Horticultural Plant Journal最新文献

{"title":"PtrSNAT38 promotes melatonin synthesis and coordinates multiple hormone crosstalk to enhance drought resistance in citrus: insights from integrated omics analysis","authors":"Sanpeng Jin, Xuchen Gong, Dechun Liu, Li Yang, Wei Hu, Liuqing Kuang, jingheng Xie, Quan Sun, Jie Song, Yong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.007","url":null,"abstract":"Drought stress severely restricts citrus growth and production, making the exploration of drought resistance mechanisms crucial for agricultural sustainability. Melatonin (MT) has emerged as a key regulator of plant abiotic stress responses, but its molecular mechanisms in enhancing drought tolerance in trifoliate orange (<ce:italic>Poncirus trifoliata</ce:italic> L., also known as <ce:italic>Citrus trifoliata</ce:italic> L.) remain unclear. In this study, we integrated physiological, transcriptomic, and molecular approaches to investigate the role of MT in drought resistance of trifoliate orange. Exogenous MT significantly improved drought tolerance by mitigating oxidative damage (reduced EL, MDA, and H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>O<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>) and enhancing MT accumulation. Genome-wide analysis identified key MT biosynthesis families (TDC, T5H, SNAT, ASMT), with SNAT and ASMT showing significant expansion. Transcriptomic and WGCNA analyses indicated that MT treatment modulated abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis pathways, upregulating key genes such as <ce:italic>SDR</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>AAO</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>PLA</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>LOX</ce:italic>. Further, <ce:italic>PtrSNAT38</ce:italic> (a SNAT family member) was identified as a hub gene responsive to dehydration, with its overexpression enhancing citrus drought tolerance by increasing MT content. Yeast one-hybrid, dual-luciferase assays, and EMSA assays confirmed that PtrMYB13 directly bind to the <ce:italic>PtrSNAT38</ce:italic> promoter, promoting its transcription. These findings reveal that MT enhances drought resistance via a regulatory network involving the PtrMYB13-PtrSNAT38 module and coordinated ABA/JA signaling.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147393066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Signaling pathways mediated by jasmonic acid, ethylene, and IAA jointly regulate tea plant defense against hemibiotrophic fungal pathogens","authors":"Jia Wang, Yongchen Yu, Xiaona Qian, Xiwang Li, Ran Wang, Ziyin Lei, Ting Gao, Zhanbin Wang, Xiaoling Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2026.02.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2026.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"The tea plant, <ce:italic>Camellia sinensis</ce:italic> (L.) O. Kuntze, a perennial woody crop rich in secondary metabolites, faces severe threats from tea anthracnose (<ce:italic>Colletotrichum camelliae</ce:italic>). Although omics profiling and microarray analyses have described the tea plant’s responses to its causative pathogen infection, the mechanism underlying its induced immunity remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that <ce:italic>C. camelliae</ce:italic> infection triggers both local and systemic resistance in tea plants, as evidenced by the curtailed local lesion expansion following foliar spore suspension pretreatment for 24 h, and the 1.2-fold suppression of lesions on leaves adjacent to a site inoculated for 48 h. Furthermore, <ce:italic>C. camelliae</ce:italic> infection activated jasmonic acid (JA)-, ethylene-, along with indole acetic acid (IAA)-mediated signaling pathways, promoting the accumulation of secondary metabolites, including isoschaftoside, isoquercitrin, cosmosiin, isovitexin, and feruloyl putrescine. Then, the bioassay using potato dextrose agar medium supplemented with these compounds confirmed their ability to suppress <ce:italic>C. camelliae</ce:italic> colony expansion in both time- and concentration-dependent manners: four compounds (isoquercitrin, cosmosiin, isovitexin, and isoschaftoside) exhibited strong negative correlations between concentration and colony diameter at 3 and 6 days (r ≤ –0.87, <ce:italic>P</ce:italic> &lt; 0.001), while feruloyl putrescine showed a moderate correlation (r ≤ –0.51, <ce:italic>P</ce:italic> = 0.05–0.052), directly linking them to anti-anthracnose efficacy. Additionally, the exogenous application of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane1-carboxylic acid, JA, and IAA significantly induced the accumulation of some of these anti-anthracnose metabolites in tea plants, which, in turn, enhanced the immunity of tea plants to <ce:italic>C. camelliae</ce:italic>. Therefore, this study not only highlights the critical role of a multi-hormone regulatory network in tea plant resistance to anthracnose, but also identifies the JA, IAA, and ET signaling pathways, along with five key metabolites, as promising targets for breeding resistant cultivars or developing plant immunity elicitors.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"80 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147393069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PlMYB34-PlABI5 synergistically regulate Paeonia lactiflora seed dormancy via ABA metabolism and signaling pathways","authors":"Rujie Xin, Xiaoqing Zhou, Shixin Guan, Xuening Kang, Yi Cheng, Wenhui Song, Ming Kan, Xiaomei Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.008","url":null,"abstract":"<ce:italic>Paeonia lactiflora</ce:italic> Pall. is a valuable ornamental and medicinal plant, but its strong seed dormancy limits breeding efficiency. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a central role in regulating seed dormancy, yet its mechanism in <ce:italic>P. lactiflora</ce:italic> remains poorly understood. In this study, we identified <ce:italic>PlABI5</ce:italic>, a core transcription factor in the ABA signaling pathway, and its interacting protein PlMYB34 as key regulators of seed dormancy. Exogenous ABA treatment induced the expression of <ce:italic>PlABI5</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>PlMYB34,</ce:italic> and their overexpression significantly enhanced dormancy in <ce:italic>P. lactiflora</ce:italic>. Together, PlABI5 and PlMYB34 regulated the expression of protein phosphatase gene <ce:italic>PlPP2C24</ce:italic> and the ABA-biosynthesis gene <ce:italic>PlNCED2</ce:italic>, thereby promoting ABA accumulation and increasing seed sensitivity to ABA. This positive feedback strengthened dormancy control. Our findings demonstrate that PlABI5 and PlMYB34 fine-tuned seed dormancy in <ce:italic>P. lactiflora</ce:italic> by integrating ABA signaling and biosynthesis pathways, broadening our understanding of seed-dormancy mechanisms in plants and providing targets for overcoming dormancy to accelerate <ce:italic>P. lactiflora</ce:italic> breeding.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147393068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis reveals blue light regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Loropetalum chinense","authors":"Yifan Zhang, Yang Liu, Jiali Deng, Damao Zhang, Xingyao Xiong, Lu Xu, Lili Xiang, Donglin Zhang, Xiaoying Yu, Yanlin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147334364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Establishment of a novel field in vivo Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transgenic system in fruit tree Chinese jujube","authors":"Tingting Ye, Xiaoxue Guo, Yuting Duan, Meiyi Zhao, Xinyu Zhang, Di Xun, Jiurui Wang, Lixin Wang, Mengjun Liu, Ping Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"97 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146777781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptional Regulation and Adaptive Responses of Tomato to Abiotic Stresses","authors":"Bo Liu, Zhaoyang Liu, Xiaoya Lu, Sergey Shabala, Bo Ouyang","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"336 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146777782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Methyl salicylate-induced CitERF92 promotes the accumulation of PMFs in citrus","authors":"Zhenkun Liao, Honglu Hu, Yichen Lai, Chenwen Zhou, Chenning Zhao, Xiaojuan Liu, Yujia Li, Bin Liao, Dengliang Wang, Lili Liu, Jinping Cao, Yue Wang, Chongde Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.06.027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.06.027","url":null,"abstract":"Polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) are a class of flavonoid compounds predominantly present in citrus and are renowned for their extensive biological activity (antiobesity, antioxidant and cardiovascular protection). Recent advancements have elucidated the biosynthetic pathway of PMFs, although the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms involved are not yet fully understood. In this study, we used PMF-rich Bingtangcheng (<ce:italic>Citrus sinensis</ce:italic> Osbeck) fruit (BTC) and treated it with exogenous methyl salicylate (MeSA). Our study demonstrates that MeSA treatment dynamically regulates the biosynthesis of PMF monomers in citrus peels during low-temperature storage (10 °C), with 0.2 mmol · L<ce:sup loc=\"post\">-1</ce:sup> MeSA combined with 14-day storage effectively enhancing PMF accumulation. The transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that MeSA treatment activated the expression of essential genes associated with the PMF biosynthetic pathway, including <ce:italic>FNSII</ce:italic>, <ce:italic>F3'H</ce:italic>, and <ce:italic>COMT</ce:italic>. Additionally, MeSA also activated the biosynthesis and signaling pathways of other phytohormones. A transcription factor, <ce:italic>CitERF92</ce:italic>, from the ERF family B3 group, was significantly induced by MeSA and strongly correlated with the expression of <ce:italic>CitFNSII-1</ce:italic>. Dual-luciferase assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that <ce:italic>CitERF92</ce:italic> could bind to and significantly activate the promoter activity of <ce:italic>CitFNSII-1</ce:italic>. Subsequent transient overexpression experiments confirmed that <ce:italic>CitERF92</ce:italic> markedly increased the content of PMF monomers in the BTC peel. These results reveal the CitERF92-CitFNSII-1 module as a novel regulator of PMF biosynthesis, enhancing the understanding of the regulatory network that controls PMF production in citrus.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"244 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146209498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification of CYP89A6 as a positive regulator of glucosinolate biosynthesis in Brassica rapa via machine learning analysis of large-scale RNA-seq data","authors":"Yujie Gu, Haocheng Li, Mengran Yang, Bingsong Yang, Jiaqi Li, Siqi Liu, Xue Li, Pengfei Li, Guibao Zhang, Zai Wang, Shuxin Xuan, Yanhua Wang, Shuxing Shen, Yuanming Liu, Aixia Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2026.01.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2026.01.001","url":null,"abstract":"Glucosinolates (GLS) are critical for the defense, flavor, and sulfur storage of cruciferous plants; however, the regulatory mechanisms underlying their biosynthesis and metabolism remain largely elusive. This study aimed to systematically identify the key genes regulating GLS. To this end, a systematic screening and validation pipeline was established by integrating machine learning predictions (leveraging over 1 000 RNA-seq samples from <ce:italic>Brassica rapa</ce:italic> and <ce:italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</ce:italic>), multidimensional bioinformatics validation (functional annotation, protein interaction networks), and molecular experimental validation. With this pipeline, 12 high-confidence candidate regulatory genes were identified, as potential targets for subsequently analyzing the multifaceted regulatory network governing GLS biosynthesis and metabolism. Further functional validation of the key candidate gene <ce:italic>CYP89A6</ce:italic> through virus-induced gene silencing assays confirmed its role as a positive GLS biosynthesis regulator. Silencing <ce:italic>CYP89A6</ce:italic> significantly reduced the total GLS content in <ce:italic>B. rapa</ce:italic>, with markedly reduced levels of key components including aliphatic GLS (PRO, GRA, GBN), aromatic GLS (NAS), and indole GLS (4ME, GBC). Overall, this study validated the robustness of the machine learning and multidimensional bioinformatics screening pipeline, and advanced our understanding underlying the regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolism in <ce:italic>B. rapa</ce:italic>.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146209499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydrogen sulfide maintains nitric oxide homeostasis through PpWRKY33-PpNR and PpGSNOR to enhance cold tolerance of peach fruit","authors":"Yaqin Zhao, Ziao Liu, Liuhua Xiao, Yu Liu, Yonghua Zheng, Liangyi Zhao, Peng Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.12.005","url":null,"abstract":"Hydrogen sulfide (H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S) regulates nitric oxide (NO) biosynthesis in peach (<ce:italic>Prunus persica</ce:italic>) fruit stress response, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this study, electronic tongue (E-tongue) and electronic nose (E-nose) assays demonstrated that H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S treatment alleviated the deterioration of taste and aroma in peach fruit during chilling injury (CI) development. Exogenous H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S (20 μL · L<ce:sup loc=\"post\">−1</ce:sup>) induced an early peak in intracellular NO levels, and correlation analysis further indicated that moderate NO concentrations (relative intensity of NO fluorescence: 1.63−3.88) were critical for maintaining fruit quality during long-term cold storage. Since overall NO levels reflect a balance between production and scavenging, we identified the H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S-responsive transcription factor PpWRKY33 as a transcriptional activator of <ce:italic>peach nitrate reductase</ce:italic> (<ce:italic>PpNR</ce:italic>), a key gene responsible for NO synthesis. The conserved <ce:italic>β</ce:italic>2 and <ce:italic>β</ce:italic>3 strands in the DNA-binding domain of PpWRKY33 specifically recognized the W-box in the <ce:italic>PpNR</ce:italic> promoter. Transient overexpression of <ce:italic>PpWRKY33</ce:italic> in tobacco leaves and peach fruit increased <ce:italic>NR</ce:italic> expression, NR activity, and NO content. Furthermore, H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S (400−800 μmol · L<ce:sup loc=\"post\">−1</ce:sup> NaHS) enhanced S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) activity <ce:italic>in vitro</ce:italic> in a concentration-dependent manner. Flexible molecular docking indicated that H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S-derived persulfidation at the cysteine 271 (Cys271) of PpGSNOR altered the structure and electrostatic potential of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-ligand pocket, promoting NADH-PpGSNOR interactions for scavenging excess NO. Our findings uncover a fine-tuning mechanism for NO homeostasis in which H<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf>S coordinately activates the PpWRKY33-<ce:italic>PpNR</ce:italic> pathway and NADH-dependent PpGSNOR activity, enhancing cold tolerance of peach fruit.","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146209541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating transcriptomics and metabolomics to reveal how PBAT/PLA humic acid biodegradable mulch film promotes tomato ripening and improves nutritional quality in protected cultivation","authors":"Kun Li, Ying Duan, Jianyu Li, Hongyuan Song, Ying Han, Yune Cao, Mintao Sun, Jun Wang, Yansu Li, Yan Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2025.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13178,"journal":{"name":"Horticultural Plant Journal","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146209542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}