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 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 authors generated a high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly for the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus vulnus and performed comparative genomics revealing close evolutionary ties to Meloidogyne graminicola. Transcriptome profiling uncovered stage-specific expression of parasitism-related genes, and analyses identified expanded effector repertoires and lineage-specific cell wall-degrading enzyme families, elucidating genome organization and parasitic mechanisms in this woody‑plant nematode.

High‑quality genomes of three founder pathotypes of Plasmopara halstedii were assembled and compared with 16 French reference pathotypes, revealing conserved genome organization and strong synteny with other Peronosporales. Phylogenomic and population‑genetic analyses traced founder strains, admixture patterns, and genomic reshuffling that produced broader virulence spectra, pinpointing mosaic regions and putative effector genes linked to host resistance breakdown. These results illuminate the evolutionary mechanisms of pathogen adaptation and inform sustainable resistance deployment in sunflower.

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.

The study used comparative transcriptomics to examine how Fusarium oxysporum isolates with different lifestyles on angiosperms regulate effector genes during infection of the non‑vascular liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Core effector genes on fast core chromosomes are actively expressed in the bryophyte host, while lineage‑specific effectors linked to angiosperm pathogenicity are silent, and disruption of a compatibility‑associated core effector alters the expression of other core effectors, highlighting conserved fungal gene networks across plant lineages.