Frontiers in Plant Science最新文献

{"title":"A guide to sunflowers: floral resource nutrition for bee health and key pollination syndromes.","authors":"Salena Husband, Katarina Cankar, Olivier Catrice, Stan Chabert, Silvio Erler","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1552335","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1552335","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sunflower, <i>Helianthus annuus</i> L., is a prominent global oilseed crop with rising cultivation and appeal as a bee-friendly plant by providing abundant floral resources for pollinators. Mass-flowering crops can increase the availability of resources, and sunflower is a good opportunity to relieve pollen scarcity during the late summer in agricultural landscapes. Yet this should be taken with caution as they also provide a homogeneous source of nutrition. This study aimed to review and summarize the nutritional profile of sunflower pollen, nectar, bee bread, and honey, while assessing their effects on bee survival, development, and health. Furthermore, we present here the general state of knowledge on additional pollinator syndromes that extend beyond floral resources, including those influencing pollinator visual and olfactory attraction. We found that while sunflower pollen's nutritional quality is questioned due to lower protein and amino acid deficiencies, its nutrient content, like nectar sugars, had large variability. Sunflower pollen consumption showed mixed effects on <i>Apis mellifera</i> and <i>Bombus</i> species, sometimes negatively impacting development and survival. However, studies have conveyed a positive impact on bee health as sunflower pollen consistently reduced the infection intensity of the gut parasite, <i>Crithidia bombi</i>, in <i>Bombus</i> species. This probes the question on defining the quality of floral resources, emphasizing the need for caution when categorizing sunflower as a low quality nutritional resource. This review also outlines the importance of sunflower nectar characteristics (sugar content and volume) and floral morphology (flower pigmentation and corolla length) on pollinator foraging preferences. A prominent knowledge gap persists regarding nectar chemistry and sunflowers' extensive volatile profile to better understand the pollination syndromes that drive its pollinator interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1552335"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078318/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New insights into <i>Eragrostis curvula</i>'s sexual and apomictic reproductive development.","authors":"María Cielo Pasten, José Carballo, Alejandra Raquel Díaz, Chiara Mizzotti, Mara Cucinotta, Lucia Colombo, Viviana Carmen Echenique, Marta Adelina Mendes","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1530855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1530855","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Apomixis, defined as asexual propagation by seeds, is considered of great importance for agriculture as it allows the fixation of desired traits and its propagation through generations. <i>Eragrostis curvula</i> (Schrad.) Ness, is a perennial grass that comprises a polymorphic complex including sexual and diplosporous apomictic cytotypes, where all apomicts are polyploids. In this study we present the first detailed description of female and male gametophyte development in <i>E. curvula</i> through confocal laser microscopy, contrasting three genotypes: the fully apomictic Tanganyika, the facultative apomictic Don Walter, and the sexual OTA-S. Moreover, we have studied the localized expression of a gene known as <i>SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE7</i> (SPL7), that was found to be differentially expressed in contrasting genotypes of E. curvula. This gene had been previously linked with flower development and abiotic stresses in several species, thus, in situ hybridizations were carried out in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as in sexual and apomictic <i>E. curvula</i> genotypes. Our microscopy analysis has led to the identification of specific morphological characteristics for each genotype, mainly depicting a larger ovule in the sexual genotype's reproductive development after the meiosis stage. These results reveal potentially important features, which could be used for a simple identification of genotypes. Moreover, differential expression of the gene SPL7 was detected, specifically determining an overexpression of the gene in the sexual genotype. These results demonstrated that it could be an interesting candidate to understand the mechanisms behind apomictic development.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1530855"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078246/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating RNA-Seq and linkage mapping to identify and characterize <i>qESCT2</i>, a cold tolerance QTL at the early seedling stage in rice.","authors":"Wenqiang Liu, Zuwu Chen, Liang Guo, Zheng Dong, Biaoren Yang, Licheng Liu, Sanxiong Liu, Xiaowu Pan","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1580022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1580022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cold stress significantly limits rice productivity, particularly at the early seedling stage. Identifying key genes responsible for cold tolerance is crucial for breeding resilient rice varieties. In the study, we identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL), q<i>ESCT2</i>, associated with cold tolerance at the early seedling stage. The QTL was mapped into an interval of RM1347-RM5356 on chromosome 2 using an F_2:3 population derived from a cross between XZX45, a cold-sensitive early rice variety from China, and IL43, an introgression line developed by marker-assisted backcrossing. IL43 was created using XN1, a highly cold-resistant cultivar, as the donor parent and XZX45 as the recurrent parent. By integrating transcriptomic data from the target region, we identified <i>Os02g0181300</i> as the candidate gene for <i>qESCT2.</i> This gene encodes a transcription factor, OsWRKY71. Edited lines of <i>OsWRKY71</i> exhibited a significantly lower survival rate under cold tolerance compared to the wild type Nipponbare. Further analysis revealed that <i>OsWRKY71</i> likely regulated cold tolerance at the early seedling stage by a glutathione metabolism related pathway. Additionally, <i>OsWRKY71</i> exhibits differentiation between <i>indica</i> and <i>japonica</i> subspecies with distinct haplotypes. These findings will facilitate to further research into the genetic basis of cold tolerance at the early seedling stage and enhance the development of cold-resistant rice varieties by marker-assisted selection.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1580022"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078224/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intergeneric and interspecific relationships in tribe Ricineae revealed by phylogenomics of the plastome and transcriptome.","authors":"Wen-Xiang Liu, Guo-Bo Li, Zhuo Zhou, Jia-Fu Chen, An-Min Yu, Ai-Zhong Liu, Bin Tian, Jun-Wei Ye","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1544247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1544247","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The taxonomy of Euphorbiaceae is extremely difficult, especially the phylogeny of closely related genera. In <i>Ricinus</i>, which embraces an important non-food oil-seed crop worldwide, <i>Discocleidion</i> and <i>Speranskia</i> are closely related genera based on molecular evidence (tribe Ricineae), however the intergeneric and interspecific relationship of the tribe is not well-resolved.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Plastome and transcriptome were sequenced and assembled before maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic trees were reconstructed. Plastome features and comparative analyses were conducted. Morphological traits of the tribe were explored as supplement to the molecular data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The newly sequenced plastomes ranged from 167,327 to 190,093 bp with typical circular quadripartite structures. The longest genome of <i>S. tuberculata</i> may due to higher number of simple sequence repeats. Natural selection pressure on chloroplast genes was relatively small and the tribe likely experienced a population contraction. The transcriptome assembly contig N50 of the tribe ranged from 1506 (<i>D. rufescens</i>) to 2489 bp (<i>S. tuberculata</i>). A total of 50,513 genes (<i>S. cantonensis</i>) to 78,048 genes (<i>D. ulmifolium</i>) were detected, and the GC content varied between 38.17% (<i>S. cantonensis</i>) and 40.01% (<i>R. communis</i>). The three genera formed a well-supported monophyletic lineage, confirmed by different genomic data using different methods. <i>Discocleidion</i> and <i>Ricinus</i> were supported to be closely related. In <i>Speranskia</i>, <i>S. yunnanensis</i> diverged first and the divergence of <i>S. tuberculata</i> and <i>S. cantonensis</i> was followed. Further, morphological similarities supported the monophyletic lineage and intergeneric and interspecific relationship.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The relationship in the tribe Ricineae is clearly revealed by genomic and morphological data, providing a genetic basis for future comparative genomic investigations and phylogeny reconstruction of Euphorbiaceae.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1544247"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078312/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"<i>AmMADS47</i> of <i>Agropyron mongolicum</i> negatively regulates drought tolerance in rice.","authors":"Bobo Fan, Hushuai Nie, Xiaolei Li, Yu Ma, Ersuo Lv, Jing Wu, Xiuxiu Yan, Yongqing Zhai, Yan Zhao, Jie Liu, Xiaohong Du, Yanhong Ma","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1514134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1514134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>MADS-box transcription factors are important regulators of plant abiotic stress response. Despite the exceptional drought tolerance of <i>Agropyron mongolicum</i>, research on the MADS-box transcription factors governing simulate drought stress in this species are limited. In this study, overexpressing <i>AmMADS47</i> in rice resulted in reduced drought tolerance. Transcriptome sequencing of wild-type (WT) and transgenic rice (OE) at 0 hours of drought and wild-type (WTD) and transgenic rice (OED) at 24 hours of osmotic stress revealed 21,521 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) totally. Further analysis of the top 20 enriched pathways of the DEGs between OE and WT, and between OED and WTD showed that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and glutathione metabolism were the shared pathways most enriched in DEGs, and photosynthesis-antenna proteins were the shared pathway with the highest enrichment score and significance. Gene regulation in response to osmotic stress was analyzed in the three pathways, showing that, compared to WTD, OED exhibited up-regulation of a few drought-sensitive genes, while most genes positively regulating drought in WTD were down-regulated in OED. Collectively, these results highlight the crucial role of <i>AmMADS47</i> in modulating the synthesis of key enzymes and the expression patterns of drought-responsive genes in three candidate pathways in rice, ultimately reducing drought resistance in rice.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1514134"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078277/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An assessment of the role of buttress roots in the carbon stocks of tropical forests.","authors":"Xu Wang, Brian Njoroge Mwangi, Guangyi Zhou, Mengmeng Yang, Yuelin Li","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1538583","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1538583","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Assessing carbon stocks in tropical forests is crucial for understanding their role in mitigating climate change. Researchers have previously underestimated key factors contributing to carbon dynamics in tropical forests. This study aims to address this knowledge gap.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study collected soil samples and made physical measurements of buttressed, control, and non-buttressed trees in a tropical forest from 2020 to 2022.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our findings reveal that a significant proportion of trees (69.57%) had 3 to 5 buttress roots per tree. The total average biomass of the buttress roots and the above-ground portion of the trees with buttress roots was calculated to be 8.5 tonnes/ha for buttress roots and 44.04 tonnes/ha for above-ground biomass. The buttress root biomass accounted for 16.18% of the total tree biomass. It was observed that the presence of buttress roots was associated with a higher soil organic carbon content by an average of 20.8% in the upslope areas with buttress roots regardless of the season. Tree species with buttress roots had on average 20% higher organic carbon content. The upslope area of trees with buttress roots had lower soil temperature and higher soil moisture when compared to the other sectors measured in the study. Regardless of the season, the soil respiration rate in the areas without buttress roots and the control areas was higher than in those with buttress roots. The presence of buttress roots positively affected soil nutrient concentration throughout the study period.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This research shows that buttress roots play a crucial role in carbon storage. By integrating buttress roots into carbon accounting models, we can obtain more accurate estimates of carbon stock potential and develop more effective conservation and restoration strategies for tropical forests.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1538583"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078330/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Positive interaction between melatonin and methyl jasmonate enhances <i>Fusarium</i> wilt resistance in <i>Citrullus lanatus</i>.","authors":"Jingyi Yan, Tongshu Zhao, Yi Chen, Haiheng Liu, Chunhua Wei, Jianxiang Ma, Yong Zhang, Jianqiang Yang, Xian Zhang, Hao Li","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1508852","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1508852","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Fusarium</i> wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungal pathogen <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> (Fo), is widely recognized as one of the most devastating fungal diseases, inflicting significant damage on a wide range of agricultural and horticultural crops. Despite melatonin has recently emerged as a potential enhancer of plant resistance against Fo, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, our results demonstrate that exogenous melatonin and MeJA enhance watermelon resistance against <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> f. sp. <i>Niveum</i> race 2 (FON2) in a dose-dependent manner. The optimal concentration for melatonin and MeJA was determined to be 10 μM and 1 μM, respectively. Both melatonin and MeJA inhibited FON2 mycelial growth on PDA medium in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, exogenous melatonin significantly stimulated upregulation of MeJA synthesis genes and increased MeJA content upon FON2 infection. However, pretreatment with a MeJA synthesis inhibitor (DIECA) suppressed the induction of melatonin-induced resistance against FON2. Furthermore, MeJA also induced the upregulation of melatonin biosynthetic gene <i>caffeic acid O-methyltransferase 1</i> (<i>ClCOMT1</i>) and increased melatonin accumulation in response to FON2. Notably, the reduction in FON2 resistance caused by <i>ClCOMT1</i> deletion was completely restored through exogenous application of MeJA. These results suggest that melatonin facilitates MeJA accumulation, which provides feedback to promote melatonin accumulation, forming a reciprocal positive regulatory loop in response to FON2 infection. Additionally, polyphenol oxidase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, and lignin are involved in the MeJA-induced resistance against FON2. The growing concern over minimizing pesticide usage and transitioning to sustainable and natural control strategies underscores the significant potential of such a mechanism in combating Fo.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1508852"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078211/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative and phylogenetic analysis of complete chloroplast genomes of <i>Phrynium</i> s. s. and <i>Stachyphrynium</i> (Marantaceae) in China, including a new species.","authors":"Zhiyi Lin, Zhichao Fan, Yaoqing Lan, Lin Fu, Feilong Xu, Yi Tong","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1569683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1569683","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plants of the genera <i>Phrynium</i> and <i>Stachyphrynium</i> traditionally used as ethnomedicine or for wrapping sticky rice dumpling in the tropical and south subtropical Asia, have a long history of ethnobotanical use. China represents the northernmost distribution of Marantaceae in Asia. Due to the notably similar leaf morphology between these genera, herbarium specimens are frequently misidentified, especially during the vegetative stages. Their morphological uniformity and unclear interspecific genetic relationships pose significant challenges to taxonomic classification and species identification. To date, systematic taxonomic revisions and phylogeny of their indigenous species remain lacking. In this study, we conducted comparative chloroplast genomes analyses of seven <i>Phrynium</i> and two <i>Stachyphrynium</i> species in China. The chloroplast genomes exhibited conserved structure, gene content, gene order and codon usage bias, but diverged in genomes size and the SC/IR boundaries. Four variable regions were identified as potential molecular markers for species identification. Phylogenetic analyses using CDS and nrDNA strongly support <i>Phrynium</i> and <i>Stachyphrynium</i> in China as two distinct monophyletic groups, with <i>Phrynium</i> subdivided into two clades. These findings advance our understanding of their molecular relationships and provide critical insights for identification, utilization, and conservation as medicinal plants. Finally, we describe and illustrate the new species <i>Phrynium pyramidale</i> Y. Tong & Z. Y. Lin.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1569683"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078270/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of sexual and apomictic Persian walnut (<i>Juglans regia</i> L.) embryos.","authors":"Chunjie Bao, Hong Chen, Haoliang Zhou, Feng Chen","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1567247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1567247","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Persian walnut (<i>Juglans regia</i> L.) is one of the world's economically significant dry fruits, which stems from the high nutritional value of its kernel and its uses in diverse industries. Walnuts species can employ sexual and apomictic reproductive strategies. Multi-omics analyses of apomictic walnut embryos have not yet been conducted. This study integrates transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to reveal new insights into the formation of sexual and apomictic walnut embryos, providing a valuable foundation for future research on apomictic embryo development in walnuts.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>To elucidate the mechanisms underlying these reproductive modes, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed on the embryos of sexual and apomictic walnut species at different developmental stages.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our findings revealed 321 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 19 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) in apomictic <i>vs</i>. sexual walnut embryos. The joint transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis revealed that DEGs and DAMs were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, plant hormone signal transduction, and tryptophan metabolic pathways. The content of DAMs, such as tryptamine, jasmonic acid (JA), and JA-isoleucine, was significantly higher in embryos derived from flowers that had been forced to reproduce apomictically (subjected to polyvinyl alcohol-capped stigma treatment) than embryos derived from flowers that had been subjected to normal artificial pollination. <i>COMT</i>, <i>PME</i>, <i>TAT</i>, <i>CHIB</i>, <i>FG3</i>, <i>CYP82C4</i>, <i>CYP82G1</i>, <i>aceB</i>, <i>SDR</i>, <i>ribBA</i>, <i>AFS1</i>, <i>BHMT2</i>, <i>GN1_2_3</i>, <i>SGR</i>, <i>BAK1</i>, <i>trpB</i>, <i>AOC3</i>, <i>ASN</i>, <i>IAA</i>, <i>TDC</i>, <i>ZEP</i>, <i>JAZ</i>, and <i>ACO</i> were positively correlated with DAMs. 9 genes related to DAMs were verified by real-time quantitative PCR, and their relative expression differences were consistent with the results of the transcriptome analysis. <i>BAK1</i>, <i>trpB</i>, <i>AOC3</i>, <i>ASN</i>, <i>IAA</i>, <i>TDC</i>, <i>ZEP</i>, <i>JAZ</i>, <i>ALDH</i>, and <i>ACO</i> played a role in regulating the formation of apomictic embryos in walnut by regulating DAMs, such as auxin(tryptamine) and JA.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>TRA, JA, and JA-ILE play important roles with metabolites involved in apomixis. BAK1, trpB, AOC3, ASN, IAA, TDC, ZEP, JAZ, ALDH, and ACO may be the key genes involved in apomixis. These candidate genes could be strongly associated with the molecular mechanisms underlying apomixis in walnut were identified, and this will help clarify the formation of apomictic embryos in walnut.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1567247"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078271/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advancing cotton fiber research with variable-pressure scanning electron microscopy.","authors":"Fang Bai, M Andrew Jansen","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2025.1562682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1562682","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cotton fibers, as highly extended, thickened epidermal seed structures, are a crucial renewable resource in textile production. Cotton plants produce two main types of fiber cells: wide, hemisphere-shaped fibers and narrow, tapered fibers. Both types stabilize through secondary cell wall development, with the mature narrow fibers being particularly valued for spinning into fine, strong yarns, suitable for premium cotton fabrics. Traditional methods for studying fiber development and cell types, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), are often time-intensive and costly. SEM preparation steps, including fixation, dehydration, and sputter coating, can cause shrinkage and other image distortions, limiting the accuracy of observations. Variable-pressure scanning electron microscopy (VP-SEM) offers an alternative approach, operating under low pressure rather than a high-vacuum environment, which can be advantageous for imaging live samples with minimal sample preparation. In this study, we applied VP-SEM to observe fiber cell initiation and early elongation in the conventional upland cotton cultivar UGA 230 at 0 and 1-day post-anthesis. Two SEM detectors, the ultra-variable-pressure detector and backscattered electrons, were used to capture detailed images. Optimal imaging conditions were identified with a 15 keV accelerating voltage and a 50 Pa pressure setting, enabling clear visualization of early fiber development without the need for extensive preparation. This VP-SEM protocol not only facilitates high-resolution imaging of cotton fibers at early developmental stages but also reduces time and expense, minimizing sample damage. Additionally, this optimized approach can be adapted for other fresh biological samples, making it a versatile tool for real-time imaging across various studies in plant biology and beyond.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"16 ","pages":"1562682"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12078227/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144077597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}