Explore the vast range of titles available.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1749489.].

Summary Crop yield has been greatly enhanced during the last century. However, most elite cultivars are adapted to temperate climates and are not well suited to more stressful conditions. In the context of climate change, stress resistance is a major concern. To overcome these difficulties, scientists may help breeders by providing genetic markers associated with stress resistance. However, multistress resistance cannot be obtained from the simple addition of single stress resistance traits. In the field, stresses are unpredictable and several may occur at once. Consequently, the use of single stress resistance traits is often inadequate. Although it has been historically linked with the heat stress response, the heat‐shock protein (HSP)/chaperone network is a major component of multiple stress responses. Among the HSP/chaperone ‘client proteins’, many are primary metabolism enzymes and signal transduction components with essential roles for the proper functioning of a cell. HSPs/chaperones are controlled by the action of diverse heat‐shock factors, which are recruited under stress conditions. In this review, we give an overview of the regulation of the HSP/chaperone network with a focus on Arabidopsis thaliana. We illustrate the role of HSPs/chaperones in regulating diverse signalling pathways and discuss several basic principles that should be considered for engineering multiple stress resistance in crops through the HSP/chaperone network.

The purpose of this study was to measure the heterogeneity in human umbilical cord–derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC‐MSCs) and human synovial fluid–derived mesenchymal stem cells (hSF‐MSCs) by single‐cell RNA‐sequencing (scRNA‐seq). Using Chromium™ technology, scRNA‐seq was performed on hUC‐MSCs and hSF‐MSCs from samples that passed our quality control checks. In order to identify subgroups and activated pathways, several bioinformatics tools were used to analyse the transcriptomic profiles, including clustering, principle components analysis (PCA), t‐Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t‐SNE), gene set enrichment analysis, as well as Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. scRNA‐seq was performed on the two sample sets. In total, there were 104 761 163 reads for the hUC‐MSCs and 6 577 715 for the hSF‐MSCs, with >60% mapping rate. Based on PCA and t‐SNE analyses, we identified 11 subsets within hUC‐MSCs and seven subsets within hSF‐MSCs. Gene set enrichment analysis determined that there were 533, 57, 32, 44, 10, 319, 731, 1037, 90, 25 and 230 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the 11 subsets of hUC‐MSCs and 204, 577, 30, 577, 16, 57 and 35 DEGs in the seven subsets of hSF‐MSCs. scRNA‐seq was not only able to identify subpopulations of hUC‐MSCs and hSF‐MSCs within the sample sets, but also provided a digital transcript count of hUC‐MSCs and hSF‐MSCs within a single patient. scRNA‐seq analysis may elucidate some of the biological characteristics of MSCs and allow for a better understanding of the multi‐directional differentiation, immunomodulatory properties and tissue repair capabilities of MSCs.

The concerns regarding microplastics and nanoplastics pollution stimulate studies on the uptake and biodistribution of these emerging pollutants in vitro. Atomic force microscopy in nanomechanical PeakForce Tapping mode was used here to visualise the uptake and distribution of polystyrene spherical microplastics in human skin fibroblast. Particles down to 500 nm were imaged in whole fixed cells, the nanomechanical characterization allowed for differentiation between internalized and surface attached plastics. This study opens new avenues in microplastics toxicity research.

Plant responses to elevated CO₂ and heat stress are tightly regulated by an intricate network of phytohormones. Plants accumulate ethylene (ET), the smallest hormone, in response to heat stress; however, the role of ET and its signaling in elevated CO₂-induced heat stress response remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that transcript levels of multiple genes relating to ET synthesis, signaling, and heat shock proteins (HSPs) were induced by elevated CO₂ (800 µmol mol⁻¹) compared to ambient CO₂ (400 µmol mol⁻¹) in tomato leaves under controlled temperature conditions (25°C). Elevated CO₂-induced responses to heat stress (42°C) were closely associated with increased ET production and HSP70 expression at both transcript and protein levels. Pretreatment with an antagonist of ET, 1-methylcyclopropene that inhibits ET-dependent responses, abolished elevated CO₂-induced stress response without affecting the ET production rate. In addition, silencing of ethylene response factor 1 (ERF1) compromised elevated CO₂-induced responses to heat stress, which was associated with the concomitant reduction in the transcript of heat shock factor A2, HSP70 and HSP90, indicating that ERF1 is required for elevated CO₂-induced responses to heat. All these results provide convincing evidence on the importance of ET biosynthesis and signaling in elevated CO₂-induced heat stress response in tomato plants. Thus, the study advances our understanding of the mechanisms of elevated CO₂-induced stress response and may potentially be useful for breeding heat-tolerant tomatoes in the era of climate change.

Main conclusionThis review summarizes the physiological, biochemical, and molecular regulatory network changes in plants in response to high temperature.With the continuous rise in temperature, high temperature has become an important issue limiting global plant growth and development, affecting the phenotype and physiological and biochemical processes of plants and seriously restricting crop yield and tree growth speed. As sessile organisms, plants inevitably encounter high temperatures and improve their heat tolerance by activating molecular networks related to heat stress, such as signal transduction, synthesis of metabolites, and gene expression. Heat tolerance is a polygenic trait regulated by a variety of genes, transcription factors, proteins, and metabolites. Therefore, this review summarizes the changes in physiological, biochemical and molecular regulatory networks in plants under high-temperature conditions to lay a foundation for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms involved in plant heat tolerance responses.

Background Risk stratification assessment of patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE ACS) plays an important role in optimal management and defines the patient’s prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score (comprising of the components of the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score with a male instead of female sex category, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and family history of coronary artery disease respectively) to predict the severity and complexity of CAD and its efficacy in stratification for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with NSTE ACS without known atrial fibrillation. Methods This study included 200 patients (males 72.5%, mean age 55.8 ± 10.1 years) who were admitted with NSTE ACS. CHA 2 DS 2 -VASC-HSF score was calculated on admission. Patients were classified into three groups according to their CHA 2 DS 2 -VASC-HSF score: low score group (< 2; 29 patients), intermediate score group (2–4; 83 patients), and high score group (≥ 5; 88 patients). Coronary angiography was conducted and the Syntax score (SS) was calculated. Clinical follow-up at 6 months of admission for the development of MACE was recorded. Results SS was significantly high in the high CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score group compared with low and intermediate score groups. CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score had a significant positive strong correlation with syntax score ( r  = 0.64, P  < 0.001). Smoking, vascular disease, hyperlipidemia, and CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score were independent predictors of high SS. For the prediction of severe and complex CAD, CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score had a good predictive power at a cut-off value ≥ 5 with a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 65%. Hypertension, vascular disease, high SS, and CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc-HSF score were independent predictors of MACE. CHA 2 DS 2 -VASC-HSF score ≥ 4 was identified as an effective cut-off point for the development of MACE with 94% sensitivity and 70% specificity. Conclusions CHA 2 DS 2 -VASC-HSF score is proposed to be a simple bedside score that could be used for the prediction of the severity and complexity of CAD as well as a risk stratification tool for the development of MACE in NSTE ACS patients.

Heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) play important roles in plant developmental regulations and various stress responses. In present study, 46 Hsf genes in peanut ( AhHsf ) were identified and analyzed. The 46 AhHsf genes were classed into three groups (A, B, and C) and 14 subgroups (A1-A9, B1-B4, and C1) together with their Arabidopsis homologs according to phylogenetic analyses, and 46 AhHsf genes unequally located on 17 chromosomes. Gene structure and protein motif analysis revealed that members from the same subgroup possessed similar exon/intron and motif organization, further supporting the results of phylogenetic analyses. Gene duplication events were found in peanut Hsf gene family via syntenic analysis, which were important in Hsf gene family expansion in peanut. The expression of AhHsf genes were detected in different tissues using published data, implying that AhHsf genes may differ in function. In addition, several AhHsf genes ( AhHsf5 , AhHsf11 , AhHsf20 , AhHsf24 , AhHsf30 , AhHsf35 ) were induced by drought and salt stresses. Furthermore, the stress-induced member AhHsf20 was found to be located in nucleus. Notably, overexpression of AhHsf20 was able to enhance salt tolerance. These results from this study may provide valuable information for further functional analysis of peanut Hsf genes.

Background Enhancement of crop productivity under various abiotic stresses is a major objective of agronomic research. Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) as one of the world’s staple crops is highly sensitive to heat stress, which can adversely affect both yield and quality. Plant heat shock factors (Hsfs) play a crucial role in abiotic and biotic stress response and conferring stress tolerance. Thus, multifunctional Hsfs may be potentially targets in generating novel strains that have the ability to survive environments that feature a combination of stresses. Result In this study, using the released genome sequence of wheat and the novel Hsf protein HMM (Hidden Markov Model) model constructed with the Hsf protein sequence of model monocot ( Oryza sativa ) and dicot ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) plants, genome-wide TaHsfs identification was performed. Eighty-two non-redundant and full-length TaHsfs were randomly located on 21 chromosomes. The structural characteristics and phylogenetic analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana , Oryza sativa and Zea mays were used to classify these genes into three major classes and further into 13 subclasses. A novel subclass, TaHsfC3 was found which had not been documented in wheat or other plants, and did not show any orthologous genes in A. thaliana , O. sativa , or Z. mays Hsf families. The observation of a high proportion of homeologous TaHsf gene groups suggests that the allopolyploid process, which occurred after the fusion of genomes, contributed to the expansion of the TaHsf family. Furthermore, TaHsfs expression profiling by RNA-seq revealed that the TaHsfs could be responsive not only to abiotic stresses but also to phytohormones. Additionally, the TaHsf family genes exhibited class-, subclass- and organ-specific expression patterns in response to various treatments. Conclusions A comprehensive analysis of Hsf genes was performed in wheat, which is useful for better understanding one of the most complex Hsf gene families. Variations in the expression patterns under different abiotic stress and phytohormone treatments provide clues for further analysis of the TaHsfs functions and corresponding signal transduction pathways in wheat.

Background Common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) is an essential crop with high economic value. The growth of this plant is sensitive to environmental stress. Heat shock factor (Hsf) is a family of antiretroviral transcription factors that regulate plant defense system against biotic and abiotic stress. To date, few studies have identified and bio-analyzed Hsfs in common bean. Results In this study, 30 Hsf transcription factors (PvHsf1–30) were identified from the PFAM database. The PvHsf1–30 belonged to 14 subfamilies with similar motifs, gene structure and cis -acting elements. The Hsf members in Arabidopsis , rice ( Oryza sativa ), maize ( Zea mays ) and common bean were classified into 14 subfamilies. Collinearity analysis showed that PvHsfs played a role in the regulation of responses to abiotic stress. The expression of PvHsfs varied across different tissues. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed that most PvHsfs were differentially expressed under cold, heat, salt and heavy metal stress, indicating that PvHsfs might play different functions depending on the type of abiotic stress. Conclusions In this study, we identified 30 Hsf transcription factors and determined their location, motifs, gene structure, cis -elements, collinearity and expression patterns. It was found that PvHsfs regulates responses to abiotic stress in common bean. Thus, this study provides a basis for further analysis of the function of PvHsfs in the regulation of abiotic stress in common bean.