Trends in Plant Science

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The plant social networking system (SNS) is conceptualized as a four-phase, cue-mediated transfer from a donor holobiome to a receiver holobiome.

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Botanical gardens provide exceptional plant diversity and conservation resources that enable evo-devo studies across many species, combining classical morphology/anatomy with molecular methods.

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Reconstructed plant cis-regulatory evolution across 300 million years shows widespread conservation of noncoding sequences that stabilize core developmental programs while permitting regulatory innovation.

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Heat stress can trigger a system-level breakdown of male and female gametophyte development, shared metabolic/proteostatic support, and pollen–pistil interaction within a narrow temperature window.

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Integrating single-cell, single-nucleus, and spatial transcriptomics in poplar xylem recovers developmental continuity beyond cell states alone, enabling explanatory woody developmental atlases.

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Meta-analysis of 121 UAV-based crop pest and disease detection studies (2018–2024) found 89% lacked truly independent test datasets, inflating performance estimates and limiting generalisability.

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Plant awareness disparity—humans overlooking plants—is linked to negative consequences for education, biodiversity conservation, and sustainability, motivating a philosophical re-examination of perception and value.

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Phosphatidic acid acts as a dynamic second messenger in plants under multiple stresses, with diacylglycerol kinase-derived signaling mechanisms broadening functional profiles.

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Genomic sequencing is transforming research on the hemiparasitic genus Castilleja by expanding gene families for host recognition and enabling genomic delimitation of cryptic taxa.

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Plant-cyanobacterial symbioses are proposed as an alternative route to engineer nitrogen-fixing crops, targeting an early, likely conserved step across independent evolutionary origins.

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Supramolecular host-guest chemistry enables precise control of signaling-molecule delivery, stability, and spatiotemporal release for crop improvement, positioning it as a targeted agrochemical strategy.

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Hierarchical genome-phenome frameworks are proposed to improve predictive modeling of crop performance under climate-driven environmental variability, enabling more accurate breeding decisions.

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Bilateral symmetry-breaking genes are known in animals and some symmetry transitions are characterized in plants, but genes dedicated to establishing bilateral symmetry remain unidentified.

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Physiological or environmental constraints organize high-diversity rhizosphere microbiota along dominant ecological axes, making microbiome functioning increasingly predictable.

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A five-component metabolon was identified as catalyzing the final steps of the nicotine biosynthetic pathway in plants, resolving a long-standing nicotine synthesis mystery.

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Nitrogen cycling is linked to tight plant–microbe coregulation, where plants actively steer microbial transformation rates, locations, and pathways through carbon allocation and root traits.

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Plants use mobile RNAs as systemic signals, coordinating growth, development, and environmental responses across tissues, with movement spanning cell-to-cell and long-distance pathways.

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Cross-kingdom volatile organic compound networks are proposed to regulate plant–microbe ecological network dynamics, shaping stability-linked properties through five organizing principles.

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Distinct enzyme modules and subcellular organization complete the post-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (post-PAL) salicylic acid pathway across plant lineages, producing the same intermediate despite divergent architecture.

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Extracellular ATP (eATP) is proposed as an integrative priming hub in plants, linking purinoceptor 2K1/2 (P2K1/2) signaling to Ca2+ and reactive oxygen species pathways.

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Plants sense high external pH via rapid alkalinization factor-FERONIA and 1-PSY1R signaling that modulates plasma membrane H+-ATPase activity, linking soil chemistry to stress responses.

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Photorespiration is proposed as a key, previously overlooked regulator of stomatal opening, linking leaf CO2 uptake and water loss under hotter, drier, variable extremes.

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Genome writing in plants is still in its infancy, and the compact plastid genome is identified as an ideal target to enable scalable plant genome engineering.

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Pyramiding favourable alleles for plant architecture and dense planting across 108 maize hybrids improved hybrid yield, showing measurable gains in modern breeding eras.

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Elevated temperatures are expected to reshape plant nitrogen nutrition because nitrogen uptake peaks around the day/night transition while nitrate storage is favored in darkness.