The study re-analyzed AtGenExpress microarray data to profile expression of Arabidopsis papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) and cystatins under bacterial infection, wounding, and drought, and performed in vitro assays to determine cystatin inhibition specificity for abundant PLCPs. Integrating co‑expression and inhibition data with support vector machine modeling revealed distinct PLCP‑cystatin modules for virulent versus avirulent bacterial infections and overlapping modules between drought and basal defense, indicating shared regulatory programs across stress types.

The authors compiled and standardized published data on Rubisco dark inhibition for 157 flowering plant species, categorizing them into four inhibition levels and analyzing phylogenetic trends. Their meta‑analysis reveals a complex, uneven distribution of inhibition across taxa, suggesting underlying chloroplast microenvironment drivers and providing a new resource for future photosynthesis improvement efforts.

The study evaluated a transgenic soybean line (VPZ-34A) expressing Arabidopsis VDE, PsbS, and ZEP for combined improvements in light‑use efficiency and carbon assimilation under ambient and elevated CO2 in a FACE experiment. While VPZ‑34A showed enhanced maximum quantum efficiency of PSII under fluctuating light, it did not increase carbon assimilation efficiency or yield, and transcriptome analysis revealed limited gene expression changes. The results suggest that VPZ‑mediated photosynthetic gains are insufficient to boost productivity under elevated CO2.

The study examined how polyploidy, hybridization, and incomplete lineage sorting affect phylogenetic reconstructions in the genus Packera, evaluating several published paralog‑processing pipelines. Results showed that the choice of orthology and paralog handling methods markedly altered tree topology, time‑calibrated phylogenies, biogeographic histories, and detection of ancient reticulation, underscoring the need for careful methodological selection alongside comprehensive taxon sampling.

The study examined soybean (Glycine max) responses to simultaneous drought and Asian soybean rust infection using combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis identified stress-specific gene modules linked to metabolites, while Copula Graphical Models uncovered sparse, condition‑specific networks, revealing distinct molecular signatures for each stress without overlapping genes or metabolites. The integrative approach underscores a hierarchical, modular defense architecture and suggests targets for breeding multi‑stress resilient soybeans.

The study used Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with low (vtc2, vtc4) and high (vtc2/OE-VTC2) ascorbate levels to examine how ascorbate concentration affects gene expression and cellular homeostasis. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that altered ascorbate levels modulate defense and stress pathways, and that TAA1/TAR2‑mediated auxin biosynthesis is required for coping with elevated ascorbate in a light‑dependent manner.