Complex plastome structural variation caused by intermolecular and intramolecular recombination accounts for leaf variegation in Heptapleurum ellipticum
Available online 8 September 2025
Plastome variation, including single spontaneous nucleotide substitutions and single insertions/deletions, is the major source of leaf variegation in plants. Additionally, one recent study has showed...
Spatially biased collections and the failure to cover all wild genetic clusters in plant populations under ex situ conservation
Available online 4 September 2025
Successful ex situ conservation of plant populations requires a high degree of genetic representativeness. However, spatially biased sampling in ex situ conservation efforts may fail to capture all...
Differences in leaf heat and drought tolerance but not cold tolerance between karst and non-karst forest plants
Available online 26 August 2025
Ongoing climate change and increasingly frequent extreme precipitation events pose greater threats to plant survival. Plants in the karst environment may face heightened risks because shallow soils...
Soil nutrients and heavy metals jointly shape spontaneous plant functional groups in abandoned mining areas
Available online 26 August 2025
Ecological recovery of abandoned mining areas requires developing and implementing effective nature-based solutions. However, ecological processes that underlie the establishment, development, and long-term...
Divergence of mating systems in Primula oreodoxa: Insights from transplant experiments and mating portfolios
Available online 23 August 2025
Transitioning from outcrossing to self-fertilization is a widespread reproductive strategy in plants, especially in environments where pollination is limited. Despite its prevalence, this transition...
Fragmentation effects on β-diversity: The role of abundance and intraspecific trait variation in shaping taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic patterns
Available online 22 August 2025
Habitat fragmentation dramatically reshapes species richness and community composition. However, most estimates of β-diversity rely on incidence-based metrics, which consider only species presence/absence....
The advantage of low leafing intensity under water limitation: An illustrative study of Populus euphratica in hyper-arid climates
Available online 14 August 2025
The trade-off between leaf size and leafing intensity (i.e., the number of leaves per unit stem size) is a key axis of trait covariation across the diversity of plant foliage deployment. However, the...
Mycorrhizal communities in Orchidaceae are likely shaped by plant trophic mode and biogeography but not phylogeny
Available online 13 August 2025
Mycorrhizal symbioses are prevalent in terrestrial ecosystems and play essential roles in plant nutrition and health. However, the relative importance of plant evolutionary history, physiology, and...
Regeneration from seeds with physical defects: Contrasts in survival strategies in recalcitrant and orthodox seeds
Available online 5 August 2025
Seeds with different desiccation tolerance and their foraging animals present unique strategies for ensuring population growth and ecological fitness in the natural environment. While some seeds minimize...
Evolution of fruit functional traits provides insights into the drivers of cycle-cup oaks (Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis) diversification in evergreen broadleaf forests
Available online 5 August 2025
The impact of key traits on lineage diversity remains a central focus in macroevolutionary research. Seeds, encapsulated within fruits, carry the complete genetic blueprint of their species, and the...
Multifaceted plant diversity patterns across the Himalaya: Status and outlook
July 2025
Mountains serve as exceptional natural laboratories for studying biodiversity due to their heterogeneous landforms and climatic zones. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, hosts rich endemic...
Evaluating the utility of deep genome skimming for phylogenomic analyses: A case study in the species-rich genus Rhododendron
July 2025
Deep genome skimming (DGS) has emerged as a promising approach to recover orthologous nuclear genes for large-scale phylogenomic analyses. However, its reliability with low DNA quality and quantity...
Tree-based attributes of large trees more effectively regulate aboveground carbon stock than trait-based ones in temperate deciduous forests
July 2025
In forests, a few large trees (L-trees) versus small–medium trees (S-trees) are often considered the major reservoir of aboveground carbon stock (AGCS). Here, we hypothesize that tree species’ functional...
A complex interplay of genetic introgression and local adaptation during the evolutionary history of three closely related spruce species
July 2025
As climate change triggers unprecedented ecological shifts, it becomes imperative to understand the genetic underpinnings of species’ adaptability. Adaptive introgression significantly contributes to...
Assessing the contributions of site and species to plant beta diversity in alpine grassland ecosystems
July 2025
Understanding plant diversity within geographical ranges and identifying key species that drive community variation can provide crucial insights for the management of grasslands. However, the contribution...
New insights into the molecular phylogeny and biogeographical history of Allium subgenus Melanocrommyum (Amaryllidaceae) based on plastome and nuclear sequences
July 2025
Subgenus Melanocrommyum is the second largest subgenus of Allium, with a wide distribution ranging from the Canary Islands to northwestern India. This study investigates the phylogeny, biogeographic...
PlastidHub: An integrated analysis platform for plastid phylogenomics and comparative genomics
July 2025
The plastid genome (plastome) represents an indispensable molecular resource for studying plant phylogeny and evolution. Although plastome size is much smaller than that of nuclear genomes, accurately...
Ecophysiological transition mediated by hybridization in a hybrid pine species complex
July 2025
Hybridization is a driving force in ecological transitions and speciation, yet direct evidence linking it to adaptive differentiation in natural systems remains limited. This study evaluates the role...
RBOHD, GLR3.3, and GLR3.6 cooperatively control wounding hypocotyl-induced systemic Ca2+ signals, jasmonic acid, and glucosinolates in Arabidopsis leaves
July 2025
Ca2+ signaling plays crucial roles in plant stress responses, including defense against insects. To counteract insect feeding, different parts of a plant deploy systemic signaling to communicate and...
Phylogenomic insights into Adenophora and its allies (Campanulaceae): Revisiting generic delimitation and hybridization dynamics
July 2025
Hybridization and introgression have long obscured relationships within Adenophora and its relatives, complicating generic delimitation. Leveraging deep genome skimming (DGS) data, we generated a large...
Expeditionplus: The application of a gridded system in the integration of multidimensional environmental factors
July 2025
The study of plant diversity is often hindered by the challenge of integrating data from different sources and different data types. A standardized data system would facilitate detailed exploration...
Global invasive alien plant management lists: Assessing current practices and adapting to new demands
July 2025
Invasive alien species (IAS) significantly threaten global biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Despite increasing management efforts, a critical knowledge gap existed in understanding commonalities...
The effects of the invasive plants on soil nematodes vary with the duration of elevated CO2 treatment
July 2025
Exotic plant invasions and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration have been determined to independently affect soil nematodes, a key component of soil biota. However, little is known...
Ultrastructural and thermal analyses reveal novel insights into low-temperature survival mechanisms of hydrated seeds of Poaceae species from alpine regions
July 2025
Global warming leads to snow cover loss in the alpine ecosystem, exposing seeds to extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations during the growing season. The risk of freezing increases as seeds have increased...
Climate warming shortens the time interval between stem-girth and wood biomass production in twelve temperate tree species
Available online 17 July 2025
Climate warming is reshaping the phenology of plants in recent decades, with potential implications for forest productivity, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem functioning. While the effects of warming...