Frontiers in Plant Science最新文献

{"title":"A weather-informed decision tree framework for predicting stripe rust outbreaks in wheat.","authors":"Shubham Anand, Sarabjot Kaur Sandhu, Barun Biswas, Parminder Singh Tak","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1812395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1812395","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wheat stripe rust (caused by <i>Puccinia striiformis</i>) is highly influenced by weather conditions making weather based predictive modelling an essential tool in combating this disease. Keeping this in mind, a weather-based decision tree approach has been applied to predict stripe rust severity in Ludhiana district of Punjab. The meteorological data for the period (from 2009-10 to 2022-23) were collected from the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, PAU, Ludhiana. Weekly observations of yellow rust symptoms on crop leaves were recorded using modified Mannar's scale for yellow rust of wheat. Area under disease progression curve (AUDPC) was computed for rust severity among different years. The year 2012-13 recorded the highest rust severity (100%) and AUDPC (671.3) marking it as a major epidemic year. In contrast, lowest disease severity was recorded in 2021-22 (56.75%, AUDPC 222.85) and 2022-23 (58.42%, 244.95). Correlation analysis and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were carried out between primary and derived variables and yellow rust severity and AUDPC. Using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis, decision tree models were developed which conclude that maximum stripe rust severity (79%) can occur when minimum temperature ≥ 9.1 °C and sunshine hours ≥ 9.2 h, or when mean temperature ≥ 15 °C along with humid thermal index (HTI) ≥ 2.4. Yellow rust severity remained moderate (34-39%) when Tmin < 9.1 °C, Tdew ≥ 6.2 °C and RHm ≥ 94%. Various accuracy metrices were used to compare developed decision tree models and all-weather variable model surpassed the performance than primary and derived weather variable models. Such models can be helpful in real time disease risk assessment and crop agro-advisories.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1812395"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13152867/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867895","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":"Design and experiment of transfer and loading machine for tobacco poles in bulk curing barn scenario.","authors":"Ting Guo, Huyang Tang, Minghao Li, Cheng Liu, Chao Chen, Ling Wang","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1801854","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1801854","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tobacco leaf curing is a critical stage in the tobacco processing chain, and its operational methods and equipment technology levels are key factors affecting leaf quality, operational efficiency, and overall economic benefits. However, current curing practices are still dominated by manual operations, which are generally characterized by high labor intensity, low efficiency, high labor costs, and insufficient operational safety. These limitations hinder the large-scale, standardized, and efficient development of the tobacco curing process. To address these challenges, this study designed and developed a tobacco pole transfer and loading machine specifically for dense curing barn environments, based on the structural characteristics of dense curing barns and the technological requirements of tobacco pole loading. The proposed machine adopts a multi-stage lifting system combining a five-stage mast, servo motors, and ball screws, enabling precise vertical lifting within a range of 1.3~3.6 m. A reciprocating tobacco pole carrying mechanism, driven by staggered linear modules, allows adjustable pole inclination within a range of 0~32°, effectively avoiding interference with curing barn walls. Finite element analysis of key components indicates that the strength of major load-bearing structures, including the powered chassis and lifting mast, meets safety requirements. The natural frequencies of mast stages 1 to 6 range from 63.92 to 354.00 Hz, avoiding resonance during operation. In addition, the safety factor of the tobacco pole carrying blade is significantly higher than the allowable value, satisfying fatigue life design criteria. Field experiments conducted in tobacco-producing areas demonstrate that the loading success rate of the developed machine exceeds 90%, and operational efficiency is improved by approximately 3 to 5 times compared with traditional manual methods. The results confirm that the proposed tobacco pole transfer and loading machine can effectively accomplish pole transportation and hanging tasks in dense curing barns, substantially improving curing operation efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1801854"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13153120/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867990","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":"Identification of key genes governing diester alkaloid biosynthesis in different tissues of Aconitum kusnezoffii.","authors":"Rihan Wu, Qiang Fu, Yahan Wu, Erdunhu E, Qieer Sa, Guihua Bao, Selinge Bai","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1793597","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1793597","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Aconitum kusnezoffii is a valuable medicinal plant in Mongolian medicine, and diester alkaloids including aconitine (AC), hypaconitine (HA), and mesaconitine (MA) are its main active and toxic components. However, the tissue-specific distribution of these alkaloids and the key genes involved in their biosynthesis remain unclear. This study aimed to clarify the content differences of diester alkaloids in different tissues and identify related biosynthetic genes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The contents of AC, HA, and MA in cortex, phloem, and xylem of Aconitum kusnezoffii were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Transcriptome sequencing was performed on the three tissues, and functional annotation was carried out using NR, Swiss-Prot, and Pfam databases. Candidate genes involved in alkaloid biosynthesis were screened with E-Value < 1e-10 and Identity ≥ 70%. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction were performed using MEGA software to analyze the evolutionary relationships of OMT enzymes and BAHD acyltransferases.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>HPLC results showed that the xylem had the highest content of diester alkaloids. Several candidate enzyme genes related to alkaloid biosynthesis were identified. The expression patterns of OMT and BAHD genes in different tissues were consistent with the trend of alkaloid accumulation. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these enzymes were evolutionarily conserved.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This study clarified the tissue-specific accumulation pattern of diester alkaloids in Aconitum kusnezoffii and identified key biosynthetic genes. The findings reveal the evolutionary characteristics of related enzymes and provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the biosynthetic mechanism of diester alkaloids.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1793597"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13152837/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147868030","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":"CtChi19: a valuable gene for improving resistance to Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternata in Carthamus tinctorius.","authors":"Kang Ma, Xiaoyan Wang, Kangjun Fan, Kehui Zhang, Lu Lv, Zhaojun Wei, Jiao Liu, Hong Liu, Jian Wei, Rui Qin","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1797378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1797378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Safflower (<i>Carthamus tinctorius</i> L.) is an economically important crop with both medicinal and oil-producing values, However, its production is severely threatened by fungal diseases, including those caused by <i>Alternaria alternata</i> and other pathogenic fungi. To date, molecular investigations into the disease resistance mechanisms of safflower remain largely limited. In this study, proteomic analysis was performed on safflower following infection by <i>A. alternata</i>, identifying 490 and 921 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) at 48 hours post-infection (hpi) and 72 hpi, respectively, Among these DEPs, a large number of candidate defense-related proteins were detected, including CtChi19. Meanwhile, by integrating previously published transcriptomic and proteomic data of safflower at the early stage of <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> infection, a set of candidate genes closely associated with defense responses was screened using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Emphasis was placed on the hub gene <i>CtChi19</i>, which encodes a chitinase belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 19 (GH19). Subcellular localization assays showed that CtChi19 was localized in the cell wall and extracellular space. Furthermore, stable overexpression of <i>CtChi19</i> in safflower significantly enhanced the resistance of transgenic plants to both <i>B. cinerea</i> and <i>A. alternata</i>. Assays of chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase activities demonstrated that the improved disease resistance of OE-<i>CtChi19</i> transgenic plants was directly associated with a significant increase in chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase activities. Collectively, the candidate genes identified in this study provide valuable genetic resources and theoretical support for molecular breeding aimed at developing disease-resistant safflower varieties. These findings also offer novel insights for further dissecting the antifungal immune mechanisms in safflower.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1797378"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13153071/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867926","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":"Moderate warming promotes growth and flavonoid biosynthesis in the altitudinal medicinal plant <i>Gentiana lawrencei</i> var. <i>farreri</i>.","authors":"Guopeng Chen, Jie Zhang, Xianmei Yin, Xuemei Wu, Lame Zeren, Zhuoma Deqing, Chenghui Wang, Yue Xu, Jiemin Wang, Hongmei Jia, Rong Ding, Rui Gu","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1806606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1806606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High-altitude endangered medicinal plants face increasing extinction risk, and <i>ex situ</i> conservation through low-altitude cultivation represents a key protective strategy. Low temperature is a defining feature of altitudinal habitats. However how moderate warming influences growth performance and secondary metabolite accumulation in cold-adapted medicinal plants remains poorly understood. We investigated the altitudinal medicinal plant <i>Gentiana lawrencei</i> var. <i>farreri</i> (<i>G. farreri</i>) under different day/night temperature regimes, integrating morphological, physiological, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Moderate warming (25/15 °C) significantly increased leaf area, root length, and shoot and root dry biomass, while reducing soluble sugar and protein contents. Antioxidant enzyme activities, as well as proline and malondialdehyde levels, were decreased. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified a temperature-responsive module closely associated with multiple stress-related traits, in which the plant-pathogen interaction pathway was prominently enriched. Key regulatory nodes, including FLS2 and CDPK, showed temperature-dependent expression patterns. Levels of flavonoids, including <i>p</i>-coumaric acid, dihydromyricetin, delphinidin and cyanidin, were markedly increased under moderate warming. These results demonstrate that moderate warming alleviates temperature limitation on growth and promotes flavonoid accumulation in <i>G</i>. <i>farreri</i>. Our findings provide insight into the physiological and molecular acclimation of alpine medicinal plants to moderate warming and offer a scientific basis for optimizing low-altitude <i>ex situ</i> cultivation under climate warming.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1806606"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13154219/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867847","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":"A multi-layer regulatory landscape of chilling requirement revealed by stage-resolved transcriptomics and hormone profiling in peach floral buds.","authors":"Weihan Zhang, Haiyan Li, Yayun Sun, Yuepeng Han, Baoxiong Wan, Liao Liao","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1819363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1819363","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bud dormancy and chilling requirement (CR) are fundamental to the climate adaptation of temperate fruit trees, yet the regulatory mechanisms translating winter chill into genotype-specific dormancy release remain poorly resolved. Here, we generated a stage-resolved transcriptomic and hormone dataset from peach floral buds of four cultivars spanning contrasting CR phenotypes, sampled across endodormancy induction (S1), maintenance (S2), and release (S3), with matched ABA/GA measurements. By applying trajectory-centric analysis that standardizes temporal profiles within each cultivar, we partitioned dormancy progression into eight distinct transcriptional modules and identified those exhibiting CR-associated divergence. Candidate-restricted WGCNA resolved these CR-enriched genes into co-expression modules, with one module showing a significant positive correlation with ABA abundance. A cross-cultivar consensus network further nominated hub-centered regulatory candidates. Through integrated evidence prioritization that combined temporal divergence, network topology, cross-cultivar support, and functional annotation, we established a ranked and functionally diverse set of CR-associated candidate regulators, including transcription factors, kinase-related components, hormone-associated genes, and chromatin/RNA factors. Together, these analyses reveal a multi-layer regulatory landscape of CR in which divergence is reflected by stage-dependent remodeling of specific transcriptional and hormone-associated programs rather than a global transcriptome shift. This study provides a structured candidate resource for downstream mechanistic dissection and climate-resilient breeding in peach and related woody perennials.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1819363"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13152854/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867876","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":"Role of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid in salinity stress mitigation in plants.","authors":"Pravej Alam, Fadime Karabulut, Javed Iqbal, Renuka Sharma, Amin Fathi, Eyüp Bagci, Mehmet Firat Baran, Thamer Albalawi, Mohammad Faizan","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1824082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1824082","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Salinity stress is exacerbating across the world, causing physiological, molecular, and biochemical changes in plants. These phenomena can significantly deteriorate crop yield and quality. Phytohormones play vital role to the mitigate environmental stresses that negatively affect plants and help them to tolerate harsh conditions. Of these phytohormones, derivatives of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) are especially important because they take part in several signal transduction pathways that regulate a wide range of physiological and molecular processes in plants. JA lowers the oxidative stress caused by an increase in hydrogen peroxide in salt-stressed plants by activating the enzymes superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase, which are linked to higher levels of α-tocopherol, phenolics, and flavonoids. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity is induced, which explains the rise in phenolics and flavonoids. When plants under salt stress are treated with exogenous SA, the growth inhibition is lowered. Carotenoid content significantly increases as a result of SA-induced antioxidant system activation, but H₂O₂ concentration, lipid peroxidation, and ion leakage significantly decrease. Consequently, this review offers a clearer picture of the function of JA and SA and shows the potential applications of phytohormonal additives in plant enhancements, such as engineering research to increase plant resistance to salinity stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1824082"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13154224/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867857","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":"Coupling photosynthetic physiology and C₄ enzyme regulation enhances grain yield in no-tillage intercropped maize in an irrigated oasis region.","authors":"Congcong Guo, Yan Wang, Xiaoyuan Bao, Hong Fan, Yali Sun, Wei He, Chunsheng Bai, Fuyang Cui, Chengxin Bai, Xinying Li, Cai Zhao","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1780528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1780528","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The Hexi Oasis irrigation area is endowed with abundant light and heat resources, making it suitable for intercropped maize systems. However, increasing water scarcity and the need for irrigation reduction have made the conventional full-irrigation, high-yield pathway difficult to sustain. Under reduced irrigation, yield penalties may occur because water limitation directly constrains stomatal opening and carbon assimilation during the critical silking-grain filling period. Whether intercropped maize can stabilize yield under limited water supply through coordinated maintenance of photosynthetic performance and regulation of key C₄ enzymes remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To address this gap, a field experiment was conducted in 2022-2024 to systematically evaluate the coupled effects of tillage (no-tillage, NT; conventional tillage, CT), cropping pattern (intercropping, IM; monocropping, SM), and three irrigation regimes (low, I1; medium, I2; high, I3) on maize grain yield, photosynthetic physiology, and key enzyme regulation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that compared with the NT×IM×I2 group, the grain yields of the CT×IM×I2 and NT×SM×I2 groups increased significantly by 10.5% and 27.2% respectively. During the silking-grain filling stage, this treatment maintained the highest relative chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, along with the lowest intercellular CO₂ concentration and quantum yield of non-regulated energy dissipation. Enzyme activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, and pyruvate phosphate dikinase increased by 6-11%, 8-10%, and 9-14%, respectively, with corresponding gene expression upregulated by 30-80%.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In summary, NT combined with moderate irrigation enhanced intercropped maize yield stability under limited water supply through a dual mechanism of \"photosynthetic performance maintenance + C₄ enzyme activity/transcription enhancement.\"</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1780528"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13153119/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867921","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":"Mechanism of wax-ripening wheat seeds attracting birds based on GC-MS widely targeted metabolomics and electronic nose technology.","authors":"Siyi Wang, Xiaomin Zhang, Bing Han, Yanping Xing, Dongsheng Chen, Yan Yang","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1805496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1805496","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Based on observation that house sparrows (<i>Passer domesticus</i>) and wild rock pigeons (<i>Columba livia</i>) exhibited distinct feeding preference during the wax-ripening stage showing strong attraction to the wheat cultivar Nongpin 5 and its F₁seeds derived from the direct cross population (♀Nongpin 5×♂Mengjian 33), while actively avoiding Mengjian 33 and F₁seeds derived from the direct cross population (♀Mengjian 33×♂Nongpin 5). Subsequently, combined analyses of metabolomics profiling and electronic nose (E-nose) detection were performed on F _₁ generation seeds of two reciprocal crosses populations. The results demonstrated that the direct cross population exhibited significantly higher levels of flavor compounds linked to woody, lipidic, and fruity sensory profiles, including n-decanol and 2-phenylethanol. In contrast, the reciprocal cross population accumulated significantly higher levels of sulfides and aromatic organosulfur compounds, among which, 2-methyl-1-butanethiol identified as potential key metabolites responsible for avian food avoidance. To validate these findings, feeding experiments with domesticated pigeons were conducted using diets treated with 2-methyl-1-butanethiol, n-decanol and furanone, respectively. The results confirmed that domesticated pigeons exhibited diets supplemented with n-decanol, while actively avoiding those treated with 2-methyl-1-butanethiol. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the differences in flavor-related metabolites among wheat grain cultivars underlies avian foraging preferences. This study also provides a solid theoretical basis for future research on wheat grain flavor modulation and the development of breeding strategies aimed at tailoring flavor profiles to mitigate avian pest pressure.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1805496"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13153126/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147867996","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":"Improving the estimation accuracy of rice leaf protein nitrogen using data augmentation, explainable machine learning, and UAV hyperspectral imagery.","authors":"Yiping Peng, Yuting Tu, Yanggui Xu, Wenliang Zhong, Zhuxian Li, Jianyi Liang, Jichuan Huang","doi":"10.3389/fpls.2026.1760799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1760799","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Efficiently estimating the protein nitrogen content of rice leaves (LPN) is crucial for monitoring the nutritional health of rice and guiding precision fertilization based on requirements. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-acquired hyperspectral imagery is a key tool for estimating rice nitrogen content. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of machine learning models for this task. However, these models typically require substantial data for supervised training to ensure high performance and generalizability. Acquiring a large sample size is challenging due to weather conditions, high collection costs, and other factors. Moreover, machine learning models have low interpretability. Enhancing it is vital for understanding the model's decision-making. To address these issues, we utilized the Wasserstein-generative adversarial network (WGAN) algorithm to expand the sample dataset. This method employs statistical regression (multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR)) and machine learning (support vector machines (SVM) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN)) algorithms to establish an estimation model for the LPN. The Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method was used to analyze the contributions of the input features to LPN estimation. An experiment was conducted at the National Agricultural Science and Technology Park, Guangzhou, Baiyun District, Guangdong, China. The model based on the KNN provided the optimum estimation performance, and the model accuracy was improved by adding the augmented dataset, resulting in a 10.39% improvement in the R² value. The SHAP values revealed that B_775.6, double-peak canopy nitrogen index (DCNI), and MERIS terrestrial chlorophyll index (MTCI) were the core variables for LPN estimation. These findings provide significant references for precision fertilization and improving nitrogen use efficiency in rice cultivation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12632,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Plant Science","volume":"17 ","pages":"1760799"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13153078/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147868033","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}