Plant Stress最新文献

{"title":"Identification of the sugarcane invertase gene family with deciphering the key role of ShN/AINV3.1 in drought stress response","authors":"Ruiqiang Lai ,&nbsp;Ming Chen ,&nbsp;Jiarui Chen ,&nbsp;Jiakun Wen,&nbsp;Yiqi Luo,&nbsp;Zaid Chachar,&nbsp;Mengshi Wang,&nbsp;Jiajia Li,&nbsp;Zhaofeng Liu,&nbsp;Zixuan Zhen,&nbsp;Xiaodi Zhen,&nbsp;Zhichong Li,&nbsp;Runbing Lin,&nbsp;Xiaolong Wang,&nbsp;Weiqian Cai,&nbsp;Songmei Liu,&nbsp;Lina Fan,&nbsp;Yongwen Qi","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sugarcane (<em>Saccharum</em> spp.) is a vital crop worldwide for sugar production. Therefore, improving yield, quality, and stress resistance is a primary goal of modern sugarcane breeding efforts. Sucrose invertase is a critical enzyme in sugar metabolism and plays an important role in plant growth, development, and stress responses. This study systematically identified the invertase gene family in sugarcane by employing the telomere-to-telomere complete genome of the sugarcane cultivar ‘Xintaitang 22. ’ A total of 225 invertase genes were identified, which was significantly greater than that in related crops, such as maize, sorghum, and rice, revealing substantial expansion of this gene family in the polyploid genome. Evolutionary and collinearity analyses showed that the expansion of this family is primarily driven by segmental duplications accompanied by tandem duplication events. Promoter analysis demonstrated that most members were enriched with cis-regulatory elements associated with auxin, gibberellin, light response, and various abiotic stresses, indicating their broad involvement in developmental regulation and stress adaptation. The study identified a chloroplast-localized protein ShN/AINV3.1 (Sh_So05A0220418), as a key factor regulating sugarcane agronomic traits and stress responses. This gene is drought-inducible and its overexpression promotes plant growth, increases glucose content, and enhances catalase activity, thereby synergistically improving drought tolerance in sugarcane. In summary, this study systematically elucidated the evolutionary characteristics and regulatory potential of the invertase gene family in sugarcane and revealed a potential mechanism by which ShN/AINV3.1, which integrates sugar metabolism and oxidative stress defense to enhance drought resistance. These findings provide important genetic resources and a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of sugarcane.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101261"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146081689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated physiological, hormonal, and metabolic mechanisms regulating wheat yield quality under combined drought and heat stress","authors":"Tong Lin ,&nbsp;Bin Wang ,&nbsp;Shuaiqi Wang ,&nbsp;Fasih Ullah Haider ,&nbsp;Peng Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiangnan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101257","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101257","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heat and drought stress during the grain-filling stage are critical abiotic factors restricting wheat yield and quality. However, the genotype-dependent differences in physiological and biochemical responses under combined stress remain poorly understood. Hence, this study utilized a wheat chlorophyll b-deficient mutant (ANK32B) and its wild type (WT) to investigate the effects of post-anthesis drought stress (DT), heat stress (HT), and combined drought–heat stress (DHT) on yield and grain end-use quality. Compared with ANK32B, WT exhibited greater resilience across all stress treatments, maintaining higher photosynthetic capacity, spikelet fertility, and thousand-grain weight, particularly under DHT, where yield losses were 24.65% in WT versus 14.36% in ANK32B. Under combined stress, the activities of sucrose synthase (SS) and sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) in WT leaves increased significantly more than in ANK32B, leading to enhanced sucrose accumulation and more efficient carbohydrate translocation to spikes. WT also showed a stronger hormonal response, with abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) concentrations rising by 20.83% and 63.63%, respectively, under DHT, whereas ANK32B displayed overall hormone suppression. These differences suggest that WT mitigates stress-induced assimilate limitations through coordinated hormonal regulation and enzymatic adjustments, promoting nutrient remobilization to developing grains. In contrast, ANK32B’s chlorophyll deficiency and reduced hormonal signaling limited sucrose metabolism and sink strength, resulting in lower grain-filling efficiency. Protein composition analyses revealed that WT accumulated more albumin and gliadin under stress (DHT &gt; HT &gt; DT &gt; control), whereas ANK32B showed significant reductions in these fractions under DHT. Stress treatments reduced wet gluten content and flour quality index (FQN) in both genotypes, but declines were more pronounced in WT due to higher protein turnover under combined stress. Overall, WT’s superior coordination of carbohydrate metabolism and hormonal regulation allowed partial preservation of grain quality despite yield penalties, while ANK32B’s impaired photosynthetic and metabolic responses amplified stress sensitivity. These genotype-specific mechanisms offer key insights for developing wheat cultivars with enhanced tolerance to concurrent heat and drought stress.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101257"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146081690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OsRbohB-mediated H2O2 signaling underlies rice copper tolerance by regulating copper uptake and detoxification gene expression","authors":"Qingwen Wang ,&nbsp;Min Liu ,&nbsp;Zhengshuang Liu ,&nbsp;Tao Shen ,&nbsp;Yong Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Copper (Cu), an essential micronutrient for plant growth, becomes toxic at excessive levels, posing risks to both plant development and human health. Rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em> L.) as a staple crop for over two-thirds of the global population, requires precise regulation of copper homeostasis to mitigate its toxicity. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has been implicated in be involved in the tolerance of rice to copper stress. However, as the major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the role and mechanism of respiratory burst oxidase homologs (Rbohs) in the copper stress response of rice remain unclear. In this study, we found that CuSO₄ stress strongly induced OsRbohB expression at both transcriptional and translational levels in rice shoots and roots. Phenotypic and physiological analysis showed that overexpression of <em>OsRbohB</em> significantly enhanced copper stress tolerance, improved photosynthetic capacity, and promoted seedling growth under CuSO₄ stress. Furthermore, OsRbohB was found to positively regulate the increase in H₂O₂ accumulation induced by CuSO₄ in both shoots and roots. Additionally, OsRbohB suppressed copper uptake by regulating the expression of Cu transporters-related genes (<em>OsCOPT1, OsHMA5,</em> and <em>OsZIP1</em>) and alleviated intracellular copper toxicity by upregulation of metal chelation genes (<em>OsPCS1</em> and <em>OsMT-1</em>) in roots. Taken together, our findings reveal that OsRbohB modulates Cu homeostasis by coordinating copper uptake and detoxification-related gene expression through H₂O₂ signaling, thereby enhancing copper tolerance in rice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101256"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"F-53B interferes with meiosis and damages reproduction in Arabidopsis thaliana","authors":"Yuting Chen ,&nbsp;Xueying Cui ,&nbsp;Ziming Ren ,&nbsp;Huiqi Fu ,&nbsp;Yufeng Luo ,&nbsp;Linji Xu ,&nbsp;Ziwei Song ,&nbsp;Yonghua Qin ,&nbsp;Guanghui Yu ,&nbsp;Xiaoning Lei ,&nbsp;Bing Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101260","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101260","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The emerging contaminant chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acid (Cl-PFESA, trade name F-53B) damages mitotic cell viability leading to inhibited vegetative development in plants. However, its impact on plant reproductive development remains elusive. In this study, by using a combination of cytogenetic and microscopic approaches, we analyzed gametogenesis and meiosis in Arabidopsis (<em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em>) exposed to F-53B (50 or 100 μM). We show that F-53B disrupts embryo development and gametogenesis leading to reduced fertility. Moreover, F-53B interferes with chromosome distribution and microtubule organization during male meiosis. Remarkably, we show that F-53B lowers crossover rate possibly by reducing double-strand break formation. This study unveils the toxicity of F-53B to gametophytic cell viability and meiosis in plants, which highlights the concerns on its potential threats to agricultural safety and biological diversity considering its global distribution at a wide range of environmental matrices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101260"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OsVIRK1 functions with OsbZIP39 to fine-tune rice defense against rice stripe virus","authors":"Yawen Liu ,&nbsp;Huacai Wang ,&nbsp;Mengting Zhang ,&nbsp;Rongxiang Fang ,&nbsp;Yongsheng Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) play pivotal regulatory roles in the interactions between pathogens and plants. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms are still not fully understood. The unfolded protein response (UPR) plays a critical role in plant–virus interactions by either promoting or restricting infection. It is unclear how CRKs coordinate with the UPR to regulate the plant's response to viral infection. OsVIRK1, an RSV-induced CRK, defends rice against rice stripe virus (RSV) infection by interacting with RSV CP (coat protein) and activating CP-triggered defense genes. OsbZIP39 is a UPR sensor that regulates UPR-activated genes. In this study, we demonstrate that OsVIRK1 interacts with OsbZIP39 and promotes its stability during RSV infection. The <em>osbzip39</em> mutant is more susceptible to RSV, involving a reduction in the expression of UPR genes and CP-triggered antiviral defense gene. This suggests that OsVIRK1 functions with OsbZIP39 to promote rice resistance to RSV. Interestingly, OsbZIP39 can strongly inhibit the interaction of OsVIRK1 with CP. Overexpression of OsbZIP39 promotes RSV infection and the expression of UPR genes, indicating that OsbZIP39 plays a role in fine-tuning OsVIRK1 function. Our study reveals the mechanism by which OsVIRK1/OsbZIP39 mediates antiviral defense, and establishes that the UPR sensor OsbZIP39 plays a dual role in the interaction between rice and RSV.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101255"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146081688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"miR156 As a central regulator of plant stress adaptation: Molecular networks, hormonal crosstalk, and breeding potential","authors":"Luyue Zhang,&nbsp;Xuyang Du,&nbsp;Yunlong Xing,&nbsp;Baoming Tian,&nbsp;Gongyao Shi,&nbsp;Fang Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101254","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101254","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>MicroRNA156 (miR156) is an evolutionarily conserved regulator that plays a pivotal role in plant growth, development, and adaptation to environmental stress. In recent years, recent advances have elucidated how miR156 integrates into complex stress‐response networks through its canonical SQUAMOSA promoter-binding protein-like (SPL)‐dependent pathways and emerging SPL‐independent mechanisms. This review synthesizes current knowledge on miR156‐mediated responses to abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and heavy metal toxicity, as well as its involvement in biotic stress defense. Particular attention is given to the molecular basis of its action, such as direct regulation of SPL transcription factors, modulation of other target genes, crosstalk with hormone signaling (ABA, GA, JA, and SLs), and synergistic interactions with other miRNAs. We also highlight recent advances in multi‐omics analyses and biotechnological applications, including CRISPR/Cas‐mediated editing of miR156 target sites for stress‐resilient crop breeding. Despite these advances, key challenges remain, notably the incomplete understanding of upstream regulators of miR156 and the scarcity of field‐based validation. Future research integrating single‐cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, and synthetic biology will help clarify the regulatory complexity of miR156. Bridging these mechanistic insights with crop improvement could establish miR156 manipulation as a key strategy for climate‐resilient agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101254"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional characterization of serotonin N-acetyltransferases from Caenorhabditis elegans and enhanced senescence tolerance in transgenic rice overexpressing CeSNAT1 via melatonin increase","authors":"Kyungjin Lee,&nbsp;Kyoungwhan Back","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101251","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101251","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The nematode <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em> is a model invertebrate for investigating melatonin function and diverse behaviors. It synthesizes melatonin in a circadian manner, peaking at night; however, the key gene encoding <em>serotonin N-acetyltransferase</em> (<em>SNAT</em>) has not been cloned to date. Two archaeal <em>SNAT</em> homologs were identified in the <em>C. elegans</em> genome: <em>CeSNAT1</em>, encoding a 167-amino acid (aa), and <em>CeSNAT2</em>, encoding a 245-aa. Purified recombinant CeSNAT1 exhibited SNAT enzymatic activity toward serotonin (<em>K_m</em> = 782 μM) and 5-methoxytryptamine (<em>K_m</em> = 1413 μM), whereas CeSNAT2 showed no detectable SNAT activity. Heterologous overexpression of <em>CeSNAT1</em> in rice enhanced melatonin synthesis and delayed senescence in transgenic plants, a phenotype commonly observed in melatonin-rich species. CeSNAT1 homologs were also widely distributed across phylum Nematoda, including the parasitic nematode <em>Anisakis simplex</em>. The <em>A. simplex</em> SNAT (AsSNAT) shared 32 % aa identity with CeSNAT1. Purified recombinant AsSNAT displayed markedly lower <em>K_m</em> values for serotonin (408 μM) and 5-methoxytryptamine (188 μM) compared with CeSNAT1, indicating a substantially higher melatonin biosynthetic capacity in the metabolically reduced parasitic nematode <em>A. simplex</em> than in free-living <em>C. elegans</em>. The <em>de novo</em> identification of <em>SNAT</em> genes in <em>C. elegans</em> and <em>A. simplex</em> paves the way for elucidating the biological roles of melatonin in nematodes from the perspective of <em>SNAT</em> gene regulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101251"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synergistic cysteine-glutathione foliar application enhances wheat tolerance to cadmium-lead co-stress in calcareous soils: Mechanisms and phytoremediation implications","authors":"Zahra Gheshlaghi ,&nbsp;Mohammad Kafi","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101234","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2026.101234","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Co-contamination of agricultural soils with cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) presents a significant threat to wheat productivity and food safety, particularly in calcareous regions. Although thiol compounds are recognized as stress alleviators, the effectiveness of their synergistic application in addressing the metabolic competition for glutathione (GSH) between antioxidant defense and phytochelatin (PC) synthesis has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the foliar co-application of cysteine (Cys; 0.41 mM) and GSH (2 mM) to enhance the phytostabilization of Cd and Pb in wheat cultivated in contaminated alkaline soil. The synergistic Cys-GSH treatment significantly mitigated phytotoxicity, increasing shoot biomass by 78% and reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) by 39% compared to the stress control. Mechanistically, this tolerance is facilitated by a coordinated dual-defense response. Firstly, the antioxidant capacity was enhanced, as evidenced by a 133% increase in glutathione reductase activity and the complete restoration of the GSH/GSSG redox ratio. Second, a robust metal sequestration pathway was activated, characterized by a 9.0-fold upregulation of the phytochelatin synthase gene (<em>TaPCS1</em>) and a 117% increase in PC accumulation. This enhanced root-level chelation reduced shoot Cd and Pb concentrations by 47% and 44%, respectively, maintaining translocation factors below 0.5. These findings demonstrate that optimized Cys-GSH synergy effectively circumvents metabolic bottlenecks to promote phytostabilization, offering a sustainable strategy to secure wheat production in metal-polluted calcareous soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"20 ","pages":"Article 101234"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A dual-function biocontrol agent, Kosakonia oryziphila NP19, suppresses rice blast and promotes rice growth by priming host defense responses","authors":"Lalita Thanwisai,&nbsp;Wilailak Siripornadulsil,&nbsp;Surasak Siripornadulsil","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2025.101196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2025.101196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rice blast, caused by <em>Pyricularia oryzae</em>, is a devastating disease that threatens global food security. This study identifies the bacterium <em>Kosakonia oryziphila</em> NP19 as a multifaceted biocontrol agent and evaluates its ability to suppress disease, promote plant growth, and activate host defense mechanisms in rice. Colonization by <em>K. oryziphila</em> NP19 significantly reduced disease severity by 16.5%, reflected by a corresponding decrease in the area under the disease progression curve upon pathogen challenge. Additionally, treatment with the NP19 strain potently promoted plant growth, with increases shoot height of 12–17% and total biomass of up to 23% in fungus-inoculated seedlings compared with noncolonized controls. The protective effect was associated with priming the plant’s antioxidant system. In NP19-colonized seedlings, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase and peroxidase significantly increased although that of superoxide dismutase decreased under nonpathogenic conditions. In addition to physiological responses, NP19 altered the expression of defense-related genes in noncolonized seedlings in a temporal manner. The effects of NP19 are likely mediated by its ability to modulate the defense timeline, with <em>OsALD1</em> upregulated early (2–10 days after fungal inoculation; DAFI) and pathogenesis-related genes (<em>OsPR1a, OsPR1b</em>, and <em>Cht-1</em>) upregulated later (10–20 DAFI). Gas chromatography confirmed that NP19 produces diverse bioactive compounds, which likely contribute to disease suppression and growth promotion. Our findings identify <em>K. oryziphila</em> NP19 as a robust biocontrol candidate that confers resistance to rice blast by enhancing physiological defenses while promoting plant growth, suggesting that it is a promising tool for sustainable agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"19 ","pages":"Article 101196"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comprehensive GWAS and omics profiling identify key genetic factors and metabolic pathways for oat's low-phosphorus tolerance","authors":"Jin Li ,&nbsp;Huili Zhang ,&nbsp;Jingbo Yu ,&nbsp;Haoqi Tian ,&nbsp;Qingping Zhou ,&nbsp;Shiyong Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.stress.2025.101191","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.stress.2025.101191","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Phosphorus deficiency is a major constraint to crop productivity, particularly in cereals like oat (<em>Avena sativa</em> L.). In this study, 180 diverse oat accessions were evaluated under normal phosphorus (NP) and low phosphorus (LP) hydroponic conditions to investigate the genetic basis of early seedling responses to LP stress. High broad-sense heritability (<em>H</em>² &gt; 0.8) for shoot length (SL) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) suggested strong genetic effects. A composite LP tolerance index was applied to classify genotypes along a continuum from tolerant to sensitive, and two contrasting accessions were selected for further molecular analysis. The relatively tolerant accession exhibited greater root development and higher PUE compared to the sensitive one under LP conditions. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the FarmCPU model identified 37 significant marker–trait associations (MTAs) across five traits, explaining up to 44.6 % of the phenotypic variance. These MTAs clustered into 32 QTL intervals containing 1087 annotated genes, with 206 prioritized as candidate genes based on sequence variation, expression patterns, and differential expression analysis. Several candidate genes were related to stress signaling, metabolic regulation, and nutrient acquisition. In addition, some were involved in aromatic amino acid metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and glutathione metabolism. Integration of transcriptomic and metabolomic data highlighted putative pathways contributing to genotype-specific responses under LP stress. This study provides a set of loci and candidate genes that may serve as promising targets for further functional validation and future breeding efforts aimed at improving phosphorus efficiency in oat.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34736,"journal":{"name":"Plant Stress","volume":"19 ","pages":"Article 101191"},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145924648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}