The authors used computational simulations of plant cellular metabolism under historical atmospheric conditions to demonstrate that reduced CO₂ and increased aridity can drive the evolutionary transition from C₃ to CAM photosynthesis. Their results suggest that while future elevated CO₂ may favor a reversion to C₃-like behavior, drought consistently promotes CAM regardless of CO₂ or temperature, and a minimum O₂ level is required for nocturnal respiration in CAM.

The study presents an optimized Agrobacterium-mediated transformation toolkit for Sorghum bicolor that achieves up to 95.7% editing efficiency using CRISPR/Cas9 targeting the SbPDS gene, and demonstrates comparable performance with a PAM‑broadened SpRY variant. This platform enables multiplex genome editing and is positioned for integration of advanced tools such as prime and base editors to accelerate sorghum breeding.

The study used paired whole‑genome bisulphite sequencing and RNA‑seq on wheat landraces to investigate how DNA methylation patterns change during drought stress, revealing antagonistic trends across cytosine contexts and a key demethylation role for ROS1a family members. Gene‑body methylation correlated positively with expression but negatively with stress‑responsive changes, while drought‑induced hyper‑methylation of specific transposable elements, especially the RLX_famc9 LTR retrotransposon, appears to modulate downstream gene regulation via siRNA precursors.

CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the vacuolar invertase gene (StVInv) in potato enhanced drought resilience, with mutants maintaining higher stomatal conductance, transpiration, and photosynthetic efficiency, leading to improved agronomic water-use efficiency and biomass under water limitation. Metabolomic profiling showed accumulation of galactinol and raffinose, while ABA levels were reduced, indicating altered osmoprotective and hormonal responses that support sustained growth during drought.

Four barley genotypes were examined under simultaneous Fusarium culmorum infection and drought, revealing genotype-dependent Fusarium Head Blight severity and largely additive transcriptomic responses dominated by drought. Co‑expression and hormone profiling linked ABA and auxin to stress‑specific gene modules, and a multiple linear regression model accurately predicted combined‑stress gene expression from single‑stress data, suggesting modular regulation.

The study integrates multi-omics data from six Sorghum bicolor accessions under field drought to link RNA covalent modifications (RCMs) with photosynthetic performance, identifying the enzyme SbDUS2 that produces dihydrouridine (DHU) on transcripts. Loss‑of‑function dus2 mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana reveal that DHU deficiency leads to hyperstability of photosynthesis‑related mRNAs, impairing germination, development, and stress‑induced CO2 assimilation. The authors propose DHU as a post‑transcriptional mark that promotes rapid mRNA turnover during abiotic stress, enhancing plant resilience.

The study engineered Tobacco rattle virus vectors incorporating distinct RNA secondary structures as mobility factors to improve guide RNA delivery to plant meristems. Using Nicotiana benthamiana plants expressing Cas9, optimal virus constructs were identified that generated both somatic and heritable edits, and these constructs were successfully applied to edit the emerging oilseed crop pennycress (Thlaspi arvense).

The authors introduce the ENABLE(R) Gene Editing in planta toolkit, a streamlined two‑step cloning system for creating CRISPR/Cas9 knockout vectors suitable for transient or stable transformation. Validation was performed in Oryza sativa protoplasts and Arabidopsis thaliana plants, and the toolkit includes low‑cost protocols aimed at facilitating adoption in the Global South.

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.