Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-18DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01948-4
Yuchao Yan, Songbai Hong, Anping Chen, Josep Peñuelas, Craig D. Allen, William M. Hammond, Seth M. Munson, Ranga B. Myneni, Shilong Piao
{"title":"Satellite-based evidence of recent decline in global forest recovery rate from tree mortality events","authors":"Yuchao Yan, Songbai Hong, Anping Chen, Josep Peñuelas, Craig D. Allen, William M. Hammond, Seth M. Munson, Ranga B. Myneni, Shilong Piao","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01948-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01948-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate-driven forest mortality events have been extensively observed in recent decades, prompting the question of how quickly these affected forests can recover their functionality following such events. Here we assessed forest recovery in vegetation greenness (normalized difference vegetation index) and canopy water content (normalized difference infrared index) for 1,699 well-documented forest mortality events across 1,600 sites worldwide. By analysing 158,427 Landsat surface reflectance images sampled from these sites, we provided a global assessment on the time required for impacted forests to return to their pre-mortality state (recovery time). Our findings reveal a consistent decline in global forest recovery rate over the past decades indicated by both greenness and canopy water content. This decline is particularly noticeable since the 1990s. Further analysis on underlying mechanisms suggests that this reduction in global forest recovery rates is primarily associated with rising temperatures and increased water scarcity, while the escalation in the severity of forest mortality contributes only partially to this reduction. Moreover, our global-scale analysis reveals that the recovery of forest canopy water content lags significantly behind that of vegetation greenness, implying that vegetation indices based solely on greenness can overestimate post-mortality recovery rates globally. Our findings underscore the increasing vulnerability of forest ecosystems to future warming and water insufficiency, accentuating the need to prioritize forest conservation and restoration as an integral component of efforts to mitigate climate change impacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847272","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-17DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01986-y
David Hobby, Hao Tong, Marc Heuermann, Alain J. Mbebi, Roosa A. E. Laitinen, Matteo Dell’Acqua, Thomas Altmann, Zoran Nikoloski
{"title":"Predicting plant trait dynamics from genetic markers","authors":"David Hobby, Hao Tong, Marc Heuermann, Alain J. Mbebi, Roosa A. E. Laitinen, Matteo Dell’Acqua, Thomas Altmann, Zoran Nikoloski","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01986-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01986-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Molecular and physiological changes across crop developmental stages shape the plant phenome and render its prediction from genetic markers challenging. Here we present dynamicGP, an efficient computational approach that combines genomic prediction with dynamic mode decomposition to characterize the temporal changes and to predict genotype-specific dynamics for multiple morphometric, geometric and colourimetric traits scored by high-throughput phenotyping. Using genetic markers and data from high-throughput phenotyping of a maize multiparent advanced generation inter-cross population and an <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> diversity panel, we show that dynamicGP outperforms a baseline genomic prediction approach for the multiple traits. We demonstrate that the developmental dynamics of traits whose heritability varies less over time can be predicted with higher accuracy. The approach paves the way for interrogating and integrating the dynamical interactions between genotype and environment over plant development to improve the prediction accuracy of agronomically relevant traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143841318","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":"Enrichment of two important metabolites d-galacturonic acid and d-glucuronic acid inhibits MdHb1-mediated fruit softening in apple","authors":"Yu-Wen Zhao, Ting-Ting Zhao, Quan Sun, Xiao-Long Liu, Xiao-Yu Huang, Lin-Guang Li, Hai-Bo Wang, Wan-Kun Li, Chu-Kun Wang, Wen-Yan Wang, Ying Xiang, Chang-Ning Ma, Xue-Sen Chen, Lailiang Cheng, Da-Gang Hu","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01964-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01964-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In apples, fruit firmness is a crucial quality trait influencing fruit storability, transportability, shelf life and consumer preference. However, the genetic network underlying this trait remains unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the changes in apple fruit at different stages of postharvest storage using a combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. With prolonged storage, we detected a significant increase in two metabolites, <span>d</span>-galacturonic acid (<span>d</span>-GalUA) and <span>d</span>-glucuronic acid (<span>d</span>-GlcA), which are associated with a key class 1 non-symbiotic haemoglobin (MdHb1). We innovatively found that MdHb1 regulates fruit softening by catalysing the conversion from protopectin to water-soluble pectin. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that MdMYB2/MdNAC14/MdNTL9 transcription factors directly bind to the <i>MdHb1</i> promoter to activate its transcriptional expression and promote fruit softening. Further injection experiments in apple fruit and histological as well as transmission electron microscopy analyses of the fruit samples revealed that <span>d</span>-GalUA and <span>d</span>-GlcA reduce the transcription of <i>MdHb1</i>, or through the MdMYB2/MdNAC14/MdNTL9-MdHb1 regulatory module, thereby delaying fruit softening. Our study provides novel insights into the role of two important metabolites, <span>d</span>-GalUA and <span>d</span>-GlcA, in the regulation of MdHb1-mediated fruit softening in apples.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143841319","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-16DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01979-x
Pirita Paajanen, Melissa Tomkins, Franziska Hoerbst, Ruth Veevers, Michelle Heeney, Hannah Rae Thomas, Federico Apelt, Eleftheria Saplaoura, Saurabh Gupta, Margaret Frank, Dirk Walther, Christine Faulkner, Julia Kehr, Friedrich Kragler, Richard J. Morris
{"title":"Re-analysis of mobile mRNA datasets raises questions about the extent of long-distance mRNA communication","authors":"Pirita Paajanen, Melissa Tomkins, Franziska Hoerbst, Ruth Veevers, Michelle Heeney, Hannah Rae Thomas, Federico Apelt, Eleftheria Saplaoura, Saurabh Gupta, Margaret Frank, Dirk Walther, Christine Faulkner, Julia Kehr, Friedrich Kragler, Richard J. Morris","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01979-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01979-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Short-read RNA-seq studies of grafted plants have led to the proposal that thousands of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) move over long distances between plant tissues<sup>1,2,3,4,5,6,7</sup>, potentially acting as signals<sup>8,9,10,11,12</sup>. Transport of mRNAs between cells and tissues has been shown to play a role in several physiological and developmental processes in plants, such as tuberization<sup>13</sup>, leaf development<sup>14</sup> and meristem maintenance<sup>15</sup>; yet for most mobile mRNAs, the biological relevance of transport remains to be determined<sup>16,17,18,19</sup>. Here we perform a meta-analysis of existing mobile mRNA datasets and examine the associated bioinformatic pipelines. Taking technological noise, biological variation, potential contamination and incomplete genome assemblies into account, we find that a high percentage of currently annotated graft-mobile transcripts are left without statistical support from available RNA-seq data. This meta-analysis challenges the findings of previous studies and current views on mRNA communication.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143836630","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-14DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01981-3
Szymon Czyżewski, Jens-Christian Svenning
{"title":"Temperate forest plants are associated with heterogeneous semi-open canopy conditions shaped by large herbivores","authors":"Szymon Czyżewski, Jens-Christian Svenning","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01981-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01981-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Temperate forest plant diversity is declining despite increasing conservation efforts. The closed forest paradigm, emphasizing dense, continuous canopy cover, dominates current forest management strategies. However, this approach may overlook the historical role of large herbivores in maintaining semi-open forest conditions. Here we analyse the light and herbivory preferences of 917 native temperate forest plant species across central and western Europe, comparing these preferences with light availability in untouched closed-canopy forests and pasture woodlands. Plant species are 0.1–10 Myr old, with phylogenetic conservatism in habitat affinities (niche optima); thus, their distribution reflects long-term environmental states. We found that most temperate forest plants favour heterogeneous, semi-open-canopy conditions associated with high large-herbivore impacts, rather than uniform closed-canopy environments. On the basis of Red List criteria, high-affinity forest plants associated with higher herbivory and lower herbaceous biomass face higher extinction risk, indicating that low large-herbivore densities drive extinctions in present-day forests. These results align with palaeoecological evidence and high biodiversity in modern open woodlands, suggesting that closed-canopy dominance is a recent consequence of human-driven herbivore loss. Recognizing the role of large herbivores in maintaining semi-open vegetation offers new insights for biodiversity conservation and challenges the suitability of closed-canopy models in forest management.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143827675","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-14DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01997-9
Alessandro Chiarucci
{"title":"Habitat affinities of European temperate forest plants","authors":"Alessandro Chiarucci","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01997-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01997-9","url":null,"abstract":"Human-driven extinction of large herbivores across Europe has had marked effects on forest structure and dynamics, creating a mismatch between current environmental conditions and those in which plants evolved. Strategies for long-term preservation of plant biodiversity should therefore consider the role of large herbivores in shaping local and regional species assemblages.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"183 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143827648","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01975-1
Martijn de Roij, Jorge Hernández García, Shubhajit Das, Jan Willem Borst, Dolf Weijers
{"title":"ARF degradation defines a deeply conserved step in auxin response","authors":"Martijn de Roij, Jorge Hernández García, Shubhajit Das, Jan Willem Borst, Dolf Weijers","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01975-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01975-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In land plants, the signalling molecule auxin profoundly controls growth and development, chiefly through a transcriptional response system. The auxin response is mediated by modulating the activity of DNA-binding auxin response factor (ARF) proteins. The concentrations and stoichiometry of the competing A- and B-class ARFs define cells’ capacity for auxin response. In the minimal auxin response system of the liverwort <i>Marchantia polymorpha</i>, both A- and B-ARFs are unstable, but the underlying mechanisms, developmental relevance and evolutionary history of this instability are unknown. Here we identify a minimal motif that is necessary for MpARF2 (B-class) degradation and show that it is critical for development and the auxin response. Through comparative analysis and motif swaps among all ARF classes in extant algae and land plants, we infer that the emergence of ARF instability probably occurred in the ancestor of the A- and B-ARF clades and, therefore, preceded or coincided with the origin of the auxin response system.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"183 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143819161","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01973-3
Michael J. Prigge, Nicholas Morffy, Amber de Neve, Whitnie Szutu, María Jazmín Abraham-Juárez, Trisha McAllister, Heather Jones, Kjel Johnson, Nicole Do, Meirav Lavy, Sarah Hake, Lucia C. Strader, Mark Estelle, Annis E. Richardson
{"title":"Comparative mutant analyses reveal a novel mechanism of ARF regulation in land plants","authors":"Michael J. Prigge, Nicholas Morffy, Amber de Neve, Whitnie Szutu, María Jazmín Abraham-Juárez, Trisha McAllister, Heather Jones, Kjel Johnson, Nicole Do, Meirav Lavy, Sarah Hake, Lucia C. Strader, Mark Estelle, Annis E. Richardson","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01973-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01973-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The plant hormone auxin regulates a wide variety of transcriptional responses depending on the cell type, environment and species. How this diversity is achieved may be related to the specific complement of auxin-signalling components in each cell. The levels of activators (class-A AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORS) and repressors (class-B ARFs) are particularly important. Tight regulation of ARF protein levels is probably key in determining this balance. Through comparative analysis of novel, dominant mutants in maize and the moss <i>Physcomitrium patens</i>, we have discovered a ~500-million-year-old mechanism of class-B ARF protein-level regulation mediated by proteasome degradation, important in determining cell fate decisions across land plants. Thus, our results add a key piece to the puzzle of how auxin regulates plant development.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143819162","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01983-1
Chen Xu, Ke Ke Gao, Meng Qi Cui, Yu Xuan Wang, Ze Yu Cen, Ji Ming Xu, Yun Rong Wu, Wo Na Ding, Jing Ying Yan, Gui Xin Li, Moussa Benhamed, Chong Wei Jin, Shao Jian Zheng, Zhong Jie Ding
{"title":"The PP2CH- and PBL27-mediated phosphorylation switch of aluminium ion receptor PSKR1/ALR1 controls plant aluminum sensing ability","authors":"Chen Xu, Ke Ke Gao, Meng Qi Cui, Yu Xuan Wang, Ze Yu Cen, Ji Ming Xu, Yun Rong Wu, Wo Na Ding, Jing Ying Yan, Gui Xin Li, Moussa Benhamed, Chong Wei Jin, Shao Jian Zheng, Zhong Jie Ding","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01983-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01983-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The ability of plants to sense toxic and nutrient ions is critical for their growth and survival, yet how this ability is regulated remains largely unknown. We previously identified the receptor-like kinase PSKR1/ALR1 (ALR1) in <i>Arabidopsis</i> as a receptor that senses phytotoxic aluminium (Al) ions, which cause severe crop yield loss and forest decline on acidic soils widely distributed over the world. Here we further show that the phosphorylation status of specific Ser residues in ALR1(Ser696/698) controls plant Al-sensing ability. ALR1(Ser696/698) phosphorylation levels are rapidly reduced by Al ions, and the dephosphorylation promotes the interaction and inter-phosphorylation of ALR1 and the BAK1 coreceptor, thereby activating STOP1-dependent Al signalling and resistance. We next identify a clade of PP2C-type phosphatases (PP2CH1 and PP2CH2) that mediate the dephosphorylation of ALR1(Ser696/698). We show that Al ions rapidly increase the protein accumulation of PP2CH1/2 and promote their interaction with ALR1. The lack of both PP2CHs notably increases the phosphorylation levels of ALR1(Ser696/698), therefore reducing the strength of Al signalling. Additionally, we found a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase, PBL27, responsible for phosphorylating ALR1(Ser696/698) and playing a negative role in the regulation of ALR1-mediated Al signalling. These findings uncover a phosphatase/kinase-mediated phosphorylation switching mechanism of ALR1 that controls plant Al-sensing ability, providing insights into ion-sensing mechanisms in living organisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143819163","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}
Nature PlantsPub Date : 2025-04-11DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-01993-z
Jun Lyu
{"title":"Re-domestication of sweet orange","authors":"Jun Lyu","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01993-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01993-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The researchers sequenced a panel of 226 citrus accessions including sour oranges, landraces and cultivated citrus, and integrated published genomes of sweet orange, pummelo and mandarin in their analyses. Unlike sweet oranges, sour oranges exhibited high genetic and metabolic diversity and high variation in susceptibility to citrus canker. Shared heterozygous genomic segments between sour and sweet oranges traced their common parentage to mandarin and pummelo lineages. Phased telomere-to-telomere genomes of sweet and sour oranges were generated, and their two haplotype genomes show close relatedness to the mandarin and pummelo genomes, respectively. Integrative kinship analysis based on nuclear and chloroplast genomes of the citrus population enabled Liu et al. to deduce that sweet orange originated by hybridization between an ancient mother sour orange and a father Ponkan mandarin, and that sour orange probably originated from another more ancient cross between wild mandarin and pummelo.</p><p>To introduce genetic diversity, the researchers, according to their origin model, crossed a canker-resistant sour orange accession with a Ponkan mandarin line. Embryo rescue yielded 892 hybrids with diverse genetic and metabolomic compositions. Three hybrids displayed high genetic and phenotypic similarity to commercial sweet oranges. These artificial sweet oranges support this model of origin.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"246 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143819358","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}