NHX1 is closely related to K uptake and accumulation in plants. AtNHX1-overexpressing tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) exhibited significantly higher leaf K content than the wild-type tobacco variety K326. The AtNHX1-overexpressing tobacco has significantly improved root morphology and physiology compared to the wild-type variety K326. AtNHX1-overexpressing tobacco showed higher V_max levels in roots than the wild-type variety K326. Overexpression of AtNHX1 is able to increase leaf potassium content by boosting the ability of enriching potassium in tobacco roots.

In high-altitude or cold regions of northern China, plants may simultaneously face two environmental stresses: (1) heavy metal cadmium; and (2) freeze-thaw. The study showed that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) significantly improved the growth of rye (Secale cereale) seedlings under these stresses, enhancing their resistance. This finding provides an innovative bioregulation strategy for plant response to environmental stressors, highlighting the potential application value of GABA as a natural plant growth regulator.

The Chinese gentian, Gentiana sino-ornata, is a commercially important flower that produces brilliant blue blossoms. We identified the responsible gene, Gs5AT, and discovered that another gene, GsbHLH7, can regulate the expression of the first gene. This study provides a further basis for molecular breeding of blue flowers.

Climate change subjects crops to increasingly unfavourable environmental situations, such as soil salinity, which is very harmful to crops. The results of our work provide valuable information that could be useful for solve this problem. It was possible to verify the beneficial effect of brassinosteroids in strawberry (Fragaria vesca) plants exposed to saline stress, so we propose the use of these compounds as an environmentally safe crop management strategy to overcome situations of salinity that seriously reduce crop health and yields.

Leaf mesophyll cells are often approximated by capsules and spheres to discuss structure-function relationships. These assumptions allow an easy assessments based on widely available 2D datasets of foliar tissue. However, this is a rough approximation of often irregularly shaped spongy mesophyll cells. We suggest to use more rare 3D assessments to provide corrections and functions to be used in 2D assessments, rather than scaling 2D analysis to 3D structures based on the assumption of ideal shapes.

Surviving in conditions of water fluctuation and light heterogeneity by plants requires to be plastic. We showed that the hemiepiphyte Vanilla phaeantha adjusts leaf traits and their metabolism for atmospheric CO₂ capture in function of the vertical gradient of the understorey (that has different light availability and air humidity), and according to water seasonality. The morphological traits mainly varied according to the understorey position, while physiological ones were more sensitive to seasonal variations.

The cultivation of high-quality wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) often relies on specific growth stresses, and ‘No apical meristem; Arabidopsis transcription activation factor; Cup-shape cotyledon’ (NAC), as plant-specific transcription factors, playing a key role in adapting to stresses. This study identified these factors influencing the grape’s sugar and abscisic acid (ABA) pathways. Specifically, we discovered that the VvNAC26 significantly impacts these pathways, coordinating with VvSnRK1.2, offering new insights into grapevine development and its adaptation to environmental challenges.