plant immunity. However, the common principles and specific differences among pathogen effector-mediated regulation of host AS and their impacts on plant immunity have not been systematically summarized. In this review, we summarize recent advances in pathogen effector-mediated regulation of plant AS, focusing on three major mechanisms: targeting host splicing factors, altering RNA regulatory elements, and interfering with RNA-processing pathways. We discuss how effector-induced AS reprogramming affects immune-related gene expression and contributes to pathogen virulence. Furthermore, we highlight the emerging potential of AS regulation in disease resistance and disease-resistant crop breeding, and propose future directions for dissecting effector-specific splicing targets and translating AS-based regulatory mechanisms into crop improvement strategies. This review emphasizes host RNA splicing as an important regulatory layer in plant-pathogen interactions and provides new perspectives for understanding pathogen manipulation of plant immunity.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162476

Authors: Gül Esma Akdoğan Karadağ

This study is the first to assess airborne allergenic pollen in Erzincan, a continental climate region with mixed native vegetation, agricultural land, and urban areas, using volumetric sampling and comprehensive statistical models. Weekly samples from 2022 to 2023 were converted to 24 h slides and examined microscopically, and concentrations were calculated as pollen/m3 according to REA methodology. A total of 730 days of observations were evaluated. The annual pollen integrals were calculated separately for each year, and their combined total was 22,225 pollen*day/m3 (2022: 8667; 2023: 13,558). Woody pollen comprised 53.67% (2022) and 51.86% (2023); herbaceous pollen comprised 46.01% (2022) and 48.07% (2023). Thirty six pollen taxa were identified; the peak months were May 2022 (24.5%) and June 2023 (27.5%). Daily total pollen concentration was correlated positively with temperature (rs = 0.33, p < 0.001) and weakly with wind speed (rs = 0.17, p < 0.001) but negatively correlated with humidity (rs = −0.26, p < 0.001). Precipitation showed no significant association with pollen levels (rs = −0.02, p = 0.13), indicating that warmer and drier conditions favor higher pollen concentrations. The LMM showed that pollen density was affected by meteorological variables as well as interannual climatic variation, with temperature being the positive predictor (β = 0.348; p < 0.001). Canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant, multidimensional relationship between meteorological variables (temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind) and the daily densities of eight pollen taxa (Wilks’ λ = 0.603; p < 0.001). Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated that meteorological variables influenced pollen taxon composition (F = 20.235, p = 0.001), explaining 11.51% of total inertia and suggesting that additional ecological factors may also contribute. In conclusion, pollen dynamics are sensitive not only to seasonal and meteorological variables but also to interannual climate fluctuations; in particular, hot, dry periods prolong the persistence of airborne pollen, while short-term rainfall can trigger sudden pollen releases in some species.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162475

Authors: Alina Elena Marta Ștefănica Stoica Mihaela Covașă Carmenica Doina Jităreanu

The continuous growth of the global population and the need to ensure food security require the development of sustainable agricultural technologies capable of maintaining crop productivity while reducing environmental impact. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria belonging to the genera Azotobacter and Azospirillum have attracted increasing interest due to their ability to improve plant nutrition and stimulate physiological processes associated with growth and productivity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the commercial biostimulant Azotofertil, based on Azotobacter chroococcum and Azospirillum lipoferum, on the agrophysiological response of tomato and pepper plants, in comparison with conventional nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization. A field experiment was conducted using a randomized block design with three fertilization treatments and three biological replicates for each crop species. Soil pH, cultivable Azotobacter spp. populations, plant height, photosynthetic pigment content, vitamin C content, and total yield were evaluated. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (p < 0.05) and Pearson correlation analysis. The application of Azotofertil significantly increased the abundance of cultivable Azotobacter spp., photosynthetic pigment content, and vitamin C content, while no statistically significant differences were observed for soil pH or plant height. The most pronounced effect was observed for photosynthetic pigment content, which increased by 26% in tomato and by 21% in pepper compared to the control.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162474

Authors: Siriwan Srisit Thittaya Ketnad Khemika Singmahan Pasakorn Bunchalee Worrawat Promden Panawan Moosophon Vanida Choomuenwai Bunleu Sungthong Nadtanet Nanthaboot Anake Kijjoa Prapairat Seephonkai

Gyrinops vidalii (Thymelaeaceae), a critically endangered agarwood-producing species native to Thailand and Laos and remains phytochemically unexplored. In this study, the chemical constituents and biological activities of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction of methanol extract of G. vidalii leaves were investigated. Phytochemical analysis led the isolation of mangiferin (1), iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside (2), aquilarinenside E (3), iriflophenone 2-O-α-L-rhamnoside (4), 5,7,4′-trimethoxyflavone (5), blumenol A (6), loliolide (7), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid methyl ester (8), and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (9). Compound 1 exhibited potent DPPH radical scavenging activity with an SC50 value of 19.35 μM), whereas iriflophenone (3a), obtained by acid hydrolysis of 3, and 5 showed promising α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 values 100.06 and 174.57 μM, respectively. Molecular docking demonstrated favorable binding of both compounds within the α-glucosidase active site through hydrogen bonding, aromatic, and hydrophobic interactions, with binding energies of −7.4 and −8.0 kcal/mol, respectively. Predicted ADMET properties further supported the drug-like potential of both compounds, indicating favorable aqueous solubility, high intestinal absorption, and no predicted hepatotoxicity, while differences were observed in their predicted blood–brain barrier permeability. This study represents the first phytochemical investigation of G. vidalii, provides scientific support for its traditional use, and expands the chemotaxonomic knowledge of the closely related genera Gyrinops and Aquilaria.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162472

Authors: Anatoly V. Grigorenko Elizaveta M. Kovalenko Marina E. Vavilkina Maksim A. Kravets Mikhail S. Vlaskin

Cultivation of L. platensis under elevated CO2 ensures CO2 biofixation, while adding Na2SeO3 to the culture medium, produces valuable Se-enriched biomass. This study evaluated the effect of Na2SeO3 supplementation (20–640 mg/L) on the growth of L. platensis under 3 vol.% CO2. The cultivation was carried out in 10 L column-type photobioreactors under continuous (24 h·d−1) illumination with intensity of 220 µmol·m−2·s−1, a constant temperature of 27 °C and aeration rate of 1 L/min. Two consecutive cultivation cycles (8 days each) were conducted: the first with the original strain and the second with an inoculum adapted to 20 mg/L (taken from the first cycle). The growth rate, cell viability, pH, and the concentrations of nitrates, phosphates, carbonates, bicarbonates, NH4+ ion were investigated. It was established that under intensive cultivation at elevated CO2, L. platensis is very sensitive to Na2SeO3 supplements: concentrations > 160 mg/L led to culture death within the first 2–4 days, while the acute toxicity threshold lies in the range of 80–100 mg/L. The highest biomass growth rate in the 1st and 2nd cycles was achieved in the control (0 mg/L of Na2SeO3): 329 and 239 mg·L−1·d−1 dry weight, respectively. At 20 mg/L, the growth rate drops to 289 and 208 mg·L−1·d−1 in the 1st and 2nd cycles, respectively. The percentage of live trichomes at the end of the 1st and 2nd cycles at 20 mg/L was 85 and 67%, respectively, indicating low adaptation capacity even to this concentration of Na2SeO3. The addition of Na2SeO3 did not lead to significant pH deviations from the control. Nitrates and phosphates consumption slowed down at Na2SeO3 concentrations of 40–60 mg/L. Bicarbonate and carbonate ions did not change significantly across all samples due to the maintenance of elevated CO2 concentration. In a separate experiment under atmospheric CO2 (0.04%), selenite toxicity was less pronounced than under 3% CO2, and growth declined after day 4 due to carbon limitation rather than selenite toxicity.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162473

Authors: Nevena R. Mihailović Nikola Z. Srećković Jelena S. Katanić Stanković Daria Maria Monti Enrica Giustino Ljubinka G. Joksović Sanja S. Krstić Rudolf Bauer Vladimir B. Mihailović

Despite the well-established bioactivity of Salvia verticillata L. aerial parts, their roots represent an unexplored plant matrix. In this study, root extracts obtained by ethnopharmacological (EE), maceration (ME), and ultrasound-assisted (UE) extraction were examined. Ultrasound-assisted extraction was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM, CCD) to maximize total phenolic content (TPC) and rosmarinic acid (RA), and the optimized extract was compared with EE and ME. All extracts exhibited high levels of total phenolics, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, while RA was the dominant compound according to HPLC analysis (96.67–137.47 mg g−1 d.e.). UE yielded the highest TPC and exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity in most of the applied assays. All extracts exhibited concentration-dependent tyrosinase inhibitory activity, with UE and EE showing the strongest effects. Moderate antibacterial activity, particularly against Gram-positive strains, and limited antifungal effects were observed. Strong COX-1 inhibition (>70% at 50 μg/mL) confirmed the anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts, whereas slight COX-2 inhibition was observed. UE exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against A431, SVT2, and HaCaT cells. These findings identify S. verticillata roots as a promising source of rosmarinic acid-rich extracts and point out the importance of the extraction procedure to tailor the biological activity of the extract.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162471

Authors: Kiwoong Lee Soon Jin Yun Minsu Kim A Reum Kim

This study investigated the effects of thinning intensity on tree radial growth and physiological responses to drought in an approximately 43-year-old Pinus koraiensis plantation. To analyze tree-ring width, a total of sixty wood cores (5 mm) were collected from three thinning treatments applied in 2007: control (Con), light thinning (LT), and heavy thinning (HT). Drought vulnerability indices were examined across three distinct drought periods (2000–2001, 2007, and 2014–2016), and intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) was estimated from stable carbon isotope analysis (Con vs. HT). Thinning increased basal area increment (BAI) in both the LT and HT groups, with the strongest and most persistent response observed in the HT group. During the 2007 drought, trees in thinned plots, particularly those in the HT group, showed higher resistance and resilience than trees in the Con group. The increased indices during the 2000 and 2007 drought periods predominantly reflected immediate thinning-induced growth release. WUEi in the HT group increased relative to the Con group during both the 2007 and 2014–2016 drought periods; however, the underlying physiological mechanisms differed, with enhanced net photosynthetic capacity immediately after thinning in 2007 and a likely consistent reduction in stomatal conductance during the 2014–2016 drought. Although constrained by a non-replicated stand design, this site-specific long-term case study provides valuable insights into the multi-decadal growth and physiological trajectories of conifer plantations responding to climate stress.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162470

Authors: Xiangtai Che Zhuo Li Shaoyuan Chen Luxue Liu Jie Ning Jinwei Feng Xin Wang Yanhu Guo Haotong Sun Qingquan Chen Jiancheng Song Jing Zhao Lei Chen

Spike density is an important component of wheat spike architecture and is determined by the combined effects of spike-axis elongation and spikelet number. In this study, we characterized an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-induced recessive dense-spike mutant, ds, which was obtained from EMS mutagenesis of the wheat cultivar YN21 in 2013 and displays a field-visible compact spike architecture associated with a shortened spike axis, reduced spike internode spacing, and increased spikelet number. Genetic analysis showed that all F1 plants exhibited normal spikes and that segregation in the F2 population fitted a 3:1 ratio, supporting control by a single recessive nuclear gene. Through genome-wide marker-based linkage screening, enlarged-population validation, and fine mapping, ds was delimited to an approximately 864.819 kb interval between ID2B2796 and ID2B7615 on chromosome 2B. This interval contains 11 high-confidence annotated genes, including F-box protein, actin, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, ribosomal protein L16, RecX, plant cysteine oxidase, PI4KIIγ, and two adjacent GA3OX-family-related genes. Integrated RNA-seq and RT-qPCR analyses showed that the two adjacent GA3OX-family-related genes were expressed in young spikes and exhibited reduced expression in ds-sib relative to WT-sib. These expression data support their retention as plausible, non-exclusive candidates but do not establish causality. Transcriptome analysis further revealed changes in hormone-related pathways, cell-wall organization, carbohydrate metabolism, and transcription-factor regulation. These results provide a reliable genetic basis for further molecular cloning of ds and suggest that altered hormone- and growth-related transcriptional responses may be associated with dense-spike formation in wheat.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162469

Authors: Irina V. Kim Olga A. Sobko Petr V. Fisenko Egor M. Shchelkanov Nadezhda N. Kakareka Mikhail Yu. Shchelkanov Aleksei G. Klykov

Potato viral infections are among the main factors contributing to reduced quality of planting material and decreased tuber productivity. Currently, no reliable chemical control methods are available for plant viral diseases. Therefore, the development of potato cultivars carrying virus resistance genes remains one of the most effective and comprehensive approaches to this problem. In this study, 29 Russian and foreign potato cultivars, as well as 31 Far Eastern potato hybrids were evaluated. Resistance genes were identified using PCR analysis. The following cultivars carrying target resistance genes were used as positive controls for method calibration: Meteor (Rysto, Rx1, Sen1, Gpa2, H1), Vektor (Rx1, Gpa2), Yubilyar (Gpa2), and Zhukovsky ranniy (Gpa2, Rx1). Method calibration enabled determination of optimal magnesium chloride concentrations: 2.0 mM for Gpa2 and 2.5 mM for Rx1. Genotyping of 29 potato cultivars identified several highly resistant accessions, including Yubilyar, Zhukovsky ranniy, Bellarosa, Sante, Smak, Red Scarlett, and Laperla. These cultivars combined resistance to Potato virus X (Rx1) with complex resistance to two nematode species (Gpa2, H1). In the studied population, high frequencies of the Gpa2 (82.8%) gene and the H1 (65.5–69.0%) gene group were observed. Statistical analysis provided strong evidence for tight genetic linkage between the Rx1 and the Gpa2 loci on chromosome 12. The association was highly significant (p < 0.001). Analysis of 31 potato hybrids revealed 14 multi-marker genotypes with high breeding potential. A stable combination of five target resistance markers was consistently detected in their genomes. A dominant hybrid family derived from the Yantar × Smak cross was identified, represented by five related lines. For the first time, a precise heritability coefficient was calculated for the STS marker of the Rx1 gene in a Far Eastern hybrid population. The estimate reached h2 = 0.835 at p = 0.01. This value significantly exceeded the critical threshold for breeding reliability (h2 > 0.7), indicating largely additive genetic control of the trait. These results support targeted selection of parental combinations for breeding programs aimed at improving virus and nematode resistance in potato.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162468

Authors: Rosy Iara Maciel de A. Ribeiro Renê Oliveira do Couto

The study of plant-derived natural products remains one of the most promising avenues for discovering new bioactive agents [...]

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162467

Authors: Elaine de Lima de Jesus Maria Fernanda Barros de Oliveira Brandão Luana Luzia Santos Pires Erica Letícia Gomes Alves Anne Júlia Sousa Silva Ana Claudia da Silva Bahia Fernanda Lula Figueiredo Cambuí João Victor Quintas dos Santos Davyson de Lima Moreira Ygor Jessé Ramos

Plant-based healing practices integrate botanical resources, ritual speech, gesture, faith, spiritual mediation, protection, and social recognition within complex community systems of care. This cross-regional scoping review mapped the traceable literature on plant-based knowledge associated with benzedeiras, benzedores, rezadeiras, rezadores, and functionally analogous specialists. The formal scoping-review corpus comprised 54 records retrieved through structured database searches. A separate contextual layer of 132 supplementary records, identified through citation tracking and targeted searches using emic specialist terms, broadened interpretation but was not treated as methodologically equivalent to the PRISMA-derived corpus. Across the 186 analytical records, 74 harmonized specialist terms and 212 botanical entries associated with therapeutic, ritual, spiritual, or community-based practices were identified. The botanical matrix comprised 68 families and 166 genera, with Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Solanaceae, and Fabaceae as the most represented families. The results reveal terminological diversity, regional asymmetries in documentation, and the predominance of broad labels alongside terms with greater emic density. Plants operate as pharmacological resources, ritual supports, spiritual mediators, instruments of protection, territorial markers, and performative elements of healing. These specialists should be understood as mediators of complex therapeutic systems. The findings represent the indexed and traceable supplementary literature analyzed and should not be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of ritual healing traditions worldwide.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162466

Authors: Cailian Du Yvkun Xue Hao Wang Qingbin Sun

Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) constitutes a pivotal transcription factor family that modulates plant growth and development as well as abiotic stress responses. Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an economically vital cereal crop and a major livestock forage globally. Nevertheless, the NF-Y gene family has not yet been systematically characterized in the oat genome. Here, we identified 36 AsNF-Y genes in the oat genome and categorized them into three distinct subfamilies (NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC). Phylogeny, gene structure, duplication, collinearity, and conserved motif analyses revealed high evolutionary conservation of this gene family. Additionally, the identification of diverse cis-acting regulatory elements in the promoters of AsNF-Y genes, combined with their differential expression profiles under multiple abiotic stress conditions, indicated that AsNF-Ys serve as crucial regulators in modulating oat abiotic stress tolerance. Furthermore, preliminary functional validation via the TRV-VIGS system confirmed that two candidate genes, AsNF-YC02 and AsNF-YC06, may positively regulate salt tolerance in oat. Collectively, our findings deepen the understanding of NF-Y genes in gramineous crops and supply promising candidates for the genetic improvement of oat stress tolerance and molecular breeding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162465

Authors: Beatriz Cortellini Ferranti Gabriel Silva Guimarães Artur Berbel Lirio Rondina Marcelo Mattos Cavallari Alessandra Pereira Favero Marco Antonio Nogueira Mariangela Hungria

Brazilian cattle production relies predominantly on pasture systems, many of which are degraded by nutrient depletion, particularly nitrogen deficiency. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) offer a sustainable strategy to improve pasture productivity, but their effects are often host-specific and remain poorly explored in Paspalum. This study evaluated the effect of inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense strains CNPSo 2083 (=Ab-V5) and CNPSo 2084 (=Ab-V6) and Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CNPSo 2719 (=CCTB 03), applied by seed inoculation or leaf spray, on the root morphology and shoot growth of four Paspalum accessions under controlled axenic greenhouse conditions, evaluated in an early growth stage at 35 days after emergence. Genotype-specific responses were the central finding of this study: Paspalum malacophyllum BGP-293 showed negligible responses to inoculation, whereas BGP-486—of the same species—increased root dry weight by up to 43% and root tissue density by up to 30% in all inoculated treatments. In Paspalum regnellii BGP-112, seed inoculation produced stronger root responses than foliar spray, increasing root dry weight by up to 38% and root area by up to 40%. In Paspalum rojasii BGP-149, inoculation induced root architectural remodeling without increasing root biomass—root area increased by up to 92% and total root length by up to 97%, relative to the control—indicating an efficient root-foraging strategy. P. fluorescens favored root-foraging traits and tissue density, whereas A. brasilense preferentially stimulated root-hair elongation. These accession-level contrasts, rather than a single generalizable trend, are the main contribution of this work: they support tailored, genotype-specific PGPB strategies for sustainable tropical pastures.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162464

Authors: Vera Martínez-Barradas Gabriela Olivo-Vidal Rodrigo Mora-Sanhueza Francisco Barco-Rubio Gabriela Jarpa-Tauler René Morales Marjorie Reyes-Díaz Ricardo Tighe-Neira Claudio Inostroza-Blancheteau Patricio Arce-Johnson

Polyploidy is widely used in plant breeding to increase phenotypic variation and potentially improve stress-related traits; however, its effects in common bean remain poorly characterized. Here, colchicine-induced polyploidy was evaluated in Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Zorzal to determine whether tetraploid lines exhibit coordinated changes in stomatal anatomy, physiology, pigment composition, oxidative balance, and ploidy inheritance. Polyploidy was induced using different colchicine exposure regimes and confirmed by flow cytometry. Stomatal traits, gas-exchange parameters, photosynthetic pigments, oxidative stress markers, antioxidant capacity, and multivariate phenotypic relationships were subsequently analyzed in confirmed tetraploid lines. Colchicine treatments successfully generated tetraploid and mixoploid plants, although induction efficiency was highly variable among replicates. Tetraploid lines showed heterogeneous physiological responses, including increases in the photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance in some genotypes, but no consistent reduction in stomatal pore area index. Pigment composition and antioxidant-related traits also varied among lines, without a uniform response pattern. Multivariate analyses revealed coordinated but highly divergent phenotypic profiles among tetraploid genotypes. Importantly, the induced tetraploids were not stably transmitted to the C1 generation, with a predominance of diploid progeny among the evaluated offspring. Overall, colchicine-induced polyploidization generated substantial physiological variability among independently derived tetraploid plants of P. vulgaris cv. ‘Zorzal’; however, the predominance of diploid individuals among the evaluated C1 progeny indicates limited transmission of the induced tetraploid state to the subsequent generation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162463

Authors: Marija Polić Pasković Mohammed Bouhadi Soukaina Lahmaoui Igor Pasković

While individual Si-nutrient interactions have been reviewed separately, a comparative analysis of multiple Si-element interactions remains lacking. This review compares current knowledge on co-application of Si with selenium (Se), sulphur (S), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe), focusing on stress tolerance, nutrient homeostasis, physiological responses, secondary metabolism and agronomic relevance. The evidence indicates that combining Si with these elements helps maintain reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, strengthen antioxidant defenses, stabilize photosynthetic function and improve nutrient uptake, translocation and use efficiency. Responses depend on plant species, nutrient form, application strategy and environmental conditions; at the metabolic level, Si-based combinations affect the synthesis of phenolic compounds, amino acids and sulphur-containing metabolites. Si-Se and Si-Fe proved most effective under heavy-metal stress, through regulation of metal transport, detoxification and sequestration, and Si-S and Si-Zn under drought, salinity and nutrient-deficient conditions, by enhancing osmotic adjustment, nutrient-use efficiency, ionic homeostasis and photosynthetic performance. Agronomically, these interactions can increase crop productivity, nutritional value and biofortification potential, and mitigate toxic-element accumulation in edible parts. Knowledge gaps remain regarding molecular regulation, variability among species and environments, and the long-term effectiveness of nanoparticle formulations. Since most evidence comes from hydroponic, pot and greenhouse studies, standardized field experiments are needed to assess agronomic relevance.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162462

Authors: Clair H. Hershey Hernan Ceballos Sean Fenstemaker Carlos Iglesias Nelson Morante Lizbeth Pino Duran Peter Wenzl Jonathan Newby

For millennia, farmers in cassava’s homeland in the neotropics selected varieties suited to their climate, soils, biological environments, management systems, and nutritional needs. These actions were fundamental to the crop’s success as a reliable staple energy source. After the arrival of Europeans in the New World, these varieties spread first to Africa and later to Asia, where they were further selected for local conditions and needs. The founders of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Cali, Colombia, recognized the importance of legacy landrace varieties as sources of genetic diversity for breeding to support tropical production systems, improve nutrition, and boost income. One of earliest activities of the new center, beginning in 1969, was to organize the collection of cassava landraces to establish a genetic resource for breeding purposes at the center’s headquarters in the Cauca Valley. We describe the multifaceted understanding about this remarkable heritage through thorough evaluation over a diverse range of environments and the creation of new varieties aimed at adding value across the crop’s diverse agro-ecologies and uses. CIAT breeders, along with a broad coalition of partners, have targeted demands from growers, processors, and consumers throughout the tropics. Latin American germplasm remains the foundational source of novel, high-value traits that differentiate cassava products across markets, underpinning the continued gains in productivity, quality, and end-use performance.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162461

Authors: Xin-Ran Bao Yang Gao Jin-Won Kim Min-Jung Yook Do-Soon Kim Chuan-Jie Zhang

The scarcity of effective selective herbicides has made weed management a limiting factor for alfalfa yield and large-scale cultivation. This study aimed to preliminarily screen selective herbicides with acceptable safety to alfalfa and establish an effective weed management program based on sequential pre- and post-emergence herbicide applications through greenhouse screening and multi-year field trials. The greenhouse herbicide safety evaluation showed that, among the 22 herbicides tested, the post-application of 2 pre-emergence herbicides (s-metolachlor and prodiamine) and 5 post-emergence herbicides (benazolin, bentazon, fluazifop-p, imazethapyr, and nicosulfuron) showed a relatively higher survival rate (~4× the standard dose) on two alfalfa cultivars through assessing visual efficacy, plant height, and dry biomass per plant. However, even herbicides that result in relatively high plant survival can produce induce significant growth inhibition and biomass reduction when applied at high doses. Those herbicides were further tested under field conditions (2020–2023) for evaluation of weed control efficiency and alfalfa plant biomass yield potential and nutritive values. Among the herbicide application regimes, the pre-application of prodiamine followed by post-application of bentazon or fluazifop-p showed the most effective weed control efficacy (70–85% reduction of weed biomass in the alfalfa plot), which was greater than the reductions achieved with all single-herbicide applications (24–48%) and sequential application of s-metolachlor followed by the five post-emergence herbicides (25–46%). Additionally, the optimized combinations had no significant effect on the 1st and subsequent alfalfa plant height compared to that of alfalfa in weed-free control. No significant reductions in alfalfa yield or nutritive value were observed in the herbicide-treated plots treated with prodiamine followed by bentazon or fluazifop-p compared with the weed-free control. Collectively, sequential application combining pre- (prodiamine) and post-emergence (bentazon or fluazifop-p) herbicides shows effective weed control in alfalfa under the tested conditions, which provides a useful weed management program to enhance alfalfa forage production and nutritive values.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162460

Authors: Siddique Ahmad Wenjing Song Zhengyang Song Shabnam Hadi Mengdi Niu Lingling Ma Siying Wang Laiba Urooj Shuping Xiong Zhiyong Zhang Xiaochun Wang Huiqiang Li Xinming Ma Yihao Wei

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas and a major ozone-depleting substance of the nitrogen cycle. While global N2O budgets focus on microbial soil sources, evidence suggests that living plants can also contribute to N2O emissions. However, the origin of plant-associated N2O fluxes is contested: measured emissions may arise from endogenous plant metabolism or merely from transport of soil-derived N2O. In this review, we clarify these pathways and synthesize current findings from laboratory and field studies. Experimental evidence from 15N-tracer and axenic-culture studies supports N2O formation linked to nitrate (NO3−) and nitrite (NO2−) in photosynthetic organisms, although mechanistic resolution varies among taxa. In angiosperms, proposed plastid/chloroplast and hypoxia-associated mitochondrial routes are linked to NO3−/NO2− metabolism and NO formation, but the terminal NO-to-N2O step remains unresolved and differs from the flavodiiron-dependent mechanism demonstrated in algae. We discuss key environmental and physiological controls (substrate availability, light, O2 status, reductant supply) on these processes and highlight methodological challenges in source attribution (chamber artefacts, destructive sampling, isotope analysis). Our analysis suggests that plant-associated N2O fluxes are real, but highly variable and context-dependent. Rather than assuming generic “plant emission factors”, we emphasize source-specific approaches that distinguish endogenous formation from soil-derived transport and microbial production. This framework can improve N2O budgets and guide mitigation by indicating whether management should target soil N availability and microbial processes or physiological conditions favouring plant-associated N2O formation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162458

Authors: Yongxia Chen Wen Gu Peijian Shi Feixue Jiang Danyu Zhou Wangxiang Zhang Karl J. Niklas

Flowers of the Rosaceae, with their distinct pedicels and well-differentiated floral organs, provide an ideal model for investigating biomass allocation trade-offs associated with the balance between reproductive investment and mechanical/hydraulic support. However, the scaling relationship between supportive structures (e.g., pedicels) and floral display structures (e.g., petals) remains largely unresolved. We examined 12 crabapple (Malus) cultivars, measuring their pedicel length, pedicel fresh mass, corolla fresh mass, corolla area, and total flower fresh mass. Scaling relationships among these traits were evaluated using reduced major axis regression protocols. Pedicel fresh mass increased disproportionately with increases in pedicel length, total flower fresh mass, and corolla fresh mass, indicating preferential biomass allocation toward structural and hydraulic support. The scaling exponent between fresh mass of floral organs excluding the corolla (FEC) and corolla fresh mass was lower than unity, suggesting preferential allocation toward floral display structures. Corolla area increased more slowly than corolla fresh mass but showed an approximately isometric relationship with total flower fresh mass, revealing distinct scaling patterns between floral display area and biomass investment. This study provides a cultivar-level perspective on floral support–display coordination, advancing our understanding of reproductive strategies in angiosperms.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162459

Authors: Yuan Fang Ting Yuan Xuefeng Guo

Bamboo leaves contain structurally diverse flavonoid glycosides; whereas, compound-level information for Bambusa textilis remains limited. In this study, a flavonoid-enriched 40% ethanol fraction prepared from B. textilis leaves by petroleum-ether partitioning and AB-8 resin adsorption was analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS) in negative-ion mode. Retention times and MS/MS spectra were compared with seven in-house reference standards, while the remaining constituents were annotated from accurate-mass measurements, diagnostic product ions, fragmentation behavior, and data from the literature. According to Metabolomics Standards Initiative criteria, seven compounds were assigned at Level 1 and twenty-four were reported as Level 3 annotations because their exact positional structures were not confirmed by additional standards or NMR. Thirty-one flavonoid-related constituents were annotated in the analyzed fraction, encompassing six glycoside classes; most annotations, by count, were apigenin- or luteolin-derived. These annotations add compound-level information for the analyzed B. textilis fraction and allow qualitative comparison with other bamboo flavonoid profiles. Because the sample was selectively enriched, the results do not describe the complete leaf metabolome or compound concentrations. Additional standards or NMR analysis are needed to confirm the glycosylation positions of tentatively annotated compounds.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162457

Authors: Ketsira Pierre Ana I. Vargas Geoffrey Meru Bruce Schaffer Jeffrey B. Jones Shouan Zhang

Soil salinity and bacterial spot of tomato (BST), caused by Xanthomonas perforans, are major abiotic and biotic stresses limiting tomato production, particularly in Florida. While their individual effects are well documented, the impact of soil salinity on BST has not yet been investigated. This greenhouse study evaluated how increasing irrigation water salinity (electrical conductivity [EC] = 0.5, 3, 5, or 7 dS m−1) affected tomato growth, physiology, BST severity, fruit quality, and transcriptomic responses. Salinity reduced plant growth and BST severity but did not directly affect X. perforans populations. Results indicated that reduced plant physiological activity (net CO2 assimilation [A], transpiration [E], and stomatal conductance [gs]) contributes to lower disease levels. Increased salinity led to more solute concentrations, altered sugar metabolism, and improved perceived taste, as supported by taste panel, osmolality, and transcriptomic analyses. They also showed that transcriptional responses to salinity (EC = 7 dS m−1) and X. perforans infection were strongly time-dependent. Salt-treated plants exhibited fewer differentially expressed genes following inoculation, whereas comparisons between EC 7-treated and control plants revealed extensive salinity-induced reprogramming. KEGG analysis indicated enrichment of photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, and ribosome pathways, while defense-related pathways, including MAPK signaling and plant–pathogen interaction, were downregulated, suggesting that tomato prioritized adaptation to salinity over pathogen defense.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162456

Authors: Rungrote Nilthong Phijittra Umalee Somrudee Nilthong

Tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] is the most widely consumed beverage worldwide and also has significant economic crop value. Understanding the genetic diversity and population structure of wild tea plants by analyzing their germplasm is essential for effective collection, management, and utilization. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure of 283 wild tea accessions were analyzed using 16 SSR markers. A total of 81 alleles were detected, ranging from 3 to 8 alleles per marker, with an average of 5.06 alleles per locus. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) value of 0.545 indicates that the SSR marker set was, on average, highly informative. Moreover, the MSG0533 marker showed the presence of a distinct allele (350 bp) exclusively in tea accessions from the Chiang Mai province. This unique allele could be further developed into a DNA marker for accurate identification of tea sourced from this region. Based on the dendrogram, wild tea accessions were grouped into three major clusters exhibiting substantial genetic divergence. Population structure analysis showed two distinct subpopulations. Subpopulation 1 consists of 70 (24.73%) accessions from the provinces of Lampang, Mae Hong Son, Nan, and Phrae, whereas all 213 (75.27%) accessions in subpopulation 2 originate from the provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) identified 13% variance among and 56% variance within populations, while 31% was attributed to individuals, indicating a high gene exchange rate between the two subpopulations. These findings provide comprehensive information for future breeding and genetic studies of tea.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162455

Authors: Weverton Pereira Rodrigues Fábio Luiz Partelli

Coffee cultivation is far more than the production of a globally traded beverage [...]

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162454

Authors: Katarzyna Darul Daniel Pruchniewicz

One of the major environmental problems in recent years is the deterioration of atmospheric air quality. Human activity in urban areas leads to the emission of particulate mat-ter containing various chemical components, including toxic heavy metals, which can accumulate in living organisms. The accumulation of pollutants by various species in mountain environments remains insufficiently understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the potential use of two species commonly co-occurring in mountain habitats—epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata Taylor and spruce Picea abies L., H. Karst.—as biomonitors of anthropogenic atmospheric pollution. The study was conducted in the Central Sudetes (Poland), across three site categories characterized by varying degrees of anthropogenic pressure (green, rural and urban areas). The results confirm that Parmelia sulcata can serve as a species reflecting heavy-metal contamination originating from atmospheric deposition, mainly lead, iron, cadmium and chromium, whereas the needles of Picea abies are useful mainly for indicating manganese pollution. No significant effect of anthropogenic pressure on heavy-metal concentrations was found, which is most likely related to specific air circulation in mountain areas that leads to the dispersion of air pollutants and their accumulation by the study species in the higher regions of the Central Sudetes.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162453

Authors: Lucas Santos Azevedo Thaís Paula Rodrigues Gonçalves Gabriela Cristina Ferreira Mota Mariana Guerra de Aguilar Lúcia Pinheiro Santos Pimenta Ana Hortência Fonsêca Castro Luciana Alves Rodrigues dos Santos Lima

Agrochemicals are used worldwide in food production, but their use varies between countries due to the damage observed to nature and human health. Allelopathy is the primary pathway of chemical communication in plants, interfering with biome development through stimulation and/or inhibition mechanisms. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the biological activities of the ethanol extract (EE) and fractions of S. fluminensis leaves on monocotyledonous and eudicotyledonous models. The EE was obtained by percolation with ethanol, and the hexane (HEXF), dichloromethane (DCMF), ethyl acetate (EAF), and hydroethanol (HEF) fractions were obtained by liquid–liquid partition. The phytochemical characterization was performed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The allelopathic activity was evaluated on Allium cepa (onion) and Lactuca sativa (lettuce) seeds. The cytotoxic, genotoxic, and antigenotoxic effects on A. cepa meristematic cells were analyzed in vitro. Aliphatic compounds, saponins, and flavonoids derived from quercetin and kaempferol were characterized in the samples. All samples decreased the vigor, germination rate, and germination speed index (GSI) of A. cepa seeds. In contrast, they did not alter the vigor and viability of L. sativa seeds, but decreased the GSI, except for HEF. The samples inhibited the epicotyl and root growth of A. cepa and L. sativa, except HEXF, which stimulated the growth of epicotyls (750 µg/mL) and roots (750 and 1000 µg/mL). The cytotoxic assays showed that the EE and HEXF had cytotoxic action at low concentrations, and no sample showed a genotoxic effect. The following samples exhibited an antigenotoxic effect after pretreatment with atrazine (ATZ): EE (125 and 750 µg/mL), HEXF (750 and 1000 µg/mL), DCMF (125, 250, and 1000 µg/mL), EAF (at all tested concentrations), and HEF (125, 250, and 750 µg/mL). Furthermore, the EAF at 125 and 500 µg/mL and HEF at 125 µg/mL demonstrated the potential to reverse genetic damage induced by glyphosate (GLY).

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162452

Authors: Xiangxi He Fengjun Leng Shuyi Yan Yong Hu Yikun He

Bryophytes possess a gene family repertoire substantially larger than vascular plants, yet the functional evolution of their transcription factors remains poorly understood. We conducted a nested analysis across 144 bryophyte genomes, cataloging 58 transcription factor families and deeply characterizing the C2H2 zinc-finger protein family. We identified 8246 C2H2 zinc-finger genes classified into four structural types based on zinc-finger architecture. Domain-level scanning of 11,565 zinc fingers revised Z-type frequency from ~20% to 4.2%. The plant-specific Q-type was most prevalent in mosses and least prevalent in liverworts, with the major Q-type radiation occurring in seed plants. C2H2 zinc-finger gene expansion in mosses was driven by whole-genome duplication, and gene count correlated with genome size. Through re-analysis of publicly available RNA-seq datasets, cross-species expression profiling showed that mosses mobilized 23–28% of their C2H2 zinc-finger repertoires under dehydration, whereas the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha showed no significant response to osmotic stress and only a weak, transient response to salt. Notably, the aluminum-tolerance regulator STOP1 was downregulated under dehydration. Together, these results suggest a marked divergence in stress-responsive C2H2-ZFP deployment between mosses and liverworts, although the underlying mechanisms remain to be validated functionally.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162451

Authors: Fang Wang Zhongmei Xie Songtao Yang Shuai Qiao Changfeng Yang Cuiping Li Wei Song Wenfang Tan

Potassium (K+) is an essential mineral element for plant growth and development. Members of the HAK/KUP/KT (HAK) gene family serve pivotal roles in K+ uptake, translocation and homeostasis. Although numerous HAK genes have been extensively identified across diverse plant species, a comprehensive genomic and functional analysis of this family in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) remains lacking. In this study, 22 putative IbHAK genes were identified and classified into four distinct clades (I–IV). A systematic characterization was performed for each IbHAK gene, including protein physicochemical properties, chromosome distribution, gene structure, synteny, and promoter cis-elements. Notably, five IbHAK5 genes (IbHAK5A–IbHAK5E) clustered on the HAK gene tree with AtHAK5, OsHAK5, and ZmHAK5. This suggests that small-scale duplication events likely drove the expansion of HAK5 in sweet potato. Among them, IbHAK5A, a gene with broad expression across tissues and strong transcriptional induction under low-K+ (LK) stress, was cloned. The function was then characterized in a K transporter-deficient yeast mutant and an Arabidopsis hak5 mutant. Transcription factor IbPTL1 directly binds the IbHAK5A promoter, upregulates its expression, and integrates into the K+ signaling. In this work, we provide foundational insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms governing K+ acquisition in sweet potato.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162450

Authors: Egizia Falistocco Marilena Ceccarelli

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L., 2n = 2x = 24) is one of the most economically important crop species of the Solanaceae family. In recent decades, various approaches have enabled the identification of Solanum insanum as the direct ancestor and Solanum incanum as the closest wild relative; however, these studies have largely neglected chromosomal features. To expand the chromosome knowledge of eggplant and its ancestors, we performed a comparative cytogenetic study by combining karyomorphological analyses with Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Genomic In Situ Hybridization (GISH). The three species exhibited similar chromosome morphology, except for the NOR-bearing chromosomes, which distinguished the S. incanum karyotype from those of the other two species. rDNA FISH mapping revealed two distinct patterns: one common to eggplant and S. insanum, and the other exclusive to S. incanum. The s-GISH method, used to examine the chromosome distribution of satDNA repeats, revealed identical patterns, which suggests that the chromosome structure of the investigated species was conserved during their evolution. Hybridization signals from cross-GISH experiments aligned with s-GISH patterns and confirmed the genomic homology among S. melongena, S. insanum and S. incanum. Our study provided novel cytogenetic evidence clarifying the evolutionary relationships between the cultivated eggplant and its ancestors.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162449

Authors: Meimei Bai Shaochong Wei Changlin Xu Xiaojun Yu

The bud bank is the reproductive body bank of grassland plants, which plays a key role in population maintenance and renewal. To study the effects of rest grazing on underground bud bank density, the changes in bud bank density were clarified to provide reference for grassland grazing management. In this experiment, according to the soil thawing and forage grass regreening in spring, the time when the cold-season pasture began to rest was determined. The period of grass withering is the end time of rest grazing. Different grazing rest periods are as follows: critical period of soil thawing–plant withering (RP1), early period of grass revival–plant withering (RP2) and period of local traditional rest grazing–plant withering (RP3). We studied the effects of different periods of rest grazing on the density and composition of underground bud banks. The results showed that the total density of underground bud banks increased by 33%, and the density of tiller buds, rhizome buds and root tiller buds increased by 9~62% compared with RP3. The proportion of different buds in different plots was tiller bud > rhizome bud > root tiller bud > bulb bud. Compared with RP3, the tiller bud density in RP1 increased by 24%. In RP1, the aboveground biomass and branch density of plants in RP1 were significantly higher than those in RP3 (p < 0.05), which were 56% and 29% higher than those in RP3, respectively. Finally, it is concluded that grazing rest before soil thawing in spring alpine meadow can promote the increase in plant underground bud bank density and the accumulation of aboveground biomass.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162448

Authors: Yang Wang Yangyang Ji Juan Tao Wanchang Zhang Jintong Ren Hongju Wang Ruiyu Zhou Xiu Huang Xueyi Fang Dengchuan Li

Whether vegetation structural recovery is accompanied by improvement in soil properties remains a key question for evaluating karst forest restoration. We investigated a six-stage natural recovery sequence in the Maolan karst forests of southwestern China by analyzing 18 plots. This sequence was interpreted as a spatial gradient rather than a strict temporal succession. Six soil physicochemical variables, community-weighted leaf traits, and functional diversity indices were integrated to construct a relative soil multifunctionality proxy (SMF) and to evaluate associations between soil-property patterns and plant functional reorganization. Later woody stages generally had lower soil bulk density and higher soil moisture, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents, and the SMF was higher from the tree–shrub stage onward. Community-weighted leaf traits showed nonlinear reorganization along the leaf economic spectrum, indicating shifts in resource acquisition and tissue investment strategies. Functional diversity responded asynchronously: functional richness was positively associated with the SMF, whereas dispersion-related indices did not show consistent positive associations. These findings indicate that variation in the SMF is associated with measured soil properties, the reorganization of dominant leaf traits along the leaf economic spectrum, and the restructuring of functional trait space, rather than being attributable to any single trait or diversity index. Because this study used 18 plots and a space-for-time design, the observed relationships should be interpreted as spatial associations, not temporal or causal effects.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162447

Authors: Jiayi Chen Hongxia Zheng Zhen Qu Meihong Sun Xiaofeng Xu

Puccinellia tenuiflora is a perennial halophytic grass commonly regarded as a pioneer species for the ecological restoration of saline–alkali land. Its adaptive capacity and subsequent utilization value are shaped by interacting structural, physiological, molecular, ecological, and management-related factors. This review summarizes recent studies on saline–alkali tolerance in P. tenuiflora, with emphasis on root structural barriers, Na+/K+ homeostasis, osmotic adjustment, organic-acid metabolism, antioxidant defense, ion transport, and multi-omics regulation. To better understand the integrated stress response, we propose a functional framework that distinguishes first-line defenses from downstream cellular repair mechanisms. First-line defenses include root apoplastic barriers (Casparian strips and suberization) that restrict Na+ entry, plasma-membrane Na+/H+ antiporters (e.g., SOS1) that mediate active Na+ exclusion, and K+-retention mechanisms (e.g., AKT1, HKT2;1) that preserve cytosolic K+/Na+ homeostasis—these operate rapidly to prevent ion imbalance at the onset of stress. Downstream repair and acclimation mechanisms include osmotic adjustment via compatible solutes (e.g., proline, glycine betaine), organic-acid accumulation (especially citric acid) for pH regulation and chelation, ROS scavenging systems, and proteomic/phosphoproteomic reprogramming that repair stress-induced damage and restore metabolic balance. Furthermore, saline–alkali stress involves both short-term osmotic shock and long-term ionic toxicity, and available evidence suggests a temporal shift in the relative importance of these mechanisms: osmotic adjustment and rapid ion exclusion dominate during the initial hours to days of stress, whereas organic-acid metabolism, ROS buffering, and molecular reprogramming become increasingly important during prolonged exposure, sustaining tissue integrity and enabling long-term persistence. Current evidence indicates that saline–alkali tolerance in P. tenuiflora results from the combined action of several processes, including restricted Na+ entry, K+ retention, organic-acid accumulation, reactive oxygen species homeostasis, and organ-specific molecular responses. This review also discusses the significance of P. tenuiflora in community establishment, saline–alkali land restoration, and post-restoration forage utilization. Field studies and limited feeding trials suggest that P. tenuiflora can provide biomass and utilization potential after community stabilization. However, based on current evidence, it is more appropriate to define its forage value as a post-restoration utilization extension rather than as that of a fully developed specialized forage crop. Further studies are required on nutritional quality, mineral-element safety, long-term field management, and animal feeding validation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162446

Authors: Alberto-José Parada-Siles Rafael Tomás-Las-Heras Laura Monforte Encarnación Núñez-Olivera Javier Martínez-Abaigar

We investigated diel physiological responses of the leafy aquatic liverwort Jungermannia eucordifolia under natural field conditions during two consecutive days. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), UV-A and UV-B radiation, together with water temperature, were monitored throughout the study. Physiological responses included: (1) chlorophyll fluorescence assessed through steady-state fluorescence parameters and fast chlorophyll fluorescence induction kinetics (OJIP approach); (2) UV-absorbing phenolic compounds in the methanol-soluble and methanol-insoluble fractions, mainly representing vacuolar and cell wall-bound compounds, respectively, thereby covering different functional modalities of UV protection; both the bulk UV absorption capacity of UV-absorbing compounds and seven individual phenolic compounds were analyzed; and (3) DNA damage. Photosynthetic performance parameters, including the effective photochemical quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII), the maximum photochemical quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and the Performance Index (PI), together with the photoprotection parameter non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), showed pronounced diel fluctuations closely associated with changes in ambient irradiance. ΦPSII, Fv/Fm, and PI were negatively related to irradiance, whereas NPQ exhibited the opposite trend. These responses were consistent with those previously observed in this liverwort under controlled laboratory conditions, suggesting dynamic photoinhibition accompanied by efficient photoprotection of photosystem II (PSII) against excess radiation, probably involving the xanthophyll cycle. Nevertheless, the strong covariation among PAR, UV-A, and UV-B wavebands prevented a clear distinction of their individual contributions. In contrast to chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, most variables associated with UV photoprotection through UV-absorbing compounds did not display consistent diel patterns under field conditions, although some individual compounds showed significant temporal fluctuations. This finding contrasted with previous laboratory experiments, where several UV-absorbing compounds increased under enhanced UV-B. DNA damage was not detected in any sample, consistent with previous field studies conducted under ambient UV-B levels but contrasting with experiments using enhanced UV-B exposure under either field or laboratory conditions. These results contribute to a better understanding of short-term physiological dynamics in aquatic bryophytes and may help improve UV biomonitoring protocols based on these organisms.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162445

Authors: Suyu Chen Wei Chen Xin Li Wenshuo Zhou Ran Sun Lingyu Zhou Yuxian Zhang Qiang Zhao

Soil salinization and alkalization severely threaten global agricultural sustainability. Although N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is well known as an antioxidant in animal research, its effects on plant salt–alkali tolerance and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the regulatory effects of foliar-sprayed NAC on two soybean (Glycine max) cultivars—salt-tolerant HF50 and salt-sensitive HN95—under saline–alkali stress. Exogenous NAC alleviated seedling growth inhibition by supplying cysteine, which elevated glutamate–cysteine ligase (GCL) activity and promoted homoglutathione (hGSH) accumulation. It further strengthened the ascorbic acid (AsA)–glutathione/homoglutathione ((h)GSH) cycle and elevated antioxidant enzyme activities, thereby relieving oxidative injury, while also activating DNA repair pathways to preserve genomic stability and protecting chloroplast and mitochondrial integrity. Notably, distinct genotype- and tissue-specific responses to NAC were detected. HN95 relied primarily on root antioxidant defenses in a strongly concentration-dependent manner, whereas HF50 coordinated antioxidant metabolism and DNA repair more effectively, showing consistent responses to NAC concentrations. These findings elucidate the coordinated physiological and molecular mechanisms by which exogenous NAC mitigates saline–alkali damage in soybean, providing a theoretical foundation for using NAC to enhance crop stress resilience and develop sustainable cultivation techniques for saline–alkali soils.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162444

Authors: Xianting Huang Shuang Li Litao Yi Aiping Yin Qingtao Zeng Han Lv Feiyan Li Zengqiang Meng Chaofeng Li Xiupeng Mei Jiuguang Wang

The three-amino-acid-loop-extension (TALE) gene family encodes a group of plant-specific homeodomain transcription factors that play indispensable roles in plant growth, development, and adaptation to environmental stresses. Although TALE genes have been extensively investigated in several plant species, their genome-wide characteristics and potential functions in maize, particularly in response to phosphorus deficiency, remain poorly understood. In the present study, a comprehensive genome-wide identification and characterization of the maize TALE gene family were conducted using bioinformatics approaches, followed by an investigation of their transcriptional responses to low-phosphorus (LP) stress. A total of 40 ZmTALE genes (ZmTALE1–ZmTALE40) were identified and phylogenetically classified into four subfamilies: BEL1-like, KNOX I, KNOX II, and KNOX III. Members within the same subfamily exhibited highly conserved gene structures and motif compositions, reflecting their evolutionary conservation. Chromosomal localization and synteny analyses demonstrated that segmental duplication has been the predominant force driving the expansion of the ZmTALE gene family during maize evolution. Promoter analysis revealed that the upstream regulatory regions of ZmTALE genes were enriched in light-responsive, phytohormone-responsive, and abiotic stress-related cis-acting regulatory elements, implying their potential involvement in multiple developmental and stress-responsive pathways. Expression profiling under LP conditions revealed pronounced genotype-dependent transcriptional responses among different maize inbred lines. Notably, ZmTALE1/5/12/14/18/30/31/33/36 were significantly induced by LP stress, whereas ZmTALE10 and ZmTALE37 were markedly repressed. These differentially expressed genes represent promising candidates for further functional investigation of phosphorus-deficiency tolerance in maize. Furthermore, ZmTALE10, ZmTALE14, and ZmTALE31 are nuclear-localized transcriptional activators. Taken together, these findings provide valuable insights into the evolutionary characteristics and potential biological functions of the maize TALE gene family and offer candidate genes for developing phosphorus-efficient maize cultivars through molecular breeding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162443

Authors: Yuhang Jiang Zehong Qiu Biaoshen Lin Zhongping Yang Yanping Hong

This study investigated the formation of a co-amorphous complex between ursolic acid and quercetin as a chemically defined model system for improving the formulation performance of a poorly soluble triterpenoid acid. Co-amorphous systems were prepared by solvent evaporation and physical grinding at different mass ratios. The optimal formulations were identified and evaluated by water-solubility measurement, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and in vivo expectorant–antitussive assays. The solvent-derived system showed higher water solubility than the ground system. PXRD and FTIR results suggested that the solvent method more effectively promoted loss of crystallinity and probable intermolecular interactions, whereas the grinding method largely retained the crystalline features of ursolic acid. Both ursolic acid–quercetin formulations exhibited enhanced expectorant and antitussive activities compared with pure ursolic acid. Although quercetin may contribute intrinsic pharmacological activity, the overall improvements were broadly consistent with the altered physicochemical properties of the co-amorphous systems, which may facilitate ursolic acid delivery. As a secondary exploratory comparison, plant-derived triterpenoid-acid-rich and flavonoid-rich fractions from Eriobotrya japonica leaves were also co-processed; however, because these fractions were not compositionally characterized, their results were interpreted cautiously and were not used as the primary basis for mechanistic conclusions. Overall, the present study demonstrates that co-amorphous complexation of ursolic acid and quercetin is a promising strategy for improving the solubility-related properties and in vivo activity of a poorly soluble triterpenoid acid.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162442

Authors: Qingyi Long Yang Li Jianjian Geng Lidan Gong Chao Wu Jing Ma Tingyu Li Nanhua Zi Xinghao Tu Liang Tao

To characterize the transcriptomic dynamics underlying shell hardening in Macadamia integrifolia, RNA sequencing was performed on pericarp and shell tissues collected at three key developmental stages. A total of 18 libraries were generated, yielding 125.19 Gb of clean data. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that husk-associated DEGs were mainly enriched in photosynthesis-related functions, whereas shell-associated DEGs were enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, secondary metabolism, and cell wall organization. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified module M8 as being strongly associated with the middle and late stages of shell development. Genes in this module were mainly enriched in phenylpropanoid metabolism, redox-related processes, and extracellular region functions. The hub genes within M8 included those encoding a glutaredoxin family protein, a WNK-type protein kinase, a tRNA methyltransferase-related protein, an EFR3 membrane-associated protein, a pectin modification-related protein, and a WAT1-related protein. Collectively, these results reveal clear tissue-specific transcriptomic patterns during pericarp and shell development and identify candidate co-expression networks that may contribute to shell hardening.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162441

Authors: Riwen Fei Siyang Duan Xiuting Zhao Yanhong Zhang Jiansong You Xiaoyu Li

Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense is an important medicinal plant, but still little is known about how its bioactive flavonoids are made in different organs. Comprehensive metabolomic profiling was performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), coupled with reference-based RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), to analyze root, stem, and leaf tissues from three independent biological replicates. Subsequently, we performed two-way orthogonal partial least squares (O2PLS) regression, canonical correlation analysis (CCA), and Pearson correlation analyses. A total of 2182 metabolites were detected. Among these, 1116, 896, and 1264 metabolites exhibited differential accumulation across the three pairwise comparisons. Concurrently, 9836, 5457, and 8007 genes were differentially expressed across the three pairwise comparisons, yielding a total of 13,019 unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The bifunctional flavanone 3-hydroxylase/flavonol synthase (F3H/FLS) enzyme exhibited the highest expression level in roots, consistent with root-preferential biosynthesis of flavonoid skeletons and the subsequent accumulation of flavonol glycosides in this tissue. In contrast, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) exhibited predominant activity in roots, consistent with its role in farrerol biosynthesis. The multi-omics integration model demonstrated excellent goodness-of-fit to the experimental data. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) further revealed a robust positive association between dihydrokaempferol accumulation and kaempferol biosynthesis. These findings collectively support flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) as a candidate regulatory node governing organ-specific flavonoid partitioning. However, functional validation is required to substantiate this inference.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162437

Authors: Natalija Kravic Sladjana Zilic Jelena Vukadinovic Tanja Petrovic Marija Milivojevic Anika Kovincic Snezana Mladenovic Drinic Jelena Srdic Marijana Simic Vojka Babic Violeta Andjelkovic

Understanding the biochemical networks governing seed longevity is essential for germplasm conservation. Integrating germination potential with biochemical profiling elucidates metabolic transitions during decadal cold storage. As phenotypic evidence of ageing, extended cold storage induces a uniform decline in germination energy, reaching a terminal “floor effect” characterised by the complete exhaustion of repair-and-defence strategies, whilst residual germination capacity averages 21%. Metabolic profiling reveals that prolonged storage causes systemic decoupling of the protein–sugar axis, leading to the loss of protein-dependent vigour. The structural collapse of the proteomic architecture—manifested by the decoupling of embryo albumin-led coordination and endosperm α-zein dynamics—induces a transition to a low-vigour state, paralleled by carbohydrate shifts consistent with glassy matrix destabilisation, implicitly linking the displacement of sucrose-dominated stability to the molecular crowding of reducing sugars. Re-anchoring germination potential from primary metabolic drivers to soluble-free phenolics prompts a compensatory antioxidant reorganisation; under conditions of phenolic matrix degradation and carotenoid exhaustion, the observed stability of total antioxidant capacity likely reflects scavenging sustained by phenolic degradation products rather than native, intact protective mechanisms. Ultimately, seed ageing manifests as a genotype-specific systemic reconfiguration of biochemical coordination, where the physiological state of the cytoplasmic matrix and the maintenance of redox homeostasis determine residual viability, thereby defining the critical benchmarks for germplasm longevity.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162440

Authors: Natàlia Puig-Gay Carlos Rieder Mireia Bordas

The thermotherapy technique has been used to evaluate the viability of hot water treatments (HWTs) for the elimination of different pathogens that infect commercial fruit trees. The present project focuses on common pathogens of Prunus species at the nursery level when external propagation material is needed, which is not always in optimal sanitary conditions. Different combinations of temperature/duration treatments were applied to budwood of nectarines infected by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) and almonds infected by Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV). These treated buds were then grafted onto disease-free micropropagated rootstocks. In bacteria-infected nectarine tissues treated at 45 °C for 40 min, Xap was not detected in any sample, preserving a high viability of the grafted plants. In virus-infected almond tissues treated at 45 °C for 50 min a few individual plants were identified in which no virus was detected. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of the HWT and suggest that these techniques could be applied at nursery level, on a large scale for the eradication of bacteria or on a small scale for the recovery of virus-free individuals.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162439

Authors: Xiaofang Luo Hui Liu Zhihao Wen Wen-Juan Chen Xinghui Fan Mohamed A. Ghorab Shaohua Chen Yonglin Liao

Quorum sensing (QS) is critically involved in mediating microbial interactions and serves as a central regulatory mechanism in bacterial pathogenesis. As an emerging countermeasure, quorum quenching (QQ) suppresses QS-regulated virulence through enzymatic or chemical disruption of signal systems. N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL), an evolutionarily conserved QS signal, coordinates the pathogenicity of multiple plant pathogens, particularly Dickeya zeae, which causes soft rot disease in various crops and leads to substantial agricultural losses. In this study, the QQ strain Acinetobacter schindleri XJ-10 was evaluated for its capacity to degrade AHL and attenuate the pathogenicity of D. zeae EC1 in host plants. Notably, strain XJ-10 exhibited efficient AHL degradation at 0.2 mmol/L within 24 h, achieving a degradation efficiency of 98.80%. Subsequently, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone and propanamide as key intermediates during AHL degradation, confirming complete mineralization to CO2 and H2O. Based on the structural characterization of AHL and its intermediates, the metabolic pathway within strain XJ-10 was proposed. The degradation pathway initiates with the hydrolysis of the ester ring of N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, generating N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine. Subsequent carbon–nitrogen bond scission is predicted to yield N-cyclohexyl-propanamide, which is further catabolized to produce hexanamide and propanamide. Furthermore, strain XJ-10 exhibited biocontrol activity against soft rot disease affecting potato (Solanum tuberosum), radish (Raphanus sativus), and Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis), as its crude enzyme extract effectively reduced disease incidence and severity in planta. While strain XJ-10 showed no detectable acylase activity, it exhibited significant degradation activity against AHL, suggesting a distinct QQ mechanism. Collectively, these findings broaden the scope of QQ-based biocontrol strategies and enhance mechanistic insights into managing bacterial diseases through QS modulation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162438

Authors: Yaqian Zhang Yongxin Zhang Zipeng Zhou Wei Liu Heng Lu Xiao Wang Mei Jiang

The dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza are widely used and economically important traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Land salinization affects the growth of S. miltiorrhiza, resulting in a decline in its quality and yield. WNK kinases belong to a unique family of serine/threonine kinases. They act as key regulators of plant growth, development and abiotic stress responses. However, this gene family has not been systematically characterized in Salvia miltiorrhiza. In this study, nine SmWNK genes were identified at the whole-genome level in S. miltiorrhiza. Phylogenetic analysis classified them into four structurally conserved subgroups. These genes are distributed across eight chromosomes and contain two pairs of intraspecific syntenic genes. Interspecific collinearity is far stronger between S. miltiorrhiza and dicots than between S. miltiorrhiza and monocots. Cis-element prediction indicated these cis-elements participate in light signaling, hormone responses, stress responses and developmental regulation. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that eight SmWNK genes were significantly induced by salt stress, and SmWNK7 was selected as the key candidate for functional validation. Functional assays via heterologous overexpression in tobacco demonstrated that SmWNK7 overexpression promoted root elongation and enhanced salt tolerance. Compared with wild-type tobacco plants, SmWNK7-overexpressing transgenic tobacco lines had higher catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and stronger root viability. These changes alleviated oxidative damage by enhancing the antioxidant defense system. Yeast two-hybrid screening yielded 40 SmWNK7-interacting annotated proteins, including 6 transcription factors and 1 protein kinase, which were enriched in 81 GO terms and 27 KEGG pathways. These findings confirm SmWNK7 positively regulates root growth and salt tolerance, laying a theoretical foundation for exploring SmWNK genes’ role in plant stress adaptation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162436

Authors: Atika Muhhamed Firew Mekbib Didier Bazile Cataldo Pulvento Berhanu Amsalu Fenta

Agriculture is the pillar of Ethiopia’s economy, employing over 80% of the population. However, it remains highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Promoting climate-smart agricultural practices is therefore critical. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), a highly nutritious pseudo-cereal with broad adaptability and efficient water use, presents a promising alternative crop for Ethiopia’s diverse agro-ecologies. Its tolerance to drought and salinity makes it an ideal candidate for enhancing food and nutritional security under changing climate conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the GEI for seed yield and yield-related traits and identify the stable and high-yielding genotypes of quinoa across six agro-ecological locations in Ethiopia—Negelle Arsi, Haramaya, Holeta, Kulumsa, Melkassa, and Ziway—representing three agro-climatic classifications (lowland, midland and highland). Thirteen genotypes were studied using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The G × E interaction main effect revealed significant GEI effects, particularly for plant height, days to maturity, and grain yield. Among the tested genotypes, ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’, ‘Salcedo-INIA-Puno-Peru’, and ‘Multi-Hued’ demonstrated superior performance across multiple environments. Stability analyses were performed using the AMMI, ASV, and GGE biplot approaches. The analyses revealed significant variation among the genotypes for both adaptability and stability. The AMMI results indicated that environmental effects contributed more to yield variability than genotypic or interaction effects. The AMMI model identified four promising genotypes: ‘Salcedo-INIA-Puno-Peru’, ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’, ‘Multi-Hued’, and ‘Bio-bio’. According to the ASV, the most stable genotypes were ‘Amarilla Sacaca’, ‘Amarilla Maranganí’, ‘Bio-bio’, ‘Cherry Vanilla’, ‘Multi-Hued’, and ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’. The GGE biplot identified ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’ and the Holeta location as the most ideal genotype and testing environment, respectively. ‘Multi-Hued’ and ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’ emerged as the winning genotypes in the only defined mega-environment. Notably, ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’ exhibited a high protein content, ranging from 14.8% at Kulumsa to 17.8% at Melkassa. Overall, ‘Brightest Brilliant Rainbow’ and ‘Salcedo-INIA-Puno-Peru’ were identified as high-performing, stable genotypes suitable for cultivation across diverse Ethiopian environments. These findings confirm quinoa’s adaptability to the broader agro-ecologies of Ethiopia and enable selection of stable, widely adapted varieties through the G × E interaction and stability analyses using AMMI, ASV, and a GGE biplot.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162435

Authors: Yuning Zhang Shanheng Shi Xuankai Zhuang Ziyan Zhou Xiaoni Liu Yafei Shi

Climate warming may alter both α and β diversity in alpine meadows, yet whether aboveground vegetation and soil seed banks respond synchronously remains unclear. Using a two-year open-top chamber (OTC) warming experiment, we investigated the responses of community composition, abundance, alpha diversity, and beta diversity in aboveground vegetation and the soil seed bank under experimental warming. Experimental warming significantly increased aboveground biomass to 1.73 times that of the CK treatment under the high-OTC treatment, while reducing species richness and the Shannon diversity index by 29.07% and 22.64%, respectively. Warming also promoted species turnover, increasing the beta diversity of aboveground vegetation by 24% and 37% under the low- and high-OTC treatments, respectively. In contrast, the soil seed bank mainly exhibited an increase in seed density, reaching 2.47 times that of the CK treatment under the high-OTC treatment, whereas species richness increased only slightly, and beta diversity remained relatively stable despite a significant, but comparatively smaller, shift in community composition. Overall, aboveground vegetation exhibited stronger responses to short-term warming, whereas the soil seed bank showed relatively stable diversity and community characteristics under the same warming treatments. These contrasting response patterns suggest that the greater stability of the soil seed bank may provide an important source of propagules for future vegetation regeneration and community restoration. Our findings reveal contrasting aboveground-belowground responses to warming and provide new insights into predicting the responses of alpine meadow plant communities to future climate warming.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162434

Authors: Yanshuang Liu Huichun Wang Xuzhe Cui Nian Liu Qunying Chen Lina Liu Mingyuan Zhang

The co-occurrence of soil drought and cadmium (Cd) pollution represents an important combined-stress scenario in degraded alpine grasslands, yet comparative responses of native Elymus forage grasses remain poorly resolved. Seedlings of E. sibiricus cv. Chuancao, E. breviaristatus, and E. nutans cv. Gannan were exposed to a full-factorial hydroponic matrix of four nominal Cd concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 20 mg·L−1) and four PEG-6000 concentrations of 0, 5, 7.5, and 10% (w/v). Growth, biomass allocation, tissue water status, malondialdehyde (MDA), soluble sugars, antioxidant enzyme activities, and photosynthetic pigments were measured, and stress tolerance coefficient, membership function analysis, and principal component analysis were used for integrated evaluation. Cd × PEG interactions affected growth, biomass, MDA, soluble sugars, peroxidase, catalase (CAT), and total chlorophyll, demonstrating trait- and species-dependent non-additive responses. Under the most severe combined treatment, E. breviaristatus maintained comparatively better shoot growth, lower absolute MDA, and relatively stable CAT and pigment traits; E. nutans maintained CAT and chlorophyll concentration but showed severe membrane lipid peroxidation, whereas E. sibiricus was more sensitive in shoot growth and pigment maintenance. Multi-method evaluation ranked E. breviaristatus first for relative multi-trait performance. Because Cd availability, tissue Cd concentrations, and root-to-shoot translocation were not measured, this ranking reflects phenotype-based performance under common external treatments rather than intrinsic Cd tolerance. E. breviaristatus should therefore be regarded as a candidate for subsequent Cd-accumulation, soil-pot, and field validation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162433

Authors: Kanglong Zhu Hong Li Hua Lin Dewei Li Hongying Li Yanling Peng Hede Gong

The elevational divergence of plant CSR (Competitor–Stress-Tolerator–Ruderal) strategies represents a core theme in global change ecology, yet adaptive patterns across subalpine transition zones remain insufficiently understood. This study focused on 375 plant individuals sampled along an 1143–4361 m elevational gradient on Gongga Mountain. We divided elevations into three zones (low, mid, high) using tertile partitioning, measured leaf functional traits including leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and quantified CSR strategy scores with the StrateFy approach. We further explored how hydrothermal factors drive community- and intraspecific-level strategy variation. Results showed that CSR strategies differed significantly along the elevational gradient. The relative abundance of individuals with the C strategy was 53.4% at low elevations, peaked at 72.4% at mid elevations, and decreased to 43.6% at high elevations. By contrast, the S strategy was most abundant at high elevations (32.5%), while the R strategy consistently accounted for less than 5% across all zones. Life form-specific strategies varied strongly: herbs maintained a dominant C strategy (66.7%) at high elevations; trees shifted to S strategy dominance (60%) at high elevations; and shrubs displayed a balanced C–S strategy. Intraspecific plasticity in CSR strategies was pronounced: with increasing elevation, the dominant strategy shifted from C (33.3%) to S (66.7%), with a greater magnitude of variation than at the community level. Temperature was positively correlated with the C strategy (p < 0.001, R2 = 0.53) and negatively correlated with the R strategy (p < 0.001, R2 = 0.40). Precipitation was negatively correlated with the C strategy (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.54) and positively correlated with the R strategy (p = 0.005, R2 = 0.42), whereas both factors exerted weak effects on the S strategy. Our findings highlight that shifts in hydrothermal conditions are the primary drivers shaping CSR strategy distributions, and coordinated leaf trait variation serves as a key adaptation mechanism. These results improve mechanistic understanding of mountain plant adaptation and provide a scientific basis for alpine vegetation conservation and management.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162432

Authors: Alexander A. Gnutikov Nikolai N. Nosov Inna E. Evnukova Victoria S. Shneyer Aleksey V. Troitsky Alexander V. Rodionov

All taxa of plants have undergone several rounds of whole-genome duplication (WGD), accompanying interspecific and intergeneric crosses; subsequently, some part of one or both parent genomes in hybrid plants can be eliminated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships of the intergeneric hybrid ×Agrotrigia (Poaceae) species with the taxa of parental genera Agropyron and Elytrigia and to determine the distribution as well as conservation or loss of parental genomes in the genomes of hybrid species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of nuclear (ITS, ETS) and several chloroplast DNA markers confirmed that the most likely parents of this hybrid were really species of Agropyron and Elytrigia. The compositions of ribotypes (sequences of the 18S–ITS1–5.8S rDNA region) assessed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) showed that the genomes of hybrid species of ×Agrotrigia hajastanica and of the sample of ×A. androssovii from Turkmenistan carry ribotypes of both Agropyron and Elytrigia. However, the samples of ×A. kotovii and ×A. androssovii from Pskov Oblast bear ribotypes of the Elytrigia type only, whereas the genome of one sample of the ×Agrotrigia genus collected in Stavropol Krai consists exclusively of two clusters of Agropyron-type ribotypes (P genome) and may represent a new species. Therefore, these two (or three) species may be subject to the elimination of portions of the genome of one of the parents, though the extent of elimination may be different.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162431

Authors: Songze Wu Minghao Zhang Ruicheng Hu Di Niu Boyu Meng Haikun Yang Yuling Chen Yonghai Fan Kun Lu

In the original publication [...]

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162430

Authors: Osval A. Montesinos-López José Elías Peregrina-Chavarría Abelardo Montesinos-López José Crossa Ivana N. Briseño-Rodríguez Roberto de la Rosa Santa-María Nereyda C. Pérez-González Karol D. Johnston-Navarro Mayte Muñoz-Rosales Verónica M. Guzmán-Sandoval Iván Delgado-Enciso Luis Posadas Reka Howard

In this study, we assessed the impact of prior-induced regularization using six real datasets from wheat, rice, and potato, spanning 107–758 genotypes, 2–12 environments, 1–18 traits, and 2744–108,024 molecular markers. Two modeling scenarios were evaluated: (i) unimodal genomic prediction based solely on marker information and (ii) multimodal (multi-component) prediction integrating genomic, environmental, and genotype-by-environment (G × E) effects. Predictive performance was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation (COR) and normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) under 10 repeated random 50% training–50% testing partitions, representing prediction of untested lines in tested environments. Bayesian genomic prediction (BGP) relies on prior distributions to regulate shrinkage and stabilize inference in high-dimensional settings. We evaluated whether predictive performance was driven primarily by the type of Bayesian prior or by the presence of effective prior-induced regularization. Across most datasets, regularized Bayesian models achieved higher predictive correlations and markedly lower NRMSE than the weakly regularized or unregularized baseline. Differences among regularized prior families were generally modest, whereas weakening or removing regularization frequently produced unstable estimates and inflated prediction error. Predictive results were obtained for both winter-wheat datasets as well as for the rice, potato, and DMario datasets. In multimodal analyses, models with coherent regularization across genomic, environmental, and genotype-by-environment components were generally more accurate and stable than configurations in which regularization was absent or weakened in key components. Rice_Kim_2020 was an informative exception in which the baseline remained competitive. These results show that the principal empirical contrast is the presence versus absence of effective prior-induced regularization, rather than a universal ranking of Bayesian prior families. Appropriate regularization should therefore be treated as a central model-design decision in genomic prediction.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162429

Authors: Gang Niu Yue Yao Longfei Li Minghui Ji Huan Liu Lijuan Gao Xumin Wang Haijiao Xu Da Zhang Yingjie Wang Jintao Xu Baofeng Hao

Persistent global warming significantly impacts crop phenology and productivity, with perennial fruit trees facing heightened challenges due to their long life cycles and complex heat stress accumulation. Apple and pear, which hold substantial economic and nutritional value, are particularly vulnerable to high temperatures, manifesting as accelerated phenology, impaired floral organ development, disrupted pollination and fertilization, and insufficient fruit coloration—all of which severely compromise fruit quality and commercial value. Although recent advances have been made in elucidating heat stress signal transduction and regulatory networks in model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice, research on heat stress responses in apple and pear remains limited. This review systematically synthesizes the physiological responses, gene expression regulation, and protective cultivation strategies under high-temperature stress in apple and pear, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation for thermotolerance breeding and the establishment of heat stress regulatory networks, thereby supporting sustainable production in the context of global warming.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162428

Authors: Linfang Zhang Linlu Si Mao Wu Xiaolong Huang Huiqing Yan

Rosa roxburghii Tratt is characterized by its abundant flavonoid content. However, the mechanisms underlying MYB-mediated regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis in R. roxburghii remain largely unknown. In this study, we found that flavonoid accumulation was markedly higher in fruits. By WGCNA of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with flavonoid accumulation profiles, we identified RrMYB5 as a key regulatory factor in flavonoid biosynthesis of R. roxburghii. RrMYB5 contained characteristic R2R3 domains and a conserved PA1-type motif YEEYLQALL. It was localized exclusively to the nucleus. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that RrMYB5 was constitutively expressed, with peak expression occurring at the rapid fruit expansion stage. The total soluble flavonoid accumulation in R. roxburghii calli was substantially increased by overexpression of RrMYB5. Further LC–MS-based metabolomic analysis revealed significant enrichment of flavonols and proanthocyanidins in RrMYB5-OE calli. Consistently, the transcript levels of RrLAR (Rr404249) and RrANR (Rr300417) were markedly elevated in RrMYB5-overexpressing calli. Moreover, DAP-seq analysis suggested that RrMYB5 might directly bind the promoters of flavonoid structural genes. Subsequent yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assays confirmed that RrFLS (Rr101307) and RrF3H (Rr306546) were direct downstream targets of RrMYB5. These findings indicated that RrMYB5 promoted the expression of flavonol and flavanol biosynthetic genes through different regulatory routes. Thus, our study elucidates the regulatory role of RrMYB5 in flavonoid biosynthesis and provides a valuable molecular target for improving the quality and utilization of R. roxburghii.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162427

Authors: Zhiting Wan Mao Lin Yu Huang Chunmei Yu Qixiang Zhang Huitang Pan Tangchun Zheng

Double-flowered cultivars are generally considered more attractive than single-flowered varieties in ornamental plants. The AP2/ERF transcription factors superfamily plays pivotal roles in plant development, including floral organ formation. Here, a total of 248 AP2/ERF genes were identified in the genome of L. speciosa, and these genes were unevenly distributed on the 24 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis classified LsAP2/ERF genes into five distinct groups; the ERF subfamily was the largest, whereas the AP2 subfamily was associated with floral development. Gene duplication events contributed to the expansion of LsAP2/ERF family members, with segmental duplication identified as the primary contributor. Promoter cis-element analysis revealed an abundance of light-responsive and hormone-responsive elements. Spatiotemporal expression profiling showed that core AP2 subfamily members (LsAP2/ERF4/9/10/13/219) exhibited distinct expression patterns during flower bud development. Moreover, heterologous overexpression of LsAP2/ERF10 in tobacco resulted in transgenic lines with altered petal morphology, supporting its potential functional involvement in floral development. This study provides comprehensive characterization of the AP2/ERF family in L. speciosa, laying the foundation for elucidating its molecular mechanisms in floral morphogenesis.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162426

Authors: Haotian Feng Jincheng Wang Qingyu Kang Wanda Liu Yu Wang Xingguo Li Wenhui Li Deguo Han

Actinidia arguta possesses great commercial value as an economically important fruit crop, which accumulates abundant nutrients and bioactive components with medicinal potential. However, adverse abiotic environments, especially cold and drought stress, severely restrict its vegetative growth, reproductive development and fruit yield. Numerous studies have established MYB transcription factors as core regulators of plant abiotic stress adaptation. Here, we cloned AaMYB4 from A. arguta ‘Fenglü’ and systematically characterized its function in cold and drought tolerance. AaMYB4 encodes a 241-amino-acid R2R3-MYB protein localized to the nucleus, with highest expression in stems and young leaves. Its transcription is markedly induced by cold, drought and abscisic acid (ABA) within 24 h with a single peak expression pattern. Heterologous overexpression of AaMYB4 in Arabidopsis alleviated cold-induced oxidative damage, accompanied by reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation as well as increased proline contents and enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS)-mediated silencing of AaMYB4 impaired cold tolerance in Actinidia arguta seedlings, while stable AaMYB4 overexpression significantly improved plant survival and physiological performance under cold and drought conditions, concurrent with attenuated ROS accumulation. At the transcriptional level, AaMYB4 overexpression is positively associated with elevated transcript levels of stress marker genes in the ABA signaling and ICE1-CBF-COR pathways. This study lays a theoretical foundation for exploring abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms and conducting stress-resistant molecular breeding in A. arguta.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162425

Authors: Audrius Jakutis Regina Skuodienė Ewald Sieverding Virgilijus Baliuckas Jūratė Aleinikovienė

Intensive cropping systems often disbalance soil nitrogen (N) cycling due to high mineral fertilization and low organic matter return. We investigated the linkage between soil N transformation and microorganism responses to mineral N fertilization in long-term intensive cropping systems during 2019–2022. A three-factor experiment was established on loam soil, including varying mineral N rates (100, 150, 180, 230 kg N ha−1), organic fertilizer (0 or 300 kg ha−1), and a biological activator (0 or 0.1 L ha−1). Higher mineral N rates combined with organic fertilizer and biological activator significantly increased soil organic carbon and enhanced biologically transformed N (NH4+ + NO3−), with the strongest effects observed at N180. Despite increased mineral N inputs, total soil N did not rise, indicating limited long-term N retention. Increasing mineral N inputs reduced total microbial abundance and shifted the community toward bacterial dominance, lowering soil fungi and bacteria ratio and decreasing biological N immobilization. Organic fertilizer inputs counteracted these effects by increasing fungal abundance and improving biological N transformation efficiency. Overall, the study demonstrates that maintaining balanced mineral N inputs together with organic and biological amendments is essential for stable soil N transformation in intensive cropping systems. For sustainable N management, mineral N should not exceed 150 kg N ha−1 or 180 kg N ha−1, when supplemented with organic fertilizer to avoid soil microbial functioning disturbance and to improve N-use efficiency.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162424

Authors: László Zsombik Tibor József Aranyos Csaba Juhász Tamás Sipos Tamás Magyar Waleed A. E. Abido Vivien Pál

Regenerative farming practices, including the use of leguminous green manures, are increasingly recognized for their potential to improve soil quality, enhance nutrient cycling, and reduce nitrogen losses. In this study, we investigated the effects of two leguminous green manure crops, lupine (Lupinus albus L.) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), on maize (Zea mays L.) yield and soil mineral nitrogen dynamics in two soil layers (0–25 cm and 25–50 cm). The treatments were compared with mineral nitrogen fertilization (80 kg ha−1 N) and an unfertilized control under field conditions on humic sandy soil in Hungary between 2021 and 2023. The results showed that under extreme drought conditions (2022), maize yield in mineral-fertilized plots (0.90 t ha−1) was significantly lower than in the unfertilized control (1.61 t ha−1), while green manure treatments maintained substantially higher yields (4.11–4.21 t ha−1). Soil nitrogen dynamics were strongly influenced by precipitation patterns. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that increasing precipitation reduced mineral nitrogen content in the topsoil, while promoting its accumulation in deeper soil layers. This effect was particularly pronounced in mineral-fertilized treatments, where a significant negative correlation was observed in the 0–25 cm layer and a positive correlation in the 25–50 cm layer, suggesting greater downward movement of mineral nitrogen within the soil profile. Principal component analysis further indicated that mineral fertilizer-derived nitrogen was more strongly associated with precipitation variables than nitrogen originating from green manure treatments. The results suggest that the application of leguminous green manures promotes a more stable soil nitrogen distribution and reduces sensitivity to precipitation-driven nitrogen redistribution compared with mineral fertilization.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162423

Authors: Hyo Jun Won Ae-jin Choi

Fruit and vegetable by-products can be interpreted more usefully as postharvest crop-derived tissue fractions than as generic waste streams or sources of recoverable compounds. This integrative review synthesizes evidence on plant tissues, postharvest quality, stabilization, safety, and analytical characterization to develop a tissue-to-raw-material framework for plant-based food development. The framework begins with crop source, cultivar or maturity, organ/tissue identity, and postharvest history, and then links these variables to stabilization, safety screening, analytical evidence, intended-use specifications, and route assignment. Brassicaceae crops—including napa cabbage, radish, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower—serve as representative cases because their leafy, root, stem, core, stalk, and trimming fractions differ in water status, tissue fragility, sulfur-related traits, sensory constraints, and stabilization needs. Application suitability is therefore assessed from tissue identity, postharvest condition, stabilization history, safety status, and intended-use specifications rather than compound richness alone. Within this framework, zero-waste development means assigning a documented tissue fraction to a supported food, fermentation, coating/film, or selected secondary-material route, while using lower-risk assignment, downgrading, or exclusion where traceability, safety, stability, or specification evidence remains insufficient.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162422

Authors: Yaling Chang Fu Ran Qingshan Fan Fang Yang Xiaoming Bai Guanghui Lv Ting Wang

Global climate change-driven drought aggravation seriously threatens the survival and distribution of desert shrubs. Nitraria sibirica Pall. has outstanding drought tolerance, yet its growth adaptation strategies and internal regulatory mechanisms under different soil moisture conditions lack systematic research. This study combined physiological determination with transcriptome and metabolome analyses to investigate its physiological responses and molecular regulation mechanisms at different growth stages and habitats. Nitraria sibirica from riparian habitats exhibited lower leaf organic carbon and higher total nitrogen. Desert-grown N. sibirica possessed far more drought-responsive differentially expressed genes and metabolites than riparian ones. Hormone signal transduction and lipid metabolism dominated regulation in riparian habitats, whereas secondary metabolite biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism—especially flavonoid biosynthesis and tryptophan metabolism—were core in desert habitats. Its drought response displayed distinct stage-specificity, with hormone signal transduction most enriched in drought-responsive genes across growth periods. This study clarifies the stress adaptation mechanisms of desert shrubs and provides theoretical support for germplasm evaluation and vegetation restoration in arid regions.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162421

Authors: Yingjun Hou Mingzhi Guan Wenhui Wang Wenfang Li Zonghuan Ma Xin Li Cunwu Zuo Juan Mao Baihong Chen

The calcium ion-transporting ATPase (Ca2+-ATPase) gene family maintains plant intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and regulates growth, development and stress immunity; however, its functions remain poorly characterized in Malus domestica. Here, we performed a genome-wide identification of apple Ca2+-ATPase genes and obtained 45 members, which were classified into MdACA (39) and MdECA (6) subfamilies and unevenly distributed on 14 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis of Ca2+-ATPase genes from Malus domestica, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Oryza sativa classified these proteins into five subgroups. The ACA and ECA subfamilies were highly conserved across species, whereas Group D was apple-specific. Collinearity and Ka/Ks analyses indicated that segmental duplication and purifying selection dominated the evolution of apple Ca2+-ATPase genes. Promoter cis-element prediction uncovered numerous regulatory elements related to phytohormone signaling, growth, development and stress defense. Codon usage bias analysis indicated that AUG (methionine) was the dominant codon. Tissue expression profiles showed differential expression of apple Ca2+-ATPase genes in various organs. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays demonstrated widespread responses of Ca2+-ATPase genes to Alternaria alternata infection, exogenous CaCl2, salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA), among which MdACA39 was strongly induced under all treatments. Subcellular localization verified that MdACA39 resides on the plasma membrane. Moreover, transient overexpression of MdACA39 significantly enhanced apple resistance to A. alternata, likely due to the activation of SA, MeJA and Ca2+ signaling-mediated immune pathways, the induction of disease resistance-related genes, and elevated antioxidant enzyme activity. Collectively, this study systematically characterizes the apple Ca2+-ATPase family and identifies MdACA39 as a key regulator of fungal resistance, providing valuable gene resources for dissecting Ca2+ signaling-mediated disease resistance in apple.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162420

Authors: Artur Likhanov Svitlana Bilous Iryna Smetanska Maksym Kharkhota Oleksandr Subin Volodymyr Gryb Vira Boroday Liubov Zelena Mariia Shevchuk Andrii Bilous

The presence of false heartwood in the stems of Fagus sylvatica L. significantly reduces timber quality; to date, its physiological triggers remain understudied. Research on beech stands in the forests of the Bukovinian Pre-Carpathians (Ukraine) was aimed at identifying functional links between leaf structure, synthesis of polyphenols, microbial elicitors, and false heartwood formation. Using morphometric analysis, epifluorescence microscopy, and spectrophotometry, trees with false heartwood (FH morphotype) were compared with those without it, the healthy control (HC morphotype). Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene identified the endophytic strain Bacillus halotolerans (BHFHB). The composition of its exopolysaccharides (EPS) was analyzed by gas chromatography. Trees with FH were identified as a distinct morphotype characterized by leaf blade thickness and increased flavonoid content in leaves. It was experimentally demonstrated that this morphotype is characterized by the capacity for flavonoid hypersynthesis. Treatment of leaves with ethephon or bacterial EPS resulted in a 20–30% increase in flavonoid content within four hours. The proactive response, combined with xeromorphic traits, indicates a state of systemic priming. FH formation in this morphotype is proposed to be considered as an individual adaptive strategy, where ethylene-dependent hypersynthesis of flavonoids provides antioxidant protection, biomechanical resistance, and metabolomic adaptation under extreme conditions of mountain ecosystems.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162419

Authors: Zhiying Cai Lili He Liming Dai Yuping Shi Yixian Liu Haipeng Su Sipeng Jian Hongjun Mu

Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A.Juss.) Müll.Arg., the world’s primary source of natural rubber, faces increasing threats from emerging diseases in tropical cultivation regions. During recent field surveys in Yunnan and Hainan provinces of China, previously uncharacterized brown, water-soaked necrotic lesions were observed on tender stems and leaves of rubber trees. This study aimed to identify the causal pathogen, characterize its biological traits, and evaluate candidate fungicides for disease management. The pathogen was isolated via tissue explant methods and identified through morphological observation combined with multigene phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA, and cytochrome c oxidase subunits I and II (coxI and coxII) sequences. Pathogenicity was rigorously confirmed by fulfilling Koch’s postulates on rubber tree seedlings. The isolates produced spherical to ovoid, papillate sporangia, and phylogenetic reconstruction strongly supported clustering them with Phytopythium vexans. The pathogen grew optimally at 16–31 °C, with growth ceasing at 35 °C. Fungicide sensitivity assays revealed that metalaxyl exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity against mycelial growth, with half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) values as low as 0.04 μg/mL. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. vexans causing foliar and stem necrosis on H. brasiliensis. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for accurate disease diagnosis, epidemiological surveillance, and the development of effective chemical control strategies for rubber plantations.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162418

Authors: Yi Mo Yu-Chong Fei Xi Tian Yujie Luo Kai Lin Meng Li Jiajing Xu Yuqi Pang Yongwei Wu Kuipeng Li Liming Zeng Sijie Huang Zeng-Fu Xu

Macadamia (Macadamia spp.) is an economically important nut crop whose severe recalcitrance to genetic transformation substantially hinders progress in functional genomics and molecular breeding. To overcome this critical technical bottleneck, this study established a highly efficient and broadly applicable in planta hairy root genetic transformation system with integrated visual screening. This system utilizes an Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation method, employing multiple visual reporter gene systems (DsRed2, eGFP, RUBY, and AtPAP2) to achieve antibiotic-independent and non-destructive screening of transgenic roots. Notably, the system innovatively incorporates the air layering (marcotting) technique to extend in planta genetic transformation to branches of mature trees in the field. By circumventing the stringent sterile conditions required for conventional in vitro tissue culture, this approach achieves a largely genotype-independent transformation across open-pollinated seedlings with diverse genetic backgrounds (A4, GR1, HAES900, and O.C.). The transgenic hairy root induction frequencies ranged from 39.25% to 47.38%, although the GR1 genotype exhibited a notable developmental stage-dependent decline in transformation efficiency. Furthermore, transgenic hairy roots were successfully induced on mature tree branches, with a maximum induction rate of 28.2%. Gene expression analyses confirmed the stable, high-level expression of the target transgenes in all the transgenic hairy root lines. This in planta transformation system provides a reliable in vivo experimental platform for the rapid functional validation of candidate genes and the investigation of root biology in Macadamia. Moreover, it establishes a novel strategy for plant regeneration via root-to-shoot organogenesis, offering a promising avenue for the genetic improvement of recalcitrant woody plants.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162417

Authors: Gayane Atazhanova Karakoz Badekova Yana Levaya Assel Sabiyeva Tomas Kacergius Vika Gabe Irina Kadyrova Altyn Bakenova Almagul Makhmutova Daniyar Sadyrbekov Assanali Ainabayev Elina Smagulova

Streptococcus mutans is the primary etiological agent of dental caries due to its ability to form acidogenic biofilms on tooth surfaces. Natural monoterpenes have attracted considerable interest as potential antibiofilm agents for oral healthcare. The present study investigated the antibiofilm activity and possible mechanism of action of (+)-endo-borneol isolated from the essential oil of Achillea millefolium against S. mutans. The chemical composition of the essential oil was characterized by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and (+)-endo-borneol was isolated by chromatographic separation. Antibiofilm activity was evaluated using the crystal violet biofilm assay, while antimicrobial activity was determined by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays. The influence of subinhibitory concentrations of (+)-endo-borneol on the expression of the biofilm-associated genes gtfB and yycF was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. Molecular docking was performed to investigate ligand–protein interactions, using a ligand geometry pre-optimized by density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP/6-31G**). The essential oil inhibited S. mutans biofilm formation by up to 98%, whereas isolated (+)-endo-borneol reduced biofilm biomass by 97–98% at concentrations of 2–10 mg/mL. The MIC and MBC values of (+)-endo-borneol were 2.5 and 5.0 mg/mL, respectively. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that subinhibitory concentrations of (+)-endo-borneol modulated the transcription of gtfB and yycF, indicating activation of bacterial regulatory responses. Molecular docking revealed favorable binding of (+)-endo-borneol to biofilm-related protein targets. These findings demonstrate that (+)-endo-borneol is a promising natural antibiofilm compound with potential application in the development of novel preventive and therapeutic oral healthcare products targeting S. mutans biofilms.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162416

Authors: Thasang Thavanapong Nara Yaowiwat Siripat Chaichit Mathukorn Sainakham Pimporn Leelapornpisid Worrapan Poomanee

Mitragyna speciosa Korth. (Kratom) is a plant native to Southeast Asia, traditionally used for its stimulant and analgesic properties. Beyond mitragynine, the principal alkaloid dominating M. speciosa research, this study explored the cosmeceutical and nutraceutical potential of its phenolic and flavonoid constituents. Kratom leaf extract (MLE) was obtained via ultrasound-assisted extraction optimized by Central Composite Design, yielding high polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity. The optimized MLE showed measurable collagenase inhibition (IC50 = 92.63 ± 7.81 µg/mL) while maintaining fibroblast viability (>80%). UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS tentatively identified chlorogenic acid, rutin, and kaempferol 3-glucosyl-(1→6)-galactoside (K3G). Chlorogenic acid and rutin were quantified by HPLC at 31.37 ± 2.41 and 18.76 ± 1.66 µg/mg extract, respectively, while K3G remained linked to an unidentified peak. Mitragynine was also quantified at an appreciable level (59.38 ± 0.21 µg/mg extract), indicating that removal of the alkaloid fraction is required before application. Molecular docking identified chlorogenic acid as the strongest predicted collagenase binder (−12.82 kcal/mol), though chlorogenic acid and rutin together could not fully account for the extract’s activity, suggesting possible contributions from K3G and other unidentified compounds. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the cosmeceutical potential of kratom leaf extract, pending control of its alkaloid content.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162415

Authors: Shujuan Zhang Rongzhi Zhang Dandan Li Jie Gao Jihu Li Guoqi Song Wei Li Yulian Li Genying Li

The ABA signaling pathway is essential for plant growth, development, and responses to diverse abiotic stresses. 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) are key functional enzymes involved in this pathway. In the present study, we investigated the biological roles and underlying molecular mechanisms of the TaNCED1 gene in wheat under drought stress treatment, using two materials: TaNCED1-overexpressing transgenic wheat plants and the nced1 knockout mutants. Phenotypic and physiological results demonstrated that TaNCED1 overexpression significantly enhanced wheat drought tolerance, whereas the knockout mutants clearly reduced the drought resistance. Mechanistically, TaNCED1 positively modulates wheat drought tolerance by maintaining higher leaf relative water content (RWC), accumulating more soluble sugars and proline, and reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and electrolytic leakage. Moreover, the catalase (CAT) activity accumulated to higher levels exclusively under drought stress, and this antioxidant enzyme serves as a core mediator of drought tolerance conferred by TaNCED1 overexpression. Transcriptomic profiling of drought-challenged transgenic and WT plants further confirmed that TaNCED1 initiates a suite of stress-responsive regulatory cascades and robustly upregulates key drought resistance genes in wheat.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15162414

Authors: Zheyu Yan Yulan Wang Anqi Sun Jiuguang Wang Zhiyun Qi Shujun Li Lanyousong Deng Tingting Liu Mengya Qian Haitao Qian Shunzhe Zhang Hong Duan Qianlin Xiao Zhizhai Liu

The natural mutation of ZmTB1WT to ZmTB1be1 was documented as the fundamental cause of ear branching in maize, while the molecular mechanism remains undiscovered. In the present study, we characterized both ZmTB1WT and ZmTB1be1, and found that the structure of conserved domains, activation features, and subcellular localization of both proteins remained unchanged, whereas the mutation significantly decreased the transactivating power of ZmTB1WT to the documented downstream target genes. Further DAP-qPCR identified significant enrichment of ZmTB1be1 within the promoter of ZmWOX3a (pZmWOX3a), and the results of EMSA and Y1H indicated that ZmTB1be1 could directly bind to pZmWOX3a. D-LUC assays showed that ZmTB1WT significantly suppressed the activity of pZmWOX3a, while this suppression effect was completely released by the mutation of ZmTB1be1. Furthermore, ZmTB1WT exhibited statistically higher expression levels than ZmWOX3a within the tissues of immature ear and axillary buds at V7 under WT background, while ZmWOX3a possessed significantly stronger expression signals than ZmTB1be1 under be1 background and ZmTB1CR under ZmTB1WT-edited backgrounds. The summary results of the present study hypothesize a novel cascade of ZmTB1be1-ZmWOX3a in regulating ear branching, shedding a new light in understanding the female inflorescence development in maize.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152413

Authors: Qinghan Bao Xiaowei Wei Yang Wu Yongping Zhang Yue Zhang Yang Wang

Soil salinization and alkalization caused by global climate change have become major constraints on crop production worldwide. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), owing to its exceptional adaptability to adverse environmental conditions, is considered a promising crop for saline–alkali agriculture. Successful screening and evaluation of saline–alkali-tolerant germplasm at the germination stage is essential for breeding quinoa varieties with enhanced tolerance to compound saline–alkali stress. In this study, 23 quinoa accessions originating from different regions were evaluated for saline–alkali tolerance by exposing seeds to compound saline–alkali solutions at different concentrations in a Petri dish germination assay. During the germination stage, relative vigor index, germination rate, germination energy, shoot length, root length, and fresh weight were determined, and saline–alkali tolerance was assessed using multivariate statistical analyses. The germination ability and seedling growth potential of quinoa germplasm gradually declined with increasing saline–alkali stress. Based on the comprehensive saline–alkali tolerance index at the germination stage, eight accessions were identified as highly tolerant and four accessions as highly sensitive to saline–alkali stress. Among them, LL1 and Z27 exhibited outstanding tolerance and were identified as elite saline–alkali-tolerant germplasm resources. The results indicated that vigor index and fresh weight at the germination stage can serve as key parameters for evaluating saline–alkali tolerance in quinoa germplasm. Overall, this study provides valuable germplasm resources and a practical basis for breeding new quinoa varieties with enhanced saline–alkali tolerance, as well as for the identification and utilization of stress-resistance-related genes in quinoa.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152412

Authors: Lixiang Miao Jiyao Qiu Yijia Ma Chaocui Nong Ziping Fan Rongping Ren Ming Jiang Qingxi Chen Yuji Huang

Red-flowered strawberry possesses both ornamental and edible value, but its short single-flower lifespan severely limits its ornamental potential. In this study, petals of the red-flowered strawberry cultivar ‘140’ were collected at five developmental stages (large bud, half-bloom, full-bloom, initial withering, and withered) to systematically analyze the senescence process from morphological characteristics, physiological, and ethylene-related gene expression perspectives. The results showed that the epidermal cell breakage rate increased continuously during petal senescence, with lower epidermal cells consistently exhibiting higher breakage rates than the upper epidermal cells. Moisture content decreased progressively, while relative electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anion contents increased continuously. Superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities, as well as glutathione content, exhibited unimodal responses, peaking at different stages. Both ethylene and abscisic acid contents increased and then decreased, with ethylene showing greater amplitude and faster rate of change. The ethylene biosynthesis gene FaACO1 and signaling genes FaETR1, FaETR2, FaEIN2, FaEIN7, FaERF13, and FaERF118 were significantly upregulated at full-bloom or initial withering stages, with FaERF118 showing the highest and continuously increasing expression. These findings indicate that water loss, membrane lipid peroxidation, and reactive oxygen species accumulation synergistically drive petal senescence, with the ethylene signaling pathway playing a key regulatory role.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152411

Authors: Wei Chen Suyu Chen Yanli Du Liang Cao Chunyuan Ren Lu Lin Xin Du Jinghan Xu Jiping Xu Yuxian Zhang Qiang Zhao

Saline–alkali stress is a widespread abiotic stress that severely impairs crop growth and yield formation. Iron Chlorin e6 (ICe6), a novel plant growth regulator, is essentially a chlorophyll derivative, and possesses potential application value in regulating plant chlorophyll metabolism and improving plant stress resistance. In this study, the saline–alkali-sensitive soybean cultivar Henong 95 and saline–alkali-tolerant soybean cultivar Hefeng 50 were used as experimental materials, and foliar spraying with 120 nmol/L ICe6 was conducted at the R1 stage. The results indicated that relative to CK, SA treatment markedly inhibited soybean growth, accompanied by reduced antioxidant capacity, excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and significantly lowered photosynthetic pigment content. Carbohydrate accumulation was substantially suppressed, which ultimately resulted in yield reduction (HN95: −12.31%; HF50: −11.08%). ICe6 treatment mitigated saline–alkali-induced growth inhibition in soybean plants, as reflected by markedly restored antioxidant indices, sharply decreased malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, and O2− levels, and notably increased leaf area (HN95: +49.72%; HF50: +19.82%) and chlorophyll content (HN95: +36.06%; HF50: +90.75%). Combined transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling showed that, relative to the SA control, ICe6 treatment led to the identification of 2896 DEGs in HN95 and 3530 DEGs in HF50, with significant enrichment in photosynthesis- and chlorophyll metabolism-related pathways, e.g., GO:0009765 (photosynthesis, light harvesting). Differential metabolites were chiefly enriched in isoflavonoid biosynthesis—a source of antioxidants—and amino acid biosynthesis, which governs chlorophyll precursor synthesis. These findings suggest that ICe6 may enhance chlorophyll content by modulating the expression of genes involved in chlorophyll metabolism, contributing to light capture and chlorophyll biosynthesis, facilitating carbohydrate accumulation and ultimately contributing to increased yield under saline–alkali stress (HN95: +5.74%; HF50: +5.83%).

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152410

Authors: Junfeng Zhai Xin Liu Xiaobin Sun Ruize Han Jiewei Zhang Yan Liang

As global warming raises ambient temperatures, plant growth and productivity are being profoundly affected. Although the impacts of extreme heat stress have received extensive attention, the developmental consequences of moderately elevated temperatures remain less understood. As sessile organisms, plants rely on developmental plasticity to adjust their growth and development in response to warm environments. Understanding how plants sense temperature and convert this signal into developmental outputs is crucial for determining their adaptive strategies to climate change and for applying this knowledge to breed climate-resilient crops. Here, we review current advances in understanding how moderately elevated temperatures regulate developmental plasticity throughout the plant life cycle, including the perception of moderate warmth, the resulting developmental plasticity during vegetative and reproductive growth, and the coordination and trade-offs between these two phases. We also highlight major unanswered questions in this field and propose strategies for manipulating developmental plasticity to breed climate-resilient crops.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152409

Authors: Nokukhanya Thembane Siphamandla Hlatshwayo Sanele Nobleman Mhlungu Siboniso Percival Sithole Phikelelani Ngubane Mlungisi Ngcobo Nceba Gqaleni

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains a major public health challenge in Africa, where limited healthcare access and the high cost of conventional therapies sustain reliance on African traditional medicine (ATM). This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy, mechanisms of action, and safety of African polyherbal formulations for T2D management. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, following a protocol registered with PROSPERO (CRD420251168831). We searched PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for studies published between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2024. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. Polyherbal formulations consistently improved glycaemic control, insulin sensitivity, antioxidant status, and lipid profiles. Meta-analysis of 10 preclinical studies demonstrated a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose compared with that of diabetic controls (SMD = −5.22, 95% CI: −5.55 to −4.89; p < 0.001; I2 = 93.88%). Proposed mechanisms included β-cell protection, stimulation of insulin secretion, inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and attenuation of oxidative stress. Safety data were limited and inconsistently reported. Human evidence was limited to one quasi-experimental clinical study and one acute human OGTT study. African polyherbal formulations demonstrate promising antidiabetic potential; however, methodological heterogeneity, limited phytochemical characterisation, inadequate safety assessment, and scarce clinical evidence highlight the need for standardised preclinical studies and well-designed clinical trials to support evidence-based integration into healthcare.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152408

Authors: Jing Zhao Debin Yu Demin Rao Hongtao Wang Ziru Hao Qiang Qiu Yinkai Zhao Xiaohui Wang Tong Cheng Xiujuan Yan Minghao Zhang Botao Cong Mingshu Li Fangang Meng Wei Zhang

Phosphorus (P) deficiency severely limits soybean (Glycine max L.) productivity. This study proposed a three-stage screening framework to identify reliable traits and P-efficient genotypes. In Experiment I, percent tolerance to phosphorus deficiency (PTPD) was calculated for ten growth parameters across 98 genotypes under P-deficient and control conditions. Principal component analysis and comprehensive evaluation identified six key indicators in Experiment I, which were subsequently refined to five indicators through further analysis: SPAD at V3 and R1, photosynthetic rate at R1, shoot dry weight at R8, and seed number per plant at R8. Experiment II re-evaluated these traits using 12 contrasting genotypes under three P levels, identifying CN 15 as the most P-efficient and SN 22 as the most P-inefficient. Experiment III further revealed that CN 15 maintained superior PSII performance and exhibited a 26.2% increase in grain P-utilization efficiency under 0 µM KH2PO4 treatment. This integrated framework offers a preliminary reference for screening P-efficient soybean genotypes under controlled conditions, pending field evaluation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152407

Authors: Diana Guaya Ana Cristina Hernández Vladimir Morocho

Hyptis eriocephala is an aromatic Lamiaceae species from southern Ecuador whose essential oil has not previously been characterized. To establish an initial phytochemical and biological baseline, aerial parts collected at Villonaco were subjected to three independent steam-distillation runs, yielding 0.13 ± 0.04% (w/w) essential oil. Volatile constituents were tentatively assigned by GC–MS using concordant EI mass-spectral and linear retention-index evidence, whereas relative composition was determined by GC–FID peak-area normalization without an internal standard, calibration curves, or response correction factors. Sixty-five constituents accounted for 96.81% of the total GC–FID peak area. The relative profile was dominated by hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes (67.88%), followed by hydrocarbon monoterpenes (24.36%), with α-copaene (28.20 ± 0.24%), germacrene D (9.29 ± 0.09%), α-pinene (6.98 ± 0.03%), α-cubebene (6.70 ± 0.06%), δ-cadinene (6.03 ± 0.07%), limonene (5.44 ± 0.05%), (E)-caryophyllene (5.31 ± 0.05%), and β-phellandrene (4.96 ± 0.02%) were the principal constituents. The oil showed a narrow antibacterial response, with MIC values of 250 µg/mL against Enterococcus faecium ATCC 27270 and 2000 µg/mL against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433. Radical-scavenging activity was assay-dependent: activity was measurable in the ABTS assay (SC50 = 76.87 ± 1.05 µg/mL; TEAC = 30.06 ± 1.16 µM TE/g EO), whereas 50% DPPH scavenging was not reached at 8000 µg/mL. The oil preferentially inhibited BuChE (IC50 = 125.3 ± 1.03 µg/mL) over AChE (IC50 = 385.9 ± 1.02 µg/mL). These findings establish a preliminary phytochemical and biological baseline for the Villonaco material but do not demonstrate a species-wide chemotype, mechanism of action, or therapeutic potential.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152406

Authors: Yanchao Du Jingwen Xu Huiming Li Mingxing Zhou Xu Pang Jianbing Yan Ye He Guowu Lian Faqiang Feng

Sweet corn is a globally important dual-purpose crop for both food and fresh vegetables. The plant architecture and ear-related traits directly determine its yield potential and field ecological adaptability. To elucidate the genetic architecture of these traits and identify superior alleles for breeding, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 11 agronomic traits using 30,597 high-quality SNP markers in a panel of 101 elite sweet corn inbred lines. Population genetic structure was analyzed using sparse non-negative matrix factorization (sNMF) and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) algorithms, revealing three main clusters and six subpopulations. The clustering pattern was highly consistent with germplasm origin. Association mapping with the fixed and random Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU) model identified 16 significant marker–trait associations (MTAs), distributed across seven target agronomic traits. The phenotypic variance explained (PVE) by individual loci ranged from 8.0% to 16.0%. Among these, five stable MTAs across environments, a novel ERN locus (SNP25518) specific to sweet corn, and most association intervals overlapped with previously reported quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Within the ±0.15 Mb (defined by LD decay) flanking windows around the significant SNP loci, a total of 236 candidate genes were annotated, which are primarily involved in hormone signaling, carbon and nitrogen metabolism, cell division, and plant growth and development. In summary, this study dissected the genetic basis of key agronomic traits in sweet corn and provides a foundation for marker-assisted selection and functional validation.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152405

Authors: Yanmei Yu Yujiang Xiong Yan Meng Peng Chen Hang Guo

Flooding during the rice (Oryza sativa L.) jointing stage threatens yield stability in regions with concentrated rainfall and limited drainage. However, the extent to which the water regime before flooding modifies rice growth and yield formation remains poorly understood. A pot experiment was conducted over two years to compare controlled irrigation (CI) with conventional flooding irrigation (CF) across three flooding depths and two durations imposed at the jointing stage. Flooding increased tiller number, plant height, and total leaf area, but reduced net photosynthetic rate and grain yield. Yield loss increased with flooding depth and duration. Under corresponding flooding treatments, CI moderated vegetative expansion and maintained a higher net photosynthetic rate, greater root dry matter, and a higher root-to-shoot ratio than CF. Relative to the corresponding non-flooded controls, yield loss ranged from 4.11% to 39.33% under CI and from 5.63% to 52.50% under CF. The lower yield loss under CI was associated with greater effective panicle number, higher seed setting rate, and better maintenance of photosynthetic activity and root biomass. These findings indicate that the water regime before flooding can influence biomass allocation and yield formation during the jointing stage flooding. Controlled irrigation combined with timely drainage may help reduce yield risk in rice systems exposed to temporary flooding.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152404

Authors: Hui Xia Wenxuan Huang Jingjing Zou Hongguo Chen Xuan Cai Jie Yang Zeqing Li Xiangling Zeng Yuanhang Wu Yingting Zhang

Low-temperature stress severely restricts the growth, development, and ornamental value of Osmanthus fragrans Lour. However, the molecular mechanisms by which brassinolide (BR) and melatonin (MT) alleviate low-temperature-induced damage remain unclear. Here, O. fragrans branches were exposed to low-temperature stress (5, 0, −5, −10, −15, and −20 °C for 12 h) and treated with exogenous MT (50, 100, and 200 μM) or BR (0.5, 1, and 2 μM). An integrated approach combining phenotypic observation, physiological measurements, transcriptomics, and metabolomics was employed to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying BR- and MT-mediated cold tolerance. The results showed that low-temperature stress significantly increased electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation, while reducing superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities. Compared with the control, BR and MT treatments alleviated leaf chlorosis and wilting, reduced oxidative damage, and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities. Integrated transcriptome–metabolome analyses demonstrated that BR and MT commonly activated phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis, thereby promoting antioxidant metabolite accumulation, while suppressing α-linolenic acid and linoleic acid metabolism associated with stress-induced lipid remodeling. Network-based transcriptomic analyses identified transcription factors, including ARF, EIL, bHLH, and GRAS, as potential regulators of cold-responsive pathways. Furthermore, BR primarily regulated hormone-responsive networks, whereas MT mainly maintained redox homeostasis and metabolic reprogramming. These findings reveal the coordinated regulatory mechanisms underlying BR- and MT-mediated cold tolerance, providing potential targets for improving cold resilience in O. fragrans.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152403

Authors: Lingping Zhao Zhibo Yang Wanqiao Zhang Qunying Wang Shitu Tan Pei Mao Wenfeng Ma

Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly accumulating in agricultural soils, while their effects on crop-associated rhizosphere microbial communities and ecological functions remain insufficiently understood, particularly for different polymer types. In this study, polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) microplastics with the same particle size (2 μm) were applied at different concentrations (0, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, and 5%, w/w) to investigate their effects on oat rhizosphere bacterial communities and predicted functional potentials. The results showed that microplastic addition significantly altered bacterial community diversity, composition, and predicted functional profiles. Compared to the control (Ctrl), the 1% PE treatment significantly reduced bacterial richness-related indices (p < 0.05), whereas PS mainly affected bacterial diversity. Microplastic treatments also reshaped dominant bacterial taxa and altered the predicted functional potentials associated with carbon and nitrogen cycling. In particular, the 1% PE treatment significantly reduced the predicted relative abundance of the carbon fixation-related gene cbbL (p < 0.05). In addition, high-concentration (5%) PE enhanced several predicted functional potentials related to nitrogen cycling, including nifH, ureA, and amoC. Overall, PE and PS microplastics induced polymer- and concentration-dependent changes in oat rhizosphere bacterial communities. These findings suggest that microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils may influence ecosystem processes by modifying microbial diversity and potential biogeochemical functions. This study provides new insights into the ecological consequences of different microplastic polymers in crop rhizosphere ecosystems and highlights the importance of considering polymer-specific effects when evaluating soil microplastic pollution.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152402

Authors: Mengru Sang Qinan Liu Ying Dong Zheng Jiang Jingjie Dang Siyi Liu Chenyan Lu Qinan Wu

Phenolic acids and flavonoids are major bioactive constituents of Sparganium stoloniferum tubers (SL), yet their spatial organization within this medicinal organ remains insufficiently characterized, limiting understanding of how anatomical structure relates to metabolite distribution. To address this, we integrated mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), non-targeted LC–MS and targeted LC–MS/MS metabolomics, and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT–qPCR) analysis to characterize the spatial patterns of phenylpropanoid- and auxin-related metabolites and selected transcripts in SL. MSI and non-targeted LC–MS profiling showed that phenylpropanoid- and flavonoid-related metabolites were preferentially accumulated in the peripheral cortex rather than in the stele, although the stele constitutes the dominant internal tissue of the tuber. Targeted LC–MS/MS further confirmed that representative hydroxycinnamic acids and caffeoylquinic acid derivatives were enriched in the cortex and, for most validated metabolites, in the cell wall-enriched fraction. Notably, spatial metabolomic profiling also revealed a contrasting stele-biased distribution of indole-related metabolites, including indole-3-acetamide-related features detected by MSI and non-targeted LC–MS and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) enrichment validated by targeted LC–MS/MS. RT–qPCR analysis showed that phenylpropanoid biosynthetic genes were generally more highly expressed in the cortex and cell wall-enriched fraction, whereas auxin-related genes showed higher expression in the stele. Together, these results show cortex-biased phenylpropanoid accumulation, preferential association of most validated phenylpropanoid-related metabolites with the cell wall-enriched fraction, and stele-associated IAA accumulation and auxin-related transcript expression. This study provides a spatial framework for understanding metabolite partitioning in medicinal aquatic storage organs and highlights the importance of integrating anatomical, metabolomic, and gene expression information in medicinal plant research.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152401

Authors: Lili Zhou Menghao Wang Shengjun Feng

Xylem, a critical vascular tissue extensively distributed in stems and roots, plays indispensable roles in horticultural plant development. It facilitates water and mineral transport, provides mechanical support through secondary cell wall lignification, and precisely modulates ion homeostasis (e.g., Na+/K+ balance), thereby enhancing plant resilience to abiotic stresses. Consequently, xylem function directly impacts crop yield and quality. Recent breakthroughs in molecular biology have significantly advanced our understanding of the regulatory networks governing xylem development, including key transcription factors, hormonal signaling pathways (particularly auxin, cytokinin, and brassinosteroids), and their interactions with environmental cues. This review systematically summarizes current progress on the molecular mechanisms underlying xylem differentiation, secondary wall biosynthesis, and stress-responsive vascular adaptation in horticultural species. We further discuss emerging research frontiers, existing technical challenges, and prospective directions, aiming to provide a theoretical framework for genetic improvement and precision cultivation of horticultural crops.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152400

Authors: Monica Maio Gilda D’Urso Alessandra Capuano Francesca Fantasma Michela Aliberti Ester Colarusso Gabriella Saviano Vincenzo De Felice Paola Fortini Gianluigi Lauro Maria Giovanna Chini Agostino Casapullo Giuseppe Bifulco Maria Iorizzi

Wild plant biodiversity represents a largely untapped source of chemically diverse metabolites. However, many wild edible species remain poorly characterized despite their potential as sources of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals. Daucus carota L. subsp. carota, commonly known as wild carrot, has attracted interest due to its long history of medicinal use. In this study, seed extracts collected from populations growing in two Italian regions (Lazio and Molise) were investigated to evaluate their phytochemical composition, mineral content, antioxidant activity, and anti-inflammatory potential. The metabolite profiles were characterized by qualitative Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis, allowing the identification of several phenolic compounds and other secondary metabolites. Antioxidant activity was assessed using in vitro assays, while anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated through the inhibition of cyclooxygenase and soluble epoxide hydrolase, two key enzymes involved in the arachidonic acid cascade. To gain further insight into the possible mechanisms underlying these activities, molecular docking analyses were performed on selected metabolites identified in the extracts, exploring their interactions with the target enzymes. The extracts displayed promising antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, while docking results supported the potential role of specific metabolites in enzyme modulation. These findings highlight the value of underexplored wild D. carota seeds as a source of natural compounds with potential applications in the development of nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152398

Authors: Jiahui Guo Qing Gao Mengyu Zhou Hongli Wang Yijia Ruan Xiaoyu Wang Yujing Liu Xinlei Du Yishan Fu Teng Zhang Jintong Wang Junfeng Zhang Lei Cao

Splicing factors, as core determinants of splice-site selection and dynamic spliceosome assembly, play pivotal roles in stress responses. This review systematically categorizes splicing factors involved in plant abiotic stress responses according to their functions as major spliceosomal components, dividing them into small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and associated components, spliceosome assembly and disassembly factors, splicing regulatory factors, and proteins related to non-canonical RNA splicing. On this basis, we summarize their regulatory mechanisms of these factors under salt, drought, abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, temperature, and oxidative stresses. Through analyses across multiple species—including Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, maize, soybean, and wheat—we reveal both the evolutionary conservation and species-specific divergence of splicing-factor-mediated regulation. Currently, a large amount of research is still mainly at the transcriptome analysis or single phenotype validation stages, lacking in-depth analysis of direct targets, splicing isomer functions, and molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, current research is heavily concentrated on Arabidopsis, with relatively insufficient functional validation and breeding applications in crops such as maize and wheat. Despite substantial progress, several bottlenecks remain for translational applications in breeding, such as functional redundancy among splicing factor family members, growth penalties associated with overexpression, and tissue-specific and developmental-stage-dependent effects. To address these challenges, we discuss promising strategies, including CRISPR/Cas9-mediated splice-site editing, the use of inducible or tissue-specific promoters, and targeted modulation of upstream kinases, although extensive field trials and rigorous evaluations remain necessary. Collectively, this review provides a theoretical framework for understanding the roles of splicing factors in RNA-level regulation of plant stress adaptation and highlights their potential for breeding improvement.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152399

Authors: Zhao Liu Yuan Chen Kai-Peng Liu Ruo-Xuan Xu Gang Ding Yan-Duo Wang

Orchid seeds are dust-like and lack endosperm, which limits their capacity to support germination using endogenous nutrient reserves. Successful germination therefore depends on the establishment of a compatible symbiotic association with germination-promoting orchid mycorrhizal fungi (OMF). In plant-root symbioses, host-derived small molecules, such as strigolactones and flavonoids, function as early chemical signals that recruit microbial partners and stimulate their growth. However, the chemical constituents that may facilitate fungal recognition, growth, or colonization during orchid seed germination remain poorly understood. In this report, we combined metabolomics, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, molecular networking, phytochemical isolation, and bioactivity assays to characterize bioactive metabolites from the seeds of the medicinal orchid Cremastra appendiculata. Metabolomic profiling revealed abundant primary metabolites, including lipids, amino acids, organic acids, saccharides, and nucleosides. And then, nineteen secondary metabolites were isolated and identified, including two new structures. Functional assays showed that selected organic acids, saccharides, and lignanamides promoted the growth of Coprinellus disseminatus, a fungus required for seed germination, whereas lignanamides inhibited the plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. These findings provide the first systematic chemical and functional characterization of metabolites from C. appendiculata seeds and offer new insight into the molecular basis of symbiosis between orchids and fungi.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152396

Authors: Alicia-Denisa Bereteu-Costa Annamaria Pallag Georgiana Ioana Potra Cicalău Mariana Ganea Manuela Bianca Pașca Monica Tabita Morar Gabriela Ciavoi

Current interest in the use of medicinal plants for the prevention and management of various diseases has increased significantly due to the need to identify effective, safe, and sustainable natural agents. Glechoma hederacea L., a perennial species belonging to the Lamiaceae family, has traditionally been used in European folk medicine for the treatment of respiratory, inflammatory, and digestive disorders. Modern research has highlighted a complex phytochemical profile dominated by phenolic acids, flavonoids, and volatile compounds that have been associated with a variety of biological activities. Experimental studies have reported antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and cytoprotective effects. The present review summarizes current data regarding the phytochemical composition and biological properties of Glechoma hederacea, with particular emphasis on its potential applications in oral hygiene products and complementary dental therapy.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152397

Authors: Dano Tillaboyeva Hilola Matniyazova Olga Myachina Laziza Mavasalieva Elena Abdrashitova Gulrukhsor Ergasheva Nodira Mamadalieva Otabek Kuziev Mingjigit Abdurakhimov Dildora Amonova Gulchexra Ashurova Atanazar Rakhimov Ramish Egamberdiev

Alternaria alternata causes severe foliar disease and substantial yield losses in mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek). However, the physiological and hormonal mechanisms driving resistance in locally adapted varieties remain largely unknown. We evaluated nine genotypes of Uzbekistan under controlled A. alternata inoculation across four growth stages (budding, flowering, podding, harvest), measuring salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), photosynthetic pigments, leaf water relations, morphology, and yield components. Infection triggered highly variable SA responses. Surprisingly, strong SA induction offered no yield protection: Barqaror showed a 212% SA increase but suffered the most severe grain weight loss (−62.6%). Conversely, Turon maintained high baseline JA and was the only genotype to increase chlorophyll a at podding (+16.8%). Disease stress did not significantly affect 1000-seed weight (p = 0.184), indicating that A. alternata primarily disrupts early pod formation rather than the seed-filling process. Zilola demonstrated the best overall yield stability, exhibiting near-complete pod retention (−0.8%) and moderate grain weight loss (−26.7%) while maintaining acceptable seed size. These findings emphasize that protecting early pod set is more critical than seed-filling capacity under infection. Consequently, Zilola represents a highly promising parental line for breeding A. alternata-tolerant mung beans in Central Asia.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152395

Authors: Guoan Li Ying Wang Yin Zhao Zhen Liu Shaoke Li Xi Huang

Global climate change has posed a serious threat to agricultural production and food security. Crop growth models, with their excellent simulation and prediction capabilities, have become one of the important tools for guiding agricultural production and ensuring food security. This study provides a review of the research progress in crop growth models. The development history of the models is summarized into four stages, including process modeling, system simulation, model application, and algorithm expansion. According to different driving factors, the crop growth models can be categorized into solar radiation-driven, soil moisture content-driven, meteorological factor-driven, and integrated factor-driven models. In terms of the countries of development, the models mainly include those from the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, and China. Regarding applications, crop growth models are primarily applicable to adaptability assessment, agricultural resource and crop cultivation management, and climate change evaluation. Since their initial development, these models have enhanced their mechanistic nature through various approaches, such as incorporating surface mulching modules, considering the response of root water uptake to soil salt stress, and preliminarily introducing physiological regulation processes. By integrating with remote sensing technology, the spatial scale of the models has been expanded from the point scale to the regional or even global scale, and the accuracy of regional-scale yield estimation has been significantly improved through assimilation with remote sensing. Meanwhile, crop growth models have also been combined with intelligent algorithms to optimize irrigation scheduling, and to perform model parameter optimization. Looking forward, potential future research directions of crop growth models include extending the soil submodule from one-dimensional to two/three-dimensional water–heat–solute transport, moving toward a more mechanistic crop growth modeling, integration with remote sensing, and incorporating artificial intelligence. This study serves as a reference for further development and application of crop growth models, and provides technical support for the development of sustainable agriculture.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152394

Authors: Eirini Lantavou Maria Xenaki Sofia Bellou Stavros Beteinakis Alexios-Leandros Skaltsounis Alexandros D. Tselepis Despoina Pantazi Panagiotis Stathopoulos

Mulberry fruits are rich sources of bioactive phytochemicals with potential cardiovascular-relative bioactivity properties. In the present study, phenolic/alkaloid-enriched extracts from black (Morus nigra) and white (Morus alba) mulberries were chemically characterized and evaluated for their anti-atherogenic and antiplatelet activities in vitro. LC-HRMS analysis revealed distinct phytochemical profiles, with the black mulberry extract (BlackM) being characterized by a high abundance of anthocyanins, predominantly cyanidin- and pelargonidin-based glycosides, whereas the white mulberry extract (WhiteM) was particularly rich in pyrrolidine alkaloids, including morusimic acid isomers. Both extracts also contain flavonoids and phenolic acids, such as rutin, quercetin derivatives, and chlorogenic acid derivatives. BlackM markedly increased the resistance of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to Cu2+-induced oxidation, whereas WhiteM more effectively inhibited the propagation phase of lipid peroxidation and significantly suppressed arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation. BlackM induced a modest, albeit non-significant, reduction in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first studies to comparatively investigate the effects of black and white mulberry extracts on LDL oxidation, platelet aggregation and NETs formation. Overall, these findings support the potential use of mulberry-derived phytochemicals as functional food ingredients and nutraceuticals for the prevention of atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease.

Plants doi: 10.3390/plants15152393

Authors: Kangbowen Wang Peng Li Genmin Lv Haojia Zhang Zhelin Liang Kai Zhang

Variegated sweetpotato leaves are of interest for ornamental and functional-food applications, yet the molecular and metabolic basis of their coloration remains poorly understood. A sweetpotato accession with variegated leaves was found incidentally in the field, with rare and vivid Pink-purple coloration in the apical leaves. To investigate the mechanism underlying this interesting phenotype, this material was maintained in the laboratory, and variegated and normal green leaves from this plant were analysed by transcriptome profiling, miRNA sequencing and metabolome analysis. By integrating differential mRNA expression analysis, target-gene prediction, miRNA sequencing and metabolite identification, we screened candidate miRNA-mRNA modules associated with this leaf-colour formation. Using FDR < 0.05 and |log2FC| ≥ 1 as thresholds, 49 differentially expressed miRNAs and 692 regulatory relationships involving differentially expressed target mRNAs associated with these miRNAs were identified. Functional annotation indicated that the iba_638_x1- G10133|TU16655 and iba_730_x1- G3592|TU5891 modules were associated with anthocyanin/flavonoid biosynthesis and vacuolar transport, respectively. Metabolome analysis showed that the total relative abundance of flavonoids in Pink leaves was 2.98-fold higher than that in CK, and 28 flavonoids accumulated to more than 2-fold higher levels in Pink than in CK. The differentially accumulated metabolites mainly included anthocyanin glycosides, such as petunidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3,5-O-diglucoside, and flavonol glycosides, such as quercetin-3-O-sophoroside, isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside-7-O-glucoside. These results indicate that the variegated phenotype of Pink leaves is mainly associated with differential accumulation of anthocyanin glycosides and flavonol glycosides.