The study engineers Type‑B response regulators to alter their transcriptional activity and cytokinin sensitivity, enabling precise modulation of cytokinin‑dependent traits. Using tissue‑specific promoters, the synthetic transcription factors were deployed in Arabidopsis thaliana to reliably increase or decrease lateral root numbers, demonstrating a modular platform for controlling developmental phenotypes.

The study shows that the SnRK1 catalytic subunit KIN10 directs tissue-specific growth‑defense programs in Arabidopsis thaliana by reshaping transcriptomes. kin10 knockout mutants exhibit altered root transcription, reduced root growth, and weakened defense against Pseudomonas syringae, whereas KIN10 overexpression activates shoot defense pathways, increasing ROS and salicylic acid signaling at the cost of growth.

The study characterizes the tomato class B heat shock factor SlHSFB3a, revealing its age‑dependent expression in roots and its role in enhancing lateral root density by modulating auxin homeostasis. Overexpression of SlHSFB3a increases lateral root emergence, while CRISPR‑mediated knockouts produce the opposite phenotype, indicating that SlHSFB3a regulates auxin signaling through repression of auxin repressors and activation of the ARF7/LOB20 pathway.

A forward genetic screen in light-grown Arabidopsis seedlings identified the Evening Complex component ELF3 as a key inhibitor of phototropic hypocotyl bending under high red:far-red and blue light, acting upstream of PIF4/PIF5. ELF3 and its partner LUX also mediate circadian regulation of phototropism, and the orthologous ELF3 in Brachypodium distachyon influences phototropism in the opposite direction.

The study investigates the altered timing of the core circadian oscillator gene ELF3 in wheat compared to Arabidopsis, revealing that dawn-specific expression in wheat arises from repression by TOC1. An optimized computational model integrating experimental expression data and promoter architecture predicts that wheat’s circadian oscillator remains robust despite this shift, indicating flexibility in plant circadian network design.

The study tests whether the circadian clock component ELF3 shapes developmental trait heterogeneity, proposing that faster‑developing populations are more heterogeneous early but less so at maturity, whereas slower growers show the opposite pattern. Experiments with Arabidopsis elf3 and barley Hvelf3 mutants confirmed these predictions, showing ELF3 influences hypocotyl and bolting variability via maturation rate, and that smaller barley plants exhibit increased osmotic stress resilience, suggesting ELF3‑driven heterogeneity serves as a bet‑hedging strategy.

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.