Fanny Bellegarde, Olivia Tjahjono, Mika Yoshino-Kida, Takatoshi Kiba, Miki Shibutani, Mei Kuriyama, Louis J Irving, Mikiko Kojima, Kazuki Miyata, Hitoshi Sakakibara
{"title":"Fluctuation in nitrate availability impacts cytokinin biosynthesis through histone modifications of IPT3 in Arabidopsis roots for growth acclimation.","authors":"Fanny Bellegarde, Olivia Tjahjono, Mika Yoshino-Kida, Takatoshi Kiba, Miki Shibutani, Mei Kuriyama, Louis J Irving, Mikiko Kojima, Kazuki Miyata, Hitoshi Sakakibara","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101531","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101531","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In soil, nitrate availability is variable and often a limiting factor for crop growth. Plants need to acclimate rapidly to fluctuations. The phytohormone cytokinin (CK) plays a pivotal role in nitrate signaling as a secondary growth-regulating signal. However, the mechanisms that regulate CK action in response to fluctuating nitrate levels remain poorly understood. Here, we show that chromatin modification of IPT3, a key gene for cytokinin biosynthesis, is crucial for growth acclimation under fluctuating nitrate environments. The transcriptional regulation of IPT3 drives CK output in response to nitrate availability, thereby controlling the balance of growth between roots and shoots. This rapid and dynamic regulation is mediated by two antagonistic histone H3 modifications: H3K27me3 and H3K4me3. Using mutants impaired in the deposition or removal of these modifications, we identify several chromatin effectors involved and confirm that the chromatin dynamics, influenced by nitrate fluctuation, fine-tune CK biosynthesis. Our findings provide insights into the epigenetic mechanisms regulating CK biosynthesis and open new avenues for enhancing plant acclimation to fluctuating nutritional environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101531"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145139542","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":"A Flavin-dependent Monooxygenase Favors the Formation of (6S)-α-Bitter Acids in Hop Glandular Trichomes.","authors":"Chengyong Feng, Baoxiu Liu, Peipei Zhao, Liying Ma, Jianxu Li, Guodong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101528","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beer flavors in hop glandular trichomes: In hops (Humulus lupulus L., Cannabaceae), the glandular trichomes on the female cones are highly efficient metabolic factories that produce the specialized metabolites shaping beer quality. Feng et al. identify the long-sought (6S)-α-bitter-acid synthase, a flavin-dependent monooxygenase that catalyzes the final enzymatic step in the biosynthesis of (6S)-α-bitter acids in hop glandular trichomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101528"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145139564","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 marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum as a versatile bioproduction chassis: Current progress, challenges and perspectives.","authors":"Song Wang, Zhangli Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101519","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101519","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beyond its importance in diatom studies, the marine model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has emerged as a versatile photosynthetic chassis for sustainable bioproduction, leveraging both native bioactive metabolites and engineered heterologous compounds through synthetic biology. Over the past three decades, transformative advances in genetic tool development, including transgenic element optimization, CRISPR/Cas genome editing and high-efficiency transformation systems, have driven strain engineering for elevated fucoxanthin, fatty acid, triacylglycerol yields and successful synthesis of diverse heterologous products, from terpenoids and therapeutic peptides to sustainable materials. Concurrently, advances in molecular toolkits have refined chassis optimization by elucidating fundamental biological mechanisms underlying nutrient uptake, environmental stress adaptation, stimuli sensing and cell development. Despite the progress, critical challenges persist, particularly suboptimal product yield, biomass limitations as well as a prohibitive production cost which hinder industrial translation. This review examines emerging strategies, such as chloroplastic gene expression, DNA site-specific integration and trophic alteration, promising for species improvement, while addressing other scale-up considerations including cultivation strategies, techno-economic analysis and regulatory policies. The integrative efforts could accelerate the transition of P. tricornutum from a model diatom to a scalable, eco-friendly biomanufacturing platform.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101519"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145139599","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}
Qingzhen Wei, Wuhong Wang, Yunzhu Wang, Jiaqi Ai, Tianhua Hu, Haijiao Hu, Jinglei Wang, Yaqin Yan, Hongtao Pang, Na Hu, Chonglai Bao
{"title":"A complete telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of Solanum melongena uncovers key regulators in pan-tissue anthocyanin biosynthesis.","authors":"Qingzhen Wei, Wuhong Wang, Yunzhu Wang, Jiaqi Ai, Tianhua Hu, Haijiao Hu, Jinglei Wang, Yaqin Yan, Hongtao Pang, Na Hu, Chonglai Bao","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101533","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101533","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Short summary: </strong>We present the first gap-free and integrated cytogenetic T2T genome assembly of eggplant (Smel HQ v2.0) and shed lights into the specific roles of the SmeMYBs in anthocyanin biosynthesis across various tissues. The complete T2T eggplant genome could substantially facilitate in-depth and refined genetic and genomic studies in eggplants.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101533"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145139587","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}
Xiaomei Huang, Lingxiao Yang, Xiaoya Ma, Zhiping Yang, Qiuping Wang, Hao Wang, Ya Yang, Diego F Morales-Briones, Bojian Zhong
{"title":"Phylogenomic discordance is mainly driven by pervasive ancient hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting during the early divergence of major angiosperm lineages.","authors":"Xiaomei Huang, Lingxiao Yang, Xiaoya Ma, Zhiping Yang, Qiuping Wang, Hao Wang, Ya Yang, Diego F Morales-Briones, Bojian Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101529","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101529","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most extant angiosperms belong to Mesangiospermae (eudicots, monocots, magnoliids, Chloranthales, and Ceratophyllales). Resolving the evolutionary relationships among the five lineages of Mesangiospermae is important for understanding the early diversification process of angiosperms. However, the rapid early diversification of angiosperms within a short geological period complicates the untangling of phylogenetic relationships among these Mesangiospermae lineages. Here, we used 177 publicly available angiosperm genomes to reconstruct the phylogeny of Mesangiospermae using multiple orthology inference approaches, character coding schemes, and data filtering criteria. Importantly, we investigated the potential causes of phylogenetic discordance and inferred phylogenetic networks to explore reticulating events among the five lineages of Mesangiospermae. Coalescent simulation analyses suggested that a combination of incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization could explain the high levels of discordance among nuclear genes in the backbone of Mesangiospermae. Cytonuclear discordance was observed among the five Mesangiospermae lineages, potentially resulting from hybridization. Furthermore, systematic errors in species networks cannot be overlooked. Our study revealed that deep phylogenetic discordances among the five Mesangiospermae lineages were affected by multiple factors, particularly pervasive ancient hybridization.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101529"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145132471","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":"A glutamyl-tRNA reductase and its binding protein promote transitory starch biosynthesis and enhance grain quality and yield in rice.","authors":"Yingqing Duan, Xiaoxue Li, Liuyang Ma, Guiai Jiao, Ruijie Cao, Nannan Dong, Xinwei Li, Zihang Wang, Ping Wang, Shaoqing Tang, Xiangjin Wei, Peisong Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101527","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transitory starch in rice leaves is essential for temporary carbon storage, plant growth development, and subsequent grain filling, yet its regulatory mechanisms for transitory starch biosynthesis remain unclear. Here, we found that Leaf Starch Deficiency 3 (LSD3), as a rice glutamyl-tRNA reductase (GluTR), interacts with GluTRBP (GluTR-binding protein), and GluTRBP interacts with granule-bound starch synthase II (GBSSII), the key enzyme for leaf amylose synthesis. LSD3-GluTRBP, as a molecular module, can maintain the protein stability and enzymatic activity of GBSSII. The lsd3 and glutrbp mutants exhibited lower GBSSII enzymatic activity, leading to significant reductions in leaf starch content. In addition, lsd3 and glutrbp mutants displayed severe defects in carbon sources transport from leaves to developing grains, with significantly down-regulated expression of genes associated with carbon source transport. Finally, the lsd3 and glutrbp mutants showed significantly reduced endosperm storage starch content and severely compromised grain quality and yield. Notably, overexpression of GBSSII partially rescued the defective phenotypes in both leaves and grains of lsd3 and glutrbp mutants. In summary, our results establish the LSD3-GluTRBP module functions upstream of GBSSII and plays a crucial role in transitory starch biosynthesis and the determination of grain quality and yield in rice. These findings provide new molecular targets for simultaneous improvement of grain yield and quality in rice.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101527"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145088171","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}
Li Wang, Shiqian Guo, Jinlin Zhang, Katie J Field, Manuel Delgado Baquerizo, Tancredo A F de Souza, Soon-Jae Lee, Mohamed Hijri, Xiaoqian Shang, Dandi Sun, Hanwen Cao, Shoujiang Feng, Li Wang, Hao Ji, Marcel Van der Heijden, Kadambot H M Siddique, Gary Y Gan
{"title":"ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL NETWORKS-A CLIMATE-SMART BLUEPRINT FOR AGRICULTURE.","authors":"Li Wang, Shiqian Guo, Jinlin Zhang, Katie J Field, Manuel Delgado Baquerizo, Tancredo A F de Souza, Soon-Jae Lee, Mohamed Hijri, Xiaoqian Shang, Dandi Sun, Hanwen Cao, Shoujiang Feng, Li Wang, Hao Ji, Marcel Van der Heijden, Kadambot H M Siddique, Gary Y Gan","doi":"10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xplc.2025.101526","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal symbiosis offers a transformative solution in mitigating agroecosystem challenges linked with synthetic chemical overuse. However, the potential of AM-plant communications in response to anthropogenic activities and hyphal network functionality remains poorly understood. Here, we reposition AM fungal hyphosphere networks as keystone ecological infrastructure for sustainable agroecosystems. Synthesizing thousands of worldwide experimental studies reveals the main environmental functions of AM fungi-plant communication: enhancing agroecosystem resilience by buffering crops against various (a)biotic stressors through molecular signaling and physiological changes; mediating energy transferring via small RNA-mediated cross-kingdom interactions; facilitating hydraulic redistribution in the soil profile via hyphospheric network; and optimizing root architecture via effective colonization for nutrient acquisition. Some anthropogenic practices-soil disturbance, non-mycorrhizal crop monoculture, and fungicide use-disrupt AM hyphal networks; however, those can be minimized through improved farming practices, such as cropping diversification with legumes and AM fungi-compatible crops, AM-responsive plant genotypes, effective AM fungal inoculation, and microbial consortia amendments. Bridging AM fungal mechanisms with anthropogenic practices and policy supports is essential to scale AM benefits to various ecoregions. Exploring AM fungal functionality can increase nutrient use efficiency, reduce chemical inputs, and enhance ecosystem productivity, offering a microbial-centric blueprint in helping the UN's sustainability goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":52373,"journal":{"name":"Plant Communications","volume":" ","pages":"101526"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145082317","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}