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Coupled anaerobic digestion (AD) and activated sludge (AS) are critical for treating high-strength Baijiu distillery wastewater. However, the inherent cyclical nature of the brewing process inevitably leads to drastic variations in organic loads. This study investigated micro-ecological mechanisms across multiple full-scale plants to elucidate the factors associated with operational performance. Results revealed that the effluent quality of AD system remained constant, which was achieved by maintaining taxonomic consistency through dense co-occurrence networks anchored by keystone methanogens. The AS system exhibited pronounced variability to high organic loading, characterized by reduced diversity and sparse co-occurrence networks yet maintaining functional performance through adaptive shifts in specific keystones (e.g., genera Nitrospira, Thauera and Competibacter). In terms of community assembly, deterministic selection accounted for 37.34% of the total assembly variance in the AD system under high loading conditions, associated with strong environmental filtering of core taxa such as genus Methanothrix. By contrast, deterministic selection explained 26.41% of the total assembly variance in the AS system under low loading conditions, which was associated with pronounced environmental filtering targeting core taxa (e.g., Thauera and Competibacter). These findings highlighted that AD consistency emerges from complex co-occurrence, whereas AS variability depends on specialized cooperative interactions. By elucidating these divergent micro-ecological mechanisms, this study highlights the importance of the microbial community in maintaining effluent quality, providing a foundation for ecological monitoring and early warning in Baijiu distillery wastewater treatment plants.

Elucidating the diversity patterns and elevational distribution of medicinal plants is essential for biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization in montane ecosystems. However, the variation in diversity across forest vertical layers and its responses to environmental gradients in mid-subtropical regions remain poorly understood. We surveyed medicinal plants in 93 plots across five elevational gradients (450-1800 m) in Meihua Mountain National Nature Reserve, China. Species composition and community structure in the tree, shrub, and herb layers were analyzed using importance values, α-diversity indices, and β-diversity metrics. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and correlation analysis were performed to examine diversity patterns and identify their environmental drivers, respectively. A total of 503 medicinal plant species (267 genera, 98 families) were recorded. Species richness followed the order shrub > herb > tree layer. Community composition showed clear elevational replacement. α-diversity declined overall with elevation, with significant unimodal patterns in shrub and herb layers but no clear trend in the tree layer. Species turnover was highest in the shrub layer and lowest in the tree layer, peaking at low to mid elevations. Elevation exerted stronger effects on β-diversity in shrub and herb layers than in the tree layer. Canopy closure was negatively correlated with shrub-layer α-diversity, whereas longitude and slope were positively associated with tree- and herb-layer diversity, respectively. This study demonstrate that medicinal plant diversity in mid-subtropical mountains is jointly shaped by vertical stratification and environmental filtering. The higher sensitivity of shrub and herb layers highlights their key role in maintaining biodiversity, whereas tree-layer stability reflects greater resistance to environmental variation. Canopy structure regulates understory diversity, with additional layer-specific effects from topographic and spatial factors. These results provide new insights into diversity maintenance mechanisms and offer guidance for conservation and forest management of medicinal plant resources.

Over Earth's history, the Sun has continuously released coronal mass ejections of plasma that have flowed toward Earth, generating the need for reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) for plants. On the other hand, engineered plasma interacts with air, generating RONS. Thus, the natural process is simulated using engineered plasma (hereafter, plasma), which acts as an artificial Sun. Plasma agriculture offers a sustainable alternative by leveraging plasma-generated RONS to stimulate plant growth and generate nitrogen fertilizer through eco-friendly methods. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the use of plasma in agriculture to address global food insecurity, exacerbated by climate change and the environmental impacts of chemical-intensive farming. To tackle this issue, two methods are explored: plasma-assisted seed treatment and plasma-assisted nitrogen fixation in soil and water, referred to as plasma fertilizer. Plasma-assisted seed treatment is a pre-sowing technique designed to enhance crop yield and stress tolerance in a variety of important plant species. Conversely, plasma fertilizer serves as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional fertilizers. This review focuses on identifying the scientific and translational priorities necessary to advance the field toward practical agricultural applications. This review is based on two interconnected concepts. The first is the biology of plasma-generated RONS, which serve as dose-dependent biochemical primers for seeds. At optimal concentrations, RONS initiate a series of responses in seeds, including modifications to the seed coat, increased activity of antioxidant enzymes, rebalancing of the phytohormones that control dormancy release, upregulation of germination-related gene expression, and epigenetic reprogramming. The second concept involves plasma-assisted C-N-H-O chemistry, in which plasma discharges convert atmospheric N2 into forms that are accessible to plants, thereby promoting overall growth. Together, these two concepts illustrate plasma agriculture's dual role in seed priming and sustainable fertilization.

Nature offers a robust conceptual framework for designing next-generation adaptive, multifunctional sensing systems. Also, in sensing systems, Trojan materials add a functional dimension to the microstructure, enabling the development of high-performance humidity sensors without interfering with their macrostructure. Thus, based on a brief overview of how inspiration from plants, animals, and membranes can be used to engineer high-performance platforms for environmental humidity monitoring, combined with the functional dimension of Trojan materials, this review presents a critical framework detailing the key developments in the main categories of self-sensing materials within the scope of humidity sensors. The review addresses electronically and ionically conductive polymers, polymer composites with dispersed active fillers, and hydrogel-based or other water-compatible systems. Additionally, commercially available sensors are described, and the main challenges and future directions are identified.

Plant invasions pose a significant threat to plant community integrity at high latitudes and altitudes, particularly under the backdrop of ongoing climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. However, how plant invasion and increasing invasion intensity reshape community functional traits and multidimensional diversity in high-altitude wetland ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here, we conducted a field survey across 284 quadrats in a subalpine wetland of Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, China. Nine invasive plant species were detected and occurred in 51.06% of all sampled quadrats. We compared functional trait composition between invaded and uninvaded communities and assessed species, functional, and phylogenetic diversity along invasion intensity gradients through inclusion and exclusion models of invasive species. Invaded communities showed 9.1% higher chlorophyll content and 30.7% larger specific leaf area but 26.1% lower leaf density than uninvaded communities. In addition, community-weighted traits and diversity indices showed stronger responses when invasive species were included. With increasing invasion intensity, species diversity and phylogenetic diversity declined, whereas functional richness increased. These results demonstrate that plant invasion simultaneously drives species loss and functional reorganization, reshaping both the functional composition and biodiversity of subalpine wetland communities. Our findings highlight how invasive species restructure plant communities in subalpine wetlands, with important implications for biodiversity conservation in high-altitude ecosystems.

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The continuous growth of the global population is intensifying the challenge of sustaining future food production. Among the major constraints to agricultural productivity, heavy metal (HM) contamination of soils has emerged as a serious environmental problem that adversely affects crop growth and yield. Environmentally friendly strategies are therefore needed to mitigate HM stress in plants. Endophytic fungi have gained attention for their potential to enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. In this study, the endophytic fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus was evaluated for its ability to produce phytohormones and alleviate lead (Pb) and cobalt (Co) stress in maize (Zea mays L.). Firstly, culture filtrate of P. lilacinus was analyzed for phytohormone production under Pb and Co stress conditions. The fungus produced significant amounts of gibberellic acid (43.01 µg mL⁻¹), salicylic acid (2192.1 µg mL⁻¹), and abscisic acid (35.4 µg mL⁻¹), along with measurable protein content (170.06 µg mL⁻¹) in cobalt contaminated filtrate. Secondly, pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of P. lilacinus inoculation on maize plants grown under different concentrations of Pb and Co. Inoculated plants showed increased endogenous levels of GA₃, SA, and ABA, along with significantly higher chlorophyll content compared to non-inoculated controls. The fungal association also enhanced antioxidant capacity, as indicated by increased 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition activity, which reached 90.9% under Pb (90 mg) and 89.1% under Co (90 mg). Similarly, the highest ABTS inhibition activity (96%) was recorded under Pb (90 mg). Moreover, P. lilacinus inoculation significantly increased the activities of different antioxidant enzymes, including catalase, ascorbate acid oxidase, and peroxidase. Enhanced uptake of Pb and Co from the soil was also observed in inoculated maize plants compared with control plants. The findings demonstrate that Paecilomyces lilacinus mitigates heavy metal toxicity in maize by enhancing phytohormone production and strengthening antioxidant defense mechanisms in a symbiotic association with the host plant. This endophytic interaction improves plant tolerance to Pb and Co stress and promotes metal uptake, highlighting the potential of P. lilacinus as a sustainable biological approach for reducing heavy metal toxicity and improving crop productivity in contaminated soils.

Due to "Plant Awareness Disparity" (PAD) people tend to be unaware of, uninformed, or uninterested in the plants around them. Because this phenomenon contributes to a lack of support for the conservation of plants relative to animals, public awareness campaigns against PAD must be launched. Since the severity of PAD varies across demographic groups (e.g., gender, education, and age), such a campaign should be designed with demographic differences in mind. To inform campaign design, we surveyed 318 people in Southeast Michigan with a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions designed to assess various axes of PAD (Attention, Attitude, Knowledge, and Relative Interest) and general perceptions of nature. Results were statistically analyzed across gender, education, and age groups and assessed in the context of strategies for mitigation across demographics and axes. We found greater Relative Interest and Attention toward plants in non-males compared to males and greater Knowledge in the 18-29 age group relative to those 30 and over. Most notably, in a question where participants were asked to construct an ecosystem using abiotic and biotic features, bees were the most commonly selected biotic feature across demographics. We discuss how future plant conservation campaigns can overcome PAD by employing bees specifically as "ambassadors" to increase care for plants and support for policies that protect threatened plant species. This strategy could close demographic gaps in PAD and increase support for plant conservation policies, benefiting society and natural environments.

Classical pattern-triggered (PTI) and effector-triggered (ETI) immunity, developed in single-pathogen systems, illuminates how plants recognise molecular threats but cannot fully explain immune homeostasis within the dynamic microbial communities plants encounter in nature. The extended plant immune system reframes immunity as a host-microbiome network sculpted by root exudates, yet two dimensions remain insufficiently integrated: the ecological rules translating recruited communities into systemic immune output, and the mechanisms by which holobiont state may carry over across generations. We propose that plant immune homeostasis is best analyzed as a three-node feedback circuit that we hypothesize closes across generations. Node 1 (molecular recruitment) integrates root exudate-mediated cross-kingdom signalling, in which primary and secondary metabolites jointly serve nutritional and immune-informative roles. Node 2 (ecological translation) is governed by dispersal, immune filtering, drift, priority effects, and functional redundancy, which together determine whether recruitment signals translate into immune buffering. Node 3 (intergenerational carry-over) comprises three mechanistically distinct routes-epigenetic reprogramming, seed microbiota transmission, and soil legacy-that range from provisionally established to largely hypothetical and whose field-scale validation remains limited. Treating this circuit, rather than the host or host-microbiome network, as the minimal unit of immune analysis generates testable predictions-linking functional redundancy to immune buffering, soil legacy to next-generation priming, and node-specific failure modes to dissociable signatures. This framing positions the holobiont across time (understood here as an analytical unit rather than an evolutionary one) as a tractable framework for hypothesis-driven plant immunity research.

Holoparasitism, in achlorophyllous, fully heterotrophic plants, is one of the most peculiar symbioses in the plant world. In particular, holoparasites from Orobanchaceae, the largest parasitic plant family, have evolved unique visual and olfactory signals in the plant kingdom, and thus play a key role in the evolution of animal-plant adaptations. Holoparasitism offers excellent case studies of the effects of a specialised interaction on multiple aspects of plant ecology and evolution, including pollination, herbivory, and speciation. In this paper, we present the first global study of these interactions using morphological and molecular tools, summarising almost 20 years of field studies. These observations were supplemented with literature data and internet sources, ultimately encompassing more than 1370 observations from 76 countries in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We found data on animals interacting with 130 species of 16 holoparasitic genera from the Orobanchaceae family. This study represents the first comprehensive study of animals which use these plants as food, shelter, hunting grounds, or part of their development cycles. Our work has resulted in recognising 667 animal species from 34 orders, 163 families, and 434 genera, with a predominance of arthropods (91% of species recorded) followed mainly by gastropods (ca. 4%), mammals (2%), birds and reptiles (0.6% each). Besides the combination of different pollinator and herbivore species, parasitic plants also attract a range of other animals, such as carnivores and parasitoids, creating a habitat with multitrophic and multilayered relationships. Our research sheds light on the intricate interactions mediated by parasitic plants and animals, opening the path for further elucidating the ecological and evolutionary drivers of holoparasite diversity and their broader ecological role.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a four-carbon non-proteinogenic amino acid that is primarily known for its role as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in mammals. It is synthesized from glutamate by the enzyme L-glutamic acid decarboxylase and metabolized via the GABA shunt pathways. GABA is known to influence various metabolic processes, and recent studies have shown its influence on lipid metabolism. This review explores the distinct relationship between GABA and lipid metabolism by highlighting their role in physiological processes in animals, plants, and microalgae. In animals, GABA acts as a metabolic regulator, particularly in the liver, where it mitigates diseases associated with fat accumulation, such as obesity, hyperlipidemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, by modulating adipogenesis and lipogenesis (fat synthesis and accumulation), lipolysis (fat breakdown), and thermogenesis and oxidation (energy expenditure). Conversely, in plants and algae, it plays a vital role in stress responses and developmental processes by suppressing lipid membrane degradation and by promoting lipid accumulation. We also delve into the metabolic pathways through which GABA interacts with lipid metabolism, including its connection to the tricarboxylic acid cycle and its involvement in the GABA shunt. This review underscores the multifaceted nature of GABA, revealing its critical contribution to lipid homeostasis, highlighting its relevance in metabolic disorders in animals, and stress responses in both plants and algae. Despite being a relatively underexplored area, the GABA-lipid relationship holds substantial significance due to its involvement in varied physiological processes, suggesting promising avenues for future therapeutic research and biotechnological applications.

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional pyrimidine exchange process that alters plastid and mitochondrial transcripts in nearly all land plants. Although confined to organelles, it is directed by nuclear-encoded PLS-type pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins, each typically recognizing a specific RNA target. While many editing sites are functionally neutral, edits at cryptic start and internal stop codons have been implicated in modulating organellar gene expression. Ferns-and some lycophytes-are unique among vascular plants in exhibiting both C-to-U and U-to-C editing, making them valuable for studying the evolution of both forms. Here, we examine chloroplast RNA editing in four Schizaeales species (Schizaea dichotoma, Actinostachys digitata, Anemia phyllitidis, Lygodium microphyllum). Schizaea and Actinostachys possess non-photosynthetic gametophytes, providing a natural contrast with fully photosynthetic relatives. Despite extensive plastome reduction, including loss of the ndh suite and, in Actinostachys, all chl genes, Schizaea and Actinostachys exhibit dramatically elevated numbers of C-to-U edits. Genes evolving under relaxed selection accumulate more editing sites, and editing abundance per gene correlates with the magnitude of relaxed constraint, suggesting relaxed selection promotes edit proliferation. Schizaea dichotoma and A. digitata also show expansion of the chloroplast inverted repeat (IR), and genes translocated into the IR exhibit reduced substitution rates and higher editing densities, indicating that IR expansion slows the loss of edits. Finally, annotation of PPR proteins revealed few full-length editing factors, consistent with catalytic domains assembling in trans and highlighting the modular nature of the fern editosome.

Antimony (Sb) is a toxic metalloid whose presence in the environment has increased in recent years due to anthropogenic activities. In soils, this element may occur as the pentavalent ion Sb(V) (antimonate) or the trivalent ion Sb(III). The latter is more abundant in nature and more harmful to living organisms. In this study, the effects of Sb(III) on a model plant of major agronomic interest - tomato - are investigated in order to elucidate which compounds or metabolic pathways may be key in the plant response to this stressor. In order to achieve this objective, tomato seedlings were cultivated hydroponically and exposed to varying concentrations of Sb(III). This approach ensured optimal availability of the metalloid to the plants. The results of the present study demonstrate that exposure to Sb(III) inhibits plant growth and triggers a range of defence mechanisms, among which proline, phytochelatins (PCs) and enzymes of the AsA/GSH cycle play a prominent role in xenobiotic detoxification. In particular, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) exhibited significant increases in both content and activity, particularly in roots compared with shoots. In addition to biochemical activity, an assessment was conducted to determine whether the expression of genes encoding these enzymes, as well as those involved in the biosynthetic pathways of the related compounds, was affected. The results of this assessment indicated the same trend. The present study underlines the pivotal function of the AsA/GSH cycle in plant defence in the context of elevated Sb(III) exposure, proposing that roots function as a barrier to restrict the translocation of this metalloid to aerial tissues. These findings may contribute to the identification of species best suited to the remediation of Sb-contaminated environments, based on the enzymes and compounds that play central roles in the defensive response described here. Studies such as the present one contribute to advancing our understanding of the mechanisms by which plants can enhance their remediation capacity and safely restore environments contaminated by xenobiotic compounds.

Plants regulate nutrient uptake and growth by recruiting rhizosphere microorganisms via root exudates. However, a systematic understanding of how the rhizosphere core and functional microbiota jointly regulate the dynamics of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium across the entire plant life cycle in desert ecosystems remains limited. In this study, we asked: how does the succession of rhizosphere bacterial communities align with stage-specific nutrient demands in the desert plant Leymus racemosus? We used 16 S rRNA high-throughput sequencing to analyze the rhizosphere bacterial communities and nutrient contents of the desert plant Leymus racemosus at three growth stages (seedling, flowering, maturity) in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China. For each stage, ten 5 × 5 m quadrats (20 m apart) were established; 6-10 healthy plants were sampled per quadrat, and rhizosphere soil from each quadrat was pooled into one composite sample (n = 10 per stage). Arthrobacter, identified as a core taxon, was associated with the stability of hydrolyzable nitrogen across all growth stages. Bacillus became the dominant genus during the flowering stage, based on correlation and functional prediction, it may contribute to nutrient supply, reflecting a potential "investment" strategy. At maturity, enhanced microbial cooperation (inferred from co-occurrence and correlation analyses) combined with reduced plant demand was associated with the accumulation of rhizosphere nutrients, possibly facilitating energy storage for subsequent growth. These findings provide a potential answer to our question, suggesting that the plant recruits distinct microbial alliances at different phenological phases-a persistent Arthrobacter-based system for nitrogen buffering, a transient Bacillus-enriched community for rapid nutrient mobilization at flowering, and a synergistic network at maturity for delayed nutrient accumulation. This study reveals the developmental dynamics of rhizosphere bacterial community assembly and nutrient regulation in L. racemosus and provides a theoretical basis for further elucidating plant-microbe interactions in desert ecosystems. However, the proposed functional roles of specific taxa are primarily derived from correlation and predictive analyses; experimental validation (e.g., strain isolation, inoculation tests, and metabolomics) is needed to establish causality.

Climate change and land-use change pose significant threats to the survival of endangered medicinal plants. This study focuses on the endangered medicinal plant Sinopodophyllum hexandrum. Using 268 distribution records and an optimized MaxEnt model (RM = 4.0, FC=LQHPT), together with an OptimalParameters Geographical Detector (OPGD), the current and future habitat suitability,driving mechanisms, and the impact of land use change under variousclimate scenarios (SSP126, SSP370, SSP585) were systematically evaluated. The results indicate that: (1) The current suitable habitat area for S. hexandrum is 1.1608 × 10⁶ km², primarily distributed in Sichuan, Tibet, and Gansu along the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. High suitability areas are concentrated at altitudes between 2800-3500 m. (2) Future climate warming is projected to promote the northwestward expansion of suitable areas. Under the SSP585 scenario, the suitable habitat area is expected to increase to 1.8770 × 10⁶ km² by the 2090s, representing a 61.70% increase from the current area, with the habitat centroid shifting by 333.74 km. (3) Altitude (contribution rate of 34.5%, q = 0.245), minimum temperature of the coldest month (26.4%), and annual precipitation (20.7%) are the dominant factors influencing distribution. Interactions among environmental factors significantly enhance explanatory power, with the strongest synergistic effect observed for bio12 ∩ elevation (q = 0.685). (4) High-risk areas (as defined by the OPGD Risk Detector) cover 5.30 × 10⁴ km², with 75.3% located outside existing nature reserves. (5) Grassland (4.979 × 10⁵ km²) and forest land (4.731 × 10⁵ km²) are the primary carrier ecosystems, with moderately suitable grassland areas projected to increase under future climate scenarios. This study reveals the strict ecological requirements of S. hexandrum for high-altitude, low-temperature, and moderate‑precipitation environments, as well as the synergistic effects of hydrothermal coupling on its distribution. The findings provide a scientific basis for conservation planning, the designation of priority conservation areas, and climate‑adaptive management of endangered medicinal plants.

Zinc (Zn) is an indispensable micronutrient required in various physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes in plants. Zinc Oxide (ZnO), in its nano-structured form (nano-Zn) possesses unique physico-chemical properties that improve its absorption efficiency and exert a better impact on plants as compared to its bulk counterparts. The present study was conducted to investigate molecular response and cooperation between bZIP transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRs) in divergent rice varieties under nano-Zn imposition. Accordingly, spatio-structural annotations (gene-structures, Cis-elements, conserved motifs, evolutionary and syntenic nature) of OsbZIP TF genes were analyzed with their targeting Osa-miRs. Furthermore, the response of 30 OsbZIPs and 41 corresponding Osa-miRs were assessed between unlike (CSR-30 and PB-1) rice varieties under nano-Zn treatment. In CSR-30 rice, OsbZIP TFs generally showed reduced expression levels, with fold changes ranging from 0.95 to 0.44 (R² = 0.982). Correspondingly, their associated Osa-miRNAs exhibited increased expression, with changes ranging from 1x to 2.5x (R² = 0.947). In PB-1 rice, OsbZIP TFs generally exhibited reduced expression, with fold changes ranging from 0.85 to 0.47 (R² = 0.940). Similarly, their corresponding Osa-miRNAs also showed decreased expression, ranging from 1.05 to 0.30 fold change (R² = 0.940). Notably, distinct expressions were also identified for OsbZIP1, OsbZIP13, Osa-miR1846a, Osa-miR396e, Osa-miR11337a, and Osa-miR5801r, in CSR-30 rice. Additionaly, OsbZIP6, OsbZIP14, OsbZIP23, OsbZIP27, and OsbZIP29 exhibited distinct expression patterns, along with uneven responses of their corresponding Osa-miRNAs, suggesting multilayered combinatorial regulation in PB-1 rice. Therefore, the present study demonstrates the differential and coordinated responses of OsbZIP transcription factors gene family and Osa-miRNAs and also provides insights into key molecular determinants regulating rice growth under the influence of nano-Zn.

In soils, phosphorus readily adsorbs to the surfaces of ubiquitous iron (oxyhydr)oxide minerals, rendering it less accessible to plants and microorganisms. Plants have a number of strategies to access iron, among them the secretion of redox-active metabolites from their roots. Although these strategies likely increase the bioavailability of surface-adsorbed phosphorus through reductive dissolution, their effect on phosphorus cycling has not yet been investigated. We tested the ability of fraxetin, a coumarin-type redox-active metabolite produced by the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and other dicotyledon plant species, to reductively solubilize phosphate from the surface of ferrihydrite. Our findings show that, at low and neutral pH, fraxetin increased aqueous phosphate concentrations under both oxic and anoxic conditions; at high pH, it was only effective in anoxic experiments. Additionally, a combination of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and spectroscopic methods demonstrated substantial fraxetin adsorption to the mineral surface but showed that iron reduction did not alter the mineral structure or change the nature of the chemical environment of the phosphorus atom over short time scales. These results provide evidence that the secretion of redox-active metabolites from roots is likely to be an effective phosphorus acquisition tactic in iron-rich soils.

High light (HL) and heat stress (HS) are two major abiotic factors that commonly co-occur in nature and severely impair photosynthetic performance when combined. The bZIP transcription factor HY5 is a well-known integrator of light and temperature cues, but its role under combined HL + HS stress remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the role of HY5 in Arabidopsis tolerance to HL + HS using wild-type (Col-0), HY5-deficient (hy5-215), and HY5-overexpressing (HY5OX) lines. Physiological and biochemical analyses revealed that HY5OX plants maintained higher photosynthetic efficiency, lower membrane damage, and improved leaf health under HL + HS, while hy5-215 mutants were hypersensitive. Proteomic profiling showed that HL + HS induced distinct HY5-dependent changes in the accumulation of photosynthesis-related proteins, particularly Photosystem II core subunits D1 and D2. NPQ4/PsbS, a key component of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), was related to the presence of HY5, with impaired NPQ activation in hy5-215 correlating with lower Fv/Fm and higher increased oxidative damage. Hormonal profiling further revealed that HY5 is required for ABA and JA signaling under HL + HS. Our findings highlight HY5 as a central regulator of tolerance to combined HL + HS stress, acting through the transcriptional coordination of photoprotective proteins and hormonal signaling networks.

In nature, microorganisms exist in multispecies microbial communities containing bacteria, fungi, archaea, and viruses. The organisation, behaviour, and ecological impact of these communities are very much defined by the various interactions between bacteria and fungi within the community, with physical associations, chemical communication, metabolic exchange, and genetic regulation collectively shaping how these interkingdom communities assemble, adapt, and influence their hosts and habitats. Methods of interaction are widely shared across the microbiota of plants, animals, and the built environment; however, interkingdom microbial communities have environmentally specific outcomes, meaning it is critically important to understand bacterial-fungal interactions (BFIs) within the host or environmental context. With recent advances in BFI analysis now providing increasingly detailed resolution of BFIs and their function in the dialogue between interkingdom microbial communities and their growth environment, we can now gain better insight into these fundamental processes. In the present mini-review, we detail the main BFIs observed in these interkingdom microbial communities, and their implications in the context of plant, human, and the health of the built environment. We also discuss tools and methodologies for their analysis and potential use in the development of microbially derived technologies to improve health and well-being. Finally, we endorse the perspective that interkingdom microbial communities should be considered as structured, interdependent networks with analogy to multicellular organisation.