An official website of the United States government
Summary Plant responses to abiotic environmental challenges are known to have lasting effects on the plant beyond the initial stress exposure. Some of these lasting effects are transgenerational, affecting the next generation. The plant response to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels has been well studied. However, these investigations are typically limited to plants grown for a single generation in a high CO2environment while transgenerational studies are rare.We aimed to determine transgenerational growth responses in plants after exposure to high CO2by investigating the direct progeny when returned to baseline CO2levels.We found that both the flowering plantArabidopsis thalianaand seedless nonvascular plantPhyscomitrium patenscontinue to display accelerated growth rates in the progeny of plants exposed to high CO2. We used the model species Arabidopsis to dissect the molecular mechanism and found that DNA methylation pathways are necessary for heritability of this growth response.More specifically, the pathway of RNA‐directed DNA methylation is required to initiate methylation and the proteins CMT2 and CMT3 are needed for the transgenerational propagation of this DNA methylation to the progeny plants. Together, these two DNA methylation pathways establish and then maintain a cellular memory to high CO2exposure.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on March 26, 2026
Aboveground whole‐plant live imaging method for nitric oxide reveals an intricate relationship between H2O2 and NO
Nitric oxide (NO) is a key regulator of plant development, growth, and responses to the environment. Together with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), NO modifies the structure and function of proteins, controlling redox signaling. Although NO has been studied extensively at the cellular and subcellular levels, very little is known about changes in NO content at the whole‐plant level.Here, we report on the development of an aboveground whole‐plant live imaging method for NO. Using mutants with altered NO levels, as well as an NO donor/scavenger, we demonstrate the specificity of the detection method for NO.Arabidopsis thalianaplants were found to produce a basal level of NO under control conditions. NO levels accumulated enzymatically in plants following heat stress applied to the entire plant, as well as in a systemic manner following different locally applied stimuli. Similar or opposing accumulation patterns were also found for NO and H2O2during the response of plants to different stimuli.Our findings reveal that NO accumulates during the systemic response of plants to a local stimulus. In addition, they shed new light on the intricate relationships between NO and H2O2. The new method reported opens the way for multiple future studies of NO's role in plant biology.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10588166
- Publisher / Repository:
- New Phytologist
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- New Phytologist
- ISSN:
- 0028-646X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Summary Chloroplast Unusual Positioning 1 (CHUP1) plays an important role in the chloroplast avoidance and accumulation responses in mesophyll cells. In epidermal cells, prior research showed silencingCHUP1‐induced chloroplast stromules and amplified effector‐triggered immunity (ETI); however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.CHUP1 has a dual function in anchoring chloroplasts and recruiting chloroplast‐associated actin (cp‐actin) filaments for blue light‐induced movement. To determine which function is critical for ETI, we developed an approach to quantify chloroplast anchoring and movement in epidermal cells. Our data show that silencingNbCHUP1inNicotiana benthamianaplants increased epidermal chloroplast de‐anchoring and basal movement but did not fully disrupt blue light‐induced chloroplast movement.SilencingNbCHUP1auto‐activated epidermal chloroplast defense (ECD) responses including stromule formation, perinuclear chloroplast clustering, the epidermal chloroplast response (ECR), and the chloroplast reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). These findings show chloroplast anchoring restricts a multifaceted ECD response.Our results also show that the accumulated chloroplastic H2O2inNbCHUP1‐silenced plants was not required for the increased basal epidermal chloroplast movement but was essential for increased stromules and enhanced ETI. This finding indicates that chloroplast de‐anchoring and H2O2play separate but essential roles during ETI.more » « less
-
Abstract The plant microbiome is critical to plant health and is degraded with anthropogenic disturbance. However, the value of re‐establishing the native microbiome is rarely considered in ecological restoration. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are particularly important microbiome components, as they associate with most plants, and later successional grassland plants are strongly responsive to native AM fungi.With five separate sites across the United States, we inoculated mid‐ and late successional plant seedlings with one of three types of native microbiome amendments: (a) whole rhizosphere soil collected from local old‐growth, undisturbed grassland communities in Illinois, Kansas or Oklahoma, (b) laboratory cultured AM fungi from these same old‐growth grassland sites or (c) no microbiome amendment. We also seeded each restoration with a diverse native seed mixture. Plant establishment and growth was followed for three growing seasons.The reintroduction of soil microbiome from native ecosystems improved restoration establishment.Including only native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities produced similar improvements in plant establishment as what was found with whole soil microbiome amendment. These findings were robust across plant functional groups.Inoculated plants (amended with either AM fungi or whole soil) also grew more leaves and were generally taller during the three growing seasons.Synthesis and applications. Our research shows that mycorrhizal fungi can accelerate plant succession and that the reintroduction of both whole soil and laboratory cultivated native mycorrhizal fungi can be used as tools to improve native plant restoration following anthropogenic disturbance.more » « less
-
Summary Plants integrate environmental stimuli to optimize photosynthesis vs water loss by controlling stomatal apertures. However, stomatal responses to temperature elevation and the underlying molecular genetic mechanisms remain less studied.We developed an approach for clamping leaf‐to‐air vapor pressure difference (VPDleaf) to fixed values, and recorded robust reversible warming‐induced stomatal opening in intact plants. We analyzed stomatal temperature responses of mutants impaired in guard cell signaling pathways for blue light, abscisic acid (ABA), CO2, and the temperature‐sensitive proteins, Phytochrome B (phyB) and EARLY‐FLOWERING‐3 (ELF3).We confirmed thatphot1‐5/phot2‐1leaves lacking blue‐light photoreceptors showed partially reduced warming‐induced stomatal opening. Furthermore, ABA‐biosynthesis, phyB, and ELF3 were not essential for the stomatal warming response. Strikingly,Arabidopsis(dicot) andBrachypodium distachyon(monocot) mutants lacking guard cell CO2sensors and signaling mechanisms, includinght1,mpk12/mpk4‐gc, andcbc1/cbc2abolished the stomatal warming response, suggesting a conserved mechanism across diverse plant lineages. Moreover, warming rapidly stimulated photosynthesis, resulting in a reduction in intercellular (CO2). Interestingly, further enhancing heat stress caused stomatal opening uncoupled from photosynthesis.We provide genetic and physiological evidence that the stomatal warming response is triggered by increased CO2assimilation and stomatal CO2sensing. Additionally, increasing heat stress functions via a distinct photosynthesis‐uncoupled stomatal opening pathway.more » « less
-
Summary Mosses hold a unique position in plant evolution and are crucial for protecting natural, long‐term carbon storage systems such as permafrost and bogs. Due to small stature, mosses grow close to the soil surface and are exposed to high levels of CO2, produced by soil respiration. However, the impact of elevated CO2(eCO2) levels on mosses remains underexplored.We determined the growth responses of the mossPhyscomitrium patensto eCO2in combination with different nitrogen levels and characterized the underlying physiological and metabolic changes.Three distinct growth characteristics, an early transition to caulonema, the development of longer, highly pigmented rhizoids, and increased biomass, define the phenotypic responses ofP. patensto eCO2. Elevated CO2impacts growth by enhancing the level of a sugar signaling metabolite, T6P. The quantity and form of nitrogen source influences these metabolic and phenotypic changes. Under eCO2,P. patensexhibits a diffused growth pattern in the presence of nitrate, but ammonium supplementation results in dense growth with tall gametophores, demonstrating high phenotypic plasticity under different environments.These results provide a framework for comparing the eCO2responses ofP. patenswith other plant groups and provide crucial insights into moss growth that may benefit climate change models.more » « less
