03 апреля, 2025

Новости науки и практики // Апрель 2025

Tomato plants delay shoot meristem maturation to achieve heat-stress resilience

The study reveals a novel mechanism by which tomato plants actively mitigate heat stress and stabilize yield through the developmental reprogramming of shoot apical stem cells.

https://phys.org/news/2025-04-tomato-delay-meristem-maturation-stress.html

Membranous translation platforms in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

To characterize the membranous platforms for translation and the biogenesis of thylakoid membranes, Sun et al profiled membranes during chloroplast development, using the yellow-in-the-dark1 mutant, and carried out proteomic analyses on two membrane types proposed previously to support translation in the chloroplast of C. reinhardtii: “low-density membrane” (LDM) and “chloroplast translation membrane” (CTM).

https://academic.oup.com/plphys/...kiaf111/8090033

TIR1-produced cAMP as a second messenger in transcriptional auxin signalling

TIR1/AFB auxin receptors are F-box subunits of an ubiquitin ligase complex; after auxin perception, they associate with Aux/IAA transcriptional repressors and ubiquitinate them for degradation, thus enabling the activation of auxin response factor (ARF) transcription factors. Chen et al revise this paradigm by showing that without TIR1 adenylate cyclase (AC) activity, auxin-induced degradation of Aux/IAAs is not sufficient to mediate the transcriptional auxin response.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08669-w

Decoding small peptides: Regulators of plant growth and stress resilience

Small peptides (SPs) are pivotal signaling molecules that play essential roles in the precise regulation of plant growth, development, and stress responses. Recent advancements in sequencing technologies, bioinformatics approaches, and biochemical and molecular techniques have significantly enhanced the accuracy of SP identification, unveiling their diverse biological functions in plants.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jipb.13873

Plant patch can detect stress signals in real time

Environmental conditions can cause damaging stress to plants, posing challenges for home gardeners and farmers. Therefore, early detection -- before leaves visibly discolor, wilt or wither -- is crucial. Now, researchers have created a wearable patch for plants that quickly senses stress and relays the information to a grower. The electrochemical sensor attaches directly to live plant leaves and monitors hydrogen peroxide, a key distress signal.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250319143425.htm

Plants breathing under pressure: mechanistic insights into soil compaction-induced physiological, molecular and biochemical responses in plants

This review highlights the molecular, biochemical and physiological responses of plants under soil compaction and presents suitable strategies for optimizing soil compaction for sustainable and intelligent plant production.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00425-025-04624-1

Cell-type specific autophagy in root hair forming cells is essential for salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Zhao et al show that root hair forming cells (trichoblasts) of Arabidopsis thaliana exhibit higher autophagic flux than adjacent nonhair cells (atrichoblasts). This differential autophagy is genetically linked to cell fate determination during early development.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.18.643786v1.full.pdf

Algal perspectives: The algal phyla

What are algae?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpy.13546

DOG1 controls dormancy independently of ABA core signaling kinases regulation by preventing AFP dephosphorylation through AHG1

Seed dormancy determines germination timing, influencing seed plant adaptation and overall fitness. DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1) is a conserved central regulator of dormancy cooperating with the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) through negative regulation of ABA HYPERSENSITIVE GERMINATION (AHG) 1 and AHG3 phosphatases. The current molecular mechanism of DOG1 signaling proposes it regulates the activation of central ABA-related SnRK2 kinases. Krüger et al unveil DOG1’s functional autonomy from the regulation of ABA core signaling components and unravel its pivotal control over the activation of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE FIVE BINDING PROTEINs (AFPs).

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr8502

Artificial photosynthesis: Researchers mimic plants

With artificial photosynthesis, humankind could utilize solar energy to bind carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen. Chemists have taken this one step further: They have synthesized a stack of dyes that comes very close to the photosynthetic apparatus of plants. It absorbs light energy, uses it to separate charge carriers and transfers them quickly and efficiently in the stack.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250314113821.htm

Gene-expression study reveals 2-in-1 root armor protects plants from environmental stressors, fights climate change

To compensate for their inability to up and move when danger strikes, many plants have evolved ways to protect themselves by altering their physiology, such as building armor around parts of their body and roots called the periderm. However, since many plant biologists who study tissue development look at young plants, later-in-life periderm development has remained relatively unexplored.

https://phys.org/news/2025-01-gene-reveals-root-armor-environmental.html

The minimal cell-cycle control system in Marchantia as a framework for understanding plant cell proliferation

The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha possess a streamlined set of core cell cycle genes with minimal redundancy during vegetative development. Using single-cell RNA-seq and fluorescent reporters, Romani et al found a precise, phase-specific pattern of expression for cell cycle genes. They demonstrated in vivo that only three cyclins are active, one at a given phase, without redundancy.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.12.642684v1.full.pdf

Flowers that cool themselves: Thermal ecology of summer-blooming thistles in hot Mediterranean environments

Flower exposure to high temperature reduces the production, viability, and performance of pollen, ovules, and seeds, which in turn impairs individual fecundity and risks the survival of populations. Autonomous floral cooling could alleviate the effects of flower exposure to harmful temperatures, yet investigations on thermal ecology of flowers in hot environments are needed to evaluate the reality, magnitude, and ecological significance of thermoregulatory cooling. Herrera reports a study on the thermal ecology of the flower heads (=capitula) of 15 species of summer-blooming Asteraceae, tribe Cardueae, from hot-dry habitats in the southern Iberian Peninsula.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecm.70007

RNA origami: Artificial cytoskeletons to build synthetic cells

Synthetic biologists from Heidelberg University create nanotubes folded from the natural RNA biomolecule. With the long-term goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses the multifunctionality of the natural RNA biomolecule to fold new building blocks, making protein synthesis superfluous. In pursuit of the artificial cell, a research team has cleared a crucial hurdle. Using the RNA origami technique, they succeeded in producing nanotubes that fold into cytoskeleton-like structures.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250317164042.htm

Tethering ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase to photosystem I promotes photosynthetic cyclic electron transfer

Fixing CO2 via photosynthesis requires ATP and NADPH, which can be generated through linear electron transfer (LET). However, depending on the environmental conditions, additional ATP may be required to fix CO2, which can be generated by cyclic electron transfer (CET). How the balance between LET and CET is determined remains largely unknown. Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR) may act as the switch between LET and CET, channelling photosynthetic electrons to LET when it is bound to photosystem I (PSI) or to CET when it is bound to cytochrome b6f. The essential role of FNR in LET precludes the use of a direct gene knock-out to test this hypothesis. Emrich-Mills et al circumvented this problem using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (Cas9)-mediated gene editing in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Through this approach, they created a chimeric form of FNR tethered to PSI via PSAF.

https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/37/3/koaf042/8050736

New discovery in plant-pest warfare could lead to sustainable farming solutions

Researchers reveal how proteins secreted by spider mites can influence plant defense mechanisms. Overuse of chemical pesticides has driven resistance in agricultural pests, including the adaptable two-spotted spider mite. Researchers have discovered novel elicitor proteins, Tet3 and Tet4, in mite saliva that could enhance sustainable pest control. They found that these proteins play a crucial role in modulating plant defense responses by acting as key players in the complex interactions between parasite and host, paving the way for new mite countermeasures.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250317164045.htm

Discovery of novel small compounds that delay flowering in plants

Researchers from Japan investigate chemicals that can control the timing of flowering, aiming to enhance crop yield and resilience.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1078398

New green chemistry extracts valuable compounds from plant waste

Around 98 per cent of lignin created as a forestry by-product from plants is discarded, but a new enzyme could be the key to extracting high-value molecules from this waste using a green chemistry approach.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1078393

Ученые нашли механизм преобразования токсинов в приятные на вкус вещества в помидорах

Команда ученых из нескольких учреждений открыла генетический механизм, который превращает горькие токсины в приятные на вкус соединения в томатах. Ученые заблокировали производство отдельных белков, чтобы понять, как томаты делают себя привлекательнее для распространителей семян.

https://naked-science.ru/article/biology/tomato-bitter-to-palatabb