Fungal diseases such as anthracnose substantially affect the growth of tea (Camellia sinensis) plants. Identifying resistance genes and elucidating the mechanisms of resistance is crucial for breeding anthracnose-resistant tea varieties. Small RNA transcriptome sequencing was used to analyze differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target genes in tea leaves at 6 d post-inoculation with Colletotrichum camelliae, combined with functional enrichment analysis. A novel regulatory axis was delineated - comprising long noncoding RNA Cslnc924, CsmiR390a, CsTAS3 (trans-acting siRNA), CsARF2s (auxin response factors), and CsOPR2 (12-oxo-phytodienoic acid reductase) - that plays a novel role for this axis in anthracnose resistance in tea plants. Mechanistically, the 257-511 bp region of Cslnc924 binds to the promoter region (-825 to -1053 bp) of CsmiR390a, thereby activating its transcription. This upregulation of CsmiR390a positively modulated the CsmiR390a-CsTAS3-CsARF2 module, leading to the reduced expression of ARF2s (ARF2.1 and ARF2.2). Consequently, the suppression of CsOPR2-1 by ARF2s was alleviated, thereby enhancing anthracnose resistance in tea plants. This study reveals the regulatory role of the CsmiR390a-CsTAS3-CsARF2s module in tea-anthracnose resistance and deepens the understanding of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory mechanisms in tea plant defense against fungal pathogens.
{"title":"Identification of Cslnc924/CsmiR390a/CsTAS3/CsARF2s/CsOPR2 axis involved in regulating the resistance of tea plants to anthracnose.","authors":"Ting Jiang,Jinming Song,Xiao Li,Tongtong Li,Ying Liu,Nana Wang,Xiaolan Jiang,Yajun Liu,Haiyan Wang,Liping Gao,Tao Xia","doi":"10.1111/nph.71078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71078","url":null,"abstract":"Fungal diseases such as anthracnose substantially affect the growth of tea (Camellia sinensis) plants. Identifying resistance genes and elucidating the mechanisms of resistance is crucial for breeding anthracnose-resistant tea varieties. Small RNA transcriptome sequencing was used to analyze differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target genes in tea leaves at 6 d post-inoculation with Colletotrichum camelliae, combined with functional enrichment analysis. A novel regulatory axis was delineated - comprising long noncoding RNA Cslnc924, CsmiR390a, CsTAS3 (trans-acting siRNA), CsARF2s (auxin response factors), and CsOPR2 (12-oxo-phytodienoic acid reductase) - that plays a novel role for this axis in anthracnose resistance in tea plants. Mechanistically, the 257-511 bp region of Cslnc924 binds to the promoter region (-825 to -1053 bp) of CsmiR390a, thereby activating its transcription. This upregulation of CsmiR390a positively modulated the CsmiR390a-CsTAS3-CsARF2 module, leading to the reduced expression of ARF2s (ARF2.1 and ARF2.2). Consequently, the suppression of CsOPR2-1 by ARF2s was alleviated, thereby enhancing anthracnose resistance in tea plants. This study reveals the regulatory role of the CsmiR390a-CsTAS3-CsARF2s module in tea-anthracnose resistance and deepens the understanding of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory mechanisms in tea plant defense against fungal pathogens.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147393977","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}
Lan Zhang,Frank Sterck,Yajun Chen,Jinlong Dong,Hua Huang,Guanhua Dai,Huazheng Lu,Zhiyun Lu,Jinhua Qi,Jin Li,Keping Ma
Functional coordination among leaf, xylem, phloem and ray parenchyma governs the carbon-water economy of woody plants, yet the allocation principles and climatic drivers remain poorly explored. We hypothesized that species at lower altitudes and/or latitudes invest more in xylem and phloem per unit leaf area to compensate for higher transpirational losses, whereas species from higher altitudes and/or latitudes allocate proportionally more to ray parenchyma to enhance storage. Using canopy cranes across four Chinese forests, we quantified how leaf area, branch tissue cross-sectional areas, constituent cell types and functional traits for 55 canopy species varied and coordinated along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Contrary to the hypothesis that warmer climates favour greater xylem and phloem investment per leaf area, we found lower xylem-to-leaf and phloem-to-leaf ratios at low altitudes/latitudes, while ray-parenchyma-to-leaf ratios increased with altitude. Our findings demonstrate that functional ratios diverge across climates but converge within similar environments, suggesting environmental filtering drives storage-transport balances. In contrast to our expectation, trees in cold climates prioritize ray-parenchyma storage or hydraulic capacity, likely due to short growing seasons and freeze-thaw embolism repair needs. Our results imply that coordinated tissue allocation acts as an important adaptive for balancing transport and storage across diverse environments.
{"title":"Functional ratios diverge across climates but converge within environments in 55 woody canopy plants.","authors":"Lan Zhang,Frank Sterck,Yajun Chen,Jinlong Dong,Hua Huang,Guanhua Dai,Huazheng Lu,Zhiyun Lu,Jinhua Qi,Jin Li,Keping Ma","doi":"10.1111/nph.71049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71049","url":null,"abstract":"Functional coordination among leaf, xylem, phloem and ray parenchyma governs the carbon-water economy of woody plants, yet the allocation principles and climatic drivers remain poorly explored. We hypothesized that species at lower altitudes and/or latitudes invest more in xylem and phloem per unit leaf area to compensate for higher transpirational losses, whereas species from higher altitudes and/or latitudes allocate proportionally more to ray parenchyma to enhance storage. Using canopy cranes across four Chinese forests, we quantified how leaf area, branch tissue cross-sectional areas, constituent cell types and functional traits for 55 canopy species varied and coordinated along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Contrary to the hypothesis that warmer climates favour greater xylem and phloem investment per leaf area, we found lower xylem-to-leaf and phloem-to-leaf ratios at low altitudes/latitudes, while ray-parenchyma-to-leaf ratios increased with altitude. Our findings demonstrate that functional ratios diverge across climates but converge within similar environments, suggesting environmental filtering drives storage-transport balances. In contrast to our expectation, trees in cold climates prioritize ray-parenchyma storage or hydraulic capacity, likely due to short growing seasons and freeze-thaw embolism repair needs. Our results imply that coordinated tissue allocation acts as an important adaptive for balancing transport and storage across diverse environments.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147383620","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}
Daria Novikova, Surbhi Rana, Kunkun Li, H. Nicholay Diaz-Ardila, Nicola Trozzi, Luis Alonso Baez, Thorsten Hamann, Mateusz Majda, Christian S. Hardtke
<h2> Introduction</h2> <p>Brassinosteroids are key growth regulators that signal through a receptor kinase pathway, which evolved in angiosperms (Kim & Russinova, <span>2020</span>). In Arabidopsis (<i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>), the major active brassinosteroid is brassinolide, which triggers a phospho-transfer cascade upon binding to and stimulating the activity of the BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1) receptor kinase. The signal is eventually transduced to redundant transcription factors (Kim <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>), chiefly BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1) and BRI1 EMS SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) (a.k.a. BZR2), which then up- or downregulate target genes depending on context and cofactors (Kim <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>; Sun <i>et al</i>., <span>2010</span>; Yu <i>et al</i>., <span>2011</span>). One of the dominant outputs of brassinosteroid signaling in the root is the stimulation of growth through the promotion of cellular anisotropy (Fridman <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>). It remains unclear however which among the hundreds of brassinosteroid-regulated target genes are the downstream effectors in this process. Because brassinosteroids impact cell wall composition and structure (Rao & Dixon, <span>2017</span>; Percio <i>et al</i>., <span>2024</span>), candidates include genes encoding ARABINOGALACTAN PROTEINs (AGPs), which are coherently positively regulated by the brassinosteroid signaling pathway (Clark <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Nolan <i>et al</i>., <span>2023</span>) and correlate with root cell elongation in Arabidopsis as well as in the monocotyledon model, Brachypodium (<i>Brachypodium distachyon</i>) (Pacheco-Villalobos <i>et al</i>., <span>2016</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>). Likewise, genes of the <i>EXORDIUM</i> (<i>EXO</i>)-<i>LIKE</i> (<i>EXL</i>) family respond to some degree to brassinosteroids (Clark <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Nolan <i>et al</i>., <span>2023</span>) and were suggested to play a role in cell expansion (Schroder <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>, <span>2012</span>). Here, we sought to determine whether <i>AGP</i> and <i>EXO/EXL</i> genes play a role in anisotropic cellular growth.</p> <p>AGPs are a diverse family of glycoproteins that are found throughout the green lineage as well as in brown algae (Seifert & Roberts, <span>2007</span>; Herve <i>et al</i>., <span>2016</span>; Ma & Johnson, <span>2023</span>). They are characterized by a protein backbone rich in hydroxyprolines, which are O-linked to arabinogalactan glycan chains that can constitute up to 90% of an AGP's mass. Their protein sequences harbor clusters of proline, alanine, serine and threonine (PAST), which can be combined with other domains in the so-called chimeric AGPs (Seifert & Roberts, <span>2007</span>; Silva <i>et al</i>., <span>2020</span>; Ma & Johnson, <span>2023</span>). However, classical
油菜素内酯是通过受体激酶途径发出信号的关键生长调节剂，在被子植物中进化（Kim & Russinova, 2020）。在拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）中，主要的活性油菜素类固醇是油菜素内酯，它通过结合并刺激brassinosteroid - insensitive 1 （BRI1）受体激酶的活性而触发磷酸化转移级联。该信号最终被转导到冗余转录因子（Kim et al., 2009），主要是BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 （BZR1）和BRI1 EMS SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1)（又称BZR2），然后根据环境和辅助因子上调或下调靶基因（Kim et al., 2009; Sun et al., 2010; Yu et al., 2011）。油菜素内酯信号在根部的主要输出之一是通过促进细胞各向异性来刺激生长（friedman等人，2021；Graeff等人，2021）。然而，目前尚不清楚在数百个油菜素内酯调节的靶基因中，哪些是这一过程的下游效应基因。由于油菜素类固醇影响细胞壁组成和结构（Rao &; Dixon, 2017； Percio等人，2024），候选基因包括编码ARABINOGALACTAN蛋白（AGPs）的基因，这些基因受到油菜素类固醇信号通路的一致正调控（Clark等人，2021；Nolan等人，2023），并与拟南芥以及单子叶植物模型短柄植物（Brachypodium distachyon）的根细胞伸长相关（pachecovillalobos等人，2016；Graeff等人，2021）。同样，EXORDIUM (EXO)-样（EXL）家族的基因对油菜素类固醇有一定程度的反应（Clark et al., 2021; Graeff et al., 2021; Nolan et al., 2023），并被认为在细胞扩增中发挥作用（Schroder et al., 2009,2012）。在这里，我们试图确定AGP和EXO/EXL基因是否在各向异性细胞生长中起作用。agp是一个多样化的糖蛋白家族，在绿色谱系和褐藻中都有发现（Seifert & Roberts, 2007; Herve et al., 2016; Ma & Johnson, 2023）。它们的特点是富含羟基脯氨酸的蛋白质骨架，与阿拉伯半乳糖聚糖链o连接，可构成AGP质量的90%。它们的蛋白质序列包含脯氨酸、丙氨酸、丝氨酸和苏氨酸（PAST）簇，可以与所谓的嵌合AGPs中的其他结构域结合（Seifert & Roberts, 2007; Silva et al., 2020; Ma & Johnson, 2023）。然而，经典的AGP仅包含AGP的标志特征：用于传递到细胞表面的n端信号肽，100-150个氨基酸的富含过去肽的序列，以及在C端指导添加糖基磷脂酰肌醇脂锚以附着在质膜的细胞外表面的疏水区域（Schultz等人，2000；Muniz等人，2016；Silva等人，2020）。最后，阿拉伯半乳聚糖肽总体上与经典的agp相似，但其蛋白质骨架短至10个氨基酸（Sherrier等人，1999；Schultz等人，2000;Seifert & Roberts, 2007）。可以用β -Yariv试剂对AGPs进行染色和粗略定量，该试剂会沉淀AGPs，从而干扰其功能（Yariv等人，1967;Nothnagel, 1997； provervska等人，2021）。植物基因组包含数十个（100-200个）agp编码基因，甚至在经典亚类和肽亚类中也可以找到10-20个基因（Seifert & Roberts, 2007; Ma & Zhao, 2010; Bartels & Classen, 2017； Ma等人，2017；Mueller等人，2023），这表明存在潜在的冗余。事实上，迄今为止在拟南芥中发现的AGP基因单敲除突变体没有或相对温和的表型。例如，AGP6在花粉管维持中的作用仅在纯合子AGP6突变体与杂合子agp11突变体结合时才明显（Coimbra et al., 2009）。报道的单突变表型包括agp4，雌蕊显示花粉管阻塞受损（Pereira等人，2016），以及agp15和agp21，它们都显示根毛模式改变（Borassi等人，2020）。此外，敲除拟南芥AGP1的Physcomitrium （Physcomitrium patens）同源基因会导致细胞伸长程度降低（Lee et al., 2005）。因此，绝大多数单个agp的功能尚未得到明确定义。与AGPs相比，EXO/EXL基因所知甚少。创始成员EXO最初被描述为叶片细胞扩增中的油菜素内酯效应物（Schroder et al., 2009）。在拟南芥中，EXO/ exl构成了一个由8个基因组成的小家族（Schroder et al., 2012），它们编码含有信号肽的未知生化功能蛋白，并分泌到外质体中（Schroder et al., 2009）。与agp类似，它们似乎在进化上很古老，因为在细菌基因组中可以找到同源物（Schroder等人，2009）。EXO功能丧失的影响尚不清楚。 一方面，T-DNA插入突变体（EXO -1）具有相对较强的生长迟缓表型，这也表明EXO参与了油菜素内酯反应的修饰（Schroder et al., 2009）。另一方面，基因表达显著降低的EXO启动子诱捕系以及EXO反义植物没有表现出任何明显的表型（Farrar等，2003）。
{"title":"AGP and EXO-LIKE genes promote brassinosteroid-dependent anisotropic growth","authors":"Daria Novikova, Surbhi Rana, Kunkun Li, H. Nicholay Diaz-Ardila, Nicola Trozzi, Luis Alonso Baez, Thorsten Hamann, Mateusz Majda, Christian S. Hardtke","doi":"10.1111/nph.71063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71063","url":null,"abstract":"<h2> Introduction</h2>\u0000<p>Brassinosteroids are key growth regulators that signal through a receptor kinase pathway, which evolved in angiosperms (Kim & Russinova, <span>2020</span>). In Arabidopsis (<i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>), the major active brassinosteroid is brassinolide, which triggers a phospho-transfer cascade upon binding to and stimulating the activity of the BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1) receptor kinase. The signal is eventually transduced to redundant transcription factors (Kim <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>), chiefly BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1) and BRI1 EMS SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) (a.k.a. BZR2), which then up- or downregulate target genes depending on context and cofactors (Kim <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>; Sun <i>et al</i>., <span>2010</span>; Yu <i>et al</i>., <span>2011</span>). One of the dominant outputs of brassinosteroid signaling in the root is the stimulation of growth through the promotion of cellular anisotropy (Fridman <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>). It remains unclear however which among the hundreds of brassinosteroid-regulated target genes are the downstream effectors in this process. Because brassinosteroids impact cell wall composition and structure (Rao & Dixon, <span>2017</span>; Percio <i>et al</i>., <span>2024</span>), candidates include genes encoding ARABINOGALACTAN PROTEINs (AGPs), which are coherently positively regulated by the brassinosteroid signaling pathway (Clark <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Nolan <i>et al</i>., <span>2023</span>) and correlate with root cell elongation in Arabidopsis as well as in the monocotyledon model, Brachypodium (<i>Brachypodium distachyon</i>) (Pacheco-Villalobos <i>et al</i>., <span>2016</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>). Likewise, genes of the <i>EXORDIUM</i> (<i>EXO</i>)-<i>LIKE</i> (<i>EXL</i>) family respond to some degree to brassinosteroids (Clark <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Graeff <i>et al</i>., <span>2021</span>; Nolan <i>et al</i>., <span>2023</span>) and were suggested to play a role in cell expansion (Schroder <i>et al</i>., <span>2009</span>, <span>2012</span>). Here, we sought to determine whether <i>AGP</i> and <i>EXO/EXL</i> genes play a role in anisotropic cellular growth.</p>\u0000<p>AGPs are a diverse family of glycoproteins that are found throughout the green lineage as well as in brown algae (Seifert & Roberts, <span>2007</span>; Herve <i>et al</i>., <span>2016</span>; Ma & Johnson, <span>2023</span>). They are characterized by a protein backbone rich in hydroxyprolines, which are O-linked to arabinogalactan glycan chains that can constitute up to 90% of an AGP's mass. Their protein sequences harbor clusters of proline, alanine, serine and threonine (PAST), which can be combined with other domains in the so-called chimeric AGPs (Seifert & Roberts, <span>2007</span>; Silva <i>et al</i>., <span>2020</span>; Ma & Johnson, <span>2023</span>). However, classical","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147371314","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}
In nature, leaves often undergo transient increases in light intensity. Slow stomatal and biochemical responses restrict CO2 diffusion and fixation during these transitions, delaying photosynthetic induction and lowering light use efficiency. As blue light (BL) efficiently promotes stomatal opening, it has been hypothesized that BL enrichment could alleviate diffusional limitations and accelerate photosynthetic induction. Yet, existing evidence is inconsistent and a comprehensive assessment is needed. Gas exchange during consecutive transitions from darkness to low light (LL), LL to high light (HL), and postillumination was measured in wheat leaves under three to six levels of BL fraction in moderate and adverse environments, including high measurement vapor pressure deficit, elevated measurement CO2 concentrations, and progressive drought. Blue light enrichment accelerated photosynthetic induction in a dose-dependent manner by reducing both diffusional and biochemical limitations. Multi-level mechanisms, such as stomatal behavior and transcriptional adjustments, contributed to reducing diffusional limitations. The acceleration of photosynthetic induction by BL enrichment persisted in adverse environments. Compared with the BL-free condition, BL enrichment enhanced photosynthetic carbon gain during the HL induction by up to 60%. These results suggest that BL-induced stomatal opening is crucial for photosynthetic performance in fluctuating light environments.
{"title":"Blue light enrichment accelerates photosynthetic induction under contrasting environmental conditions in wheat.","authors":"Wen-Lin Wang,Huixing Kang,Yuheng Wang,Xuesong Fan,Haihua Shen,Zhencai Cui,Yanhong Tang","doi":"10.1111/nph.71075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71075","url":null,"abstract":"In nature, leaves often undergo transient increases in light intensity. Slow stomatal and biochemical responses restrict CO2 diffusion and fixation during these transitions, delaying photosynthetic induction and lowering light use efficiency. As blue light (BL) efficiently promotes stomatal opening, it has been hypothesized that BL enrichment could alleviate diffusional limitations and accelerate photosynthetic induction. Yet, existing evidence is inconsistent and a comprehensive assessment is needed. Gas exchange during consecutive transitions from darkness to low light (LL), LL to high light (HL), and postillumination was measured in wheat leaves under three to six levels of BL fraction in moderate and adverse environments, including high measurement vapor pressure deficit, elevated measurement CO2 concentrations, and progressive drought. Blue light enrichment accelerated photosynthetic induction in a dose-dependent manner by reducing both diffusional and biochemical limitations. Multi-level mechanisms, such as stomatal behavior and transcriptional adjustments, contributed to reducing diffusional limitations. The acceleration of photosynthetic induction by BL enrichment persisted in adverse environments. Compared with the BL-free condition, BL enrichment enhanced photosynthetic carbon gain during the HL induction by up to 60%. These results suggest that BL-induced stomatal opening is crucial for photosynthetic performance in fluctuating light environments.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"166 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147374193","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}
Marie Didelon,Justine Sucher,Florent Delplace,Pedro Carvalho-Silva,Matilda Zaffuto,Adelin Barbacci,Sylvain Raffaele
Acclimation enables plants to adjust to immediate environmental fluctuations and is therefore key to the resilience of plant disease resistance in a time of climate change. Here, we report on the acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana quantitative immune responses against the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum to daily environmental fluctuations. We analyzed disease resistance phenotypes and global gene expression in plants grown in three acclimation regimes, revealing the rewiring of regulatory networks during this process. We identified pathogen-induced genes weakly sensitive to acclimation as promising bases for acclimation-proof immunity. Fluctuations in Mediterranean-like acclimation resulted in an increased disease susceptibility and the misregulation of many pathogen-responsive genes. We identified A. thaliana mutants in novel immune components contributing positively to quantitative disease resistance following temperate but not Mediterranean acclimation. Quantitative disease resistance was maintained under Mediterranean acclimation in NAC42-like mutants and associated with a switch in the repertoire of pathogen-responsive targets of this transcription factor. Our work reveals the role of immune gene networks' plasticity in acclimation and suggests new strategies to maintain plant immune function in a warming climate.
{"title":"Arabidopsis acclimation to daily environmental fluctuations converts a defense response regulator into a susceptibility factor toward Sclerotinia.","authors":"Marie Didelon,Justine Sucher,Florent Delplace,Pedro Carvalho-Silva,Matilda Zaffuto,Adelin Barbacci,Sylvain Raffaele","doi":"10.1111/nph.71053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71053","url":null,"abstract":"Acclimation enables plants to adjust to immediate environmental fluctuations and is therefore key to the resilience of plant disease resistance in a time of climate change. Here, we report on the acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana quantitative immune responses against the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum to daily environmental fluctuations. We analyzed disease resistance phenotypes and global gene expression in plants grown in three acclimation regimes, revealing the rewiring of regulatory networks during this process. We identified pathogen-induced genes weakly sensitive to acclimation as promising bases for acclimation-proof immunity. Fluctuations in Mediterranean-like acclimation resulted in an increased disease susceptibility and the misregulation of many pathogen-responsive genes. We identified A. thaliana mutants in novel immune components contributing positively to quantitative disease resistance following temperate but not Mediterranean acclimation. Quantitative disease resistance was maintained under Mediterranean acclimation in NAC42-like mutants and associated with a switch in the repertoire of pathogen-responsive targets of this transcription factor. Our work reveals the role of immune gene networks' plasticity in acclimation and suggests new strategies to maintain plant immune function in a warming climate.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"225 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368432","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}
Water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), an allotetraploid species, is among the most ecologically successful aquatic plants, exhibiting two remarkable adaptive traits: tristyly, a rare floral polymorphism promoting outcrossing, and inflated petioles (floats) that facilitate buoyancy. However, the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these traits in a polyploid context remain poorly understood. We assembled a gap-free telomere-to-telomere genome of an M-morph Po. crassipes and integrated whole-genome resequencing, transcriptomic, physiological, and anatomical analyses to investigate its genome evolution, floral polymorphism, and float formation. We detected multiple whole-genome duplication events in the Pontederia lineage. Po. crassipes originated via hybridization between two diploid progenitors and experienced nonreciprocal homoeologous exchanges. The M-morph is associated with a single hemizygous gene, LAZY1-M, and its characteristic long stamen filaments may result from cell elongation mediated by INCREASED LEAF INCLINATION (ILI) genes. By contrast, variation in style length between L- and M-morphs is primarily driven by differences in cell number. In addition, ethylene was identified as a key positive regulator of float formation. Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the M-locus in a polyploid species, demonstrates its conserved evolutionary origin within Pontederiaceae, and uncovers novel regulatory mechanisms underlying morphological adaptation in aquatic plants.
{"title":"Gap-free genome-based analyses of the origin and adaptation of a globally invasive polyploid hydrophyte.","authors":"Yunming Zhang,Feiqi Yu,Xi Hu,Yuhan Wang,Jingyi Guo,Jingjing Yang,Yali Wang,Hongwei Hou,Xudong Xu","doi":"10.1111/nph.71057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71057","url":null,"abstract":"Water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), an allotetraploid species, is among the most ecologically successful aquatic plants, exhibiting two remarkable adaptive traits: tristyly, a rare floral polymorphism promoting outcrossing, and inflated petioles (floats) that facilitate buoyancy. However, the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these traits in a polyploid context remain poorly understood. We assembled a gap-free telomere-to-telomere genome of an M-morph Po. crassipes and integrated whole-genome resequencing, transcriptomic, physiological, and anatomical analyses to investigate its genome evolution, floral polymorphism, and float formation. We detected multiple whole-genome duplication events in the Pontederia lineage. Po. crassipes originated via hybridization between two diploid progenitors and experienced nonreciprocal homoeologous exchanges. The M-morph is associated with a single hemizygous gene, LAZY1-M, and its characteristic long stamen filaments may result from cell elongation mediated by INCREASED LEAF INCLINATION (ILI) genes. By contrast, variation in style length between L- and M-morphs is primarily driven by differences in cell number. In addition, ethylene was identified as a key positive regulator of float formation. Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the M-locus in a polyploid species, demonstrates its conserved evolutionary origin within Pontederiaceae, and uncovers novel regulatory mechanisms underlying morphological adaptation in aquatic plants.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368433","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}
Yiling Li,Deyan Wang,Pengchuan Sun,Jiale Zhao,Lanxing Shan,Dafu Ru,Guangpeng Ren,Tao Ma,Susanne S Renner,Jianquan Liu
Among the relatively few flowering plants with strongly heteromorphic XY chromosomes are dioecious species of Hippophae (Elaeagnaceae). To understand the evolution of these sex chromosomes, we generated haplotype-resolved genomes for H. rhamnoides and H. tibetana, carried out ancestral karyotype reconstruction using Elaeagnus mollis (with bisexual flowers) as the outgroup, inferred the location of the sex-linked regions (SLRs), and used transcriptome data to test for dosage compensation. In H. rhamnoides, the X chromosome is 30% larger than the Y and in H. tibetana 15%, a difference primarily due to the accumulation of repetitive sequences on the X and extensive gene loss on the Y in H. rhamnoides. Both sex chromosome pairs have an older (S1, 6.3-7.6 million years ago (Ma)) and a younger stratum (S2, 1.9-2.5 Ma), the latter with more species-specific inversions. The SLRs coincide with the pericentromere regions, which already in the ancestor of Hippophae were greatly enlarged by the insertion of another chromosome. Dosage compensation occurs primarily in floral tissues and mainly through downregulation of female X-specific genes, balancing expression between the sexes in floral tissues. These results add to the growing evidence for SLRs often evolving in pericentromeric regions, which are prone to extensive rearrangements and have low recombination frequencies.
{"title":"Heteromorphic XY chromosomes with pericentromeric recombination suppression in Hippophae (Elaeagnaceae).","authors":"Yiling Li,Deyan Wang,Pengchuan Sun,Jiale Zhao,Lanxing Shan,Dafu Ru,Guangpeng Ren,Tao Ma,Susanne S Renner,Jianquan Liu","doi":"10.1111/nph.71059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71059","url":null,"abstract":"Among the relatively few flowering plants with strongly heteromorphic XY chromosomes are dioecious species of Hippophae (Elaeagnaceae). To understand the evolution of these sex chromosomes, we generated haplotype-resolved genomes for H. rhamnoides and H. tibetana, carried out ancestral karyotype reconstruction using Elaeagnus mollis (with bisexual flowers) as the outgroup, inferred the location of the sex-linked regions (SLRs), and used transcriptome data to test for dosage compensation. In H. rhamnoides, the X chromosome is 30% larger than the Y and in H. tibetana 15%, a difference primarily due to the accumulation of repetitive sequences on the X and extensive gene loss on the Y in H. rhamnoides. Both sex chromosome pairs have an older (S1, 6.3-7.6 million years ago (Ma)) and a younger stratum (S2, 1.9-2.5 Ma), the latter with more species-specific inversions. The SLRs coincide with the pericentromere regions, which already in the ancestor of Hippophae were greatly enlarged by the insertion of another chromosome. Dosage compensation occurs primarily in floral tissues and mainly through downregulation of female X-specific genes, balancing expression between the sexes in floral tissues. These results add to the growing evidence for SLRs often evolving in pericentromeric regions, which are prone to extensive rearrangements and have low recombination frequencies.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368434","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}
Michael B Mueller,Xueying Chen,Casey S Philbin,Christopher S Jeffrey,André Kessler
Trade-offs between induced plant defenses and competitive growth are regarded as being universal. This seems particularly true for often-studied early succession annuals, where exposure to competition often suppresses defense expression. However, whether such trade-offs are universal across plant life histories remains unclear, especially considering recent work demonstrating that the trade-off can be artificially uncoupled. We test the hypothesis that Solidago altissima, a perennial herbaceous plant, naturally uncouples this trade-off by adjusting its investment in chemical defenses when exposed to competitive cues, allowing for persistence in high-competition environments despite herbivore pressure. Using a factorial glasshouse experiment, we manipulated competition cues (far-red light and conspecific neighbors) and insect herbivory to assess impacts on growth, resistance, and secondary metabolite production. S. altissima maintained or even enhanced herbivore-induced resistance in the presence of competition cues. Bioassays revealed reduced herbivore performance on previously damaged plants, particularly when they were exposed to neighbors. Metabolomic profiling showed herbivory-induced production of several secondary metabolite classes. Most notably, we found competition-enhanced production of hydroxycinnamic acids, dominated by 3-O-(E)-feruloylquinic acid, associated with resistance. Our findings challenge the generality of the growth-defense trade-off and highlight the importance of ecological context and life-history strategy in shaping plastic responses.
{"title":"Functional uncoupling of the induced defense-competitive growth trade-off.","authors":"Michael B Mueller,Xueying Chen,Casey S Philbin,Christopher S Jeffrey,André Kessler","doi":"10.1111/nph.71058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71058","url":null,"abstract":"Trade-offs between induced plant defenses and competitive growth are regarded as being universal. This seems particularly true for often-studied early succession annuals, where exposure to competition often suppresses defense expression. However, whether such trade-offs are universal across plant life histories remains unclear, especially considering recent work demonstrating that the trade-off can be artificially uncoupled. We test the hypothesis that Solidago altissima, a perennial herbaceous plant, naturally uncouples this trade-off by adjusting its investment in chemical defenses when exposed to competitive cues, allowing for persistence in high-competition environments despite herbivore pressure. Using a factorial glasshouse experiment, we manipulated competition cues (far-red light and conspecific neighbors) and insect herbivory to assess impacts on growth, resistance, and secondary metabolite production. S. altissima maintained or even enhanced herbivore-induced resistance in the presence of competition cues. Bioassays revealed reduced herbivore performance on previously damaged plants, particularly when they were exposed to neighbors. Metabolomic profiling showed herbivory-induced production of several secondary metabolite classes. Most notably, we found competition-enhanced production of hydroxycinnamic acids, dominated by 3-O-(E)-feruloylquinic acid, associated with resistance. Our findings challenge the generality of the growth-defense trade-off and highlight the importance of ecological context and life-history strategy in shaping plastic responses.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368435","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}
Cristian D Torres,Pirén López-Alaniz,Amaru Magnin,Javier G Puntieri
From a root economics perspective, variation in fine-root morphological traits reflects contrasting strategies of resource acquisition and conservation. Here, we examined how fine-root structural and functional traits are associated with belowground architecture. We analysed coarse-root architecture and fine-root functional traits (specific root length, dry matter content and diameter) in four tap-rooted and four adventitious-rooted perennial herb species from North Patagonian forests. We considered two scales of analysis: entire belowground systems and root modules. Variations in the dry-matter content and specific length of fine roots were stronger among species than between architectural groups. Only for tap-rooted plants, lower specific root length was related to the development of thicker and more branched second-order roots. Dry-matter content of fine roots was positively related to the belowground mass fraction in tap-rooted plants and negatively related to adventitious-rooted plants. At root-module scale, the diameter of fine roots was more variable and more related to the structure of exploratory roots in tap-rooted species. Our multiscale approach strongly suggests that belowground architecture of coarse-root systems constrains fine-root functional strategies. Tap-rooted species exhibited a more integrated and architecturally constrained belowground system than adventitious-rooted species.
{"title":"Root architecture and fine-root economic traits in tap- and adventitious-rooted perennial herbs.","authors":"Cristian D Torres,Pirén López-Alaniz,Amaru Magnin,Javier G Puntieri","doi":"10.1111/nph.71079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71079","url":null,"abstract":"From a root economics perspective, variation in fine-root morphological traits reflects contrasting strategies of resource acquisition and conservation. Here, we examined how fine-root structural and functional traits are associated with belowground architecture. We analysed coarse-root architecture and fine-root functional traits (specific root length, dry matter content and diameter) in four tap-rooted and four adventitious-rooted perennial herb species from North Patagonian forests. We considered two scales of analysis: entire belowground systems and root modules. Variations in the dry-matter content and specific length of fine roots were stronger among species than between architectural groups. Only for tap-rooted plants, lower specific root length was related to the development of thicker and more branched second-order roots. Dry-matter content of fine roots was positively related to the belowground mass fraction in tap-rooted plants and negatively related to adventitious-rooted plants. At root-module scale, the diameter of fine roots was more variable and more related to the structure of exploratory roots in tap-rooted species. Our multiscale approach strongly suggests that belowground architecture of coarse-root systems constrains fine-root functional strategies. Tap-rooted species exhibited a more integrated and architecturally constrained belowground system than adventitious-rooted species.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"263 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368436","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}
The mangrove Avicennia marina thrives in high-salinity intertidal habitat and possesses pneumatophores with lenticels. The roles of pneumatophores in photosynthesis and lenticels in gas exchange are well established. However, their functions in salt excretion remain unclear. This study divided pneumatophores into three zones: aboveground portion (PA) with lenticels, belowground portion (PB), and feeding root (FR). Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis showed sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) were the predominant elements in crystals on lenticels, indicative of NaCl. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and spectrophotometry revealed significant Na+, Cl-, and K+ accumulation in the PA. SEM-EDS and non-invasive micro-test technology (NMT) revealed a salt transport pathway: ions are absorbed through FRs, followed by longitudinal transport via xylem (PB → PA) and lateral translocation through cortical cells to lenticels. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed predominant expression of Na+ transporter genes (SOS1, NHX1, and HKT1) in the PB, facilitating upward transport. Salt-excretion efficiency increased with the degree of lenticel maturation and habitat salinity. PA-specific expressions of aquaporin genes (TIP1:3, PIP2:2, and PIP1:2) and salt-transport-related genes (AKT1 and CLC-c) suggest their roles in maintaining water-salt relation during salt excretion via lenticels. This work establishes a coordinated salt management model in A. marina pneumatophores, integrating root uptake, transport, and lenticel-mediated excretion, redefining the excretory function of lenticels.
{"title":"Salt excretion: a new function of lenticels on pneumatophores of the mangrove Avicennia marina.","authors":"He-Zi Huang,Zhao-Yu Guo,Yu-Chen Zhang,Liang Jin,Li-Han Zhuang,Lin-Jiao Chen,Han-Xin Zheng,Xing-Yue Hong,Han-Chen Tang,Jia-Kun Liu,Hai-Lei Zheng,Xue-Yi Zhu","doi":"10.1111/nph.71061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71061","url":null,"abstract":"The mangrove Avicennia marina thrives in high-salinity intertidal habitat and possesses pneumatophores with lenticels. The roles of pneumatophores in photosynthesis and lenticels in gas exchange are well established. However, their functions in salt excretion remain unclear. This study divided pneumatophores into three zones: aboveground portion (PA) with lenticels, belowground portion (PB), and feeding root (FR). Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis showed sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) were the predominant elements in crystals on lenticels, indicative of NaCl. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and spectrophotometry revealed significant Na+, Cl-, and K+ accumulation in the PA. SEM-EDS and non-invasive micro-test technology (NMT) revealed a salt transport pathway: ions are absorbed through FRs, followed by longitudinal transport via xylem (PB → PA) and lateral translocation through cortical cells to lenticels. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed predominant expression of Na+ transporter genes (SOS1, NHX1, and HKT1) in the PB, facilitating upward transport. Salt-excretion efficiency increased with the degree of lenticel maturation and habitat salinity. PA-specific expressions of aquaporin genes (TIP1:3, PIP2:2, and PIP1:2) and salt-transport-related genes (AKT1 and CLC-c) suggest their roles in maintaining water-salt relation during salt excretion via lenticels. This work establishes a coordinated salt management model in A. marina pneumatophores, integrating root uptake, transport, and lenticel-mediated excretion, redefining the excretory function of lenticels.","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368317","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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