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Journal of Experimental Botany
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Founded in 1950, the Journal of Experimental Botany (JXB) is a top-ranking journal owned by the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) and dedicated to publishing advances in plant science.

https://academic.oup.com/jxb

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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 1d
📢 Issue 22, our final issue of 2025, is out now 📢

🌾 On the cover: Heterosis has been shown to increase seed yield, produce bigger seeds, reduce germination time and make seeds more tolerant/resistant. See Belcapo et al. 📝

🔗👉 Read the full issue now: academic.oup.com/jxb...

#PlantScience 🧪
The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 22 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Yellow banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is Fig. 2. from Belcapo et al. pp. 6619–6633. Seed traits affected by heterosis. Heterosis is a complex process involved in different traits at different developmental stages of the plant. At seed stage, it has been shown that heterosis can impact: (A) seed yield by increasing it; (B) seed size by leading to the production of bigger seeds; (C) seed germination by obtaining seeds with a reduced germination time; and (D) response to environmental stresses by making seeds more tolerant/resistant.
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌍🌡️ INSIGHT 🌡️🌍

🌱 "Adaptation of seeds to climate change is promoted by the mother plant". 🌱
Steven Penfield highlights this research recently published in JXB by Fernández Farnocchia et al.

Insight 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
Research 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.The role of maternal temperature effects on seed dormancy in the adaptation of Polygonum aviculare emergence timing to climate. (A) In an average environment, seed dormancy induced by the mother during seed set is slowly removed by cold stratification during autumn and winter to enable spring emergence. (B) In warmer environments, laboratory experiments and modelling predict a delay to emergence that reduces progeny fitness by shortening their lifespan. (C) When the effects of seed set temperature are taken into account, the effects of elevated temperature during seed set and elevated soil temperatures after shedding combine to cancel each other out, enabling conservation of emergence timing in a wide range of possible climates.
December 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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🍄 🛠️ TECHNICAL INNOVATION 🛠️ 🍄

In this technical advance, Decouard et al. show how to identify plant metabolites in root exudates specifically produced in the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in an aeroponic-based system.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Description of the aeroponics cultivation system and downstream collection and analysis of root exudates. (A) Scheme of the experimental setup [the germinated spores of the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis were created in BioRender [Bouhedi, B. (2025) https://BioRender.com/qtva7lu]. (B) Pictures of aerial (upper panel) and root parts (lower panel) of maize plants cultivated in aeroponics at the V4 stage. (C) Workflow of the molecular and cellular analyses performed on aeroponics-grown maize plants and their root exudates. (D) Biological significance and composition of the different samples analyzed by untargeted metabolomics. IRM, intraradical mycelium; ERM, extraradical mycelium; GR24, synthetic analog of strigolactone.
December 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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🌸 Flowering Newsletter Review 🌸

López-Gómez et al. review the role of protein–protein interactions in flower and fruit development and discuss the latest techniques to study them.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @defolter-lab.bsky.social
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Complexity of gynoecium development shown with confocal microscopy imaging. (A) Meristematic stages of floral development in which the inflorescence meristem (IM) is observed; from stage 3, the sepal primordia (asterisks) are observed; in stage 4, the developing sepals (asterisks) partially cover the floral meristem (FM); and in stage 5, the FM is completely covered by the sepals. (B) Stage 6 in which the gynoecium is established with the appearance of the primordium of the gynoecium. (C) In stage 7, the middle and lateral domains can be differentiated (marked by dotted lines). (D–H) Longitudinal view of the gynoecium from stage 8 to 12. At stages 8 and 9, the gynoecium grows as a hollow tube and the valves and young replum can be seen. (F and G) Longitudinal view of stage 10 and 11 gynoecia showing the replum and valves. (H) Mature stage 12 gynoecium showing the stigma, style, and ovary, the latter formed by the valves and replum.
December 9, 2025 at 1:23 PM
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📅 🚨 FINAL CALL 🚨 📅

🌏 🌿 Lipid Function in the Plant Environment Special Issue closes on December 31st! 🌿 🌏

Guest editors: Kenji Matsui, Juliette Jouhet, Koichi Kobayashi & Yuki Nakamura 🌿

Got a manuscript? 👉 Contact the JXB office: bit.ly/JXBissues

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
Front cover of a postcard advertising a special issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany titled "Lipid function in the plant environment". The image shows the expression pattern of non-specific phospholipase C6 through developmental stages of flowers (blue color, histochemical staining of NPC6 fused with GUS reporter) and in pollens of an anther (middle image: green color, NPC6-Ven; red, auto-fluorescence) in Arabidopsis. Artwork courtesy of Anh H Ngo. List of invited papers to the lipid function special issue: Lipids and lipid-derived compounds are funda- mental biological molecules with diverse function in plant growth and development. Recent advance in plant lipid research has revealed an emerging role of lipid molecules in environmental interactions, including plant stress response, develop- mental control, immunity, plant-microbe interaction. This special issue, which will be published in association with the 10th Asian-Oceanian Symposium on Plant Lipids (ASPL2025), will focus on the current trends in plant lipid research in the context of plant in- teractions with surrounding environment. The issue will deal with broad subjects of lipids and lipid-derived com- pounds in plant-environ- mental interaction, such as signaling, hormonal actions, developmental regulation, and abiotic/biotic stress responses. Invited Reviews Hiroaki Kato Recognition of pathogen-derived sphingo- lipids in Arabidopsis Takashi L. Shimada Lipid droplets have diverse func- tions in plant leaves Koichiro Awai & Hiroki Murakami Betaine lipids for stress response in photosyn- thetic organisms Haruhiko Jimbo Turnover of lipids in photosynthesis under changing environment Eunchul Kim Roles of lipids in plant photoprotection Hsou-min Li Galactolipids in shaping plastids Yasuyo Yamaoka Role of lipids in ER stress response Wei Ma Transcriptional control of lipid storage in developing seeds Sang-Chul Kim, Woe-yeon Kim, Xuemin Wang & Mi Chung Suh Interconnection between circadian clock and lipid metabolism Peter Dörmann Regulation of Tocopherol (Vitamin E) biosynthesis in Arabidopsis Morgane Michaud Lipid degradation and phosphate starvation in Arabidopsis thaliana Robert Schuurink The transcriptional regulation of terpene biosynthesis and its regulation by jasmonic acid Pan Liao The crosstalk between terpenoids and phe- nylpropanoids in plants •
December 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Journal of Experimental Botany
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📢 Issue 22, our final issue of 2025, is out now 📢

🌾 On the cover: Heterosis has been shown to increase seed yield, produce bigger seeds, reduce germination time and make seeds more tolerant/resistant. See Belcapo et al. 📝

🔗👉 Read the full issue now: academic.oup.com/jxb...

#PlantScience 🧪
The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 22 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Yellow banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is Fig. 2. from Belcapo et al. pp. 6619–6633. Seed traits affected by heterosis. Heterosis is a complex process involved in different traits at different developmental stages of the plant. At seed stage, it has been shown that heterosis can impact: (A) seed yield by increasing it; (B) seed size by leading to the production of bigger seeds; (C) seed germination by obtaining seeds with a reduced germination time; and (D) response to environmental stresses by making seeds more tolerant/resistant.
December 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Journal of Experimental Botany
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Check this out now
jxbotany.bsky.social Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 1d
📢 Issue 22, our final issue of 2025, is out now 📢

🌾 On the cover: Heterosis has been shown to increase seed yield, produce bigger seeds, reduce germination time and make seeds more tolerant/resistant. See Belcapo et al. 📝

🔗👉 Read the full issue now: academic.oup.com/jxb...

#PlantScience 🧪
The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 22 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Yellow banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is Fig. 2. from Belcapo et al. pp. 6619–6633. Seed traits affected by heterosis. Heterosis is a complex process involved in different traits at different developmental stages of the plant. At seed stage, it has been shown that heterosis can impact: (A) seed yield by increasing it; (B) seed size by leading to the production of bigger seeds; (C) seed germination by obtaining seeds with a reduced germination time; and (D) response to environmental stresses by making seeds more tolerant/resistant.
December 9, 2025 at 9:48 AM
jxbotany.bsky.social
🍃 DARWIN REVIEW 🍃

Climate change increasingly exposes plants to stresses that occur simultaneously. In this review, Li et al. examine existing use and the potential role of reflectance spectroscopy in understanding plant responses to combined stresses.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Average spectral reflectance curves and physiological responses under combined drought and nitrogen (N) deficiency stress. Spectral data were averaged across seven species—celery, maize, sugar beet, wheat, and three tree species (sycamore, sweetgum, and loblolly pine) (n = 21). Vertical bars indicate 1 SD. Overlapping circles summarize common trends in physiological traits: a downward arrow indicates a decrease, an upward arrow an increase, no arrow (with cited studies) indicates no change, and a question mark denotes a lack of available studies. This summary is based on 26 reviewed papers, most of which examined combined drought and N deficiency stress. The trends shown in the figure reflect the majority consensus among studies. An asterisk (*) indicates an equal number of studies reporting opposite trends. Circles shaded in different colors represent stress types, i.e. drought stress, nitrogen stress, and combined stress.
December 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
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🌾🌼🔬 EXPERT VIEW 🔬🌼🌾

In this review, Zhou & Dobritsa summarise recent insights into the mechanisms underlying plasma membrane domain formation and pollen aperture development in Arabidopsis and rice.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Box 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Key recent developments in understanding how aperture domains are converted into apertures. (A) Lee et al. (2021) discovered that the DOG1-domain proteins INP1 and INP2 interact in a species-specific manner to execute aperture formation. Recruitment of INP1 to the aperture domains and successful aperture formation occur only in Arabidopsis microspores expressing INP1–INP2 pairs from the same species, but not in cross-species combinations. (Top left) In wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis, INP1 and INP2 interact, presumably at the aperture domains, resulting in the formation of apertures (shown in the oval on the right). (Top right) In the Arabidopsis inp1 mutant, transgenic tomato INP1 (SlINP1) fails to interact with Arabidopsis INP2 and does not accumulate at the aperture domains, resulting in the absence of apertures.
December 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
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🌿 REVIEW 🌿

Gupta et al. provide updated insights into how nitrate reductase-mediated nitric oxide production contributes to stress adaptation, with a focus on its regulation, signaling interactions, and potential for enhancing crop resilience.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Structure and regulation of nitrate reductase. (A) In higher plants, NR exists as a dimer, with each monomer consisting of a ∼100 kDa polypeptide chain linked with co-factors (FAD, Heme-Fe, and Mo-MPT). Two structurally flexible ‘hinge’ regions flank the Heme-Fe domain, connecting it to the Mo-MPT (hinge-1) and the FAD domain (hinge-2). The FAD domain receives two electrons from NAD(P)H, which are then transferred via Heme-Fe to the Mo-Mpt. In this process, NO3− is reduced to NO2−, and subsequently, NO2− is converted to NO at Mo-MPT. Redrawn after Xiong et al. (2012). (B) Regulation of NR by light and different PTMs. The 3D structure of the NIA2 was downloaded from AlphaFold and different amino acids undergoing different PTMs and their implications on the NR activity have been highlighted. See full paper for abbreviations.
December 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
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🧫🪴 INSIGHT 🧫🪴

⚠️🧫🪴 Invisible contaminants, irreversible consequences? LDPE residues twist the Arabidopsis holobiome. Chakraborty & Guo comment on research recently published in JXB by Lee et al.

Insight 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
Research 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Invisible stress: molecular disruptions beneath the surface. Microplastic contamination from LDPE residues in soil presents a deceptive paradox (A): plants may appear healthy (B), yet their molecular machinery tells another story (C). The study by Lee et al. (2025) reveals a striking transcriptome–phenotype disconnect in Arabidopsis thaliana. Despite maintaining biomass and morphology, exposed plants exhibited widespread suppression of photosynthesis-related genes [e.g. chlorophyll a/b-binding protein (CAB), small subunit of Rubisco (rbcS)] and nutrient transporter genes (NRT2.5), alongside shifts in the rhizosphere microbial community toward plastic-degrading taxa (C). These findings suggest that traditional indicators such as yield or chlorophyll content may be insufficient to detect early-stage plastic-induced stress (D).
December 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Journal of Experimental Botany
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Regulation of Chloroplast Biogenesis and Differentiation academic.oup.com/jxb/article/... @jxbotany.bsky.social
Regulation of Chloroplast Biogenesis and Differentiation
Abstract. Chloroplasts are semi-autonomous organelles essential for photosynthetic organisms. They derived from ancestral cyanobacteria through an endosymb
academic.oup.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:48 PM
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📢 Issue 22, our final issue of 2025, is out now 📢

🌾 On the cover: Heterosis has been shown to increase seed yield, produce bigger seeds, reduce germination time and make seeds more tolerant/resistant. See Belcapo et al. 📝

🔗👉 Read the full issue now: academic.oup.com/jxb...

#PlantScience 🧪
The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 22 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Yellow banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is Fig. 2. from Belcapo et al. pp. 6619–6633. Seed traits affected by heterosis. Heterosis is a complex process involved in different traits at different developmental stages of the plant. At seed stage, it has been shown that heterosis can impact: (A) seed yield by increasing it; (B) seed size by leading to the production of bigger seeds; (C) seed germination by obtaining seeds with a reduced germination time; and (D) response to environmental stresses by making seeds more tolerant/resistant.
December 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Journal of Experimental Botany
tamara-hverdeja.bsky.social
Very happy this review is out 😊🌱
I've collected recent advances in transcriptional and epigenetic 🧬 Regulation of Chloroplast Biogenesis and Differentiation url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...
Regulation of Chloroplast Biogenesis and Differentiation
Abstract. Chloroplasts are semi-autonomous organelles essential for photosynthetic organisms. They derived from ancestral cyanobacteria through an endosymb
academic.oup.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM
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🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅

The tomato dad1 mutant lacks jasmonate biosynthesis, forming seedless fruits. Expression data shows spatiotemporal localization of jasmonate regulates fruit set primarily by modulating gibberellin metabolism - Nomura et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 8 (shortened, full legend in paper): A working model for JA-mediated regulation of tomato fruit development. In the wild type (WT), the jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis gene SlDAD1 is specifically expressed in the filaments before anthesis, particularly at −2 days after anthesis (DAA). During this period, JA levels (red) transiently increase in the filaments and ovules, thereby suppressing ovary enlargement prior to anthesis. Consequently, in the absence of pollination the ovaries fail to develop into fruits. The signal, which is probably emitted through the ovules (dotted arrow), is not clear. In contrast, the Sldad1 mutant exhibits markedly low JA levels in both the filaments and ovules before anthesis.
December 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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🧬 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🧬

🍅 Genome-edited tomato mutants for the SPATULA gene elucidated conserved functions during gynoecium development, improving our understanding of the SPT gene in fleshy fruits- Martínez-Estrada et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @defolter-lab.bsky.social
Fig. 4.Effect of the lack of SlSPT function on pollen tube growth and ovary characteristics in slspt mutants and wild-type (WT; Micro-Tom) plants. (A) Pollen tube growth in the gynoecium. (B) Pollen tube staining measured as relative intensity units. (C) Micrographs of transverse sections of the ovary at anthesis, with a magnified view of the pericarp of the ovary at anthesis. (D, E) Comparison of cell layers and pericarp thickness between WT and slspt mutants. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences [ANOVA followed by Fisher's LSD test, P≤0.05, n=10, for (B), Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test, P≤0.05, n=15, for (D); Tukey’s range test, P≤0.05, n=15, for (E)]. Scale bars: 1 mm (A), 0.4 mm (C left); 50 µm (C right).
December 6, 2025 at 7:53 PM
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🍅✨ SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW ✨🍅

The nutritional quality of fresh fruit is not just a matter of bioactive content but of all the structural and biochemical properties that develop from the field to the digestive tract - Bertin et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Graphical abstract Fresh and processed tomatoes are a major source of phytonutrients in the human diet, and the beneficial health effects for consumers are largely attributed to carotenoids and polyphenols. The metabolic pathways and genetic regulatory factors involved in their synthesis are well described, enabling healthier varieties to be produced. However, the relationship between fruit metabolite content and expected health benefits is not straightforward, as many other factors are involved. These include cell division, cell wall properties, the expansion of storage compartments such as plastids and vacuoles, and metabolite synthesis and dilution by water. All of these factors impact the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of the nutrients accumulated and consumed in fresh and processed fruit.
December 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
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🍅📘 SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 📘🍅

Wang & de Maagd discuss review recent progress and address remaining questions in relation to tomato fruit development and ripening transcriptional regulation, and highlight future challenges.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Transcriptional regulation network of fruit development, ripening initiation, and ripening progression. Transcription factors involved in fruit development and ripening are depicted as rounded rectangles in a putative temporal or developmental sequence from left to right. Arrows emanating from these TFs indicate transcriptional regulation. The thickness of the arrows shows the predicted strength of regulation. Arrows from C2H4 to EILs represent ethylene signal transduction. Arrows emanating from DML2 denote DNA cytosine demethylation. Circles depict phytohormones: ABA, abscisic acid; BR, brassinosteroids; GA, gibberellic acid; IAA, auxin. Created in BioRender. Wang, R. (2025) https://BioRender.com/4qtac55.
December 6, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Reposted by Journal of Experimental Botany
julietccoates.bsky.social
Nice paper from @leonardojo.bsky.social @kaisakajala.bsky.social @bradylabs.bsky.social @marianasartur.bsky.social and others. #tomato #suberin #exodermis #MYB 🍅 🧬 💚🌱❤️
jxbotany.bsky.social Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 4d
🧬 🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅 🧬

MYB and WRKY transcription factors collaboratively regulate suberin biosynthesis in the tomato root exodermis. Antagonistic interactions may fine-tune suberization or act as a brake on overaccumulation - Jo et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Perturbations of SlMYB41, SlMYB92, and SlWRKY71 expression affect the suberization of tomato exodermis. (A) Percentage of cross-sections showing a non-suberized, an early suberized (suberin in <50% of exodermal cells), or a late suberized (suberin in >50% of exodermal cells) exodermis phenotype in hairy root cultures of the control (empty vector), CRISPR knockout lines [Slmyb41-ko, Slmyb92-ko, Slwrky71-ko(4), and Slwrky71-ko(5)], and overexpressing lines (SlMYB41-OX, SlMYB92-OX, and SlWRKY71-OX). The number above the bars represents the number (n) of individual roots examined in each genotype. Asterisks denotes statistically significant differences between each line in comparison with the empty vector control, whereas n.s. indicates no significant differences (P<0.05, χ2 test).
December 5, 2025 at 9:01 PM
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🌿🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅🌿

The wild tomato Solanum pennellii has specialized leaf design & photosynthetic machinery that boost photosynthetic capacity, which can be transferred to commercial tomato plants via non-GM grafting methods- Ganie et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Whole plant leaf area and plant height of LEA and Lost. The growth patterns of LEA and Lost, particularly in terms of whole plant leaf area and height, were quantified throughout the experiment. (A) LEA consistently exhibited a significantly higher whole plant leaf area than Lost (B) Although LEA initially had greater plant height, Lost began to surpass LEA in height around 29 d after transplanting (DAT). Data are presented as mean values ±standard deviation (n=3–6). Statistical differences were assessed using Student's t-test: *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.
December 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
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⚙️🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅⚙️

A mechanical treatment applied to tomato seedlings enhances stem width, increases vascular bundle number, promotes early flowering & improves fruit yield, involving auxin & ethylene pathways - Castro-Estrada et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 8 (shortened, full legend in paper): Schematic representation of the morphological and physiological impacts triggered by combined mechanical stress (MS) in tomato plants. Ten-day-old tomato plants exposed to mechanical treatment (MT) with a variable weight of 1.5–3 g, positioned on the upper part of the stem for 48 h, exhibited multiple layered responses. Initially, this exposure significantly increased stem width, stele diameter, and the number of xylem vessels, leading to a substantial increase in stem xylem area. All the changes were observed as early as 6 h after the initiation of MT and continued until nearly 10 DPT. MS also impacted the lignification of the stem tissues. MT induced changes in gene expression and altered plant metabolism to sustain the morphological and physiological changes, amplifying the initial responses throughout the entire life cycle of the plants.
December 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
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🧬🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅🧬

Tomato cytoplasmic male sterility caused by incompatibility between nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic information is restored through the action of multiple fertility restorer genes of tomato wild relatives - Iki et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Genomic structures of the LA1670, LA0166, and LA1673 RF lines. (A) Chromosome structural similarity between the three RF lines of LA1670 (SPI1.1ch01 to SPI1.1ch12), LA0166 (SCH1.0ch01 to SCH1.0ch12), and LA1673 (SLYcer1.1ch01 to SLYcer1.1ch12). Arrows indicate the RF1 and RF2 loci. (B) Genomic structural similarity between the RF1 loci on chromosome 1 of the three RF lines. Blue and red alignment links between the RF lines show regular and reversed orientations, respectively. Pentagons indicate PPR genes with gene ID colors (yellow, blue, and red) indicating orthologous genes.
December 5, 2025 at 1:41 PM
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🧬 🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅 🧬

MYB and WRKY transcription factors collaboratively regulate suberin biosynthesis in the tomato root exodermis. Antagonistic interactions may fine-tune suberization or act as a brake on overaccumulation - Jo et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Perturbations of SlMYB41, SlMYB92, and SlWRKY71 expression affect the suberization of tomato exodermis. (A) Percentage of cross-sections showing a non-suberized, an early suberized (suberin in <50% of exodermal cells), or a late suberized (suberin in >50% of exodermal cells) exodermis phenotype in hairy root cultures of the control (empty vector), CRISPR knockout lines [Slmyb41-ko, Slmyb92-ko, Slwrky71-ko(4), and Slwrky71-ko(5)], and overexpressing lines (SlMYB41-OX, SlMYB92-OX, and SlWRKY71-OX). The number above the bars represents the number (n) of individual roots examined in each genotype. Asterisks denotes statistically significant differences between each line in comparison with the empty vector control, whereas n.s. indicates no significant differences (P<0.05, χ2 test).
December 5, 2025 at 11:23 AM
jxbotany.bsky.social
🔬🪲 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🔬🪲

Glandular trichomes function as ultra-fast biomechanical defense triggers in tomatoes, rupturing upon contact with insects and exposing them to sticky and toxic secretions - Popowski et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @jaredpopo.bsky.social
Fig. 3.Thrips nymphs rupture tomato trichomes. (A) Frames from a microscopy video (Supplementary Video S4) before, during, and after a thrips leg causes type VI glandular trichome rupture on an S. habrochaites tomato stem sample. Zoomed-in panels are shown below each frame, with illustrative labels for the leg, glandular head, and fluid filament formed afterward. The colors assigned to the frames indicate the time of the experiment in the leg position versus time plot of (B) The plot also tracks the formation and length of the filament over the course of the video, as the insect struggles to move.
December 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
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🌟🔬 TECHNICAL INNOVATION 🔬🌟

Flores-Tornero et al. have created the first double fluorescent marker line for generative cell and sperm cells of tomato, as well as a protocol to isolate those cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting 🍅

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Micro-Tom flower, pollen, and pollen tube growth in vitro and semi-in vivo. (A) Micro-Tom plant growing in a reach-in chamber. (B) Structure of a mature flower (top), showing the conic anther surrounding the style and the ovary at the base (bottom). (C) Pollen release by the vibration method. (D) Bright field (top) and fluorescent field (bottom) of a bicellular pollen stained with DAPI, showing the generative cell and the vegetative nucleus. (E) Micro-Tom pollen tubes growing in vitro and (F) in semi-in vivo. GCN, generative cell nucleus; PG, pollen grain; PT, pollen tube; St, stigma; Sty, style; VN, vegetative nucleus. Scale bars: (B) 75 mm; (D) 10 µm; (E and F) 100 µm.
December 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
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☀️🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 🍅☀️

Heuvelink et al. examine how light intensity, photoperiod, spectrum, directionality and energy regulate whole-plant physiological processes including morphogenesis, source–sink interactions and assimilate partitioning.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 3.Schematic representation of the different photoreceptors in tomato, their respective absorption spectra, corresponding chromophores, and main functions. FAD, flavin adenine dinucleotide; FMN, flavin mononucleotide; PHY, phytochromobilin; Trp, tryptophan residues.
December 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM