The study reveals that the Arabidopsis O-GlcNAc transferase SEC is essential for timely ABA‑induced stomatal closure and drought tolerance, with sec-5 mutants showing delayed closure and increased water loss, while SEC overexpression enhances responsiveness. SEC influences guard‑cell microtubule remodeling, as loss of SEC impairs microtubule reorganization and SEC directly interacts with tubulin α‑4, suggesting tubulin as a target of O‑GlcNAcylation.

The study examined drought tolerance across nine provenances of the conifer Pinus nigra using high‑throughput phenotyping combined with metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses under controlled soil‑drying conditions. Drought tolerance, measured by the decline in Fv/Fm, varied among provenances but was not linked to a climatic gradient and was independent of growth, with tolerant provenances showing distinct flavonoid and diterpene profiles and provenance‑specific gene expression patterns. Integrating phenotypic and molecular data revealed metabolic signatures underlying drought adaptation in this non‑model conifer.

The study integrated 16 Arabidopsis thaliana whole‑genome bisulfite sequencing datasets from 13 stress experiments using a unified bioinformatic pipeline to map common and stress‑specific DNA methylation changes. Differentially methylated regions varied by stress type and methylation context, with CG DMRs enriched in gene bodies and CHG/CHH DMRs in transposable elements, some of which overlapped loci prone to stable epimutations. Gene ontology and TE enrichment analyses highlighted shared stress pathways and suggest environmental stress can generate heritable epigenetic variation.

High-quality PacBio HiFi draft genome assemblies were generated for three Bouteloua species (B. curtipendula, B. gracilis, B. eriopoda) with >98.5% BUSCO completeness. Gene prediction with Helixer produced inflated gene counts likely reflecting polyploidy and fragmented predictions, and panEDTA identified 25–40% transposable-element content dominated by LTR retrotransposons. These assemblies provide foundational references for comparative genomics within PACMAD grasses.

The study generated deep proteome and phosphoproteome datasets from guard cell‑enriched tissue to examine how phosphorylation regulates stomatal movements. Comparative analysis revealed increased phosphorylation of endomembrane trafficking and vacuolar proteins in closed stomata, supporting a role for phospho‑regulated trafficking in stomatal dynamics.

The study examined seed maturation and germination in the endangered legume Paubrasilia echinata using proteomic and polyamine analyses at 4, 6, and 8 weeks post-anthesis, identifying over 2,000 proteins and linking specific polyamines to developmental stages. Mature seeds (6 weeks) showed elevated proteasome components, translation machinery, LEA proteins, and heat shock proteins, while polyamine dynamics revealed putrescine dominance in early development and spermidine/spermine association with desiccation tolerance and germination. These findings uncover dynamic molecular shifts underlying seed development and provide insights for conservation and propagation.

The study compared physiological and transcriptomic responses of poplar trees colonized by the ectomycorrhizal fungi Paxillus involutus or Cenococcum geophilum under normal, drought, and recovery conditions. Cenococcum-colonized plants showed constitutive up‑regulation of heat‑shock proteins, galactinol synthase, and aquaporins and maintained water status and photosynthesis during severe drought, whereas Paxillus colonization promoted growth and nitrogen‑use efficiency and enabled rapid recovery through drought‑induced leaf shedding. These contrasting strategies illustrate species‑specific positions on the growth‑defense trade‑off in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis.

The study provides a comprehensive proteomic analysis of seed mitochondria from white lupin, revealing fully assembled OXPHOS complexes ready for immediate energy production upon imbibition. Quantitative mass‑spectrometry identified 1,162 mitochondrial proteins, highlighting tissue‑specific transporter and dehydrogenase profiles and dynamic remodeling during early germination, while many uncharacterized proteins suggest novel legume‑specific functions.

The study used host-mediated artificial selection to iteratively enrich rice-associated microbiomes that improve growth and drought tolerance, starting from diverse soil microbial communities. Over multiple generations, selected microbiomes converged, and amplicon sequencing along with metagenome-assembled genomes identified specific bacterial taxa and functional pathways (e.g., glycerol-3-phosphate and iron transport) linked to enhanced drought performance. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of plant phenotype-driven microbiome engineering for crop improvement.

The study examined how prior light‑acclimation influences the fitness and rapid photoprotective reprogramming of Chlamydomonas during transitions between low and high diurnal light intensities. While high‑light‑acclimated cells struggled to grow and complete the cell cycle after shifting to low light, low‑light‑acclimated cells quickly remodeled thylakoid ultrastructure, enhanced photoprotective quenching, and altered photosystem protein levels, recovering chloroplast function within a single day. Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling revealed swift induction of stress‑response genes, indicating high flexibility in diurnal light acclimation.