Plant Cell Reports最新文献

Key message: Bacillus velezensis D103 improves drought tolerance through enhanced antioxidant activity and lignin deposition, with VIGS analysis indicating roles for ZmAPX3, ZmAOX1B, ZmPER72, and ZmPRX74. Drought stress is a major abiotic constrain on global crop productivity. The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) offers a promising strategy to enhance plant drought tolerance, yet the associated molecular mechanisms remain incompletely characterized. In this study, we examined the role of Bacillus velezensis D103 in maize drought responses by assessing physiological and transcriptomic changes. Under drought stress, D103 inoculation supported plant growth and increased leaf relative water content (RWC), reducing the RWC deficit from 12.4% to 5.1%. This response was accompanied by greater lignin deposition (28.5%) and higher antioxidant enzyme activities. Transcriptome data showed that D103 treatment activated key drought-associated pathways, including glutathione metabolism and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. VIGS assays suggested that ZmAPX3 (glutathione metabolism), ZmAOX1B (ROS-scavenging), and ZmPER72 and ZmPRX74 (phenylpropanoid metabolism) contribute to the drought tolerance observed in D103-treated plants. Overall, the findings suggest that B. velezensis D103 supports maize drought tolerance by regulating lignin biosynthesis and ROS-related processes. This study provides insights into PGPR-mediated stress resistance responses and highlights strain D103 as a candidate microbial inoculant for improving crop performance under water-limited conditions.

Rosa roxburghii Tratt., a member of the Rosaceae family, is a plant of considerable medicinal and economic value. Its fruit is notably rich in arginine. Integrated genomic and transcriptomic analyses of R. roxburghii fruit identified 21 genes implicated in arginine synthesis and 4 genes involved in arginine catabolism. Among these, N-acetylglutamate synthase (RrNAGS1) and arginine decarboxylase (RrADC1) were found to be strongly correlated with arginine accumulation in the fruit. Functional validation through overexpression demonstrated that RrNAGS1 promotes arginine accumulation, increasing by 15% in hydrolyzed and 100% in free arginine, respectively. In contrast, RrADC1 suppresses this process, with corresponding decreases of 17% and 34%. Furthermore, we identified the nucleus-localized transcription factor RrLHY (LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL) that binds to and activates the promoter of RrNAGS1. Overexpression of RrLHY upregulated RrNAGS1 and consequently increased hydrolyzed and free arginine levels by 67% and 111%, respectively, establishing its central role in regulating arginine biosynthesis. Our findings elucidate the biosynthetic mechanism of arginine in R. roxburghii fruit, provide insights into arginine metabolism in other crops, and aid the development of medicinal and edible products.

Conventional breeding of many woody plants through hybridization is time-consuming in comparison to annual plants. This delay is primarily attributed to their lengthy juvenile phase, which typically spans multiple years depending on the specific crop before they are capable of blooming. Over the past two decades, significant efforts have been dedicated to deciphering the molecular mechanism of flowering and to accelerating woody plant breeding, also known as FasTrack breeding, by shortening juvenility. This has been achieved through the utilization of cutting-edge technologies such as genetic engineering of key flowering-pathway genes. By consolidating previous research and outlining potential candidate genes, this review discusses relevant strategies for FasTrack breeding to provide a foundational insight into accelerating woody species improvement via gene editing.

Key message: Framework-primed trehalose uses MOFs to protect and time-release trehalose/T6P exactly when stress hits, converting a fleeting sugar signal into a programmable priming cue that accelerates, strengthens, and sustains abiotic stress memory while minimizing off-target losses. Abiotic stresses increasingly limit crop productivity, motivating delivery-smart biostimulant strategies that can imprint durable stress memory without transgenics. This review uniquely integrates trehalose/T6P biology with metal-organic framework (MOF) delivery engineering, providing the first focused appraisal of MOF-mediated trehalose priming for drought, salinity, heat, and cold resilience. We map how trehalose/T6P orchestrates membrane stabilization, redox poise, and transcriptional reprogramming, then assess how MOF chemistry (metal node, linker, pore size, defect density, and stimuli-responsive degradability) can protect, target, and time-release these sugar signals to better align with stress onset. Unlike prior reviews that either survey trehalose/T6P signaling or catalog agricultural MOFs and other nanocarriers, we bridge both, extracting design rules (cargo loading routes, gating strategies, soil/leaf triggers), performance metrics (release half-time vs. stress dynamics, dose-response windows, carry-over across growth stages), and risk/translation considerations (biocompatibility, fate, regulatory descriptors). We propose a roadmap for advancing MOF-trehalose priming from lab to field, emphasizing side-by-side comparisons with established carriers and transparent reporting of release/efficacy parameters. By coupling signal biology with materials design, this review outlines a precision path to enhance water use efficiency, photosynthesis, and antioxidant defenses while minimizing input waste-offering actionable guidance for researchers and practitioners pursuing climate-resilient agronomy.

Key message: Functional analysis in Arabidopsis revealed that ZjRVE8 -1 significantly enhances cold tolerance by activating the CBF pathway, identifying it as a promising gene for breeding cold hardy Zoysia japonica cultivars. REVEILLE (RVE) transcription factors regulate circadian rhythms and abiotic stress responses, but their roles in cold tolerance in the warm-season turfgrass Zoysia japonica remain uncharacterized. We identified 10 RVE family members through genome-wide analysis and performed comprehensive expression profiling under multiple abiotic stresses, revealing cold-responsive patterns. Based on this, five cold-induced RVE genes were selected for functional validation via heterologous overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana. Overexpression of ZjRVE8-1 significantly enhanced freezing tolerance under both non-acclimated (NA) and cold-acclimated (CA) conditions by upregulating CBF1 and CBF3 expression. In contrast, overexpression of four tested RVE1-clade members failed to improve, and in one case reduced, freezing tolerance, correlating with their divergent cold-induced expression patterns. Promoter analysis identified a low-temperature responsive (LTR) element exclusively in ZjRVE8-1 of the cold-tolerant genotype, explaining its superior induction. This study uncovers ZjRVE8-1 as a novel regulator of cold adaptation via CBF activation and provides functional insights into RVE family divergence, offering candidate genes for breeding cold-hardy Z. japonica.

Key message: Pecan transcription factor CiNF-YC6, identified as nuclear-localized, significantly boosts fatty acid content in transgenic plants via activating lipid pathway genes upon overexpression. Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) seed oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids beneficial for human health. Therefore, improving its quality is of considerable interest. The Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) transcription factor family plays essential roles in plant development and metabolism, yet its function in regulating seed lipid accumulation in woody oil-producing species remains poorly understood. Here, we identified and characterized 44 NF-Y genes in Carya illinoinensis, comprising 12 NF-YA, 20 NF-YB, and 12 NF-YC members. Phylogenetic, structural, and cis-element analyses revealed conserved features and regulatory potential across the family. Among them, CiNF-YC6 exhibited high expression in developing seeds and other tissues. Subcellular localisation and yeast assays confirmed that CiNF-YC6 is a nuclear-localized transcriptional activator with the activation domain located at the C-terminus. Functional characterization using transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana and stable transformation in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that CiNF-YC6 overexpression significantly increased total fatty acid content and altered fatty acid composition. This enhancement was accompanied by the upregulation of key genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and triacylglycerol (TAG) assembly. Our findings identify CiNF-YC6 as a novel regulator of lipid accumulation and provide insights into the transcriptional control of oil biosynthesis in a woody perennial species.

Key message: Heterologous overexpression, transcriptomics, and physiology confirm RcLOG7-1 enhances plant drought and salt tolerance. The specific phosphohydrolase LONELY GUY (LOG) is involved in various biological processes of plant growth and development. However, research on the regulatory role of castor bean LOG under drought and salt stresses is limited. Here, we report the dual positive regulatory effects of the RcLOG7-1 gene under both drought and salt stresses in genetically modified Arabidopsis thaliana. Drought and salinity conditions significantly induced the transcription of RcLOG7-1. Subcellular localization results indicate that RcLOG7-1 was located in the cytoplasm. Overexpression of RcLOG7-1 in Arabidopsis enhanced drought and salt stresses tolerance. Through RNA-seq and physiological assessments, RcLOG7-1 modulated the expression of genes involved in glutathione metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and proline synthesis under drought and salt stresses, thereby enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity and lignin content in transgenic Arabidopsis. This resulted in improved scavenging of active oxygen free radicals. Furthermore, RcLOG7-1 influenced plant hormone signal transduction, particularly cytokinin synthesis (CTK), leading to elevated CTK levels in transgenic Arabidopsis compared to wild type. In summary, this study provides data supporting the function of LOG genes in stressed conditions, facilitating and accelerating molecular breeding for stress tolerance in castor bean.