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 adapted high‑throughput transposable‑element sequencing and introduced the deNOVOEnrich pipeline to map somatic TE insertions in Arabidopsis thaliana, uncovering ~200,000 new events across wild‑type and epigenetic mutant lines. Somatic integration is non‑random and TE‑specific, with families like ONSEN, EVADE, and AtCOPIA21 preferentially targeting chromosomal arms, genic regions, and chromatin marked by H2A.Z, H3K27me3, and H3K4me1, especially near environmentally‑responsive genes such as resistance loci and biosynthetic clusters.

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.

The study introduced full-length SOC1 genes from maize and soybean, and a partial SOC1 gene from blueberry, into tomato plants under constitutive promoters. While VcSOC1K and ZmSOC1 accelerated flowering, all three transgenes increased fruit number per plant mainly by promoting branching, and transcriptomic profiling revealed alterations in flowering, growth, and stress‑response pathways.

The study reveals that the dioecious monocot Dioscorea tokoro employs a male heterogametic (XY) sex-determination system with sex-determining regions on chromosome 3, including X- and Y-specific pericentromeric regions. Two Y-specific candidate genes, BLH9 (a homeobox protein) and HSP90 (a molecular chaperone), are identified as likely mediators of female organ suppression and pollen development, respectively, providing insight into the evolution of dioecy in plants.

The study generated high‑quality genome assemblies for 12 indica and japonica rice accessions and demonstrated that structural variants (SVs) are abundant and strongly associated with heterosis across 17 agronomic traits. Correlation analyses revealed that SV count between parental lines predicts hybrid performance, and functional validation of SVs in S5‑ORF5 and OsBZR1 confirmed their contributions to seed setting rate and yield heterosis, supporting an overdominance model for inter‑subspecific hybrid vigor.

Four isolates of Pythium aphanidermatum obtained from infected amaranth seedlings were confirmed by morphology and ITS rDNA sequencing and shown to cause severe root loss and damping‑off in both plate and soil assays, with up to 100% disease incidence in susceptible genotypes. The genome of isolate PT2-1-1 was sequenced, revealing a 51.55 Mb assembly with 14,453 protein‑coding genes, including numerous plant cell wall‑degrading enzymes and candidate intracellular and apoplastic effectors such as Crinkler and YxSL[RK] proteins. This second genome assembly and the demonstrated pathogenic variation provide a foundation for studying host‑pathogen interactions in amaranth.

The study generated a high-quality genome assembly for Victoria cruziana and used comparative transcriptomics to identify anthocyanin biosynthesis genes and their transcriptional regulators that are differentially expressed between white and light pinkish flower stages. Differential expression of structural genes (VcrF3H, VcrF35H, VcrDFR, VcrANS, VcrarGST) and transcription factors (VcrMYB123, VcrMYB-SG6_a, VcrMYB-SG6_b, VcrTT8, VcrTTG1) correlates with the observed flower color change.

The study examined transposable element (TE) silencing in the duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza, which exhibits unusually low DNA methylation, scarce 24‑nt siRNAs, and missing RdDM components. While degenerated TEs lack DNA methylation and H3K9me2, they retain heterochromatin marks H3K9me1 and H3K27me1, whereas the few intact TEs show high DNA methylation and H3K9me2, indicating a shift in RdDM focus toward potentially active TEs and suggesting heterochromatin can be maintained independently of DNA methylation in flowering plants.