Frontiers In Plant Science[JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Soil legacy effects of long-term nitrogen addition on litter decomposition and soil CO efflux in a subtropical grassland: a short-term incubation study.
Liu C, Zhu R, Yao B … +1 more , Chen J
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42375794 · Full text
Litter decomposition is a key process in carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, but how nitrogen (N) addition affects decomposition via soil properties versus altered litter quality remains unclear. We conducted a 30-day labor...
Litter decomposition is a key process in carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, but how nitrogen (N) addition affects decomposition via soil properties versus altered litter quality remains unclear. We conducted a 30-day laboratory incubation using litter from three grassland species (, , ) and soils from a four-year N addition field experiment (0, 1.49, 2.99, 5.99 g N·m·yr) in a subtropical grassland of Southwest China. Because all litter was collected from unfertilized areas, our experiment specifically tested the soil legacy effects of N addition on decomposition of standardized litter, not the direct effects on litter quality. Decomposition rates (decay constant k) ranged from 0.017 day (, no N) to 0.068 day (, high N). N addition significantly increased decomposition for all species, with the strongest stimulation for low-quality litter (). First-order kinetic models fitted the 30-day data well (R² > 0.98), but extrapolation beyond the incubation period is not justified. Initial C:N ratio was negatively correlated with both k ( = -0.625, < 0.01) and cumulative CO efflux significantly influenced by both species identity and N addition. Our design does not allow attribution of the stimulation to N-induced changes in litter quality. Instead, long-term N addition altered soil properties (increased inorganic N, reduced pH), which in turn modulated decomposition of subsequently added litter. We conclude that soil legacy effects of N addition accelerate litter decomposition and CO efflux, with effects modulated by litter quality. These findings provide empirical evidence for predicting ecosystem C dynamics under future N deposition but highlight the need for longer-term experiments that directly manipulate both soil properties and litter chemistry.
CRISPR-Cas9 disruption of flavanone 3-hydroxylase produces a green phenotype and alters flavone metabolites in allotetraploid perilla.
Matsushita S, Nakano M, Chokyuu S … +7 more , Kurao M, Fujita A, Kimura J, Nagata C, Ishikawa T, Tamura K, Bono H
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42375793 · Full text
var. crispa is a high-value horticultural crop known for its diverse bioactive metabolites, yet the molecular basis underlying its metabolic variation remains poorly understood for targeted metabolic engineering. In this...
var. crispa is a high-value horticultural crop known for its diverse bioactive metabolites, yet the molecular basis underlying its metabolic variation remains poorly understood for targeted metabolic engineering. In this study, we employed CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt the flavanone 3-hydroxylase gene (), a key branch-point enzyme in the flavonoid pathway. We generated stable, T-DNA-free null-segregant lines that exhibited a visible transition from red to green leaves. Metabolite profiling across multiple independently derived edited lines showed that disruption markedly reduced anthocyanin accumulation and was consistently associated with increased levels of flavone-related metabolites, including an approximately six-fold increase in luteolin content compared to the wild type. Transcriptome analysis revealed changes in the expression patterns of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthetic genes consistent with the observed metabolic profiles. In addition, rosmarinic acid content was elevated in the edited lines, suggesting that disruption may affect broader phenylpropanoid metabolism. Together, our findings provide functional insights into in perilla and highlight the potential of targeted gene editing for modifying metabolite composition in this polyploid crop.
Controlled release fertiliser as an alternative nutrient management strategy for immature oil palm establishment on steep terrain: growth and foliar nutrient responses.
Huang Chai Khoo B, Chang YY, Sim CC … +3 more , Abd Wahid SA, Nazli MH, Mohd Anuar MF
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42375792 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: Controlled-release fertilisers (CRFs) are increasingly considered a viable alternative to conventional fertiliser management in oil palm plantations, particularly in topographically challenging environments...
INTRODUCTION: Controlled-release fertilisers (CRFs) are increasingly considered a viable alternative to conventional fertiliser management in oil palm plantations, particularly in topographically challenging environments. However, their efficacy during the early establishment phase under steep terrain conditions remains insufficiently documented. METHODS: A field trial was conducted using a randomised complete block design (RCBD) to evaluate the effects of different CRF rates and fertiliser regimes on immature oil palms over the first 12 months after planting (MAP). CRF was applied as a single annual basal dressing at 500 g, 700 g, and 1,000 g palm, and compared against conventional split applications of 5.0 kg palm compound fertiliser. Vegetative growth parameters and foliar nutrient concentrations were assessed at 6 and 12 MAP. RESULTS: Vegetative growth parameters were generally not significantly different among treatments, except for rachis length, which varied significantly (p < 0.05). Foliar nutrient concentrations showed greater response, with significant treatment effects observed for N, P, K, and Mg at 6 MAP, and N, P, and K at 12 MAP, while foliar B and rachis K were not significantly affected. CRF at 500 g palm maintained nutrient levels within acceptable ranges and supported comparable growth. DISCUSSION: These findings indicate that single-application CRF can sustain early oil palm establishment under hilly terrain conditions, providing comparable performance to conventional fertilisation during the first year after planting.
Preliminary investigation of kinetin, polyethylene glycol, iron sulphate, and water priming effects on the phytochemical accumulation and antimicrobial activity of L.
Phasha F, Mzinyane S, Phasha N … +1 more , Mkhize P
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42375791 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: This study preliminarily investigated how seed priming with kinetin (K), polyethylene glycol (PEG), iron sulphate (FeSO), and water (W) can modulate phytochemical accumulation, antioxidant capacity, and ant...
INTRODUCTION: This study preliminarily investigated how seed priming with kinetin (K), polyethylene glycol (PEG), iron sulphate (FeSO), and water (W) can modulate phytochemical accumulation, antioxidant capacity, and antibacterial activity of across vegetative and flowering growth stages. was selected due to its reported nutritional and medicinal importance. METHODS: Methanolic leaf extracts were analysed using standard phytochemical, antioxidant, and antibacterial assays. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed that both priming treatment and growth stage significantly influenced phytochemical accumulation (p< 0.001). Phytochemical levels were generally higher at the flowering stage. FeSO priming consistently produced the greatest phytochemical accumulation, increasing flavonoids (70%), phenolics (42-50%), and tannins (~40%) relative to the control at flowering. This enhancement may be attributed to priming-induced stress signalling, which stimulates secondary metabolite biosynthesis. FeSO and PEG treatments showed 20-30% greater radical scavenging activity. Significant positive correlations were observed between priming treatments and phytochemical accumulation. A treatment-dependent antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus was observed, with PEG-primed plants showing the strongest activity (MIC 0.14 mg/mL, MBC 1.18 mg/mL), followed by FeSO (MIC 0.16 mg/mL, MBC 1.25 mg/mL), whereas no activity was observed against . DISCUSSION: The lack of activity against may be associated with its Gram-negative cell wall structure and intrinsic resistance mechanisms. No antibacterial activity was observed at the vegetative stage. Overall, extracts from the flowering stage exhibited greater bioactivity than those from the vegetative stage. These findings demonstrate that seed priming and plant developmental stage are key determinants of phytochemical accumulation and bioactivity. This highlights seed priming as a strategy to enhance the pharmacological potential through optimised cultivation and harvest management.
Longitudinal genomic prediction of cacao disease resilience identifies robust witches' broom disease targets.
Baek I, Upadhyay RK, Kim MS … +2 more , Meinhardt LW, Ahn E
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42375790 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: Genomic studies in cacao ( L.) have largely emphasized single-locus discovery, but less is known about whether repeated-harvest disease trajectories can be predicted from genome-wide markers to support long...
INTRODUCTION: Genomic studies in cacao ( L.) have largely emphasized single-locus discovery, but less is known about whether repeated-harvest disease trajectories can be predicted from genome-wide markers to support long-term breeding objectives. METHODS: We analyzed repeated-harvest phenotypes from 102 cacao accessions to derive longitudinal targets describing baseline performance and temporal change for healthy pod rate, frosty pod rot (FPR), and witches' broom disease (WBD). Genomic prediction was evaluated using random and relatedness-blocked cross-validation with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker sets aligned to the Criollo and Matina reference genomes. Robustness was assessed across trajectory model specifications, cross-validation block structures, and multi-trait selection indices. RESULTS: Mixed-model analyses demonstrated temporal repeatability ranging from 0.78 to 0.89 across four harvests, with particularly high accession-level consistency for WBD traits. Genomic prediction models showed that WBD-derived targets, particularly branch and flower-cushion WBD symptom components, yielded more consistent predictive performance than FPR or healthy pod rate. These signals remained supported after 10,000-label permutation testing, Benjamini-Hochberg false-discovery-rate correction, and multiple robustness analyses. Cross-reference comparisons indicated that WBD predictability was robust to the choice of reference genome, whereas other traits exhibited higher reference sensitivity. Finally, Pareto-based multi-trait prioritization identified a stable shortlist of candidate accessions optimizing both disease resilience and productivity. DISCUSSION: Repeated-harvest disease phenotypes harbored reproducible accession-level temporal structure, with WBD-related longitudinal traits remaining genomically predictable across diverse validation settings. These findings indicate that repeated-harvest trajectory targets provide useful genomic-prediction endpoints for prioritizing resilient germplasm in perennial cacao breeding programs, while emphasizing the need for validation in larger multi-environment trials.
Improved phylogenetic resolution within the Neotropical rainforest genus (Mimoseae, Fabaceae) using phylogenomic data.
Ferm J, Pennington RT, Lewis GP … +5 more , Pezzini FF, Schley RJ, Thureborn O, Farbos A, Rydin C
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368547 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: The Neotropical legume genus consists of approximately 60 species of small, cauliflorous trees. Phylogenetic relationships within are not fully known since previous phylogenies were for the most part poor...
INTRODUCTION: The Neotropical legume genus consists of approximately 60 species of small, cauliflorous trees. Phylogenetic relationships within are not fully known since previous phylogenies were for the most part poorly supported and unresolved with non-monophyletic species. Previous studies have shown that the genus is nested within , but a full sample of has yet to be included in analyses. This study aims to resolve taxonomic limits of and to test if phylogenomic data and more sampling of taxa improve resolution within the genus. METHODS: We utilize data from 1,315 nuclear loci sequenced from 134 accessions, representing 47 species of , as well as four species of the closely related genus , the poorly known , endemic to the Magdalena Valley in Colombia, and , which is the last remaining species of not tested with DNA data. The data are analyzed using species tree reconstruction based on the multispecies coalescent model and maximum likelihood analyses of concatenated datasets. RESULTS: Our phylogenetic analysis showed that the core clade is sister to a clade consisting of , , , , , and . is non-monophyletic since is more closely related to and than to the remaining species of . is found within the core clade. Resolution within clearly improved with phylogenomic data and denser sampling of taxa, but non-monophyletic species are still present. DISCUSSION: The core clade is strongly supported statistically and relationships within it are well-resolved. However, 13 species of are non-monophyletic, and the reasons for this are not yet fully known but could be due to, e.g., misidentification, hybridization, or incomplete lineage sorting. Both species trees reconstructed based on the multispecies coalescent model and phylogenetic trees inferred from maximum likelihood analyses of the concatenated datasets show similar topologies. Gene tree discordance is high for many branches within and is, in most cases, due to incomplete lineage sorting. To render monophyletic, new combinations in are given for . and .
Erratum: Biochar enhances cucumber production by modulating rhizosphere microbiota and soil metabolites under continuous cropping systems.
Xue G, Hu Y, Xue H … +7 more , Wang X, Bai H, Du J, Wang Y, Huo H, Li M, Jiang W
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368546 · Full text
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1726191.].
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1726191.].
Development and validation of an event-specific detection method for WYN029GmA soybean based on TaqMan qPCR.
Jiang H, Zhang H, Miao Y … +9 more , Wang H, Fu F, Wang C, Li J, Wang D, Jiang X, Fu W, He J, Chen H
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368545 · Full text
This study aimed to establish an event-specific detection method for the genetically modified soybean WYN029GmA. WYN029GmA is a glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybean carrying the gene, independently developed in China...
This study aimed to establish an event-specific detection method for the genetically modified soybean WYN029GmA. WYN029GmA is a glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybean carrying the gene, independently developed in China, and has been granted the China Agricultural Genetically Modified Organism Safety Certificate (Production Application). Based on the junction region between the exogenous insertion sequence and the flanking genomic sequences of WYN029GmA, multiple sets of primers and probes were designed. After screening, WYN029LB-QF4/QR2/QP2 was selected as the optimal primer-probe combination, and the amplified fragment length is 95 bp. The method was systematically evaluated by a series of tests such as specificity, dynamic range, accuracy, and robustness, and its practical applicability was evaluated through an interlaboratory validation involving eight laboratories. The results demonstrated that this method showed good specificity and repeatability across different laboratories, and could meet the technical requirements of qualitative and quantitative detection of WYN029GmA. This method provides reliable technical support for the traceability, safety supervision, and labeling management of WYN029GmA soybean and its derivatives.
ZDAM: a new deep learning model for bean leaf disease diagnosis.
Liu J, Yu K, Song H … +7 more , Ma J, Bijani M, Wu L, Xu L, Ahmad MN, Xu P, Zhao J
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368544 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: Accurate disease diagnosis is crucial for enhancing agricultural productivity and reducing postharvest losses, directly impacting food quality and safety. Traditional detection methods often rely on extensi...
INTRODUCTION: Accurate disease diagnosis is crucial for enhancing agricultural productivity and reducing postharvest losses, directly impacting food quality and safety. Traditional detection methods often rely on extensive feature modeling and perform poorly in complex field environments. METHODS: This study proposes a deep learning model called ZDAM, based on an improved ZFNet integrated with a dual attention mechanism. The classical ZFNet is first optimized to improve feature extraction efficiency. A combined channel and spatial attention mechanism is then incorporated to refine feature representation for disease identification in key crops. Finally, a residual module is added to boost accuracy. RESULTS: Evaluated on a dataset of 11,903 bean leaf images covering healthy leaves and four disease types, including leaf mould, rust, mosaic, and white spot, the model achieves an average recognition accuracy of 99.02%, outperforming MobileMamba, Vision Transformer, and Chest- OMD. DISCUSSION: This approach offers a scalable solution for automated disease monitoring, supporting postharvest quality preservation and sustainable crop production.
High aspect ratio graphene oxide: a highly efficient plasmid DNA deliverer for plant seed.
Pan Y, Li X, Yang Z … +2 more , Ma G, Jiang C
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368543 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: Plant genetic engineering plays a central role in crop improvement and the biosynthesis of natural products. However, the plant cell wall, as a natural barrier, restricts the effective delivery of exogenous...
INTRODUCTION: Plant genetic engineering plays a central role in crop improvement and the biosynthesis of natural products. However, the plant cell wall, as a natural barrier, restricts the effective delivery of exogenous biomolecules, especially the delivery of plasmid DNA into the interior of plant cells. METHODS: Here, we introduce a novel form of graphene oxide characterized by a high aspect ratio, synthesized through low-voltage, low-current, and prolonged electrochemical oxidation in a 0.5 mol/L NaOH aqueous solution. To evaluate the efficacy of HARGO in delivering exogenous genes, the Keng seeds were immersed and germinated in a solution containing HARGO and plasmid DNA pEG100-PcNAC2-EGFP. RESULTS: The high aspect ratio graphene oxide (HARGO) exhibits advantageous characteristics, including a small lateral dimension and single-atom layer thickness (0.414 nm), which can directly penetrate plant tissues and even cell walls. Notably, HARGO can physically adsorb plasmid DNA and facilitate its entry into plant cells for gene delivery without requiring chemical modifications such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polyethyleneimine (PEI). Fluorescence signals corresponding to EGFP were successfully observed in the emerged seedlings, with a positive transformation rate reaching 90%. DISCUSSION: These findings offer a novel tissue culture-free plasmid DNA delivery tool for plant genetic engineering, which will significantly impact the advancement of plant biotechnology.
Multi-omics analysis of the role of muskmelon mitochondria in Si-induced resistance mechanisms.
Zhao C, Lyu L, Ning Y … +5 more , Luo Y, He X, Yang Y, Sun Y, Ma W
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368542 · Full text
Post-harvest senescence and fungal infection, particularly Pink Mold Rot caused by , significantly compromise the storage quality and economic value of muskmelon ( cv. Yujinxiang). While Silicon (Si) application is recog...
Post-harvest senescence and fungal infection, particularly Pink Mold Rot caused by , significantly compromise the storage quality and economic value of muskmelon ( cv. Yujinxiang). While Silicon (Si) application is recognized as an effective strategy for enhancing post-harvest disease resistance, the molecular mechanisms driving this resistance-specifically the interplay between DNA methylation, transcriptional regulation, and mitochondrial function-remain largely uncharacterized. This study employed an integrated multi-omics approach, combining Whole-Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS), RNA sequencing (RNA-), and physiological assays, to elucidate the regulatory networks induced by Si treatment in T. roseum-inoculated muskmelons. Physiologically, Si treatment significantly alleviated oxidative stress and maintained mitochondrial energy status, evidenced by elevated ATP levels and increased Ca-ATPase activity compared to untreated controls. At the epigenomic level, we identified a distinct, context-specific enhancement of DNA methylation induced by Si. Notably, the CG context within the upstream 2 kilobases (up2k) regions exhibited the most significant response to treatment, surpassing changes in CHG and CHH contexts. Integrative analysis of the methylome and transcriptome revealed that this observed promoter hypermethylation correlates with the fine-tuning of gene expression related to energy metabolism and defense. Rather than simple repression, this epigenetic modification appears to stabilize transcriptional responses, potentially preventing the metabolic energy drain associated with hyper-immune responses or delaying the activation of senescence-associated genes. These findings establish a novel mechanistic link between epigenetic modification, and cellular energy metabolism. Ultimately, this research provides a theoretical basis for the utilization of Si as a post-harvest treatment to extend the shelf life of muskmelons by reinforcing mitochondrial function via epigenetic regulation.
Gradual increases in light intensity and photoperiod enhance light use efficiency and dry matter in indoor basil.
Akter N, Ahamed MS, Taylor G … +1 more , Cammarisano L
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368541 · Full text
Basil ( L. Genovese) is a highly valued and economically important herb with significant culinary qualities. The quantity of light supplied to plants, including both light intensity and photoperiod, plays a critical role...
Basil ( L. Genovese) is a highly valued and economically important herb with significant culinary qualities. The quantity of light supplied to plants, including both light intensity and photoperiod, plays a critical role in regulating plant morphology and biomass accumulation. Optimizing these factors can simultaneously enhance yield and resource efficiency. This study assessed the effects of constant versus gradually increasing light intensity and photoperiod on basil growth, physiology, and light use efficiency (LUE), while maintaining an equivalent average daily light integral (DLI) over the 24-day growing period. Four different treatments were applied in a climate-controlled growth chamber: (CIP) constant light intensity (300 μmol m² s¹) and constant photoperiod (16 h), (CIDP) constant light intensity with a dynamic photoperiod (14-16-18 h), (DICP) dynamic light intensity (200-300-400 μmol m² s¹) with constant photoperiod, and (DIP) dynamic light intensity (200-300-400 μmol m² s¹) and photoperiod (14-16-18 h) over time. In comparison to CIP, treatment DIP resulted in a 9% increase in both dry weight and LUE, and a 19% increase in non-destructive chlorophyll content, whereas stomatal conductance was 25% higher in CIP. CIDP exhibited the lowest values for leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, LUE, destructive chlorophyll and carotenoid content, and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). These results suggest that dynamic light strategies can improve LUE and dry matter accumulation under comparable average DLI conditions. Future research should investigate whether these responses are associated with any changes in postharvest quality, processing characteristics, and the temporal dynamics of secondary metabolites to further refine lighting strategies for indoor farming.
How manure amendment counters no-tillage yield reduction in winter wheat: enhanced nitrogen components and soil enzyme activity.
Mi W, Wang S, Zhang J … +9 more , Zhao G, Dang Y, Wang L, Zhou G, Zhou X, Hu J, Li S, Gong D, Fan T
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368540 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: No-tillage (NT) effectively reduces soil erosion, enhances water retention, and promotes carbon sequestration, yet it often leads to yield reduction. The application of manure can mitigate the yield decline...
INTRODUCTION: No-tillage (NT) effectively reduces soil erosion, enhances water retention, and promotes carbon sequestration, yet it often leads to yield reduction. The application of manure can mitigate the yield decline caused by NT. Therefore, combining NT with manure represents a key strategy for achieving sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of organic fertilizer application on soil physicochemical properties in long-term NT farmland, and reveal the regulatory associations of manure on crop yield in such systems. METHODS: A split-plot design was employed, with tillage practices (CT and NT) as the main plots and fertilization treatments as sub-plots. The fertilization treatments included: no fertilizer (CK), mineral nitrogen (N), mineral phosphorus (P), manure-only (M); mineral N and P (NP); and combined N, P, and manure (MNP). RESULTS: Compared with CT, NT significantly increased soil carbon fractions (SOC, and MBC by 19.09%, and 14.95%, respectively) and nitrogen fractions (AN and NN by 35.48% and 67.82%, respectively), as well as BD (increased by 11.83%), but decreased soil enzyme activities (CBH and NAG by 9.40% and 9.09%, respectively). In contrast, the combined application of manure increased soil carbon/nitrogen fractions, enzyme activities while effectively reducing soil BD and pH. Specifically, compared with the NP, the MNP treatment increased SOC, TN, AP, AN, CBH, and NAG by 31.25%, 23.67%, 65.35%, 28.48%, 37.33%, and 30.79%, respectively. Under the MNP, yield increased by 9.84% (CT) and 13.40% (NT) compared to the NP treatment. Regression and correlation analyses showed that soil enzyme activities were positively correlated with soil nutrients. DISCUSSION: The interaction between NT and manure application regulated soil physical structure, thereby enhancing the activities of enzymes related to carbon and nitrogen cycling. This led to a significant increase in carbon and nitrogen storage, ultimately improving crop yield. The continuous input of manure and the improved availability of nitrogen fractions were identified as the core factors contributing to the yield gain. This study confirms that no-tillage combined with manure is an effective strategy for coordinating soil carbon sequestration and stable crop yield improvement, providing a feasible management optimization approach for the promotion of no-tillage technology.
Deficit irrigation in a young, super high-density hedgerow olive orchard (cv. Arbosana): effects on physiological, vegetative, and productive parameters.
Gentili L, Tivani M, Mastio V … +5 more , Capraro F, Contreras C, Torres M, Maestri D, Pierantozzi P
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368539 · Full text
Over the past three decades, super high-density (SHD) olive orchards (>1000 trees ha⁻¹) have been widely implemented for olive ( L.) cultivation. These systems enable early entry into production and full mechanization, b...
Over the past three decades, super high-density (SHD) olive orchards (>1000 trees ha⁻¹) have been widely implemented for olive ( L.) cultivation. These systems enable early entry into production and full mechanization, but require high-water supply and they do not tolerate prolonged water stress. These latter aspects represent a challenge for arid growing areas such as those in western Argentina. This study evaluated several productive, vegetative and physiological responses to deficit irrigation (DI) strategies in a young SHD orchard (cv. Arbosana). Measurements were made during the first three productive seasons. Three DI treatments - one sustaining DI at 70% ETc throughout the entire growth period evaluated (CDI70), and two regulated DI treatments applying 50% and 25% of ETc (RDI50 and RDI25, respectively) during non-critical periods - were compared against a control (100% ETc) treatment. The total irrigation water savings were 30% (CDI70 and RDI50) and nearly 50% (RDI25). No clear differences in vegetative parameters were found between the different DI treatments, and between these and the control treatment. In contrast, fruit yield parameters showed a marked effect of the different DI treatments on alternate bearing of the olive crop. This was particularly noticeable for the two regulated DI treatments, in which a significant decline in yield was observed in the second crop cycle. Differently, the continuous DI treatment (CDI70), besides maintaining a balanced water status, was able to sustain and significantly increase fruit and oil yield at the end of the third crop cycle. In this latter treatment - considering the cumulative results of the three cycles examined - those yield parameters also showed significantly higher values than those from the control treatment. As a result of lower water consumption and higher yields, water productivity was also significantly enhanced. Because of major effects on fruit bearing, moderate or severe water restrictions (RDI50 and RDI25 treatments) would not be viable for sustaining production of 'Arbosana' trees in SHD systems. Although the results must be validated in longer trials, continuous DI (70% ETc during the entire crop season) could moderate vegetative growth and increase productivity in a sustained manner.
Correction: Evolutionary origin and asymmetric subgenomic retention of the lncRNA that regulates cotton lipid metabolism.
Chen H, Liu X, Yang N … +7 more , Gong Z, Sun F, Geng S, Zheng J, Qian S, Wang J, Liang Y
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368538 · Full text
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1841757.].
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1841757.].
Integrated analysis of metabolome and transcriptome reveals the mechanism of divergent acute heat stress responses in mango cultivars.
Luo W, Hou X, Wei L … +6 more , Liu S, Li R, Teng Z, Yang C, Li Y, Zhu Z
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368537 · Full text
BACKGROUND: Mango ( L.) growth is affected by temperature, and heat stress often occurs in southern China, leading to a sharp decline in mango quality and yield. Understanding the response mechanism of mangoes and conduc...
BACKGROUND: Mango ( L.) growth is affected by temperature, and heat stress often occurs in southern China, leading to a sharp decline in mango quality and yield. Understanding the response mechanism of mangoes and conducting research on their acute heat stress response and genetic breeding are urgently needed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Heat stress induces multiple physiological impairments in mango seedlings through oxidative stress. Metabolome analysis identified 12 major metabolite classes, with amino acids and derivatives (AADs), phenolic acids (PAs), flavonoids (FLs), and lignans and coumarins (Lc) being the most responsive to acute heat stress, which provides a solid basis for subsequent research. RNA-seq analysis revealed that 12,635 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were related to photosynthesis, homeostasis regulation, stomatal regulation, and other key plant hormone pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified that copper chaperone, cytochrome c, and 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) were the key genes involved in acute heat stress response. Integrated Pearson correlation analysis across 36 samples revealed a strong, statistically significant gene-metabolite network (|r| > 0.7, p < 0.001), with AMPK showing the most extensive associations to lipids, flavonoids, and amino acid derivatives. These findings provide a unique theoretical basis for studying early heat-stress response mechanisms and for genetic breeding of mango, and offer valuable information for breeding heat-tolerant mango varieties.
Cuticular wax profiling of and reveals surface similarities with underlying differences.
Zamani-Babgohari M, Peng H, Geraldes A … +5 more , Hefer CA, Hu JY, Soolanayakanahally RY, Mansfield SD, Gonzales-Vigil E
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368536 · Full text
Cuticular waxes are a mixture of hydrophobic components protecting plant tissues from the environment. and are closely-related tree species with broad North American distribution; however, variation in their cuticular...
Cuticular waxes are a mixture of hydrophobic components protecting plant tissues from the environment. and are closely-related tree species with broad North American distribution; however, variation in their cuticular wax composition across their range remained poorly understood. To address this gap, stem and leaf waxes from both species across three developmental stages were profiled by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A core set of compounds shared across tissues, accessions, and developmental stages was detected, as well as tissue- or species-specific constituents such as phenolics and alkenes. Phenolic-derived compounds were more prevalent at early stages of development compared to the predominantly aliphatic composition of mature tissues. Moreover, early stage leaves also showed enhanced protection from desiccation and oxidative stress in a subset of accessions. Alkenes, found exclusively in leaves, segregated the poplar accessions into alkene-producing and alkene-lacking phenotypes. GWAS analysis of 174 P accessions identified a region on chromosome 10 containing a tandem cluster of ketoacyl CoA synthases associated with alkene accumulation in , which was not significantly associated in 133 individuals examined. These findings reveal dynamic, developmentally regulated, and species-specific variation in poplar wax profiles. Understanding these chemical traits offers new opportunities to develop varieties with enhanced environmental resilience and adaptive potential.
The role of non-structural carbohydrates in tree physiology and forest management: a comprehensive review.
Huang G, Rong Y, Huang Y … +4 more , Guan Z, Ma T, Wang Y, Zarif N
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368535 · Full text
Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) in trees, comprising soluble sugars, starch, and other labile compounds, are integral to tree physiology, resilience against environmental stressors, and the dynamics of ecosystem carb...
Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) in trees, comprising soluble sugars, starch, and other labile compounds, are integral to tree physiology, resilience against environmental stressors, and the dynamics of ecosystem carbon. This review consolidates existing knowledge on the definition, forms, and functions of NSCs, examines their historical significance in forest management, and evaluates the impact of contemporary forestry practices on NSC storage. It understands the spatial and temporal dynamics of NSCs, including variability among forest types, topographic influences, and seasonal patterns, and underscores the use of remote sensing and GIS technologies in mapping carbon distribution. Additionally, the review assesses long-term trends in carbon allocation influenced by climate change and phenological variations, and proposes future strategies for incorporating carbon management into sustainable forestry. It also identifies key knowledge gaps, such as uncertainties in NSC turnover rates and the interactive effects of multiple stressors, to inform future research endeavors. This review underscores the significance of NSCs in sustaining forest health and augmenting carbon sequestration within the context of a changing global environment by integrating physiological insights with practical management strategies.
Non-destructive and accurate phenotypic detection method for okra seedlings under salt stress based on dual-view feature fusion and lightweight PointNet+.
Liu S, Qian S, Tan J … +8 more , Xu J, Lan M, Zhang Z, Wang H, Xia Y, Wang S, Wu H, Fu X
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368534 · Full text
Soil salinization has become a critical factor limiting global agricultural production. Characterizing the growth and developmental responses of okra to salt stress and developing efficient and accurate salt-stress pheno...
Soil salinization has become a critical factor limiting global agricultural production. Characterizing the growth and developmental responses of okra to salt stress and developing efficient and accurate salt-stress phenotyping techniques can provide an important methodological reference for okra cultivation in saline lands and future multi-cultivar salt-stress phenotyping studies. Traditional manual measurement of plant phenotypic parameters suffers from low efficiency and insufficient detection accuracy, making it difficult to achieve rapid and non-destructive analysis of plant phenotypic traits under salt stress. Therefore, this study proposes a computational phenotyping parameter extraction method based on the CSP-MSG Net model. Using dual-view feature fusion, we constructed a dedicated dataset. On the basis of PointNet++-MSG, the original MLP layers were replaced with C2F modules, and the SGE attention mechanism was integrated to enhance morphological feature extraction, thereby constructing a lightweight CSP-MSG Net architecture adapted to okra seedling point clouds for semantic segmentation of okra point clouds combined with DBSCAN clustering to complete instance segmentation, phenotypic parameters including plant height, stem diameter and canopy width were further calculated. This scheme enables high-throughput data acquisition, improves measurement accuracy, effectively reduces model parameters and computational overhead, and realizes lightweight operational performance. The results show that okra seedlings can still grow with increasing salt stress concentration, while the growth rates of the three measured traits are all inhibited, indicating that high-concentration salt stress impairs the growth activity of okra seedlings. To verify the calculation accuracy of the model, the phenotypic parameters predicted by the model were compared with manually measured values. The coefficients of determination for stem diameter, canopy width and plant height of okra seedlings reached 0.96, 0.99 and 0.99, respectively. These results strongly demonstrate the excellent reliability and effectiveness of the proposed method, providing methodological support for non-destructive and accurate phenotypic detection of okra seedlings under salt stress.
Lightweight YOLOv8-based real-time detection of pine wilt disease from drone imagery.
Chai H, Liu J, Guo J … +4 more , Zhang T, Li B, Xu Y, Wang Y
Front Plant Sci · 2026 · PMID 42368533 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: A core bottleneck of forestry remote sensing lies in accurate, real-time pine wilt disease monitoring on UAV-borne edge hardware, which suffers from constrained computing capacity and complicated field fore...
INTRODUCTION: A core bottleneck of forestry remote sensing lies in accurate, real-time pine wilt disease monitoring on UAV-borne edge hardware, which suffers from constrained computing capacity and complicated field forest backgrounds. To fill this technical gap, we developed an ultra-lightweight real-time detection architecture named Edge-Forest YOLO in this work. METHODS: Methods: Built upon the baseline YOLOv8n network, three targeted optimizations were embedded into the proposed model: (1) a domain-adaptive data augmentation workflow to mitigate poor generalization induced by variable illumination and uneven lesion sizes in complex woodland; (2) scale-aware asymmetric channel redistribution, cutting 37.5% shallow channels and expanding 75% deep channels to remove redundant spatial features and strengthen high-level pathological feature extraction; (3) Cross-layer ECA attention adopting 1D convolution to capture inter-channel correlation and concentrate on diseased regions with minimal computation overhead. All model validation was performed on the public high-resolution UAV pine wilt PDT dataset. RESULTS: Edge-Forest YOLO only occupies 2.31 M storage with mAP@0.5 up to 92.7%. Its single-image inference costs 4.2 ms on regular computing equipment and runs at around 26 FPS on the Jetson Nano edge platform. Compared with YOLOv8s and customized YOLO-DP, our model cuts over half parameter quantity while retaining competitive detection precision. DISCUSSION: The proposed lightweight detector supplies a low-power, practically deployable solution for on-board UAV real-time forest disease monitoring, supporting rapid in-field pine wilt diagnosis and facilitating scientific decision-making for forest health management and disease prevention.
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