The authors created a fast‑cycling, isogenic barley line (GP‑rapid) by introgressing the wild‑type Ppd‑H1 allele from Igri into the Golden Promise cultivar and performing two backcrosses to limit the donor genome, achieving a 25% reduction in generation time under speed‑breeding conditions while retaining high transformation efficiency. CRISPR/Cas9‑mediated editing of Ppd‑H1 showed regeneration and transformation rates comparable to the original Golden Promise, establishing GP‑rapid as a rapid platform for transgenic and gene‑edited barley research.

The study applied CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to Physalis peruviana to modify plant‑architecture genes and create a compact growth ideotype. This compact phenotype is intended to increase per‑plot yield and support future breeding efforts for this nutritionally valuable minor crop.

The study demonstrates that limonene, a natural essential‑oil component, strongly inhibits Fusarium oxysporum, the causal agent of potato dry rot, by impairing colony growth, hyphal morphology, spore viability, membrane integrity, and transcription/translation processes, as well as disrupting ion homeostasis. Combined treatments reveal additive effects with mancozeb and synergistic effects with hymexazol, highlighting limonene's potential as an eco‑friendly bio‑fungicide for potato disease management.

Six new Viola species and two reinstated species from China were identified using field surveys, detailed morphological comparison, and phylogenetic analysis of ITS and GPI gene sequences, placing them in section Plagiostigma subsect. Diffusae. The GPI data offered higher resolution, indicating complex relationships possibly due to ancient hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting, thereby clarifying species boundaries and evolutionary patterns in Chinese Viola.

The study used CRISPR/Cas9 to edit the downstream region of the Arabidopsis thaliana FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene, identifying a 2.3‑kb segment containing the Block E enhancer as crucial for normal FT expression and flowering. Fine‑scale deletions pinpointed a 63‑bp core module with CCAAT‑ and G‑boxes, and revealed a cryptic CCAAT‑box that becomes active when repositioned, highlighting the importance of local chromatin context and motif arrangement for enhancer function.

The study optimized three wheat transformation methods—immature embryo, callus, and in planta injection—by systematically adjusting Agrobacterium strain, bacterial density, acetosyringone concentration, and incubation conditions, achieving transformation efficiencies up to 66.84%. Using these protocols, CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the negative regulator TaARE1-D produced mutants with increased grain number, spike length, grain size, and a stay‑green phenotype, demonstrating the platform’s potential to accelerate yield and stress‑tolerance improvements in wheat.

The authors introduced a polycistronic tRNA‑gRNA array for CRISPR/Cas9 editing in Physcomitrium patens that doubled the frequency of large, targeted deletions compared with conventional single‑gRNA constructs. Using dual‑gRNA targeting, they achieved simultaneous deletion of two to four genes (katanin and TPX2 families) in a single transformation, reaching up to 42% efficiency per gene, though efficiency depended on gRNA pair design.

The study presents a high-quality genome assembly for the nickel hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens and uses it as a reference for comparative transcriptomic analyses across different N. caerulescens accessions and the non‑accumulating relative Microthlaspi perfoliatum. It identifies a limited set of metal transporters (NcHMA3, NcHMA4, NcIREG2, and NcIRT1) whose elevated expression correlates with hyperaccumulation, and demonstrates that frameshift mutations in NcIRT1 can abolish the trait, indicating an ancient, transporter‑driven origin of nickel hyperaccumulation.

The study used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate rice snrk1 mutants and performed integrated phenotypic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analyses under normal and starvation conditions, revealing SnRK1’s dual role in promoting growth and mediating stress responses. Findings indicate sub-functionalization of SnRK1 subunits and identify novel phosphorylation targets linked to membrane trafficking, ethylene signaling, and ion transport.

The study identifies the transcription factor MdBRC1 as a key inhibitor of bud growth during the ecodormancy phase in apple (Malus domestica), directly regulating dormancy‑associated genes and interacting with the flowering promoter MdFT2 to modulate bud break. Comparative transcriptomic analysis and gain‑of‑function experiments in poplar demonstrate that MdFT2 physically binds MdBRC1, attenuating its repressive activity and acting as a molecular switch for the transition to active growth.