Paspalum notatum Flügge is a species with high frequency in natural grasslands located Southern Cone region of South America. Its persistence in this environment is linked to its good tolerance to water stress. In our work, we found that numerous biochemical processes contribute to the adaptation of this species – regardless of ploidy level – to these adverse conditions.

Plant resistance to heavy metals has significance in phytoremediation. Under copper stress, malondialdehyde, electrolyte leakage, flavonoids and amino acids of Phragmites were all increased. Metabolomics analysis revealed it is the quercetin methylation pathway of avarin and the two citrulline pathway of arginine that greatly improved the resistance of Phragmites. These findings elucidate the antioxidant mechanisms for further enhancing its resistance of heavy metal stress paving a way for making a potential metabolically strengthen method of Phragmites – based phytoremediation.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) productivity may be limited by P on calcareous soils. Phosphorous (P) fertilisation decreased yield but fibre quality was unaffected. P addition decreased leaf Zn concentration. The negative yield response to P was ascribed to P-induced Zn deficiency.

London plane trees (Platanus acerifolia) are widely grown as street trees, however, their trichomes (non-glandular type) constitute serious air pollutants, which can cause allergic reactions and induce respiratory diseases. We identified a PaNAC089 gene from London plane trees that modulates flowering, chlorophyll breakdown and trichome initiation in this study, This provides a likely candidate gene for the genetic improvement of P. acerifolia.

Polyamines such as spermidine play a key role in plant growth and development and are also involved in adaptive responses to environmental stresses including drought stress. The role of exogenous spermidine in conferring drought-stress tolerance in faba bean seedlings was studied. Spermidine successfully reduced oxidative damage by enhancing the antioxidant components and inducing the expression of drought stress-response genes. This study contributes to advances in the knowledge of spermidine-induced drought tolerance.