Nature Plants最新文献

{"title":"Co-designing biology and technology unlocks automated plant breeding","authors":"Yasmine T. D. Lam, Lee Hickey","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02117-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02117-3","url":null,"abstract":"A novel approach combines CRISPR-mediated modifications with robotic automation to transform cross-pollination from labour-intensive handwork into a seamless automated process.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145035113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Highly protected areas buffer against aridity thresholds in global drylands","authors":"Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, David J. Eldridge, Youzhi Feng, Jianwei Zhang, Emilio Guirado","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02099-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02099-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Drylands are highly vulnerable to global-scale aridity thresholds that cause drastic reductions in their productivity. While protected areas may help buffer against the impact of aridification, their effectiveness in mitigating the aridity thresholds across global drylands remains virtually unknown. Here we assembled a global dataset of drylands and found that highly protected areas, which include national parks and wilderness areas, can buffer the emergence of aridity thresholds in ecosystem productivity by up to 0.15 units of aridity. This suggests that, in highly protected regions, drylands must become substantially drier before reaching an aridity-induced threshold in ecosystem productivity. The importance of highly protected area for supporting drylands was consistent across 23 years of study, in woody and non-woody ecosystems and after accounting for rangelands. Notably, only 3.3% of all drylands were under The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category I high levels of protection such as wilderness areas, with 3.8% being protected under IUCN category II (for example, national parks). Overall, our findings highlight the crucial role of highly protected areas in maintaining productive dryland ecosystem in the face of global aridity thresholds, and further stress the need for increasing the level of protection to ensure the conservation of drylands under predicted climate changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Broad-spectrum clubroot resistance","authors":"Jun Lyu","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02120-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02120-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1703-1703"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The dilemma of global dryland management","authors":"Lixin Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02102-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02102-w","url":null,"abstract":"When aridity levels exceed a threshold, dryland vegetation productivity decreases dramatically. A new global study shows that high levels of protection within conservation areas enhance the capacity of drylands to withstand more drying, significantly advancing the aridity threshold. This finding highlights the dilemma of global dryland management, that is, whether we should prioritize protection or continue dryland development.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Laboratory evolution of Rubisco solubility and catalytic switches to enhance plant productivity","authors":"Matteo Gionfriddo,&nbsp;Rosemary Birch,&nbsp;Timothy Rhodes,&nbsp;Sally Buck,&nbsp;Tanya Skinner,&nbsp;Inger Andersson,&nbsp;Spencer Whitney","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02093-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02093-8","url":null,"abstract":"A new Escherichia coli laboratory evolution screen for detecting plant ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) mutations with enhanced CO2-fixation capacity has identified substitutions that can enhance plant productivity. Selected were a large subunit catalytic (Met-116-Leu) mutation that increases the kcatc of varying plant Rubiscos by 25% to 40% and a solubility (Ala-242-Val) mutation that improves plant Rubisco biogenesis in E. coli 2- to 10-fold. Plastome transformation of either mutation into the tobacco plastome rbcL gene had no impact on leaf Rubisco production, photosynthesis or plant growth. However, tobacco transformed with low-abundance hybrid Arabidopsis Rubisco coding M116L improved plant exponential growth rate by ~75% relative to unmutated hybrid enzyme, with the A242V substitution increasing both hybrid Rubisco production and plant growth by ~50%. Our identification of mutations with the potential to enhance plant growth bodes well for broadening the survey of Rubisco sequence space for catalytic switches that can impart more substantive plant productivity improvements. This study demonstrates the power of directed evolution to unlock latent functional potential in plant Rubisco. By identifying mutations that enhance CO2 fixation and solubility, it advances avenues for improving crop photosynthesis and productivity.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1939-1950"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contrasting age-dependent leaf acclimation strategies drive vegetation greening across deciduous broadleaf forests in mid- to high latitudes","authors":"Fangyi Wang,&nbsp;Meimei Xue,&nbsp;Liming Zhou,&nbsp;Christopher E. Doughty,&nbsp;Philippe Ciais,&nbsp;Peter B. Reich,&nbsp;Jiali Shang,&nbsp;Jing Ming Chen,&nbsp;Jane Liu,&nbsp;Julia K. Green,&nbsp;Dalei Hao,&nbsp;Shengli Tao,&nbsp;Yanjun Su,&nbsp;Lingli Liu,&nbsp;Jianyang Xia,&nbsp;Han Wang,&nbsp;Kailiang Yu,&nbsp;Zaichun Zhu,&nbsp;Peng Zhu,&nbsp;Xing Li,&nbsp;Hui Liu,&nbsp;Yelu Zeng,&nbsp;Kai Yan,&nbsp;Liyang Liu,&nbsp;Raffaele Lafortezza,&nbsp;Yongxian Su,&nbsp;Yanqiong Meng,&nbsp;Yixuan Pan,&nbsp;Xueqin Yang,&nbsp;Yongshuo H. Fu,&nbsp;Nianpeng He,&nbsp;Wenping Yuan,&nbsp;Xiuzhi Chen","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02096-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02096-5","url":null,"abstract":"Increasing leaf area and extending vegetation growing seasons are two primary drivers of global greening, which has emerged as one of the most significant responses to climate change. However, it remains unclear how these two leaf acclimation strategies would vary across forests at a large spatial scale. Here, using multiple satellite-based datasets and field measurements, we analysed the temporal changes (Δ) in maximal leaf area index (LAImax) and length of the growing season (LOS) from 2002 to 2021 across deciduous broadleaf forests (DBFs) in the middle to high latitudes. Contrary to the widely held assumption of coordination, our results revealed a negative correlation between ΔLAImax and ΔLOS. Notably, the trade-offs between ΔLAImax and ΔLOS were strongly explained by stand age. Younger DBFs, with lower baseline LAImax, predominantly located in eastern Asia, displayed an increase in LAImax with small changes in LOS. This acquisitive strategy facilitated younger DBFs to grow more photosynthetically efficient leaves with low leaf mass per area, enhancing their light use efficiency. Conversely, older DBFs with a higher baseline LAImax, primarily located in North America and Europe, extended their LOS by increasing leaf mass per area. This conservative strategy facilitated older DBFs to produce thicker, but less photosynthetically efficient leaves, resulting in decreased light use efficiency. Our findings offer new insights into the contrasting changes in leaf area and growing season length and highlight their divergent impacts on ecosystem functioning. This study reports age-dependent negative correlations between temporal changes in maximal leaf area index and growing season length, indicating contrasting leaf acclimation strategies driving vegetation greening in young versus old deciduous broadleaf forests.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1748-1758"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145009277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Naturally impaired side-chain shortening of aromatic 3-ketoacyl-CoAs reveals the biosynthetic pathway of plant acetophenones","authors":"Rui Zhai,&nbsp;Hongjuan Zhang,&nbsp;Yinpeng Xie,&nbsp;Shichao Zhang,&nbsp;Fengli Zhou,&nbsp;Xuan Du,&nbsp;Weifeng Chen,&nbsp;YanFang Yan,&nbsp;Jing Zhang,&nbsp;Pengmin Li,&nbsp;Ross Atkinson,&nbsp;Zhigang Wang,&nbsp;Chengquan Yang,&nbsp;Qingmei Guan,&nbsp;Fengwang Ma,&nbsp;Lingfei Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02082-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02082-x","url":null,"abstract":"Acetophenones, which show scattered distribution across phylogenetically distant plants and fungi, play diverse roles in plant–plant, plant–insect, plant–microbiome and even animal–insect interactions. However, the enzymatic basis of acetophenone biosynthesis in plants remains unknown. Here we elucidate the complete biosynthetic pathway of picein (4-hydroxyacetophenone glucoside) from 4-coumaroyl-CoA using pear (Pyrus) as a study system. We demonstrate that in certain pear cultivars, the acetophenone moiety originates from an impaired side-chain shortening reaction of an aromatic 3-ketoacyl-CoA intermediate, a key step in the β-oxidative biosynthesis of benzoic acid. This impairment results from a loss-of-function mutation in a peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase. The accumulated aromatic 3-ketoacyl-CoA is subsequently hydrolysed by a thioesterase and undergoes spontaneous decarboxylation to yield the acetophenone moiety. This rare metabolic phenomenon highlights that not only neofunctionalization but also loss-of-function mutations can drive diversification in plant secondary metabolism. Forward genetic approaches are powerful to shed light on such ‘hidden’ or recessive pathways in plants. Using pear as a study system, the biosynthetic pathway of acetophenones has been elucidated: naturally impaired side-chain shortening of aromatic 3-ketoacyl-CoAs leads them to undergo hydrolysis, followed by decarboxylation, to yield acetophenones.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1903-1919"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrogen enhances post-drought recovery in wheat by modulating TaSnRK2.10-mediated regulation of TaNLP7","authors":"Junyi Mu,&nbsp;Honglei Wang,&nbsp;Dongzhi Wang,&nbsp;Fan Yang,&nbsp;Jinyang Lyu,&nbsp;Xin Yang,&nbsp;Na Sun,&nbsp;Guolan Zheng,&nbsp;Runxiang Zhou,&nbsp;Bo Xu,&nbsp;Sijie Xing,&nbsp;Chao Han,&nbsp;Guang-Min Xia,&nbsp;Genying Li,&nbsp;Jun Xiao,&nbsp;Min Fan,&nbsp;Ming-Yi Bai","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02083-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02083-w","url":null,"abstract":"Drought stress affects plant growth and agricultural production, especially in the context of global climate change. Post-drought rehydration is crucial for plant recovery and sustained growth, yet the mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. Nitrogen fertilizer plays a role in optimizing plant growth and enhancing stress resistance, but its role in post-drought recovery has not been fully elucidated. Here we demonstrate that nitrogen enhances post-drought recovery in wheat by modulating TaSnRK2.10-mediated regulation of TaNLP7. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that nitrogen supplementation increased the positive effects of rewatering on gene expression. Nitrogen inhibits the activity of TaSnRK2.10, a kinase involved in abscisic acid signalling. TaSnRK2.10 interacts with and phosphorylates TaNLP7-3A, a master regulator of the nitrate signalling pathway, reducing its nuclear localization and stability. This phosphorylation event suppresses genes involved in nitrate response, inhibiting nitrate-induced growth. Analysis of the nitrogen response levels in a wheat natural population revealed that transcriptional levels of the two haplotypes of TaSnRK2.10-4A respond differently to abscisic acid and nitrate, providing insights into the selection of wheat varieties that may be better suited for different environmental conditions to optimize yield. Nitrogen promotes wheat’s recovery after drought stress through the TaSnRK2.10-TaNLP7 module. This breakthrough connects drought-stress signalling with nitrate response pathways, providing a genetic framework for developing climate-resilient crops.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1810-1826"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolic flux analysis in leaf metabolism quantifies the link between photorespiration and one carbon metabolism","authors":"Kelem Gashu,&nbsp;Joshua A. M. Kaste,&nbsp;Sanja Roje,&nbsp;Berkley J. Walker","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02091-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02091-w","url":null,"abstract":"Photorespiration is the second largest carbon flux in most leaves and is integrated into metabolism broadly including one-carbon (C1) metabolism. Photorespiratory intermediates such as serine and others may serve as sources of C1 units, but it is unclear to what degree this happens in vivo, whether altered photorespiration changes flux to C1 metabolism, and if so through which intermediates. To clarify these questions, we quantified carbon flux from photorespiration to C1 metabolism using 13CO2 labelling and isotopically non-stationary metabolic flux analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana under different O2 concentrations which modulate photorespiration. The results revealed that ~5.8% of assimilated carbon passes to C1 metabolism under ambient photorespiratory conditions, but this flux greatly decreases under limited photorespiration. Furthermore, the primary carbon flux from photorespiration to C1 metabolism is through serine. Our results provide fundamental insight into how photorespiration is integrated into C1 metabolism, with possible implications for C1 metabolic response to climate change. This paper quantified carbon flux between two major plant metabolisms—photorespiration and C1 metabolism—using 13CO2 labelling and isotopically non-stationary metabolic flux analysis.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 9","pages":"1877-1889"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Structural basis of CAX1 autoinhibition by its amino-terminal domain in Arabidopsis thaliana","authors":"Kun Wang, Chunhui Ma, Guanglin Chen, Zhisen Yang, Yongxiang Gao, Zhiyong Zhang, Xin Liu, Linfeng Sun","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02104-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02104-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Calcium homeostasis is tightly regulated due to the essential roles of calcium ions (Ca²⁺) in various cellular processes. CAX1 in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> (AtCAX1) serves as a Ca²⁺/H⁺ exchanger transporting excess cytosolic Ca²⁺ into the vacuole, which is modulated by kinase phosphorylation in response to diverse signals. However, the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Here we present the structures of wild-type AtCAX1 in an inactivated state and a phosphomimetic mutant in an activated state. In the wild-type structure, the amino-terminal region forms an α-helix that blocks the transport tunnel, thus inhibiting its transport activity. In contrast, in the phosphomimetic mutant structure, this blocking helix is released from the tunnel, leading to AtCAX1 activation. Conformational changes are also observed in the transmembrane domain. Together, these findings provide insights into the transport mechanism of the Ca²⁺/H⁺ exchangers and set up a basis for future studies of the regulation of calcium homeostasis in plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144927923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}