Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants最新文献

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) function as important signaling molecules during pollen germination and pollen tube growth, however, the mechanisms coordinating ROS production in Betula platyphylla pollen tubes remain unclear. In this study, we combined fluoresence imaging, ROS scavengers treatments, transcriptome analysis, and antisence oligonucleotide-mediated knock down to investigate ROS dynamics and their regulatory basis during birch pollen tube development. ROS signals were detected in pollen grains and became enriched at the tips of elongating pollen tubes. Scavenging of O₂ ^·- significantly reduced tip-localized ROS accumulation, and impaired pollen germination and tube elongation. This indicating that balanced ROS production is required for normal pollen tube growth. To find the key regulator of ROS, we performed RNA-Seq for three stages of birch pollen tube development. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified a ROS-enriched module highly associated with pollen tube growth, incorporating oxidoreductase genes distributed across mitochondria, chloroplasts, peroxisomes, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm, and the apoplast. qRT-PCR validation confirmed coordinated activation of multiple ROS-related genes. Among these, the expression level of BpPAO2 which encoding a polyamine oxidase shows progressively increasing during three stages. Targeted inhibition of BpPAO2 through antisense oligonucleotides significantly decreased its transcript level and PAO activity, diminished H₂O₂ accumulation in the pollen tube, and strongly disrupted pollen germination and tube elongation. Our findings establish BpPAO2-mediated H₂O₂ production as a key regulator of pollen tube growth in B. platyphylla.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01788-2.

MYB transcription factors are pivotal regulators of plant cold acclimation, yet current knowledge about cold-tolerance-related MYBs (crMYBs) remains fragmented across species, with their phylogenetic relationships, regulatory mechanisms, and functional divergence poorly integrated. This review synthesizes functionally validated crMYBs within a phylogenetic framework to provide an updated perspective on their regulatory roles in plant cold acclimation. We curated 106 experimentally validated crMYBs from 45 plant species and systematically characterized their subfamily distribution, regulatory polarity, pathway associations, validation strategies, and cross-species functional patterns. R2R3-MYBs constitute the majority of characterized crMYBs, whereas 1R-MYBs and 3R-MYBs remain underrepresented despite their established links to circadian regulation, cell-cycle control, and stress adaptation. Comparative analyses further indicate that orthologous MYBs retain conserved functions or undergo functional divergence across species. Current evidence implicates crMYBs in multiple regulatory layers of cold acclimation, including ABA-associated responses, CBF/COR-related transcriptional regulation, hormonal crosstalk, osmoprotectant accumulation, phenylpropanoid metabolism, cuticular wax biosynthesis, post-translational modifications, and chromatin-level regulation. Characterization of underexplored 1R-MYB and 3R-MYB members, phylogeny-guided cross-species functional validation, clarification of the mechanisms underlying regulatory polarity divergence, and evaluation of MYB functions under combined stress conditions would contribute substantially to a more comprehensive understanding of plant cold resilience.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01798-0.

The southern root-knot nematode (RKN), Meloidogyne incognita is the major nematode problem in vegetable crops and causes huge amounts of losses in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The study was carried out to synthesize, characterize, and test the bio-efficacy of chitosan-saponin nanoparticles (CS-SP NPs) against M. incognita on mortality, egg hatching, host finding, and management under growth chamber and screen house conditions on tomato. The NPs were synthesized by the ionic gelation method and characterized by DLS, FTIR, FE-SEM, TEM, XRD and, BET. The NPs exhibited a size of 331 nm, 0.14 PDI, and 36.6 (+ ve) zeta potential. FTIR, FE-SEM, TEM, BET, and XRD confirmed functional groups, spherical shape, large surface area as compared to bulk material, and crystalline structure, respectively. The NPs showed 64.3% mortality with a 930 ppm LC₅₀ value and 45.7% egg hatching inhibition after 24 h. The synthesized NPs also reduced host finding and root parasitism of nematodes in tomato seedlings in the pluronic gel assay. The efficacy of NPs was further validated in a management experiment. Foliar spray of double dose (1860 ppm) of NPs in both the growth chamber and screen house increased plant growth parameters (71.8% and 61.7% fresh shoot weight, respectively) and reduced nematode parameters (39.0% and 39.0% galls, respectively).

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01779-3.

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are a group of proteins that are induced by various abiotic stresses and play critical roles in protecting plants from environmental damage. Here, a LEA_2 encoding gene (LEA2-2) isolated from Caragana korshinskii was proved to be induced by salt, drought, dehydration, high pH, cold, heat, and the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). Moreover, overexpression of CkLEA2-2 in Escherichia coli improved tolerance to salt and osmotic stress. The CkLEA2-2 overexpression (OE) lines showed higher seed germination rates and longer primary roots than those of wild-type Arabidopsis plants under salt stress. Similarly, seed germination rates of OE lines were also higher than those of wild-type when subjected to osmotic stress. In addition, the OE lines showed reduced ABA sensitivity during seed germination and root growth compared with the wild-type. Several ABA- and stress-responsive marker genes were verified to be up-regulated in the OE lines too. Taken together, our results showed that CkLEA2-2 was a positive regulator involved in plant response to salt stress.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01786-4.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s12298-026-01753-z.].

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein (Cas)-based genome editing technology has come out as very precise and effective tool for targeted modification in the gene of interest and offers unprecedented potentials in crop improvement. However, in the present regulatory framework for commercialization of genome edited crops, in many countries including India, the edited lines must be transgene-free. In India, only site directed nuclease (SDN) I and SDN II category of genome edited events which are transgene-free are permitted for commercialization. Potato is a vegetatively propagated crop, having autotetraploid genome and is highly heterozygous in nature. Removal of the transgene from potato genome of edited lines through genetic segregation, either by crossing or selfing, is not the appropriate method as the elite background of the genome gets disturbed due to heterozygous nature of the crop. Every individual seed of potato, i.e. true potato seed (TPS) behaves like a different individual than the parental line and is unable to maintain the genetic identity. In this review article, we have discussed several strategies that can be enacted for generation of transgene-free genome edited lines in potato. This article will provide deeper insight and enhance understandings about the optimum use of CRISPR as non-GMO technology in the genetic enhancement of potato and to adopt the best strategies in editing this important tuberous, clonally propagated crop.

The plant cuticle is a lipid barrier that plays essential roles in reducing water loss, protecting against pathogens, and interacting with the environment. While it has been thoroughly studied in leaves, its dynamics in fruits have not been adequately explored. This research gap is significant, as the cuticle in fruits has considerable implications for crop quality, postharvest longevity, and stress resilience. This review summarizes current understanding of cuticular dynamics during the development of fleshy fruits, with a focus on evolutionary innovations that have influenced cuticle diversity in angiosperms. We explore the conserved yet highly regulated biosynthetic pathways, emphasizing compositional variations in cutin and cuticular wax specific to different species and developmental stages. The review outlines how transcriptional, hormonal, and epigenetic networks regulate cuticle formation in response to both biotic/abiotic stress, and how these changes influence fruit quality traits such as glossiness, firmness, and susceptibility to cracking. We discuss the potential of targeting cuticular genes-through breeding, transgenic methods, or CRISPR-Cas9 editing-to improve stress tolerance and fruit quality. This work highlights the importance of the cuticle in improving agricultural sustainability, especially in response to climate change, by integrating fundamental insights from model plants with applied research in fruit crops. We propose that fruit-focused research should leverage cuticle biology to develop resilient, high-quality varieties. This approach aims to reduce postharvest losses and enhance food security.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01784-6.

Drought stress on vegetable crops significantly affect their plant growth and development resulting in reduced crop productivity and nutritional quality. Shallow root systems of the vegetable crops make them highly sensitive to drought stress. Therefore, sustainable drought mitigation strategies are required to alleviate drought stress for vegetable production under changing global environmental conditions. The current review focuses on key molecular mechanisms, including transcriptional factors and expression of stress-responsive genes, production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, modulation of signaling molecules, and circadian rhythm-mediated defense responses during onset of drought stress in vegetable crops. Further, plant-based mitigation strategies, such as use of phytomolecules, phytohormones, plant extracts, microbial endophytes, and drought-tolerant rootstocks from crop wild species for grafting onto vegetable crops are discussed for their role in enhancing drought resilience. Also, combining these strategies strengthens the antioxidant defense mechanism, osmotic homeostasis, and hormonal crosstalk under drought stress. Among the various strategies reported, phytomolecules, microbial endophytes, and drought-tolerant rootstocks from crop wild relatives are found to be promising for long-term field adaptations. The review further emphasizes future insights into plant-based solutions to enhance drought stress tolerance and integration of system biology approaches as well as field-based studies to develop climate-resilient, sustainable vegetable crop production system.

Cytokinins (CTKs) regulate both plant development and responses to abiotic stress. The biosynthesis and degradation of CTKs are primarily governed by the isopentenyl transferase (IPT) and cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) gene families, respectively. However, a comprehensive analysis of both gene families in oat (Avena sativa) has not yet been performed. Here, we characterized the AsCKX and AsIPT genes and their encoded proteins. Additionally, we determined the levels of 6 types of endogenous CTKs, and the expression patterns of all AsCKX and AsIPT genes under alkaline and osmotic stresses. Our results showed that AsCKX and AsIPT genes exhibit diverse physicochemical properties and specific secondary and tertiary structures. Phylogenetic and synteny analyses revealed that these genes share high homology with homologs in the rice. Multiple segmental duplication events were identified both within the oat genome and between oat and other species, with clear evidence of positive selection for adaptation to abiotic stresses. Meanwhile, these genes contain various cis-acting elements associated with abiotic stresses. Expression pattern analysis indicated that, at 6 h under both alkaline and osmotic stresses, oats may respond to the stress by upregulating AsCKX and downregulating AsIPT genes to reduce the CTK content. With the prolongation of stress duration, differential changes were observed in AsCKX and AsIPT genes between two types of stresses. Interestingly, AsCKX12 was identified as a negative regulator during osmotic stress response. This work lays the groundwork for future comprehensive functional characterization of AsCKX and AsIPT genes in oat under alkaline and osmotic stress conditions.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01793-5.

Zanthoxylum dissitum Hemsl. (Zanthoxylum) is a traditional Chinese medicine plant usually used to treat gynecological diseases, and isoquinoline alkaloids (IQA) are its most valuable components. In this study, the WRKY transcription factor ZdWRKY1 was identified from Zanthoxylum, and its role in regulating IQA biosynthesis was investigated. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the expression of ZdWRKY1 was positively correlated with the transcript levels of multiple key IQA biosynthetic genes, including ZdNCS, Zd4'OMT, Zd6OMT, ZdBBE, ZdDBOX, and ZdRNMT. Overexpression of ZdWRKY1 in transgenic hairy roots increased total alkaloid yield by 1.45-fold (15.07 mg/g) and magnoflorine by 1.37-fold (289.68 µg/g) compared to controls. Dual-luciferase reporter and yeast one-hybrid assays further confirmed that ZdWRKY1 activates the transcription of Zd4'OMT by binding to the W-box element in its promoter, thereby regulating the accumulation of IQA.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-026-01780-w.