Trends in Plant Science最新文献

Advancing plant behavior research requires robust experimental design, falsifiable hypotheses, sufficient replication, and stringent controls. A recent study claims that Picea abies trees collectively anticipate solar eclipses via electrical signaling. Despite widespread media attention, these claims rely on speculative interpretations and unsubstantiated evolutionary assumptions. Systematic evaluation shows no causal link between electrical activity and solar eclipse, and an absence of reliable environmental cues or adaptive benefits. Instead, the elevated electrical activity is more parsimoniously explained by temperature shifts and lightning strikes. Moreover, the proposed mechanisms of intertree communication and gravitational memory lack empirical support and theoretical grounding. This case exemplifies how compelling narratives can overshadow scientific rigor, underscoring the need for critical appraisal and methodological robustness in plant behavior research.

DNA methylation plays an important role in plant development and stress adaptation; however, the inheritance of DNA methylation remains poorly understood. A recent study (Baduel et al.) reveals that transposable elements (TEs) mediate transgenerational epigenetic inheritance by influencing the maintenance or reversion of DNA methylation patterns across generations via RNA-directed DNA methylation.

Advances in genome engineering have paved the way for targeted epigenome engineering, providing fundamental insights into the role of epigenetic modifications in trait inheritance. Engineered epialleles have already delivered stable, heritable changes in agronomic traits. Despite this capacity, progress in the field has not yet achieved its potential, leaving many avenues of research unexplored. In this review we examine the factors influencing this progress, including the advances in current epigenome editing techniques, the key research goals and translational applications, and the challenges in the selection of ideal target loci. We propose that improved tools for the selection of target loci, particularly in large and complex genomes, are needed to propel the field forward.

A recent study by Zhang et al. demonstrates that a microbial compound, cyclo(Leu-Pro), mimics plant hormones to regulate rice tillering via strigolactone signaling. This finding underscores the crucial role of the root microbiome in crop development and opens up potential for microbiome-based eco-friendly strategies to optimize crop architecture and yield.

Environmentally induced epigenetic changes have no hereditary stability in plants. Recently, Song et al. revealed a trade-off between rice's epigenome and cold adaptation, bridging the gap between environmental response and heritable epigenetic stability to breed cold-resilient rice, facilitating geographical expansion.

Gene expression regulation in plants involves complex epigenetic mechanisms. Historically, histone acetylation and methylation have been recognized as central determinants of chromatin dynamics and transcriptional regulation. However, recent studies have identified novel types of short-chain lysine acylation - including crotonylation, butyrylation, β-hydroxybutyrylation, 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation, succinylation, and lactylation - as emerging players in epigenetic control. Although these modifications have been extensively characterized in mammals, accumulating evidence now confirms their presence in plants. We focus on plant-specific findings related to histone acylation and analyze its metabolic sources, writers, and erasers, as well as its functional roles in plant development and stress adaptation. Investigation of these modifications in higher plants may unveil unique regulatory mechanisms that underlie developmental plasticity and resilience, and thereby open new avenues for crop improvement and sustainable agriculture.

Plants exhibit a unique regenerative capacity, exemplified by somatic embryogenesis (SE), that is, the formation of embryos from somatic cells. In a recent study, Peng et al. identified LEAFY COTYLEDON2 (LEC2) as a central regulator of SE by remodeling chromatin and activating totipotency regulators through epigenetic and hormonal pathways, enabling somatic cells to reset their developmental fate.

The forecasted global climate changes will expose plants to challenging environmental conditions that further increase outbreak risks and threaten ecosystems and food security. The sole host defense mechanism plants possess is innate immunity. This system relies on extra- and intracellular receptors mediating pattern- and damage-triggered immunity (PTI/DTI) and effector-triggered immunity. Here, we discuss how environmental changes can alter the expression dynamics of extracellular receptors activating PTI/DTI, the so-called pattern-recognition receptors, and cell wall integrity sensors. We examine possible crosstalk between selected abiotic stress and immune signaling and briefly argue how two major abiotic stress-related transcription factor families, such as the heat stress factors and dehydration-responsive element-binding/C-repeat-binding factors, cooperate with immune signaling during acclimation responses.

Plants host dynamic microbiomes that are critical for stress resilience and productivity. Emerging evidence suggests that 'microbiome memory' enables plants to retain beneficial microbes via epigenetic mechanisms and vertical transmission. Understanding how 'microbiome memory' forms, persists, and influences plant adaptation is crucial for advancing resilient crop systems and sustainable agriculture.