Randy Clark, Dan Chamberlain, Christine Diepenbrock, Leandro Perugini, Ignacio R Hisse, Mark Cooper, Carlos D Messina
Crop adaptation to the mixture of environments that defines the target population of environments is the result of balanced resource allocation between roots, shoots, and reproductive organs. Root growth plays a critical role in the determination of this delicate balance. The responses of root growth and function to temperature can determine the strength of roots as sinks but also influence a crop’s ability to uptake water and nutrients. Surprisingly, this behavior has not been studied in maize (Zea mays) since the middle of the last century, and the genetic determinants are unknown. Low temperatures recorded frequently in deep soil layers limit root growth and soil exploration and may constitute a bottleneck for increasing drought tolerance, nitrogen recovery, sequestration of carbon, and productivity in maize. We developed high-throughput phenotyping systems to investigate these responses and to examine genetic variability therein across diverse maize germplasm. Here, we show that there is 1) genetic variation in root growth under low temperature below a previously set threshold of 10°C, and 2) genotypic variation in water transport under low temperature. The trait set examined herein and the high-throughput phenotyping platform developed for its characterization provide a unique opportunity for removing a major bottleneck for crop improvement and adaptation to climate change.
{"title":"Root system growth and function respond to soil temperature in maize ( Zea mays L.)","authors":"Randy Clark, Dan Chamberlain, Christine Diepenbrock, Leandro Perugini, Ignacio R Hisse, Mark Cooper, Carlos D Messina","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag120","url":null,"abstract":"Crop adaptation to the mixture of environments that defines the target population of environments is the result of balanced resource allocation between roots, shoots, and reproductive organs. Root growth plays a critical role in the determination of this delicate balance. The responses of root growth and function to temperature can determine the strength of roots as sinks but also influence a crop’s ability to uptake water and nutrients. Surprisingly, this behavior has not been studied in maize (Zea mays) since the middle of the last century, and the genetic determinants are unknown. Low temperatures recorded frequently in deep soil layers limit root growth and soil exploration and may constitute a bottleneck for increasing drought tolerance, nitrogen recovery, sequestration of carbon, and productivity in maize. We developed high-throughput phenotyping systems to investigate these responses and to examine genetic variability therein across diverse maize germplasm. Here, we show that there is 1) genetic variation in root growth under low temperature below a previously set threshold of 10°C, and 2) genotypic variation in water transport under low temperature. The trait set examined herein and the high-throughput phenotyping platform developed for its characterization provide a unique opportunity for removing a major bottleneck for crop improvement and adaptation to climate change.","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Narrowing it down: deciphering a narrow leaf phenotype in wheat.","authors":"Rose McNelly","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag103","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147318061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ze Wu, Xue Gong, Jun Xiang, Yinyi Zhang, Ting Li, Liping Ding, Nianjun Teng
BBX (B-box) proteins are critical regulators in plant growth and development, playing pivotal roles in processes such as photomorphogenesis and floral transition. Additionally, they are involved in plant responses to various abiotic stresses, including salt, drought, and cold. However, their specific roles in thermotolerance remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified a heat-inducible BBX gene, LlBBX15, which belongs to the class III BBX subfamily of lily (Lilium longiflorum). LlBBX15 localized to the nucleus and exhibited transcriptional activation activity. Stable overexpression of LlBBX15 resulted in increased thermotolerance in both Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and lily, whereas silencing LlBBX15 in lily led to a reduction in thermotolerance. Furthermore, LlBBX15 interacted with LlbHLH87 (BASIC HELIX-LOOP-HELIX FACTOR 87) and directly bound to the promoter of LlHSFA2 (HEAT STRESS TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2), thereby activating its expression. Subsequent analyses revealed that the heterologous interaction between LlBBX15 and LlbHLH87 facilitated their respective homologous interactions. A complex of LlBBX15 and LlbHLH87 enhanced their DNA-binding capacity and cooperatively promoted the expression of LlHSFA2. Moreover, both LlHSFA1 and LlHSFA2 were identified as direct regulators of LlBBX15, with evidence suggesting a synergetic activation effect on its expression. This interaction indicates the existence of a feedback loop between the HSFs and LlBBX15. Collectively, these findings establish LlBBX15 as a positive regulator that collaborates with LlbHLH87 within the HSF signaling pathway to facilitate thermotolerance in plants.
{"title":"Cooperation between transcription factors BBX15 and bHLH87 enhances lily thermotolerance by activating a heat shock factor gene","authors":"Ze Wu, Xue Gong, Jun Xiang, Yinyi Zhang, Ting Li, Liping Ding, Nianjun Teng","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag115","url":null,"abstract":"BBX (B-box) proteins are critical regulators in plant growth and development, playing pivotal roles in processes such as photomorphogenesis and floral transition. Additionally, they are involved in plant responses to various abiotic stresses, including salt, drought, and cold. However, their specific roles in thermotolerance remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified a heat-inducible BBX gene, LlBBX15, which belongs to the class III BBX subfamily of lily (Lilium longiflorum). LlBBX15 localized to the nucleus and exhibited transcriptional activation activity. Stable overexpression of LlBBX15 resulted in increased thermotolerance in both Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and lily, whereas silencing LlBBX15 in lily led to a reduction in thermotolerance. Furthermore, LlBBX15 interacted with LlbHLH87 (BASIC HELIX-LOOP-HELIX FACTOR 87) and directly bound to the promoter of LlHSFA2 (HEAT STRESS TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2), thereby activating its expression. Subsequent analyses revealed that the heterologous interaction between LlBBX15 and LlbHLH87 facilitated their respective homologous interactions. A complex of LlBBX15 and LlbHLH87 enhanced their DNA-binding capacity and cooperatively promoted the expression of LlHSFA2. Moreover, both LlHSFA1 and LlHSFA2 were identified as direct regulators of LlBBX15, with evidence suggesting a synergetic activation effect on its expression. This interaction indicates the existence of a feedback loop between the HSFs and LlBBX15. Collectively, these findings establish LlBBX15 as a positive regulator that collaborates with LlbHLH87 within the HSF signaling pathway to facilitate thermotolerance in plants.","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":"347 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147314869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Biological control offers an efficient and sustainable strategy for managing apple Valsa canker (AVC), caused by Valsa mali (syn. Cytospora mali), a major pathogen threatening global apple (Malus domestica) production. The actinomycete Saccharothrix yanglingensis Hhs.015 strain exhibits strong biocontrol efficacy by colonizing plant tissues and inducing resistance, but the underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently characterized. In the present study, the effector S. yanglingensis cupredoxin protein (SyCD1) was identified from the Hhs.015 strain. SyCD1 significantly enhanced resistance in multiple apple tissues by activating defense responses. Specifically, SyCD1 triggered the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway, leading to the upregulation of M. domestica small peptide protein 1 (MdSP1) and M. domestica ankyrin repeat protein (MdANK). SyCD1 directly interacted with MdSP1, further strengthening immune responses. Moreover, MdSP1 interacted with MdANK, and this cooperative action enhanced apple resistance to V. mali. The present study systematically elucidated the mechanism by which SyCD1 activates the JA signaling pathway to engage the MdSP1-MdANK immune module.
{"title":"The MdSP1-MdANK immune module activated by effector SyCD1 enhances Malus domestica resistance to Valsa mali","authors":"Hongjia Yu, Chang Geng, Shang Liu, Zhouzheng Yang, Hanqi Zhou, Xia Yan, Lili Huang","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag108","url":null,"abstract":"Biological control offers an efficient and sustainable strategy for managing apple Valsa canker (AVC), caused by Valsa mali (syn. Cytospora mali), a major pathogen threatening global apple (Malus domestica) production. The actinomycete Saccharothrix yanglingensis Hhs.015 strain exhibits strong biocontrol efficacy by colonizing plant tissues and inducing resistance, but the underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently characterized. In the present study, the effector S. yanglingensis cupredoxin protein (SyCD1) was identified from the Hhs.015 strain. SyCD1 significantly enhanced resistance in multiple apple tissues by activating defense responses. Specifically, SyCD1 triggered the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway, leading to the upregulation of M. domestica small peptide protein 1 (MdSP1) and M. domestica ankyrin repeat protein (MdANK). SyCD1 directly interacted with MdSP1, further strengthening immune responses. Moreover, MdSP1 interacted with MdANK, and this cooperative action enhanced apple resistance to V. mali. The present study systematically elucidated the mechanism by which SyCD1 activates the JA signaling pathway to engage the MdSP1-MdANK immune module.","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147292673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiacheng Zhang, Zhouwen Wang, Bingxue Zhang, Ruiyang Wang, Ming Yan, Han Zhang, Congcong Dong, Qin Feng, Zhizhou He, Zekang Pan, Liangsheng Zhang, Weicai Yang
The RWP-RK protein family is divided into two subfamilies: NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) -like proteins (NLPs) and RWP-RK domain proteins (RKDs), which are involved in key biological processes including nitrate response, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and embryonic development. We investigated the evolutionary history and functional divergence of these two subfamilies in green plants through phylogenetic analysis, motif analysis, expression profiling, and regulatory network construction. Both NLPs and RKDs originated from the early green algae ancestor, with multiple duplications during the seed plant period driving their lineage-specific expansion. Conserved motifs are more abundant among NLP proteins, whereas the number of conserved motifs among RKDs is relatively smaller. Expression analysis in various samples showed that GmNLP2a/b in soybean exhibit expression patterns analogous to those of the four NIN genes, while GmRKD4/13 also display abnormally high expression in root nodules. Therefore, there are at least eight RWP-RK genes that are specifically expressed or highly expressed in root nodules. Co-expression and functional enrichment analyses of transcriptome data further revealed the expression patterns of eight nodule-specific/highly expressed genes of NLPs and RKDs in soybean can be divided into those associated with early development and late maturation. Integrating ATAC-seq data, we further constructed a potential regulatory network of eight nodule-specific/highly expressed genes and their co-expressed transcription factors. In summary, our study elucidates the evolutionary expansion and expression divergence of NLPs and RKDs across plants, providing insights into dissecting the transcriptional regulatory network underlying soybean root nodule development and adaptive evolution of plant gene families.
{"title":"Evolutionary history and expression analysis of the RWP-RK gene family and its potential regulatory network in root nodules","authors":"Jiacheng Zhang, Zhouwen Wang, Bingxue Zhang, Ruiyang Wang, Ming Yan, Han Zhang, Congcong Dong, Qin Feng, Zhizhou He, Zekang Pan, Liangsheng Zhang, Weicai Yang","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag092","url":null,"abstract":"The RWP-RK protein family is divided into two subfamilies: NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) -like proteins (NLPs) and RWP-RK domain proteins (RKDs), which are involved in key biological processes including nitrate response, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and embryonic development. We investigated the evolutionary history and functional divergence of these two subfamilies in green plants through phylogenetic analysis, motif analysis, expression profiling, and regulatory network construction. Both NLPs and RKDs originated from the early green algae ancestor, with multiple duplications during the seed plant period driving their lineage-specific expansion. Conserved motifs are more abundant among NLP proteins, whereas the number of conserved motifs among RKDs is relatively smaller. Expression analysis in various samples showed that GmNLP2a/b in soybean exhibit expression patterns analogous to those of the four NIN genes, while GmRKD4/13 also display abnormally high expression in root nodules. Therefore, there are at least eight RWP-RK genes that are specifically expressed or highly expressed in root nodules. Co-expression and functional enrichment analyses of transcriptome data further revealed the expression patterns of eight nodule-specific/highly expressed genes of NLPs and RKDs in soybean can be divided into those associated with early development and late maturation. Integrating ATAC-seq data, we further constructed a potential regulatory network of eight nodule-specific/highly expressed genes and their co-expressed transcription factors. In summary, our study elucidates the evolutionary expansion and expression divergence of NLPs and RKDs across plants, providing insights into dissecting the transcriptional regulatory network underlying soybean root nodule development and adaptive evolution of plant gene families.","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147287546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma L J Canaday, Alexander Meyers, Nathan J Scinto-Madonich, Sarah E Wyatt, Chris Wolverton
Plants employ multiple sensing and signaling mechanisms to inform their growth. Earth’s gravity is a constant force, which plants perceive and use to direct growth. Despite the ubiquity of gravitropism in plants, the mechanism for signal initiation remains a point of debate. The starch statolith hypothesis suggests that dense amyloplasts sediment within perceptive cells to initiate signaling. However, the persistence of gravitropism in starchless pgm-1 mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) suggests that plants still sense gravity even without amyloplast sedimentation, hinting toward a second mechanism by which plants can perceive gravity. In an attempt to isolate this mechanism, we exposed seedlings to a range of fractional gravities from 0.003 g to 1 g; this showed that plants without starch require a much larger force to induce gravitropic signaling than those with starch-filled statoliths. We used the difference in final root angle between genotypes after simultaneous application of blue light and gravity to estimate the relative contributions of the two systems to gravity sensing, demonstrating that starchless signaling can produce 51.7% of the wild-type response. Transcriptomics across the gravity gradient showed a distinctive shift in RNA regulation coinciding with the force required for starchless response. Mutants of these highly regulated genes showed gravity-specific defects and were largely involved in cell-to-cell communication and extracellular signaling. These data provide molecular evidence for both starch-dependent and starch-independent gravity signaling within a vascular plant as well as the molecular components used in the starch-independent response.
{"title":"Physiological and transcriptomic assessment of Arabidopsis identifies two distinct gravity signaling systems","authors":"Emma L J Canaday, Alexander Meyers, Nathan J Scinto-Madonich, Sarah E Wyatt, Chris Wolverton","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag095","url":null,"abstract":"Plants employ multiple sensing and signaling mechanisms to inform their growth. Earth’s gravity is a constant force, which plants perceive and use to direct growth. Despite the ubiquity of gravitropism in plants, the mechanism for signal initiation remains a point of debate. The starch statolith hypothesis suggests that dense amyloplasts sediment within perceptive cells to initiate signaling. However, the persistence of gravitropism in starchless pgm-1 mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) suggests that plants still sense gravity even without amyloplast sedimentation, hinting toward a second mechanism by which plants can perceive gravity. In an attempt to isolate this mechanism, we exposed seedlings to a range of fractional gravities from 0.003 g to 1 g; this showed that plants without starch require a much larger force to induce gravitropic signaling than those with starch-filled statoliths. We used the difference in final root angle between genotypes after simultaneous application of blue light and gravity to estimate the relative contributions of the two systems to gravity sensing, demonstrating that starchless signaling can produce 51.7% of the wild-type response. Transcriptomics across the gravity gradient showed a distinctive shift in RNA regulation coinciding with the force required for starchless response. Mutants of these highly regulated genes showed gravity-specific defects and were largely involved in cell-to-cell communication and extracellular signaling. These data provide molecular evidence for both starch-dependent and starch-independent gravity signaling within a vascular plant as well as the molecular components used in the starch-independent response.","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147314870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Specialized metabolism gets a MED regulator.","authors":"Praveen Khatri","doi":"10.1093/plphys/kiag099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag099","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20101,"journal":{"name":"Plant Physiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147309010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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