Plant, Cell & Environment最新文献

Viruses alter the ecological and evolutionary trajectories of bacterial host communities. Plant grafting is a technique that integrates two species or varietiies and have consequences on the rhizosphere functioning. The grafting effects on the taxonomic and functional assembly of viruses and their bacterial host in the plant rhizosphere remain largely elusive. Using shotgun metagenome sequencing, we recover a total of 1441 viral operational taxonomic units from the rhizosphere of grafted and ungrafted plants after 8-year continuous monoculture. In the grafted and ungrafted rhizosphere, the Myoviridae, Zobellviridae and Kyanoviridae emerged as the predominant viral families, collectively representing around 40% of the viral community in each respective environment. Grafting enriched the members in viral family Kyanoviridae, Tectiviridae, Peduoviridae and Suoliviridae, and auxiliary metabolic genes related to pyruvate metabolism and energy acquisition (e.g., gloB, DNMT1 and dcyD). The virus-bacterial interactions increased the rapid growth potential of bacteria, which explains the strong increase in abundance of specific bacterial hosts (i.e., Chitinophagaceae, Cyclobacteriaceae and Spirosomaceae) in the grafted-plant rhizosphere. Overall, these results deepen our understanding of microbial community assembly and ecological services from the perspective of virus-host interactions.

Prior exposure of plants to a triggering factor can enhance their tolerance to more severe stressful events. Transcriptome reprogramming of metabolism and hormonal modulation processes in the resurrection plant Boea hygrometrica was observed during drought acclimation. However, the metabolic dynamics and underlying regulatory networks that modulate drought acclimation-induced rapid desiccation tolerance (RDT) remain unexplored. Here, we performed an integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis to investigate the phytohormone profiles and metabolic landscapes of B. hygrometrica during drought acclimation and dehydration stress. We identified a set of RDT acquisition-associated biomarkers, including trans-zeatin and some disaccharides (lactose, trehalose, sucrose, and isomaltulose). Exogenous application of lactose effectively enhanced the RDT of B. hygrometrica seedlings and improved drought tolerance in Arabidopsis, tobacco, maize, and wheat. In addition, transient overexpression of lactose-associated transcription factors MYB330 and APETALA2 in B. hygrometrica can promote the RDT and transcription of drought acclimation-inducible genes involved in calcium and ABA signalling and autophagy. In summary, our findings demonstrate that drought acclimation-induced lactose accumulation facilitates the establishment of an "acclimated state", leading to transcriptome reprogramming in response to rapid desiccation. These results will also pave the way for using RDT biomarkers to improve crop drought tolerance in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Understanding crop performance across diverse agro-ecologies is crucial for developing region-specific breeding strategies. This multi-location study examined the impact of diverse environments on crop eco-phenology and genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) of tall-type field pea breeding lines. Empirical methods were employed to identify strategic locations that support higher yields and unique genotypic traits. The results revealed significant variations across locations, with coefficients of variation for key traits as follows: days to flowering (31%), days to maturity (20%), reproductive period (19%), yield (35%), and seed weight (31%). Environmental component accounted for the largest yield variation (78%), followed by GEI (13%). Correlation analysis indicated a significant influence of both temperature extremes, particularly maximum temperature during flowering, on crop yields. Higher minimum temperatures during flowering and reproductive period were associated with reduced yields, while extended crop duration in cooler regions also negatively impacted yields. A significant quadratic relationship between seed weight and yield underscored the importance of seed weight as a yield-stabilising trait. GGE-biplot analysis identified four mega-environments, and designated Faizabad, Pantnagar, Varanasi, and Kota as ideal testing sites for selecting genotypes with broader adaptability. These findings provide valuable insights for redesigning field pea breeding programmes at the national level.

The evolutionary origin of fruits played a pivotal role in promoting the dominance of angiosperms on the Earth as the fruits protect and nourish seeds and facilitate their dispersal through diverse mechanisms. Understanding the molecular networks underlying fruit development is a prerequisite for elucidating evolutionary mechanisms shaping fruit diversification, and particularly improving crop yield and quality of fruit in response to the rapid climate change in modern agricultural systems. In this article, we offer a comprehensive analysis of fruit classification, emphasising the intrinsic characteristics and their adaptive dispersal strategies in specific environments. Based on the studies in the model systems such as Arabidopsis thaliana and Solanum lycopersicum, we highlight recent advances in identifying novel components of the molecular networks involved in fruit development. We further discuss the evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to fruit diversification in the context of well-established phylogenetic frameworks, with examples from the Brassicaceae and Solanaceae families. A comparison between Brassicaceae and Solanaceae indicates the key module of fruit development is largely conserved in evolution. We propose the future research that integrates multidisciplinary evidence could help to better understand the mechanisms of fruit development and diversification, which ultimately contribute to improving crop yield and quality in practice.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) resorption are assumed to be crucial for epiphyte growth in nutrient-poor canopies, yet remain poorly understood due to unique habitats and limited access. We examined the N, P and ¹⁵N natural abundance in mature and senesced leaves of 10 vascular epiphyte species in southwest subtropical China, integrating data from a previous study in tropical lowland forest. We found that subtropical epiphytes experienced N-limitation, likely because of the high P availability, making N relatively scarce. The mean N and P resorption efficiencies per leaf unit were 63.1% and 67.7%, with 14.7% and 12% higher than those on leaf mass, and 3.9% and 3.8% higher than those on leaf area. The combination of strategy analysis, generalized linear models and variance decomposition revealed that the N and P resorption in tropical epiphytes were combinedly regulated by stoichiometry and nutrient limitation control strategies, while subtropical epiphytes employed either the combined strategies or stoichiometry strategy alone. Notably, functional group type strongly influenced N resorption. Leaf δ¹⁵N reflected nutrient resorption with species-specific variation, driven by functional traits. Epiphytes and terrestrial plants exhibit similar nutrient resorption patterns, which help alleviate the N and P deficiencies and support high biodiversity in forest canopies.

Efforts to enhance protein and oil contents in soybean seeds are significant; however, a negative correlation usually exists between protein and oil levels. This observation emphasizes the need to understand the spatiotemporal dynamics and interactions in protein and oil accumulation during soybean seed development. The current study used LC-MS/MS methodology to conduct high-throughput metabolomic analyses, aiming to understand metabolite compositions and spatial distributions in soybean varieties with extreme protein and oil content phenotypes including HPHO, HPLO, LPHO and LPLO lines. Comparative investigations revealed distinct variances in the metabolic characteristics of these four lines. Key metabolites associated with oil and protein synthesis were screened out using these data and included glucose, citric acid, α-ketoglutaric acid, glycerate 3-phosphate, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, succinic acid, cis-aconitic acid. Pathway analyses of differentially abundant metabolites indicated significant increases in the activity of the Calvin cycle, TCA cycle, glycolysis, and shikimic acid pathways. Simultaneously, reductions were observed in pathways related to the conversion of glucose into pentose, ascorbate and aldarate. This modification supports incorporating carbon sources into amino and fatty acid synthesis pathways in protein- and oil-rich soybean seeds. These results provide a basis for future initiatives to develop soybean cultivars with enhanced protein and oil yields.

Stomata regulate plant gas exchange under changing environments, but observations of single stomata dynamics in planta are sparse. We developed a compact microscope system that can measure the kinetics of tens of stomata in planta simultaneously, with sub-minute time resolution. Darkfield imaging with green light was used to create 3D stacks from which 2D surface projections were constructed to resolve stomatal apertures. Stomatal dynamics of Chrysanthemum morifolium (Chrysanthemum) and Zea mays (Maize) under changing light intensity were categorized, and a kinetic model was fitted to the data for quantitative comparison. Maize stomata transitioned frequently between open and closed states under constant growth light and these 'opening and closing' stomata, when closed, responded faster to a change to saturating light than steady-state closed stomata under the constant growth light. The faster opening response benefits CO₂ uptake under saturating light. The slow closure of Chrysanthemum stomata reduced water use efficiency (WUE). Over 50% showed delayed or partial closure, leading to unnecessarily large apertures after reduced light. Stomata with larger apertures had more lag and similar closure speeds compared to those with smaller apertures and lag, further reducing WUE. In contrast, maize stomata with larger apertures closed faster, with no lag.

Predictions of increased drought frequency and intensity have the potential to threaten to forest globally. The key to trees response to drought is an understanding of tree water use and carbohydrate storage. Our objective was to evaluate sap velocity and dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in native trees of a dry tropical forest, during rainy and drought periods. We evaluated six key species of the Caatinga: three deciduous species with low wood density (WD), two deciduous species with high WD and one evergreen species during the rainy and dry periods. We measured sap velocity, xylem water potential, stomatal conductance, phenology and NSC. We found that the evergreen specie had higher sap velocity and frequent NSC production. While the low deciduous WD species showed low sap velocity, store water and NSC mainly in the stem and roots, and have leaf sprouting and flowering at the end of the dry period. The deciduous high WD also showed low sap velocity, however, with low stored NSC. These results suggest that under longer dry seasons and an irregular rainy seasons, species with low WD that use part of the stored NSC to resprout still during dry season may be the most affected.

Plants store nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) like starch, fructans and soluble sugars to support metabolism, stress tolerance and defence during low photosynthesis, ultimately influencing their growth and longevity. However, the relationship between NSC composition and growth or persistence in wild plants remains unclear. This study explores trade-offs between growth, longevity and NSCs in 201 plant species across diverse climates in the Western USA, spanning 500-4300 m in elevation and 80-1000 mm in precipitation. Annual growth rates and plant ages were derived from the ring widths of semidesert, steppe and alpine herbs and shrubs, along with NSC profiles in their roots and rhizomes. Results showed an inverse relationship between growth and age, with total NSC, starch and fructan levels negatively correlated with growth, supporting the growth-longevity and growth-storage trade-off hypotheses. Conversely, higher growth rates were linked to soluble sugars, suggesting that climate-driven growth limitations alone do not explain increased NSCs. Fructans were positively associated with longevity, especially in long-lived desert shrubs and alpine herbs, underscoring NSCs' active role in survival strategies. These findings challenge the carbon surplus hypothesis, suggesting that plants actively use specific NSCs to balance growth and persistence, with energy-rich sugars promoting growth and osmoprotective fructans enhancing longevity.