New Phytologist最新文献

{"title":"An ALOG transcription factor targets a TALE homeobox gene during corolla abscission in Torenia fournieri","authors":"Jiahuizi Li, Binghou Li, Xuan Zhou, Xiaofang Ma, Ruohan Xie, Yufei Sun, Shihao Su","doi":"10.1111/nph.70291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70291","url":null,"abstract":"Summary<jats:list list-type=\"bullet\"> <jats:list-item>The ALOG genes encode plant‐specific transcription factors with conserved yet partially divergent functions across the plant kingdom. However, few direct downstream targets of ALOG transcription factors have been characterized to date.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Here, we investigated the ALOG protein TfALOG3 in <jats:italic>Torenia fournieri</jats:italic> and identified its novel role through DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP‐seq), transcriptome sequencing (RNA‐seq), and biochemical assays. We further validated a direct downstream target of TfALOG3 using RNA <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> hybridization and CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated gene editing.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>TfALOG3 was initially described as a key regulator of corolla development via its interaction with a BLADE‐ON‐PETIOLE orthologue, TfBOP2. Here, we demonstrate that the BOP‐ALOG complex also promotes corolla abscission. Furthermore, we identified a TALE homeobox gene, <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic>, as a downstream target of TfALOG3. <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic> exhibits high expression in the proximal corolla region, and we show that TfALOG3 directly binds to the <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic> promoter to activate its transcription. Loss‐of‐function mutants of <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic> suggest that TfALOG3 acts upstream of <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic> and downregulation of <jats:italic>TfATH1</jats:italic> expression leads to abnormal corolla abscission.</jats:list-item> <jats:list-item>Collectively, our findings reveal a previously uncharacterized role for an ALOG transcription factor and elucidate its mechanistic contribution to corolla abscission.</jats:list-item> </jats:list>","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237715","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":"SIF research in the tropics: the overlooked vertical dimension and its implications for interpretation and upscaling of photosynthesis","authors":"Ying Sun, Xiangtao Xu, Yixin Ma","doi":"10.1111/nph.70299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70299","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237719","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":"Two cowpea Rubisco activase isoforms for crop thermotolerance","authors":"Armida Gjindali,&nbsp;Rhiannon Page,&nbsp;Catherine J. Ashton,&nbsp;Ingrid Robertson,&nbsp;Mike T. Page,&nbsp;Duncan Bloemers,&nbsp;Peter D. Gould,&nbsp;Dawn Worrall,&nbsp;Douglas J. Orr,&nbsp;Elizabete Carmo-Silva","doi":"10.1111/nph.70271","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70271","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1199-1217"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.70271","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Endodermal lignification coordinates with root calcium levels to govern lateral root emergence","authors":"Yuqiu Lai,&nbsp;Zhihang Feng,&nbsp;Xianyong Lin,&nbsp;Weiming Shi,&nbsp;Wolfgang Busch,&nbsp;Baohai Li","doi":"10.1111/nph.70279","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70279","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 </p><ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Calcium (Ca), an essential macronutrient, is crucial for the growth of young plant tissues, including the formation of lateral roots (LRs) that originate from pericycle cells in the inner root. The Casparian strip (CS) serves as an apoplastic barrier in the root endodermis, optimizing nutrient transport and facilitating plant adaptation to various environments.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>This study demonstrates that the integrity of the CS regulates local Ca-dependent LR emergence by controlling the lignification of the overlying endodermal cells in <i>Arabidopsis</i>.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>In mutants with disrupted CS integrity and compensatory lignin deposition, plants require sufficient Ca to maintain auxin gradients and the morphology of LR primordia, thereby promoting LR primordia through the endodermis. Both piperonylic acid treatment and genetic evidence indicate that excessive lignification of the overlying endodermal cells significantly delays LR emergence under low-Ca conditions compared with sufficient Ca. The receptor-like kinase SGN3/GSO1 mediates this excessive lignification. Importantly, the function of the CS in LR emergence is independent of Ca translocation from roots to shoots and, consequently, shoot growth dynamics.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Overall, our study highlights the direct involvement of CS integrity in modulating Ca-dependent LR emergence by controlling cell wall stiffness through the lignification of overlying endodermal cells.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1290-1307"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237739","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":"Sensl: a synthetic biology sensor for tracking strigolactone signaling in rice","authors":"Yirou Li,&nbsp;Fei Wang,&nbsp;Ran Du,&nbsp;Daoxin Xie,&nbsp;Jianbin Yan,&nbsp;Xiaoyi Shan","doi":"10.1111/nph.70242","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70242","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Strigolactones (SLs), a special class of plant hormones and rhizosphere signals, play an indispensable role in regulating important agronomic traits of rice (&lt;i&gt;Oryza sativa&lt;/i&gt;), one of the most important crops in the world (Wang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2018&lt;/span&gt;; Chen &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;). Genetically or chemically modifying the SL pathway could significantly alter plant architecture and crop yield of rice through the regulation of shoot branching (Zou &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2006&lt;/span&gt;; Arite &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2007&lt;/span&gt;; Lin &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2009&lt;/span&gt;; Wang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). SLs can also coordinate with other plant hormones, such as auxin, brassinosteroid, gibberellin, and abscisic acid (ABA), to regulate rice growth and metabolic processes (Sang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2014&lt;/span&gt;; Fang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;; Liu &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;; Sun &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Moreover, SLs have been shown to participate in integrating N, Pi, as well as sucrose signals to influence rice development and environmental adaptation (Shi &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2021&lt;/span&gt;; Patil &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;; Barbier &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). In light of the pivotal role of SLs in rice breeding, it is necessary to develop precise molecular tools for real-time monitoring of SL signaling dynamics in rice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Up to now, strategies for &lt;i&gt;in vivo&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;in situ&lt;/i&gt; tracking of SLs have been limited. Researchers largely depend on mass spectrometry (MS) to quantify SLs in plant cell lysate (Xie &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;; Halouzka &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;; Yoneyama &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), which is often compromised by SLs' limited stability, high MS costs, and scarce analytical standards (Floková &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). Recent advances in genetically encoded ratiometric reporter systems, such as StrigoQuant (Samodelov &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2016&lt;/span&gt;) and pRATIO (Khosla &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;; White &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), along with engineered fluorescent biosensors utilizing SL receptors (Chesterfield &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;), provide promising alternatives. However, the above-mentioned sensors are only successfully applied in transient expression systems, of which the application in intact plants has not been achieved. Although the fluorescent biosensor Strigo-D2 enables SL signaling monitoring in Arabidopsis seedlings (Song &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), there remains a critical gap in high-throughput, noninvasive tools for SL signaling detection in vital crops like rice, where SLs are essential for regulating several important agronomic traits.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We first demonstrated that Sensl's response is dependent on bioactive SLs and proteasome activity. Next, we validated Sensl's ability to detect fluctuations in endogenous SL levels in intact living rice. We also pursued extensive Sensl exploration in distinguish","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1031-1040"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.70242","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance nitrogen acquisition from, but not carbon loss of, organic matter in soil","authors":"Jiatian Xiao,&nbsp;Jenny Kao-Kniffin,&nbsp;Biao Zhu","doi":"10.1111/nph.70274","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70274","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>\u0000 </p><ul>\u0000 \u0000 <li>The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on decomposition can be regulated by their role in plant nitrogen acquisition due to their obligate biotrophic lifestyle. However, few studies have addressed the relationship between these two processes.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>We conducted an experiment using mycorrhizal-defective mutants and wild-types of two plant species with ¹³C and ¹⁵N dual-labelled litter as tracers. A meta-analysis of related studies was also performed to test the generality of the experimental results.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>Both our experiment and meta-analysis found that AMF enhanced plant N acquisition from organic substrates, while substrate N and C remaining in the soil were not significantly reduced. We propose that AMF may reduce N loss from the system, which retains substrate N for plant uptake. Under N limitation, AMF may stimulate the deamination of organic substrates or selective mining of N-rich soil organic matter. In addition, our meta-analysis found significant influences of experimental designs on the observed outcomes.</li>\u0000 \u0000 <li>We conclude that AMF may facilitate the decoupling between plant N acquisition from, and C loss of, organic materials. However, more studies that simultaneously trace C and N allocation from organic substrates are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.</li>\u0000 </ul>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1415-1425"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237717","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":"Mountain colonization precedes shifts away from bee pollination in Melastomataceae","authors":"Constantin Kopper,&nbsp;Jürg Schönenberger,&nbsp;Agnes S. Dellinger","doi":"10.1111/nph.70273","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70273","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1474-1492"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.70273","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From glomalin to glomalose: unraveling the molecular identity of the MAb32B11 antigen","authors":"Burcu Alptekin, Hayley Hirsch, Bailey Kleven, Lauren King, Caitlin McLimans, Dierdra Daniels, Thomas Irving, Daniela Floss, Jean-Michel Ané","doi":"10.1111/nph.70253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70253","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;h2&gt; Introduction&lt;/h2&gt;\u0000&lt;p&gt;Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi belong to Glomeromycotina and form mutualistic relationships with over 70% of terrestrial plants, enhancing nutrient and water uptake and promoting plant growth (Leigh &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2009&lt;/span&gt;; Wang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;; Kakouridis &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;). They enhance plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought and heavy metals (Begum &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2019&lt;/span&gt;; Shi &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi also serve as a valuable carbon sink in the soil, storing over 10% of carbon from fossil fuel emissions, mainly as fungal necromass (Schweigert &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2015&lt;/span&gt;; Hawkins &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). This fungal necromass forms a scaffold stabilizing soil aggregates and promoting soil aggregation within mineral-associated organic matter (Irving &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2021&lt;/span&gt;; Hawkins &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Many of these benefits AM fungi provide are attributed to a substance they produce and release into the soil called ‘glomalin’. The abundance of glomalin in the soil has been correlated with many plant and soil health benefits, such as improved plant tolerance to abiotic stresses, increased soil aggregation, increased soil water retention, and carbon sequestration (Wright &amp; Upadhyaya, &lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;; Rillig, &lt;span&gt;2004&lt;/span&gt;; Zou &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2014&lt;/span&gt;; Zhang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;). This substance was discovered in 1996 by Dr. Wright after raising a monoclonal antibody named MAb32B11 against crushed &lt;i&gt;Rhizophagus irregularis&lt;/i&gt; spores. The antibody was reported to be an IgM and monoclonal by Wright &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;. (&lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;). The reactivity of the antibody was tested against AM fungi hyphae residing on plant roots using an immunofluorescence assay. Further efforts were also made to discover the nature of the antigen that reacts to MAb32B11 antibody, and an unusual glycoprotein was suggested to be the potential antigen for this antibody. Although glomalin was predicted to be a glycoprotein, the substance was unaffected by many harsh conditions that would degrade most proteins, such as autoclaving, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), or even protease treatments (Wright &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;; Wright &amp; Upadhyaya, &lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;\u0000&lt;p&gt;Although always considered a protein, the definition of glomalin changed over time to reflect variations in the purification and quantification procedures used by different groups and their lack of specificity. Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) was coined to reflect that many proteins besides the MAb32B11 antigen were purified in the extraction procedure. GRSP was further separated into easily extractable GRSP to define the soil proteins collected after a single autoclave cycle at 121°C with 20 mM sodium citrate pH 7.0 and total GRSP to define soil proteins collected after multiple autocl","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144228848","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 science for sustainability: by and for future generations","authors":"Rini Rahiman,&nbsp;Karthikbabu Kannivadi Ramakanth,&nbsp;Rachelle Rui Qi Lee,&nbsp;Felicia Wei Shan Leong,&nbsp;Hong Jhun Sim,&nbsp;Jun Ying Lim,&nbsp;On Sun Lau","doi":"10.1111/nph.70007","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.70007","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;The first of its kind to be held in Asia, the 5&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; &lt;i&gt;New Phytologist&lt;/i&gt; next-generation scientists symposium took place at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in July 2023. Funded by the New Phytologist Foundation and supported by Wiley, this iteration follows a young but strong series of past symposia (Hetherington &amp; Nutzmann, &lt;span&gt;2018&lt;/span&gt;; Hunt &amp; Ng, &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;), featuring over 100 early career scientists in plant science and 11 keynotes speakers from over 50 countries, representing over 60 nationalities. The symposium series aims to provide opportunities for early-career scientists to share their work, make new friends and networks, and have open discussions with mentors and senior researchers on diverse topics important to them (Fig. 1).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The symposium touched upon a wide range of topics in plant science, such as the molecular basis of stress tolerance and adaptation, crop genetics and improvement, the development of molecular tools for plant research, plant–microbe interactions, and conservation and ecosystem studies. Despite the apparent diversity of these topics, it is clear that an appreciation and integration of these subdomains in plant science is not only essential for understanding the complexity of plants and plant systems but also critical to foster innovative approaches to tackle pressing global challenges in food security and environmental sustainability. Here, we highlight key research themes that emerged from the symposium, showcasing the forefront of scientific exploration and its potential impact on food security and sustainability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As global warming continues to challenge the limits of agricultural productivity, understanding plant stress responses and adaptation mechanisms has become increasingly crucial. Several speakers delved into the complex web of signaling pathways and genetic responses plants utilize to withstand environmental stresses. Sheng Luan (UC Berkeley, USA) shared his findings on a calcium signaling network that is deployed when plants are challenged in a low-mineral environment. Nam-Hai Chua (Rockefeller University, USA, and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore) reported on a mobile long noncoding RNA that travels from root to shoot to prevent leaf senescence under nitrogen-deficient conditions (Cheng &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). Early-career researchers Zhen Lin (Southern University of Science and Technology, China) and Xin Yang (National University of Singapore, Singapore) both spoke on the importance of the SnRK2 kinases in stress signaling, highlighting their activation mechanism and influence on stomatal production, respectively (Lin &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2021&lt;/span&gt;; Yang &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;). Tomas Tessi (Heidelberg University, Germany) and Aida Maric (University of Freiburg, Germany) discussed the molecular regulation of stress responses through their research on either small RNA metabolism or epigenetic regulation on stres","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1075-1077"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.70007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144219512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chung-Wing Ko","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/nph.19313","DOIUrl":"10.1111/nph.19313","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Chung-Wing Ko's poster, ‘Root traits and belowground characteristics reveal nutrient uptake strategies across old-growth and secondary forests in Singapore's Central Catchment Nature Reserve’, won first prize in the poster competition at the Next Generations Scientists meeting 2023 (National University of Singapore). See https://www.newphytologist.org/news/view/333.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I grew up in upstate New York and spent most of my childhood outside exploring the forests next to my neighbourhood and camping in various national parks of the eastern United States. My appreciation for nature was rooted in the unique feeling of being surrounded by forest and the knowledge that life teemed all around us. As I entered my teenage years, I became more politically active and increased my understanding of a range of sociopolitical issues, including climate justice and environmental degradation. I was fuelled by both my love for nature and my grief of our planet's destruction and decided to pursue a degree in biology and environmental sustainability. During my undergraduate career, I was fortunate enough to meet professors and mentors who specialised in plant biology and taught me how to appreciate the life all around us not only from a naturalist perspective but also from a scientific one. As someone interested in biodiversity and ecosystem ecology, plants are foundational in terrestrial ecosystems and their complexity allows me to continue learning and growing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My introduction to research occurred largely by chance. My undergraduate honours programme required us to enter a ‘Freshman Research Initiative’. I chose a stream focusing on biodiversity because I wanted to learn more about the life around us and enjoyed being outdoors. The 2 years I spent as a part of this programme cultivated a love for research, as I found myself extremely lucky to have the chance to satisfy my curiosity and explore the world around us. At the same time, I began taking environmental policy and anthropology courses and learned about how climate change and land-use change exacerbated every socio-economic inequality I cared about. I questioned how I could bridge my background in plant biology with a more tangible impact on society and leapt at the chance to study land-use change and ecotourism in Costa Rica. The month-long programme was transformative, showing me how research can be applied on the ground and positively influence both the environment and livelihoods of local communities. It also began a love for tropical ecology, leading me to my current pursuit of a PhD in tropical forest ecology. I'm still figuring out where research will take me, but I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to constantly learn new things surrounded by colleagues who inspire me to work towards the things I am passionate about.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I'm driven largely by the community around me and the shared values of passion and curiosity. Some of my favourite parts of research are the collaboration a","PeriodicalId":214,"journal":{"name":"New Phytologist","volume":"247 3","pages":"1078-1080"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nph.19313","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144219510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}