{"title":"Histone variants: Distinct building blocks of the chromatin acting at the core","authors":"Vivek Hari-Sundar Gandhivel , P.V. Shivaprasad","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102829","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102829","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Histone variants alter the core properties of the nucleosomes they decorate and hence constitute a significant epigenetic layer to control cellular processes. Historically, histone variants have been studied using classical genetics to implicate the functions associated with them. However, over the last few years, advanced (epi)genomics and structural investigations have revealed the fine molecular steps involved in histone variant-specific genome regulation. This review outlines the key mechanistic findings that uncovered both structural and functional aspects of plant histone variants in unprecedented resolution. We also highlight the key avenues that might hold potential for future studies, including chromatin engineering using histone variants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102829"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145682008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Manuel González-Fuente, Margot Raffeiner, Suayib Üstün
{"title":"Every step you take: How pathogens hijack host proteostasis from transcription, through translation, to degradation","authors":"Manuel González-Fuente, Margot Raffeiner, Suayib Üstün","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102826","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102826","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Proteostasis, the regulated balance between protein synthesis and degradation, is crucial for the cellular function and survival. Disruptions in this balance caused by different internal cues and environmental stresses, including pathogen infection, lead to proteotoxicity, which can be highly detrimental or even lethal to the organisms. Pathogens, in their efforts to modulate the host physiology to accommodate their own needs, target and manipulate host proteostasis processes. The extent of pathogen-mediated manipulation of host proteostasis spans every step in the life cycle of a protein: from the transcription and maturation of its coding mRNA, to the protein turnover via the ubiquitin-proteasome system or vacuolar degradation. These diverse sophisticated strategies to manipulate the host proteostasis ultimately lead to the overaccumulation of unfunctional and misfolded proteins, causing proteotoxic stress and facilitating in most cases the pathogen colonization. In turn, plants try to cope with this pathogen-induced proteotoxicity by attenuating translation, promoting chaperon-assisted protein folding and increasing the activity of different proteolytic pathways. Here, we discuss recent advances in understanding the global picture of how pathogens modulate plant proteostasis as well as how plants counter this, which will be crucial for the future development of more tolerant crops to mitigate emerging food security threats.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102826"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Divergent routes to specialization: Guard cells, myrosin cells, and beyond","authors":"Yuta Horiuchi, Makoto Shirakawa","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102853","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102853","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plant cell type diversity often arises from transcriptional regulatory programs that co-opt conserved transcription factors (TFs) involved in other developmental programs. For example, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) TF FAMA directs the differentiation of guard cells (GCs), and part of the FAMA regulatory network was co-opted to direct the differentiation of Brassicales-specific idioblasts known as myrosin cells (MCs). In this review, we explore how new cell types and lineage-specific innovations can be specified by the same conserved bHLH TFs through different sets of downstream targets. We discuss how two direct targets of FAMA, <em>WASABI MAKER</em> (<em>WSB</em>) and <em>STOMATAL CARPENTER 1</em> (<em>SCAP1</em>), have different effects on cell differentiation: sequential WSB–SCAP1 activation ensures GC maturation, whereas sustained WSB activity suppresses GC identity and establishes MC identity by activating the WSB target gene <em>CELL CYCLE SWITCH PROTEIN 52 A1</em>. We summarize the results of a single-cell transcriptome deep sequencing analysis that uncovered unexpected MCs in <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em> roots that appear to be derived from phloem lineages rather than ground meristem in a process potentially regulated by the FAMA–<em>WSB</em> module, highlighting the developmental flexibility of these cell types. We discuss the finding that a FAMA-like regulator in the liverwort <em>Marchantia polymorpha</em> was co-opted for seta development, suggesting that FAMA-like factors were independently recruited multiple times across land plants. These examples collectively illustrate how conserved TFs diversify cell fates through co-option, providing a framework for addressing broader questions about cellular specialization in plants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102853"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145920657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Signaling at the interface: The cell wall, peptides, and extracellular vesicles mediate partner communication during arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis","authors":"Diana R. Rodriguez-Garcia , Lena Maria Müller","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102849","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102849","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) associations of plants and Glomeromycotina soil fungi play a crucial role in all terrestrial ecosystems. In this mutually beneficial interaction, obligate biotrophic fungi acquire photosynthetically fixed carbon from the plant, while the mutualistic fungi enhance plant access to soil nutrients. AM fungi colonize the inner tissues of host roots, where they form specialized symbiotic structures (arbuscules) within fully differentiated cortex cells that are reprogrammed to host the microbe. Given the intimate nature of the interaction, extensive partner communication at the interface of plant and fungal cells is crucial for the development and functioning of AM symbiosis. The peri-arbuscular space, a specialized apoplast compartment surrounding the arbuscules, supports not only nutrient exchange between the symbiotic partners but is also the site of extensive partner crosstalk mediated by cell wall components, receptors, signaling peptides, and extracellular vesicles. Such signaling processes in the apoplast modulate plant immune responses to enable colonization by beneficial fungi, making this compartment a key player for the establishment and maintenance of AM symbiosis. In this review, we discuss recent discoveries related to the role of partner communication in the apoplast, with a focus on peptide and cell wall signaling, as well as extracellular vesicles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102849"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145836625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Some assembly required: Modularity and programmability as keys to decoupling growth-defence trade-offs in plants","authors":"Rachelle R.Q. Lee , Donghui Hu , Eunyoung Chae","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102811","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102811","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Growth-defence trade-off has long been considered an inevitable consequence of resource competition in plants. However, emerging evidence from autoimmune mutants and helper NLR studies reveals this paradigm to be fundamentally incomplete. Rather than simple resource limitation, plants coordinate growth-defence balance through programmable transcriptional networks centred on regulatory hubs such as the EDS1-PAD4-ADR1 (EPA) complex. Meta-analysis across diverse immune contexts demonstrates that defence and growth genes exhibit a remarkably consistent relationship, operating through segregated yet coordinated molecular modules. The discovery that ADR1 helper NLRs simultaneously enhance immune responses whilst actively suppressing growth-related genes—rather than competing passively for shared resources—exposes the coordinated nature of this trade-off. Networks downstream of ADR1 also exhibit remarkable regulatory exclusivity, and this modular organisation, combined with proof-of-concept successes in decoupling immunity from growth penalties through targeted genetic interventions, challenges the zero-sum assumption underlying current crop improvement strategies. Understanding these conserved regulatory circuits opens unprecedented opportunities for engineering optimised plant immunity without yield penalties, transforming agriculture from accepting inevitable trade-offs to programming flexible resource allocation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102811"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145988800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liangliang He , Liling Yang , Weiyue Zhao , Jianghua Chen
{"title":"Multilayered regulatory control of compound leaf development","authors":"Liangliang He , Liling Yang , Weiyue Zhao , Jianghua Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102847","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102847","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Compound leaves are characterized by their intricate structures and striking morphological diversity. This review summarizes recent advances in the molecular mechanisms of compound leaf development, highlighting the conservation and diversification of key regulatory pathways across species, with a particular focus on legume plants. The essential roles of central genetic modules, such as KNOXI, LFY/FLO, and CUC/NAM, in shaping leaf morphology are highlighted, including their interactions with hormonal signals and other key regulators. Furthermore, how the activity of these modules is translated into distinct cellular growth patterns that ultimately determine the mature leaf shape is discussed. By integrating findings from diverse species, the analysis provides insights into the multilayered regulatory interactions of genetic modules, and offers an important framework for future research directions on compound leaf development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102847"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metabolic mediators at the Nexus: How SAM, Acetyl-CoA, and NAD+ bridge phytohormone signaling and epigenetic regulation","authors":"Yue Yu, Kai Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102832","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102832","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plant hormones and epigenetic mechanisms coordinately regulate plant development and environmental adaptation through shared metabolic nodes. Metabolic intermediates such as <em>S</em>-adenosylmethionine (SAM), acetyl-CoA, and NAD<sup>+</sup> serve dual functions in both hormone biosynthesis and epigenetic modifications. These metabolic nodes integrate energy status and hormonal signaling via three principal mechanisms: spatial relocalization of energy metabolism enzymes through subcellular compartmentalization, regulation of epigenetic modifying enzyme activities, and modulation of phytohormone biosynthesis. This review synthesizes recent advances elucidating the reciprocal regulatory interplay mediated by phytohormones, metabolic intermediates, and epigenetic modifications. We further propose that these metabolic intermediates may function as putative secondary messenger-like molecules, potentially bridging epigenetic regulatory networks with hormonal signaling cascades.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102832"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145733638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stretching the boundaries: Expansion microscopy a game changer in super-resolution imaging","authors":"Emmanuelle M. Bayer, Magali S. Grison","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Super-resolution microscopy (SRM) has transformed the study of cellular structures, enabling imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Yet, the need for costly instrumentation has limited its accessibility. Expansion Microscopy microscopy (ExM), pioneered by Ed Boyden’s laboratory, offers an alternative by physically enlarging samples embedded within a swellable hydrogel. This simple principle makes nanoscale resolution achievable with conventional fluorescence microscopy. Since its introduction in 2015, ExM has rapidly diversified. Iterative ExM (iExM) increases resolution through repetitive expansion, chemical gel innovation enables single-step 10- to 20-fold expansion, and hybrid strategies combining ExM and SRM techniques have pushed resolution below 15 nm. ExM has now been applied to diverse biological models but its adaptation to complex plant tissues poses unique challenges due to their rigid cell walls. Recent advances in the field of plant science have started to address these obstacles, opening access to nanoscale imaging of plant cellular structures such as plasmodesmata and the mitotic spindle. In this review, we trace the development of ExM from its pioneering stages to current refinements, discuss methodological advances and hybrid approaches, examine technical limitations, and highlight emerging applications across biological models, with a particular focus on recent progress and future perspectives in plant biology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102848"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145921185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Clémentine Coroenne , Charlotte Lecuyer , Antoine Martin, Sandra Cortijo
{"title":"Individual variability in plants: From intra- to inter-individual variability and its response to the environment","authors":"Clémentine Coroenne , Charlotte Lecuyer , Antoine Martin, Sandra Cortijo","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individual variability refers to the differences observed among genetically identical plants or cells grown in the same environment. Phenotypic and transcriptional variability have been extensively described in unicellular organisms and mammalian cells. However, increasing evidence now points to both intra- and inter-individual variability in plants. Cell-to-cell variability in gene expression within a single plant (intra-individual variability) is now recognised as a key factor contributing to the robustness of plant development as well as environmental responses. At a broader scale, multiple studies strongly suggest that inter-individual variability, often involving gene expression differences between individual seedlings, can be associated with an adaptive value at the population level under challenging environmental conditions. This review first aims to describe what is currently known about intra- and inter-individual variability in plants, with a main focus on gene expression variation and highlighting the importance of chromatin modifications. We then illustrate how the extent of individual variability can differ depending on environmental conditions, and discuss how the plasticity of such variability may enhance the ability of plants to respond to challenging situations. These observations finally underline the relevance of investigating individual variability in the context of agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102833"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145733635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cross-kingdom gene transfer as a driver of land plant evolution","authors":"Arie Fridrich, Nicholas A.T. Irwin","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102850","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pbi.2025.102850","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Land plant evolution has been marked by bursts of novelty, often underpinned by extensive genomic innovation. A key mechanism driving these changes is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the process by which genes move between species and even across taxonomic kingdoms. HGT can accelerate evolutionary change through the rapid introduction of new genes yet its importance in plant biology is only beginning to be understood. Here, we review the functional contributions of HGT during the origin and diversification of land plants. We discuss the occurrence of HGT throughout plant evolution and its impact on the origin of defining traits from cell walls to developmental programs. Beyond ancient contributions, HGT continues to drive the emergence of lineage-specific innovations. Recently acquired bacterial and fungal genes make complex functional contributions to processes including stress response, pathogen defence, and development across plant phylogeny. These observations suggest that HGT was, and continues to be, a major force shaping plant evolution, exemplifying the potential significance of HGT in eukaryotic biology more broadly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102850"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145836624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}