Explore the vast range of titles available.

Multiple-stress is defined as the simultaneous or sequential exposure of plants to multiple abiotic constraints, which triggers regulatory programs that differ fundamentally from single-stress responses. In potato ( L.), drought, salinity, heat, and cold severely impair tuber development, yet the molecular architecture underlying resilience to combined stress remains unclear. We hypothesized that multi-stress conditions activate an integrated regulatory network linking tuber induction with stress-responsive metabolic and redox pathways. RNA-seq profiling of microtuberization under combined osmotic, salinity, heat, and cold stress was performed. Differential expression analysis identified shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A subset of upregulated genes was used for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction. Comparative regulatory analyses were performed, and selected genes were validated by qPCR. Statistical analyses were conducted to assess differential expression and network enrichment. A total of 2,046 shared DEGs were identified, including 1,212 upregulated and 834 downregulated genes. A PPI network constructed from 1,475 unique upregulated genes revealed 317 highly interconnected components. Network analysis identified the StSP6A-FD tuberigen complex as a central regulatory hub integrating developmental signaling with phenylpropanoid metabolism, oxylipin biosynthesis, and redox regulation. Multiple components were associated with hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) signaling, suggesting redox-gasotransmitter integration. Comparative regulatory analysis revealed conservation of the ERF-NAC-MYB-bZIP transcription factor framework, along with expansion of stress-responsive modules. Collectively, these findings establish a mechanistic framework linking tuber induction with adaptive metabolic remodeling under multi-stress conditions.

Wild Solanum species have contributed many introgressed genes during domestication into current cultivated potatoes, enhancing their biotic and abiotic stress resistance and facilitating global expansion. Abiotic stress negatively impacts potato physiology and productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating tuber development may help solve this global problem. We made a transcriptomic analysis of potato microtuberization under darkness, cytokinins, and osmotic stress conditions. A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis identified 404 genes with high confidence. These genes were involved in important processes like oxidative stress, carbon metabolism, sterol biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, and nucleosome assembly. From this network, we selected nine ancestral genes along with eight additional stress-related genes. We used qPCR to analyze the expression of the selected genes under osmotic, heat–osmotic, cold–osmotic, salt–osmotic, and combined-stress conditions. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that 60.61% of the genes analyzed were associated with osmotic, cold–osmotic, and heat–osmotic stress. Seven out of ten introgression/domestication genes showed the highest variance in the analysis. The genes H3.2 and GAPCP1 were involved in osmotic, cold–osmotic, and heat–osmotic stress. Under combined-all stress, TPI and RPL4 were significant, while in salt–osmotic stress conditions, ENO1, HSP70-8, and PER were significant. This indicates the importance of ancestral genes for potato survival during evolution. The targeted manipulation of these genes could improve combined-stress tolerance in potatoes, providing a genetic basis for enhancing crop resilience.

Paclobutrazol (PBZ) is a triazole-type plant growth regulator that interferes with gibberellin (GAs) biosynthesis by blocking the oxidation step that converts ent-kaurene into ent-kaurenoic acid; however, the developmental mechanisms linking GAs restriction with storage organ enlargement remain poorly understood. In potato, PBZ induces compact growth while promoting microtubers (MTs) expansion, suggesting that GAs depletion triggers coordinated developmental reprogramming rather than simply suppressing elongation. Here, we evaluated the phenotypic, histological, and transcriptomic responses associated with PBZ-induced MTs development in Solanum tuberosum L. PBZ treatment, which increased MTs size, suppressed stolon growth, and enhanced starch accumulation, indicating a shift toward storage tissue development. Transcriptomic analysis identified broad PBZ-responsive changes, including enrichment of pathways related to metabolism, ribosome function, carbon metabolism, plant hormone signaling, and cell cycle regulation. Network analyses revealed ATH1-associated modules connected with receptor-like kinases, transcriptional regulators, mitotic regulators, replication-licensing factors and condensin components, supporting coordinated regulation among growth control, localized proliferation, asymmetric division, endoreduplication, and chromatin stability. These patterns were further supported by the absence of a detectable gibberellic acid (GA3) peak in PBZ-treated samples. These findings support a model in which PBZ-responsive signaling is associated with developmental reprogramming toward radial expansion and reinforcement of storage tissue, providing a regulatory mechanism by which growth repression is coupled to microtube enlargement in potato.

Potato tubers are reproductive and storage organs, enabling their survival. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms that regulate tuberization is crucial for understanding how potatorespond to environmental stress situations and for potato breeding. Previously, we did a transcriptomic analysis of potato microtuberization without light. This showed that important cellular processes like ribosomal proteins, cell cycle, carbon metabolism, oxidative stress, fatty acids, and phytosterols (PS) biosynthesis were closely connected in a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Research on PS function during potato tuberization has been scarce. PS plays a critical role in regulating membrane permeability and fluidity, and they are biosynthetic precursors of brassinosteroids (BRs) in plants, which are critical in regulating gene expression, cell division, differentiation, and reproductive biology. Within a PPI network, we found a module of 15 genes involved in the PS biosynthetic process. Darkness, as expected, activated the mevalonate (MVA) pathway. There was a tight interaction between three coding gene products for HMGR3, MVD2, and FPS1, and the gene products that synthetize PS, including CAS1, SMO1, BETAHSD, CPI1, CYP51, FACKEL, HYDRA1, SMT2, SMO2, STE1, and SSR1. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed the expression analysis of ten specific genes involved in the biosynthesis of PS. This manuscript discusses the potential role of genes involved in PS biosynthesis during microtuber development.

Potatoes have emerged as a key non-grain crop for food security worldwide. However, the looming threat of climate change poses significant risks to this vital food source, particularly through the projected reduction in crop yields under warmer temperatures. To mitigate potential crises, the development of potato varieties through genome editing holds great promise. In this study, we performed a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis to investigate microtuber development and identified several differentially expressed genes, with a particular focus on ribosomal proteins—RPL11, RPL29, RPL40 and RPL17. Our results reveal, by protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analyses, performed with the highest confidence in the STRING database platform (v11.5), the critical involvement of these ribosomal proteins in microtuber development, and highlighted their interaction with PEBP family members as potential microtuber activators. The elucidation of the molecular biological mechanisms governing ribosomal proteins will help improve the resilience of potato crops in the face of today’s changing climatic conditions.

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), originally developed as a synthetic auxinic herbicide, is the most widely used chemical inducer of somatic embryogenesis (SE) in plants. Despite extensive use of 2,4-D in plant regeneration, the systems-level regulatory mechanisms connecting hormonal signaling, metabolic reprogramming, translational control, and embryogenic competence remain poorly resolved. Here, we hypothesize that TOR signaling functions as an integrative molecular hub coordinating transcriptional, metabolic, and developmental reprogramming during somatic embryogenesis induction. To investigate the molecular regulatory landscape associated with 2,4-D-induced SE, we performed a systems-level analysis integrating publicly available transcriptomic data from Arabidopsis thaliana with high-confidence protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analyses using STRING v12.0 (confidence score ≥ 0.900). Using a previously published transcriptomic dataset, we identified 1927 upregulated genes associated with SE induction, which were organized into 34 functional modules related to transcriptional regulation, translation metabolism, hormone signaling and cellular homeostasis. Within this interactome, TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN (TOR) kinase emerged as an integrative regulatory hub associated with multiple pathways involved in embryogenic reprogramming. Network analyses revealed three major TOR-associated regulatory axes: (1) the TOR–FKBP12–RPS6A axis, associated with ribosome biogenesis and translational regulation; (2) the TOR–CBP20 axis, connected with transcriptional reprogramming; SE master regulators (LEC1, LEC2, and FUS3); and lipid, sterol, brassinosteroid (BR), and auxin-associated pathways; and (3) the TOR–TAP46 axis, linked with one-carbon metabolism, nucleotide biosynthesis, DNA replication and repair, and genome-stability pathways. Additionally, the network contained 411 embryo-lethal (EMBL) genes distributed across multiple regulatory modules, reinforcing the biological relevance of the identified interactome and highlighting the importance of coordinated developmental, metabolic, and transcriptional regulation during embryogenesis induction. These findings support a systems-level TOR-associated regulatory framework involved in the integration of transcriptional, translational, metabolic, hormonal, and genome-maintenance pathways during embryogenesis. This interactome model provides a foundation for functional studies aimed at dissecting the molecular mechanisms underlying SE and identifying candidate targets to improve regeneration and biotechnological application and crop genetic engineering. Collectively, this study proposes a mechanistic framework in which TOR signaling integrates developmental, metabolic, translational, and genome-stability pathways to orchestrate embryogenic competence, providing candidate molecular targets for improving plant regeneration and genome engineering platforms.