The study profiled small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in barley (Hordeum vulgare) seeds differing in viability after controlled long‑term storage, identifying 85,728 differentially expressed siRNAs associated with seed vigor. Trans‑acting siRNAs displayed distinct temporal patterns during imbibition, and functional analyses linked siRNA targets to key processes such as cytochrome activity, root development, and carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting a role in maintaining metabolic activity during germination.

The study demonstrates that in barley (Hordeum vulgare) the MAPK pathway, specifically the MKK3 kinase, controls grain dormancy through a combination of haplotype variation, copy-number changes, and intrinsic kinase activity. Historical selection of particular MKK3 haplotypes correlates with climatic pressures, offering a genetic basis to balance short dormancy with resistance to pre‑harvest sprouting under climate change.

The study investigated how plant roots promote water infiltration through dry soil layers using dye tracing in model soil microcosms. Results indicate that dissolved root exudates, possibly by altering surface tension, are the primary drivers of infiltration, with root architecture also contributing. These insights suggest that root traits influencing exudation and structure could improve drought resistance in crops.

The study examined how altering ethylene biosynthesis (ACO1) or perception (etr1.1) in a hybrid poplar (P. tremula × P. tremuloides T89) influences the assembly of root and shoot fungal and bacterial communities, using amplicon sequencing and confocal microscopy. Ethylene modulation had limited impact on the sterile plant metabolome but triggered distinct primary and secondary metabolic changes in microbe‑colonized plants, correlating with reduced fungal colonisation of shoots and increased root fungal colonisation, while arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacterial communities were largely unchanged.