Molecular Plant最新文献

Immuno-modulatory plant endogenous peptides (often referred to as phytocytokines) are increasingly recognized as important regulators of plant immunity. Research in recent years revealed several novel phytocytokine pathways in Arabidopsis and other plant species (Liu et al., 2022; Rzemieniewski et al., 2024; Dong et al., 2025; Yu et al., 2025). Phytocytokines are perceived by plasma membrane receptor kinases (RKs), mostly with extracellular leucine-rich repeat domains (LRRs). They are often limited to individual plant families, hampering applicability upon discoveries in model species (Rhodes et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2022). Two recent papers in Molecular plant now provide a leap forward, identifying phytocytokine modules in the monocot crops wheat and rice, offering the potential for translational approaches (Sun et al., 2025; Wang et al., 2025).

Hybrid rice has made significant contributions to global food security. However, the efficient utilization of landraces to further enhance heterosis remains a key challenge in rice breeding. In this study, we collected a set of 1,392 landraces and 696 hybrid rice parental lines. A total of 770 hybrid combinations were constructed by crossing 517 accessions selected from 2088 rice accessions, and seven key yield-related traits were collected. Nearly 500,000 potential hybrid combinations were predicted, and comprehensive analysis revealed that landraces from South Asia played a significant role in improving multiple traits. Further investigation revealed substantial variation in the landraces' contribution to the optimal hybrid combinations for various characteristics, with landraces particularly contributing to improvements in grain width. We identified 171 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seven traits using three association analysis methods. Of these QTLs, 77 known genes were identified within 66 QTLs and 105 novel QTLs without any known genes near them. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing revealed that OsGRW5.1 plays a crucial role in regulating grain width and grain weight in rice. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between the accumulation of advantageous haplotypes and enhanced phenotypic performance. More than 45% of the advantageous haplotypes derived from landraces are likely to play a significant role in future hybrid rice improvement. A predictive platform was developed, which can output all seven phenotypes of potential hybrid combinations with a given genotype of both parents. Collectively, our study provides valuable data and practical insights for enhancing heterosis through the efficient utilization of landraces.

Beclin 1/ATG6 plays a critical role in the biogenesis of autophagosomes and various cellular processes, but how Beclin 1-dependent autophagy is activated in plants remains elusive. In this study, we found that the cysteine protease metacaspase 1 (MC1) functions as a new positive regulator of autophagy and cleaves Beclin 1 behind residues R97 and R99 in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana). Genetic analysis further demonstrated that the MC1-Beclin 1 cleavage module is both necessary and sufficient for the activation of plant autophagy. Mechanistically, this cleavage releases the N-terminal fragment of Beclin 1 (aa 1-97), which exhibits intrinsic autophagy-inducing activity and is dependent on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex. Moreover, the activated autophagy boosts broad-spectrum antiviral responses, while the barley stripe mosaic virus-encoded γb protein targets MC1 and suppresses MC1-mediated Beclin 1 cleavage, thereby optimizing viral infection. The cleavage of Beclin 1 is thought to abolish its autophagic function in mammals; however, our findings unveil a distinctive plant autophagy mechanism whereby Beclin 1 activation necessitates MC1-mediated cleavage to drive antiviral autophagy.