Annals of botany最新文献

{"title":"Genomic basis of adaptation to serpentine soil in two Alyssum species shows convergence with Arabidopsis across 20 million years of divergence.","authors":"Sonia Celestini, Miloš Duchoslav, Mahnaz Nezamivand-Chegini, Jörn Gerchen, Gabriela Šrámková, Raúl Wijfjes, Anna Krejčová, Nevena Kuzmanović, Stanislav Španiel, Korbinian Schneeberger, Levi Yant, Filip Kolář","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Serpentine outcrops, characterized by low nutrient availability, high heavy metal concentrations, propensity to drought, and island-like distributions, offer valuable systems to study parallelisms in repeated adaptation to extreme environments. While shared phenotypic manifestation of adaptation to serpentine environments has been investigated in many species, it is still unclear whether there may be a common genetic basis underlying such responses. Here we assess local adaptation to serpentine soil and infer the parallel genetic signatures of local adaptation to serpentine environments in two thus far unexplored closely related species, Alyssum gmelinii and Alyssum spruneri (Brassicaceae). Then we measure gene- and function-level convergence with the previously explored Arabidopsis arenosa, to reveal candidate shared adaptive strategies within Brassicaceae.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We tested for adaptation using a reciprocal substrate-transplant experiment in A. gmelinii. Then, after assembling a reference genome, we generated population-level sequencing data of four population pairs and performed genome scans for directional selection to infer serpentine adaptive candidate genes in Alyssum. Finally, we compared candidate gene lists with those inferred in similar experiments in Arabidopsis arenosa and used protein-protein interaction networks to discern functional convergence in serpentine adaptation.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Independent colonization of serpentine environments by Alyssum populations is associated with footprints of selection on genes related to ion transport and homeostasis, nutrient and water uptake, and life-history traits related to germination and reproduction. Reciprocal transplant experiments demonstrated that adapted plants germinate sooner and exhibit better growth in serpentine conditions while excluding heavy metals and increasing Ca uptake in their tissues. Finally, a significant fraction of such genes and molecular pathways is shared with Arabidopsis arenosa.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We show that genetic adaptation to the multi-factorial challenge imposed by serpentine environments involves key pathways that are shared not only between closely related species, but also between Brassicaceae tribes of ∼20 Mya divergence.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144599206","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":"The role of maize (Zea mays L.) radicle root hairs in seedling establishment under adverse phosphorus and water seedbed conditions.","authors":"Ariel Tasca, Thomas D Alcock, Gerd Patrick Bienert","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf142","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>A vigorous root system is crucial for maize seedling establishment. Its formation and subsequent plant performance are hindered by nutrient- and water deficiency. Upon germination, maize seedlings develop primary, then seminal roots, covered with pubescent root hairs. Functions of root hairs at this developmental stage remain scarcely understood. This study examined their role during phosphorus- (P) and water limitations during early seedling development at the physiological, elemental, and molecular level, comparing a roothairless maize mutant (rth3) and its isogenic wildtype (WT).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Shoot- and root-system-architecture phenotyping and elemental analysis were performed on 5-day-old rth3 and WT plants experiencing various P- and water-deficient conditions in different growth substrates. Microscopy of root hairs and specific RT-qPCR of various P-nutrition regulators and aquaporins in roots were performed.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>WT seedlings responded with a morphologically typical root hair elongation solely to water-reduced but not P-deficient conditions. In contrast, at the molecular level, WT and rth3 responsively upregulated P transporters in roots upon P deficiency, while water channel transcript abundances did not change upon water limitations. Surprisingly, under these adverse seedbed conditions no differences in shoot biomass, shoot nutrient concentrations, shoot water content were detected between the WT and the roothairless mutant which additionally formed a generally shorter total root length compared to the WT. P deficiency caused the development of thicker primary roots in rth3 and significant increase in expression of P transporters compared to the WT.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Germinating rth3 seedlings showed neither disadvantages in terms of shoot vigor, nor with respect to shoot water- and nutrient levels in suboptimal seedbed conditions compared to the WT, despite possessing shorter roots and no root hairs. An increase of the root diameter and P-transporter expression particularly in rth3 seminal roots may have been sufficient to physiologically compensate for the missing root hairs.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144599207","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":"Photosynthetic activity in the heterotrophic plant genus Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae) is modulated by phylogeny and ontogeny.","authors":"Adam C Schneider, Jenna T B Ekwealor, Ariana Besik, Nurulain Ibrahim, Ingo Ensminger, Saša Stefanović","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Photosynthesis is central to plant function, yet it has been repeatedly lost or diminished in parasitic angiosperm lineages. This variation raises questions about how photosynthetic function is retained, modified, or repurposed in the evolutionary context of parasitism. Cuscuta species, as a model system for studying parasitism, exhibit varying degrees of plastid functionality and photosynthetic ability, based on genomic and ultrastructure studies. However, few direct physiological studies exist, and none that span multiple developmental stages of autotrophic, mixotrophic, and non-photosynthetic species in a phylogenetic framework.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To address this gap, we paired photosynthetic activity measurements from Imaging-PAM fluorometry with quantitative analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids from multiple developmental stages in fourteen Cuscuta species, representing the phylogenetic breadth of the genus, and a closely related autotrophic species. Multivariate data were analyzed using nonparametric hypothesis tests, and comparative phylogenetic patterns were explored through Bayesian model testing.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll and carotenoid content were highest in meristematic regions (e.g., shoot tips and developing seeds) and lowest in older stems or haustoria. Neoxanthin, a carotenoid typically highly conserved in plants, appears to have been lost once in Cuscuta and subsequently re-gained in certain lineages. Complex relationships between photosynthetic activity and lutein epoxide concentration suggest differing roles in developmental stages with high and low energetic needs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings provide substantial evidence that photosynthesis in Cuscuta is not vestigial but rather modulated based on developmental stage and across phylogenetic history, revealing a dynamic interplay between parasitism and photosynthetic function.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144590317","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":"Are capitula inflorescences? A reassessment based on flower-like meristem identity and ray flower development.","authors":"Regine Claßen-Bockhoff, Jakub Baczyński, Veronika Hanke, Svenja Sibylla Henkes, Nadine Ferdinand","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>The capitulum of Asteraceae has traditionally been interpreted as a condensed raceme. However, morphological studies challenge this view, indicating that the capitulum does not arise from an inflorescence meristem (IM), but from a determinate floral unit meristem (FUM). Terminology, combined with conflicting evidence from developmental genetics, has hindered the formulation of a coherent evolutionary scenario for the origin of the capitulum. In this paper, we aim to refine the floral unit concept and critically re-examine the hypothesis that ray flowers in Asteraceae represent remnants of ancestral thyrsoid branching.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Approaching from evolutionary-developmental morphology, we performed a detailed analysis of capitulum development in 20 highly diverse Asteraceae species, encompassing three subfamilies and 11 tribes using SEM. We focused on early capitulum development, ray flower formation and changes in meristem geometry.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We show that the capitulum meristem is determinate and exhibits developmental features characteristic of flowers, thereby fulfilling the definition of a FUM. Continuous meristem expansion changes geometrical conditions and triggers spontaneous fractionation of flower meristems. The early developmental delay of ray flowers and the rare occurrence of bidirectional fractionation in the capitulum meristem can be explained morphologically by local expansion dynamics and mechanical pressure.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings support the hypothesis that the capitulum meristem is distinct from an IM and instead recapitulates developmental properties of a flower meristem at a higher level of organization. This challenges the phylogenetic view that the capitulum evolved through gradual transformation of an ancestral thyrse. Instead, we propose that a single developmental shift - from an indeterminate reproductive meristem to a determinate FUM - was sufficient to give rise to the capitulum. The early determinacy of the meristem and the insertion of an additional step of fractionation are best explained by heterochronic changes, such as ontogenetic abbreviation and prolongation.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144599195","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":"Earliest Jurassic plant assemblages from Sweden reveal a low-diversity ginkgoalean and cheirolepid flora dominating the post-extinction landscape.","authors":"Daniela Quiroz-Cabascango, Vivi Vajda, Stephen McLoughlin, Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Rich Triassic-Jurassic plant assemblages from Skåne, southern Sweden, have been documented extensively over the past two centuries. However, no macrofloras from the lowermost part of the Helsingborg Member (Lower Jurassic) have been forthcoming and thus the age of the successions has not been well-constrained. Here we systematically describe and assess the palaeoecology and age of a newly discovered flora from the Boserup beds at Norra Albert Quarry, Skåne.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Plant macrofossils were examined using macrophotography, fluorescence microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Palynological analysis of the strata hosting the macroflora contributed to the palaeoenvironmental interpretations and refined the age of the deposits.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The low-diversity post-extinction recovery forests of the earliest Jurassic were dominated by ginkgoopsids, cheirolepid conifers, and ferns, growing under seasonal mesothermal conditions. Dispersed charcoal indicates wildfires were present in the landscape at this time.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite the poor preservation of the fossils, the Boserup beds flora provides a window into vegetation recovery in the immediate aftermath of the end-Triassic extinction event. Initial recovery is characterised by the presence of needle- and scale-leafed seed plants (notably czekanowskialeans and Brachyphyllum producing Classopollis), along with a range of ground ferns.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144599196","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":"Avian taxi drivers? A commentary on 'Diversity of fungi attached to birds corresponds to the habitat ecologies of their avian dispersal vectors'.","authors":"Marcos V Caiafa","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf137","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144504733","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":"Zooming in to see the big picture: the value of integrative work to understand early stages of pollinator-mediated plant divergence. A commentary on \"Geographical variation in flower colour of a food-deceptive orchid reflects local pollinator preferences\".","authors":"Katherine Wenzell, Mikhaela Neequaye","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf135","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144504738","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":"Stronger transgenerational plasticity in clonal compared to sexual offspring of Fragaria vesca: effects of drought, elevated temperature and CO2.","authors":"Iris Sammarco, Zofia Szlachtowska, Gerson Beltrán-Torres, Zuzana Münzbergová, Vít Latzel","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf136","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Climate change threatens plant species, potentially exceeding their adaptive capacities. Plants may adapt to rapid environmental changes through transgenerational plasticity (TGP), where adaptive traits are passed to their offspring via proteins, hormones, and epigenetic modifications like DNA methylation. The extent of TGP and its ecological implications may differ between sexual and clonal reproductive modes due to differences in the inheritance of DNA methylation and provisioning. However, it remains unclear whether TGP differs between these reproductive modes and the role of DNA methylation. Addressing this gap is crucial, as higher TGP in clonal propagation could compensate for low genetic variation and help these plants in adapting to rapid environmental changes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We assessed the adaptive potential of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), a widely distributed herb with both clonal and sexual reproduction, in response to environmental conditions expected by the end of the 21st century: a temperature rise of 4 °C, a 400 ppm rise in atmospheric CO2, and periodic droughts. We quantified ecologically relevant phenotypic traits and examined whole-genome DNA methylation patterns in parents and their clonal and sexual offspring.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We found evidence for TGP induced by the parental environment, with a stronger overall effect observed in clonal compared to sexual offspring. Specifically, parental exposure to current temperature and CO2 conditions prompted adaptive TGP, particularly in clonal offspring. Additionally, adaptive TGP was observed exclusively in clonal offspring in response to a combination of elevated parental temperature and drought conditions. Finally, we found a higher inheritance of DNA methylation marks in clonal than sexual offspring.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results suggest that while TGP via DNA methylation can influence clonal plant adaptation to future conditions, it remains uncertain whether this influence will consistently result in adaptive outcomes. Moreover, TGP would likely be more important in clonal than sexual reproduction.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144493727","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":"The role of aerenchymatous gas space in root sodium ion management under salt stress: Do they matter in rice?","authors":"Subhankar Mondal, Babyrani Panda, Jajati Keshari Nayak, Chinmay Pradhan, Krisnendu Chattopadhyay, Koushik Chakraborty","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background & aims: </strong>Increasing soil salinity is an emerging and potent threat to agricultural crop production. Plant root tissues are the most important place for salt sensing. Thus, root traits associated with salt tolerance are very important. Identification of new root traits may help us to optimize plants' overall performance under stress.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An experiment was conducted with eight rice genotypes and root aerenchymatous gas space, Na+, and K+ concentrations of root and leaf were measured. A further experiment was performed with four selected rice genotypes based on morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular traits.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We identified root tissue porosity and root aerenchymatous gas space was increased under salt stress and the induction of these traits was greater in salt-tolerant genotypes (FL478, AC39416A, and Rashpanjor) as compared to salt-susceptible genotype (Naveen). Most interestingly, root porosity and aerenchymatous gas space showed a strong correlation with leaf Na+ ion concentration as well as leaf and root K+ ion retention. Thereby, it seems more porous roots can play an important role in Na+ transport and K+ retention in salt-tolerant rice plants. Additionally, we observe relatively higher expression of ROS-induced NADPH oxidases (OsNOX5 and OsNOX9) genes in FL478, AC39416A, and Rashpanjor as compared to Naveen, whose function is associated with programmed cell death (PCD) and lysegenous aerenchyma formation in rice.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overall the findings suggest that tolerant and moderately tolerant rice genotypes followed PCD in root cortical tissues that help to restrict upward movement of Na+ and retention of K+ in rice under saline conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144482914","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":"Correction to: Climatic and edaphic niche shifts during plant radiation in the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf131","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144482913","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}