Genetius

The study identifies extracellular NAD(P) as a damage-associated molecular pattern that mediates localized acquired resistance (LAR) during effector‑triggered immunity, demonstrating that eNAD(P) and its receptor complex limit hypersensitive response‑associated cell death and are essential for LAR but independent of known systemic acquired resistance signals. Mutants deficient in the eNAD(P) pathway retain ETI‑mediated resistance, indicating that LAR constitutes a mechanistically distinct immune layer linked to HR‑associated damage.

The study used precision prime editing to replace a conserved arginine with glycine in the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) gene of rice, resulting in higher PEPC activity despite malate inhibition, increased chlorophyll, and elevated photosynthetic rates under ambient CO₂. The edited lines also produced larger seeds with simultaneous enrichment of zinc, iron, and protein, demonstrating that a single amino‑acid change can improve both photosynthetic efficiency and grain nutritional quality in a C3 crop.

A genome-wide association study of 187 bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes identified 812 significant SNPs linked to 25 spectral vegetation indices under rain‑fed drought conditions, revealing high heritability (H² = 0.19‑0.95). A major QTL hotspot on chromosome 2A, tagged by wsnp_Ex_c36049_44083089, was associated with 17 indices and explained up to 20% of phenotypic variance, co‑localizing with candidate LEA/NDR1‑like and lectin receptor‑like kinase genes involved in stress signaling. These findings demonstrate that vegetation indices are heritable digital traits useful for selecting drought‑resilient wheat.

The study re‑evaluates global carbon budgets by explicitly including annual and other cultivated crops, showing that cultivated plants have acted as a net carbon sink of about 3 ± 0.7 GtCO₂ yr⁻¹ since 1970, with annual crops contributing ~27% of sequestration. Using a stoichiometric‑probabilistic model, the authors project that this sink will diminish to zero around the peak of human population before becoming a source, highlighting the need to integrate agriculture into carbon accounting.

The study presents a hybrid framework that integrates a logistic ordinary differential equation with an LSTM network to form a physics‑informed neural network (PINN) for modeling wheat plant height dynamics. Using only time and temperature as inputs, the PINN outperformed traditional ODE and machine‑learning models, achieving the lowest average RMSE and reduced variability across random initialisations. The results highlight that embedding biological growth constraints into data‑driven models can substantially improve longitudinal trait predictions, especially with limited training data.

The study analyzes the genetic structure of Phytophthora infestans populations across South America, revealing distinct clonal lineages, mitochondrial haplotypes, and mating types in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Uruguay. Findings highlight regional differences in lineage distribution and the persistence of mating type A1, providing updated information for late blight management strategies.

Plant cyclic nucleotide‑gated channels (CNGCs) are essential for Ca2+ signaling but their activation mechanism was unknown. This study identifies plant‑specific ARMADILLO REPEAT ONLY (ARO) proteins as essential activators that bind the conserved Calmodulin‑binding IQ domain of CNGC tetramers, competing with Calmodulins and enabling Ca2+ transients. Loss of AROs abolishes CNGC‑dependent Ca2+ responses, revealing a unique regulatory layer in plant calcium signaling.

The study investigates the Arabidopsis homolog of human CENATAC, TITAN LIKE (TTL), revealing that the ttl-142 mutant shows reduced splicing efficiency of U12-dependent introns, especially AT‑AC introns, and associated morphological abnormalities. Compared to a DROL1 mutant, ttl-142 exhibits broader splicing defects but fewer gene expression changes, indicating distinct spliceosomal functions.

The study used ultra large-scale 2D clinostats to grow tomato plants under simulated microgravity and upright control, revealing that simulated microgravity consistently affected growth but with trial‑dependent variability. Temperature emerged as a significant co‑variant, with moderate heat stress actually enhancing growth under simulated microgravity, highlighting interactions between environmental factors and microgravity simulations.

The study experimentally demonstrated that cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) can be transmitted via direct plant‑to‑plant contact, testing 15 species combinations including pepper (Capsicum annuum) and several common weeds. Rubbed inoculation followed by 28 days of contact resulted in CMV detection by DAS‑ELISA in all weed species except Trifolium repens, highlighting the need for precautions against contact transmission in research and agriculture.