{"title":"Drastic Reduction in Cytochrome b<sub>6</sub>/f Complex Confers Robust PSI Photoprotection Under Fluctuating Light at the Expense of Photosynthetic Capacity.","authors":"Masaru Kono, Hiromasa Kodama, Keiichiro Tanigawa, Ichiro Terashima, Wataru Yamori","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70483","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70483","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plants in natural habitats frequently encounter fluctuating light (FL), which can lead to photoinhibition of Photosystem I (PSI), thereby limiting photosynthetic productivity. The cytochrome (Cyt) b<sub>6</sub>/f complex plays a pivotal role in regulating photosynthetic electron flow and influencing PSI stability in plants. However, the precise impact of a substantial reduction in Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f content on PSI photoprotection under FL and the associated trade-offs with photosynthetic capacity remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated PSI tolerance and photosynthetic performance in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lines with varying Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f levels, comparing wild-type (WT) plants to those with drastically reduced Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f content. Our results show that a marked reduction in Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f levels conferred substantial PSI photoprotection against FL-induced damage, even under extremely high light pulses. This enhanced PSI stability was attributed to the restricted electron flow towards PSI, which likely maintained P700 in a more oxidized state. However, this robust PSI protection in the plants with significantly reduced Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f levels came at a considerable cost to the overall photosynthetic capacity, as evidenced by reduced PSII efficiency (Y(II)), photochemical quenching (qL), and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) under both steady-state and fluctuating light conditions. These findings reveal a critical trade-off between PSI photoprotection and photosynthetic productivity, which is strongly modulated by the abundance of the Cyt b<sub>6</sub>/f complex. This trade-off offers key insights into plant adaptive strategies in dynamic light environments and highlights potential targets for improving crop productivity under natural light fluctuations.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70483"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12484396/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145200698","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}
Leonora Peters, Vera C Wagner, Theresa Schoeller, Sarlita Dwiani, Mareike Schallenberg-Rüdinger, Etienne H Meyer, Kristina Kühn
{"title":"PPR596 Is Required for nad2 mRNA Splicing and Complex I Biogenesis in Mitochondria of Arabidopsis thaliana.","authors":"Leonora Peters, Vera C Wagner, Theresa Schoeller, Sarlita Dwiani, Mareike Schallenberg-Rüdinger, Etienne H Meyer, Kristina Kühn","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70507","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70507","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several genes in the mitochondria of angiosperms are interrupted by introns, and their posttranscriptional excision involves numerous nucleus-encoded auxiliary factors. Most of these factors are of eukaryotic origin, among them members of the pentatricopeptide-repeat (PPR) family of RNA-binding proteins. This family divides into the PLS and P classes, with PLS-class proteins typically participating in C-to-U mRNA editing and P-class members contributing to transcript stabilization and intron splicing. The P-class protein PPR596 was previously described to be involved in mitochondrial RNA editing, with the ppr596 mutant showing moderately elevated editing of a specific, partially edited site within the rps3 mRNA. PPR596 disruption led to a substantial delay in plant development. Because the moderate change in RNA editing in the ppr596 mutant is unlikely to be the cause of its severe developmental retardation, we re-investigated mitochondrial gene expression and found that PPR596 is specifically required for the efficient excision of the third intron from the nad2 pre-mRNA. Insufficient splicing of this intron in ppr596 impairs respiratory-chain complex I biogenesis at the step of the insertion of the Nad2 subunit, thus perturbing plant development.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70507"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12420532/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145030347","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":"Comparative Study of the Mitochondrial Proteome From Mesophyll, Vascular, and Guard Cells in Response to Carbon Starvation.","authors":"Clément Boussardon, Shah Hussain, Olivier Keech","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70465","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A leaf is an organ composed of different tissues that fulfill specific functions. We hypothesized that since cells in vascular or mesophyll tissues as well as in stoma are developmentally tuned to operate their functions, mitochondria from these cells could exhibit significant metabolic differences. Using the IMTACT method, mitochondria were isolated from these three specific cell types, and the subsequent proteomes were analyzed. At steady state, mitochondria from vascular and guard cells had a significantly higher abundance of proteins associated with the mtETC, the TCA cycle, and the metabolic use of amino acids (glutamate, proline, isoleucine, leucine, and valine) as alternative substrates. Intriguingly, the mitochondria from guard cells also had a much lower abundance of proteins involved in the translation machinery, thus raising questions about the efficiency of the mitochondrial protein turnover in these cells. In a second step, we carried out the same comparative analysis, but with plants that were subjected to carbon starvation by placing them in prolonged darkness for three or 6 days. For all cell types studied, an increased abundance of proteins involved in branched-chain amino acid metabolism was detected. However, while guard cell mitochondria underwent a drastic reduction in proteins involved in respiration, translation, and RNA editing, suggesting a sharp downregulation of mitochondrial functions, mitochondrial proteomes from mesophyll and vascular cells did not show many differences, except for an increased arginine/proline/glutamate metabolism. Together, the results reported here support a differential regulation of the mitochondrial metabolism among the cell types constituting a leaf, a difference that is exacerbated upon stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70465"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12391860/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144965111","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}
Kevin Bellande, Cristovāo De Jesus Vieira Teixeira, Joop E M Vermeer
{"title":"Auxin Signaling Mediated Spatial Accommodation Mechanisms During Lateral Root Development.","authors":"Kevin Bellande, Cristovāo De Jesus Vieira Teixeira, Joop E M Vermeer","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70481","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70481","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spatial accommodation, the ability of plant tissues to adapt structurally during organogenesis, is important for the successful growth and emergence of new organs, such as lateral roots, through overlying cell layers. This process requires precise coordination between cellular architecture and physical as well as biochemical signals. As a key determinant of root system architecture, auxin is also an important regulator of spatial accommodation. Of these responses, the modulation of the cytoskeleton dynamics and cell wall remodeling across multiple tissue layers is of particular importance. Here, we focus on how auxin signaling controls these dynamics to enable tissue-scale plasticity during lateral root emergence. We also compare how these mechanisms vary across plant lineages, highlighting the differences between dicots and monocots, but also non-vascular plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70481"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12405606/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144965124","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}
Shaohui Yang, Ying Chu, Chen Wang, Ziyi Liu, Jiehua Wang
{"title":"Brassinosteroid-Mediated BraSERKs Regulation and Antioxidant Defense Enhancement Confer Cd/Zn Stress Tolerance in Chinese Cabbage.","authors":"Shaohui Yang, Ying Chu, Chen Wang, Ziyi Liu, Jiehua Wang","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70472","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70472","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Somatic embryogenesis receptor kinases (SERKs) are pivotal regulators of plant development and stress adaptation, known to integrate multiple signaling pathways, including brassinosteroid (BR)-mediated responses to coordinately modulate stress-related gene expression. While SERKs participate in biotic/abiotic stress regulation, their roles in heavy metal (HM) stress responses and BR-mediated transcriptional control under HM exposure remain unexplored. Therefore, we systematically identified 20 BraSERK genes in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. Pekinensis), revealing conserved domain architectures and stress-responsive expression patterns. Three BraSERK members (BraSERK9, 12, and 17) exhibited significant induction under Cd/Zn stress. The potential regulatory roles of BR on Chinese cabbage exposed to Cd/Zn stress were investigated in this study by exogenous spraying of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR). The results showed that EBR could significantly increase total chlorophyll content, reduce Zn/Cd translocation, increase antioxidant capacity, and thus attenuate Cd/Zn-induced toxicity. Moreover, EBR dynamically regulated BraSERKs expression in a tissue- and metal-specific manner, potentiating BraSERK12/17 induction in Zn-stressed shoots while suppressing BraSERK9. Our findings suggest that BraSERKs may contribute to BR-mediated HM adaptation, while EBR appears to play a dual protective role through both direct phytoprotection and potential modulation of SERK pathway activity under Cd/Zn co-stress conditions. This study advances our understanding of BR-mediated metal tolerance in crops, offering potential strategies to mitigate HM toxicity through targeted SERK pathway modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70472"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144965072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"CsRbohB Binds to CsCML35 and Regulates Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation and Defense Against Fusarium Wilt Disease in Cucumber.","authors":"Jun Xu, Donghao Li, Yingying Hu, Qianqian Xian, Jiatao Shen, Yuan Yao, Tingting Yuan, Xuehao Chen, Xiaohua Qi","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70549","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fusarium wilt (FW) disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Foc), severely restricts cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) growth and yield worldwide. Upon recognition of the invading pathogen, the host plant rapidly produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), which serve as a core component of the defense response. Here, we identified a plasma membrane-binding NADPH oxidase named CsRbohB and confirmed that it interacts with the calcium-binding protein CsCML35. Knockdown of CsRbohB in cucumber using an RNA interference (RNAi) method resulted in reduced ROS levels and increased susceptibility to FW. Comparative RNA sequencing analyses between the cucumber inbred line CCMC (wild type) and the CsRbohB-RNAi transgenic cucumber line inoculated with Foc revealed that hormone metabolism and defense-related genes were significantly down-regulated in the CsRbohB-RNAi line. Quantitative analyses showed that ethylene and salicylic acid levels were significantly reduced in the CsRbohB-RNAi line compared with wild type, and the activation of defense-related gene expression was also inhibited in the CsRbohB-RNAi line. Together, these results show that CsRbohB binds to CsCML35 and regulates ROS signals and mediates hormones and defense-related genes during the defense response to Foc in cucumber. This study has identified new targets for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70549"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145192471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hormonal Profiles in Summer and Winter Shoot Apices of Five Aquatic Plant Species.","authors":"Lubomír Adamec, Lenka Plačková, Karel Doležal","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70527","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hormonal profiles in winter organs of aquatic plants, formed in response to temperature decrease and short days, are largely unknown. We compared the hormonal levels in summer and winter shoot apices/fronds of five aquatic species with insufficiently known overwintering strategies with their dark respiration rates as a criterion for dormancy. Miniature samples of shoot apices/fronds were extracted and analyzed by UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Dark respiration of summer and winter shoot apices was measured using a Clark-type oxygen sensor. A simple growth test was conducted on Lemna trisulca and Ricciocarpos natans to ascertain their strength of dormancy. Variable respiration rates of turions and winter apices/fronds revealed marked interspecific differences in levels of dormancy. The winter total cytokinin (CK) content usually resembled the summer one or was significantly lower, with great interspecific differences. Active CKs decreased by about two times in winter. Also, the content of the active auxin IAA was usually lower than in summer, but in L. trisulca it rose 4.5 times. Increased abscisic acid (ABA) winter content (11-3124 nmol kg<sub>DW</sub> <sup>-1</sup>) confirmed its significant accumulation in four species studied, except for Utricularia inflata. Generally, mature dormant turions have low dark respiration rates, in comparison with non-dormant winter shoot apices/fronds, at least on a dry-weight basis. Deviations from the rule correlate with the power of turion dormancy, which is variable among species and represents a continuous gradient from dormancy to quiescence. Concerning overwintering strategies in aquatic plants, the hormonal regulation of the formation of either turions or non-dormant winter apices is not universal.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70527"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145086836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Azhin Mortezazadeh, Michael Hodges, Mathieu Jossier
{"title":"A Functional Photorespiratory Cycle Is Essential for Light-Dependent Stomata Opening in Epidermal Peels of Arabidopsis thaliana.","authors":"Azhin Mortezazadeh, Michael Hodges, Mathieu Jossier","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70539","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70539","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditionally viewed as a wasteful pathway, photorespiration plays essential roles in cellular metabolism and stress responses. While its role in leaf mesophyll cells is well characterized, its functioning in leaf epidermal guard cells and its involvement in stomatal opening remain poorly understood. Using data mining, all photorespiratory genes were expressed, and their respective proteins were present in Arabidopsis thaliana guard cells, thus indicating the presence of a complete photorespiratory cycle. The inhibition of glycolate oxidase (GOX) by hydroxy-pyridyl-methane-sulfonic acid (HPMS) or the glycine decarboxylase complex (GDC) by amino-aceto-nitrile (AAN) reduced light-induced stomatal opening in Arabidopsis thaliana leaf epidermal peels. The exogenous supply of serine, 3-phosphoglycerate, or malate alleviated this inhibition. It is proposed that guard cell photorespiratory metabolism contributes to light-induced stomatal opening by supporting metabolite fluxes crucial for the regulation of guard cell turgor. These findings highlight the importance of a functional guard cell photorespiratory cycle in stomatal dynamics that could play a role in plant responses to environmental stimuli.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70539"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12457704/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145131741","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}
Javier Pichaco, Antonio Diaz-Espejo, Celia M Rodriguez-Dominguez
{"title":"Stomatal-To-Epidermal Cell Size Ratio and Physiological Coordination Influence Stomatal Response Speed to Leaf Water Disruption in Tomato Plants.","authors":"Javier Pichaco, Antonio Diaz-Espejo, Celia M Rodriguez-Dominguez","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70543","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rapidity with which stomata respond to environmental stresses, such as water shortages or changes in atmospheric demand, is crucial for plant survival and increased water use efficiency. We still have limited information on how the anatomy of stomatal complexes relates to physiological variables, such as transpiration or leaf turgor pressure, and thus to their overall response kinetics. We hypothesize that the coordination between the anatomy of the stomatal complex and transpiration influences the speed of stomatal response to environmental stress by affecting turgor pressure dynamics. To test this, we grew tomato plants under different levels of atmospheric demand, or water vapour pressure deficit (VPD), to generate different leaf anatomies in terms of stomatal complexes, as well as to assess their physiological behaviour. We found that plants grown under high evaporative demand developed leaves with smaller stomatal size: epidermal cell size ratio (SS:ECS), higher steady state leaf turgor pressure (Ψ<sub>p-st</sub>), and transpiration rates (E<sub>st</sub>) than those grown at low VPD, leading to faster stomatal responses to leaf excision, as well as shorter response durations, which were found to be correlated with an increase in the cumulative water use efficiency during the response. We attribute this stomatal kinetics to a fine coordination between these anatomical changes in the stomatal complex and specific physiological traits (E<sub>st</sub>, Ψ<sub>p-st</sub>), needed for the plants to exhibit such a faster stomatal response. These results highlight the significance of effective coordination between the anatomy of the stomatal complex and associated physiological parameters in optimising stomatal regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70543"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145239221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"PIN-FORMED Auxin Efflux Transporters in Abiotic Stress Adaptation: Mechanisms, Expression Dynamics, and Crop Improvement Potential.","authors":"Shweta Jha, Shilpi Tyagi, Deepak Choudhary, Sheetal Soni, Jawahar Singh","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70556","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plants continuously encounter abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and temperature fluctuations that severely constrain their growth and productivity. Adaptation to such stress involves the dynamic regulation of developmental and physiological processes through phytohormone signaling networks, notably auxin. Among auxin transporters, the PIN-FORMED (PIN) family of efflux carriers plays a pivotal role in establishing and maintaining polar auxin transport (PAT), which is crucial for plant stress adaptation. Recent pieces of evidence highlight spatiotemporal regulation, subcellular trafficking, and transcriptional modulation of PIN genes in response to environmental stressors. However, the mechanism linking PIN dynamics to abiotic stress responses remains only partially understood. This review critically examines the molecular and physiological roles of PIN transporters under abiotic stress, focusing on their regulation, expression profiles across species, and experimental validations through overexpression or silencing. We also highlight current knowledge gaps and discuss the potential of PIN manipulation as a strategy for improvement of crop resilience under changing climate conditions using biotechnological tools, such as genome editing, crucial for developing sustainable agricultural practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 5","pages":"e70556"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}