Molecular Plant最新文献

{"title":"Deciphering plant phenotypic plasticity with AI-powered citizen science.","authors":"Zoran Nikoloski","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.07.020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.07.020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":" ","pages":"1766-1768"},"PeriodicalIF":32.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148585004","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":"PLATO: A new benchmark for phase separation prediction.","authors":"Qiyu Liang, Weibo Gao, Yansong Miao","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.07.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.07.015","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":" ","pages":"1743-1745"},"PeriodicalIF":32.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148536412","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":"Strigolactones constrain rice drought acclimation by suppressing ROS scavenging through the D53–OsWRKY31–ZFP36 module","authors":"Qianqian Li,Yi Wang,Jijun Yan,Liquan Kou,Hao Zhang,Jinhua Yang,Qingliang Hu,Yanshuo Guo,Xinwei Ban,Nan Luo,Peiyong Xin,Yanhui Jing,Xiangbing Meng,Shujing Cheng,Simao Liu,Guanfu Fu,Yuexing Wang,Lei Wang,Xiaoguang Lei,Jinfang Chu,Jiayang Li,Bing Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"Strigolactones (SLs) are a class of plant hormones essential for tiller development and yield under diverse environmental conditions. Drought is a major limiting factor for rice yields. Although SLs contribute to drought resistance, mechanisms and practical applications of SL pathway in drought acclimation of rice remain poorly understood. Our study shows that short-term dehydration represses SL biosynthesis in rice roots. Genetic assays indicate that disruption of SL biosynthesis or signaling elevates rice drought resistance, whereas SL signaling activation or supplementation with the SL analog GR244DO impairs drought resistance. SLs negatively regulate drought acclimation by promoting degradation of the repressor protein DWARF53 (D53). D53 interacts with the transcription factor OsWRKY31 via its N-terminal domain and suppresses the protein level of OsWRKY31, which binds to and represses transcription of the ZFP36 promoter. ZFP36 encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor that promotes H2O2 scavenging to sustain reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis during drought stress. Notably, the drought-resistant upland rice variety IRAT109 exhibits lower SL levels in root exudates than the lowland rice variety Nipponbare (NP). Genome editing of key components in SL pathway enhances drought resistance in NP, Huazhan (HZ), and IRAT109. The agronomic potential of tuning SL biosynthesis is further supported by the elite D17/HTD1 allele, which weakens SL biosynthesis and improves drought resistance and grain yield in Nekken 2 (NK2) under field conditions. These findings uncover a key mechanism underlying SL-repressed drought acclimation in rice and provide an effective strategy to improve drought resistance in diverse rice varieties amid ongoing climate change.","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":27.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148877406","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":"Why is the chloroplast redox regulatory machinery so complex?","authors":"Juan M. Pérez-Ruiz,Francisco Javier Cejudo","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"Dithiol-disulfide exchange of cysteine residues has deep effects on protein conformation, hence on enzyme activity, which is the basis of redox regulation. The redox state of cells, including cellular compartments, is dynamically adjusted by reducing, i.e. NAD(P)H, and oxidizing signals, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated during metabolic activity. Among ROS, H2O2 triggers the oxidation of cysteine thiols and the formation of disulfide bridges, thus having a relevant contribution to redox regulation. Disulfide reduction is catalyzed by thioredoxins (Trxs), small polypeptides with a characteristic structure, the Trx fold, and an active site formed by the WCGPC motif, or variants of this motif. In heterotrophic organisms, Trxs are reduced by NADPH via an NADPH-dependent Trx reductase (NTR), defining a relatively simple two-component system formed by one or two NTRs and, at most, three Trxs. In contrast, photosynthetic organisms harbor complex redox regulatory machinery. Redox regulation is remarkably complex in plant chloroplasts, organelles equipped with more than 20 Trxs, which rely on two sources of reducing power: photosynthetically reduced ferredoxin (FdxRED), via a Fdx-dependent Trx reductase (FTR); and NADPH, the electron donor to NTRC, an enzyme containing NTR and Trx domains, exclusively found in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. Thus, the long-standing question is why chloroplasts require such complex redox regulatory machinery. Here, we propose a model of chloroplast redox regulation based on the interplay between reducing and oxidizing branches. Moreover, we propose that the complex chloroplast redox regulatory machinery allows the continuous fine-tuning of photosynthetic performance in response to the unpredictable changes of light intensity that plants face in their natural environments.","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":27.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148877408","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":"Natural thermometers: chloroplasts as heat sensors","authors":"Jesse D. Woodson","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"All organisms need to sense their surroundings and respond. This is especially true for plants, which are rooted to the ground and must contend with daily fluctuations of both above- and belowground environments. Of these, temperature is perhaps the most variable, with shifts throughout the day and microenvironments that affect one part of the plant differently from another (e.g., a leaf in the canopy vs. one in the shade). Heat stress is of particular concern and negatively affects basic cellular processes including protein folding and function, membrane fluidity, and cytoskeletal organization. The resulting dysfunctions impair growth through metabolic imbalances and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). As such, plants have evolved numerous genetic and cellular mechanisms to sense heat and mitigate the adverse effects. Much progress has been made on understanding thermoprotective mechanisms, but how plants initially sense heat stress is still poorly understood. It is becoming clear, however, that multiple overlapping mechanisms are important (Hayes et al., 2021). For instance, photoreceptors, the circadian clock evening complex, RNA-based temperature switches, epigenetic mechanisms involving histone methylation, and the unfolded protein response can respond to heat and affect plant growth and development. More recent research has demonstrated that chloroplasts (specialized plastids that perform photosynthesis in plants and algae) also play important roles in sensing heat. These organelles are ideal temperature sensors for the cell as photosynthesis is particularly susceptible to heat. Under increased temperatures, it will rapidly produce ROS and other metabolites that can act as stress signaling molecules. In support of this model, two recent studies have revealed novel post-translational mechanisms within chloroplasts that allow cells to monitor heat stress and initiate a response. In the first, it was demonstrated that heat-induction of the toxic metabolite methylglyoxal (MG) affects thermotolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana by modifying the chloroplast protein import machinery, thereby reducing chloroplast function and photosynthesis (Ding et al., 2026)","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":27.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148877407","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 digital map of homologous gene clusters across Poaceae species unveils the complex evolutionary trajectories of genes in Triticeae.","authors":"Xiaoming Xie, Yongming Chen, Yuqi Zhang, Zihao Wang, Yibo Wang, Peng Zhao, Huiru Peng, Chaojie Xie, Yingyin Yao, Zhongfu Ni, Qixin Sun, Weilong Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gene origin, duplication, and loss are key drivers that shape genome evolution, phenotypic diversification, and plant adaptation. Nevertheless, the fine-scale evolutionary trajectories of genes within their local genomic contexts across diverse genera remain poorly characterized. Here, we developed an approach, GoldMiner, that uses homologous gene clusters (HOCs) as evolutionary units for investigating gene evolution and enables hierarchical alignment of pan-genomic HOCs across species and genera. We constructed a genus-level pangenomic map of half a million indexed HOCs across 248 diploid genomes from 25 Poaceae species. We found that most newborn HOCs were derived from existing homologous HOCs. The newborn HOCs in Triticeae were strongly associated with stress response and defense pathways. Two-thirds of Triticeae HOCs, including those containing NLR genes, underwent substantial expansions during evolution, contributing to disease resistance in wheat and barley. Genomic redundancy between wheat subgenomes drives HOC loss associated with genetic variation of wheat populations. We dissected seed storage protein (SSP) gene evolution at two scales: inter-HOC turnover, which governs the origin and amplification of distinct loci across Triticeae, and intra-HOC divergence, which drives functional diversification among paralogous copies. Finally, an interactive web platform, waGOLD (https://wheat.cau.edu.cn/TGT/waGOLD), was developed for the community to explore evolutionary trajectories of HOCs. Overall, we presented a digital atlas of gene evolution for Poaceae species as a resource that opens new avenues for fine-scale gene family evolution and provides a practical framework for constructing genus-level gene-based pangenomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148851057","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":"Identification of COSR1 and COSR2 as hypoosmotic-activated Ca²⁺-permeable channels that are critical for submergence tolerance and post-drought recovery in Arabidopsis.","authors":"Zebin Liu, Qi Niu, Yuxin Dong, Menghao Xu, Jianghao Wu, Lei Gao, Changxin Feng, Yujia Sun, Jiaxuan Zhang, Dongdong Kong, Liangyu Liu, Qifei Gao, Wenzhi Lan, Congcong Hou, Wang Tian, Haiwen Zhang, Zhijie Ren, Sheng Luan, Legong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drought recovery and submergence confer hypoosmotic stress that disrupts plant cellular homeostasis and compromises growth and survival. Although calcium signaling serves as a central hub for plant adaptation to osmotic perturbations, the molecular mechanisms underlying hypoosmotic responses remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified COSR1 (Calcium-permeable Osmotic Stress Response 1) and its homolog COSR2 as Ca²⁺-permeable channels that are activated by hypoosmotic stimuli. Genetic analyses revealed that COSR1 plays a predominant role, with COSR2 serving a secondary compensatory role, as the cosr1 cosr2 double mutant exhibited substantially more severe phenotypes than either single mutant under post-drought recovery and submergence. Calcium imaging further demonstrated that COSR1 and COSR2 collectively mediate the second spike of hypoosmotic-induced Ca²⁺ influx, which is closely associated with TCH2/TCH4 induction and stress tolerance. Together, our work establishes that COSR1 and COSR2 are key components of the hypoosmotic-responsive signaling machinery that translates post-drought recovery and submergence-induced osmotic stress into Ca²⁺ signals, providing novel targets for improving crop resilience.</p>","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819000","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":"Plant m⁶A writers, erasers, and readers.","authors":"Peizhe Song, Lixiang Liu, Guifang Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":32.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819006","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":"Integrative Regulation of Drought Escape through ABA-Dependent and -Independent Pathways in Rice","authors":"Hao Du,Fei Huang,Nai Wu,Xianghua Li,Honghong Hu,Lizhong Xiong","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":27.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148805905","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 TORC-SnRK Axis: An Integrative Signaling Framework Balancing Growth and Stress Responses in Plants","authors":"Gao-Jia Yan,Qiu-Yan Yang,Yu-Song Liu,Jian Li,Hui Xue,Sheng Luan,Kun-Lun Li","doi":"10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2026.08.018","url":null,"abstract":"As sessile organisms, plants must continuously balance growth and stress adaptation in response to fluctuating environments. This balance is largely governed by two evolutionarily conserved kinase systems, the Target of Rapamycin Complex (TORC) and Snf1-Related Kinases (SnRKs). Under favorable conditions, plants adopt a “growth mode” in which sufficient nutrients, energy, and growth-promoting hormones activate TORC to drive anabolic metabolism, cell proliferation, and biomass accumulation. By contrast, under adverse conditions such as energy limitation, nutrient deprivation, and other environmental stresses, plants shift to an “adaptation mode” in which stress-associated cues, including low ATP, stress hormones (e.g., ABA), and Ca2+ transients activate distinct SnRK modules (SnRK1, SnRK2, and SnRK3/CIPKs) to promote catabolic reprogramming and enhance stress tolerance. Recent advances support a unifying model in which TORC and SnRKs reciprocally regulate each other, enabling plants to switch between growth and adaptation. In this review, we summarize how diverse growth-associated signals converge on TORC and how stress-specific signaling inputs selectively activate SnRK modules, and we highlight recent progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying TORC-SnRK crosstalk. We propose that the TORC-SnRK axis serves as a central signaling module that integrates energy, hormonal, and Ca2+ signals to coordinate growth and stress responses. This conceptual framework facilitates a mechanistic understanding on how plants optimize fitness in fluctuating environments and offers potential strategies for improving crop performance through targeted manipulation of this regulatory network.","PeriodicalId":19012,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Plant","volume":"348 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":27.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148768869","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}