Youning Wang

Global climate warming has intensified in recent years, with extreme weather events occurring more frequently and severely impacting ecosystems and social production. According to the “China Climate Change Blue Book (2023),” China’s temperature rise rate exceeds the global average, with increasingly significant impacts on ecosystems. Hyphantria cunea, an invasive forest pest first discovered in China in 1979, has spread widely, causing serious damage to forestry and agriculture and posing a significant threat to China’s ecological security. To address this threat, this study employed seven modeling algorithms (GLM, GBM, CTA, ANN, SRE, FDA, MARS, RF, and MaxEnt) from the R Biomod2 package to develop an ensemble model. The core research objective of this work is to quantify climate-driven range shifts of H. cunea under ongoing global climate change. Previous nationwide SDM studies on invasive forest pests have consistently demonstrated that climatic variables dominate broad-scale nationwide suitable habitat patterns at the macro-regional level. Supplementary topographic, vegetation cover, and human land-use disturbance layers were incorporated to capture fine-scale habitat filtering effects and long-distance pest dispersal facilitated by human activities, which together fully characterize the suitable regional environments of this pest. By integrating climate, topography, vegetation, and human disturbance data, we predicted the potential geographical distribution of H. cunea in China under four future climate scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5). The ensemble model achieved excellent performance with TSS and ROC values of 0.901 and 0.984, respectively. Currently, highly suitable areas for H. cunea are concentrated in 12 provinces, including Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Henan, and Anhui, covering 56.33 × 104 km², with Shandong showing the highest proportion (25.48%). The suitable habitat range is projected to expand northeastward, with significant increases under high emission scenarios (SSP5-8.5). Analysis of environmental variables reveals that nighttime light brightness, precipitation in the warmest season, the seasonal temperature variation coefficient, and average temperature in the driest season are key factors influencing H. cunea distribution. Nighttime light brightness shows the highest contribution (27.7%), indicating significant human impact on species spread. Response curves suggest that H. cunea favors warm, humid areas with pronounced seasonal changes. This study demonstrates that climate change will increase H. cunea expansion risk, necessitating strengthened cross-regional monitoring and biological control techniques. These findings provide a scientific foundation for understanding H. cunea spatiotemporal distribution patterns under future climate scenarios and for developing effective prevention and control strategies.

Phytolacca americana L. is an invasive perennial plant that has become increasingly widespread in China, but its current climatic suitability and future redistribution under climate change remain insufficiently quantified. This study aimed to identify the major environmental drivers of P. americana distribution and to project its potential habitat suitability under future climate scenarios. We compiled a national occurrence dataset and retained 683 quality-controlled presence records after taxonomic verification, coordinate checking, and 5 km spatial thinning. A BIOMOD2 ensemble modelling framework was used to integrate nine algorithms, and future projections were generated using CMIP6 climate data under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 across four time periods from 2021 to 2100. The ensemble model showed strong predictive performance, with TSS = 0.804 and ROC = 0.967. May shortwave radiation, January mean temperature, and annual temperature range were identified as the dominant predictors of habitat suitability. Under current climate conditions, highly suitable habitats were mainly concentrated in warm and humid regions of eastern and southern China. Future projections indicated that suitable habitats may expand toward northern, northwestern, and higher-elevation regions, whereas highly suitable habitats may become redistributed or fragmented under stronger climate forcing. Centroid analyses further suggested non-linear, scenario-dependent shifts rather than a simple poleward expansion. These findings provide a spatial basis for early warning, targeted monitoring, and pathway-focused management of P. americana in China.

The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, their roles in Amaranthus palmeri remain unexplored. In this study, 32 ApWRKYs were identified through bioinformatics and gene expression analyses. Subcellular localization predictions placed ApWRKYs in the nucleus, and transient expression assays of ApWRKY2 and ApWRKY5 confirmed nuclear targeting, supporting their role as transcriptional regulators. ApWRKYs are distributed across 15 genomic scaffolds, and phylogenetic analysis grouped them into three subfamilies, with conserved motifs identified within specific clades. Interaction analysis suggested potential post-transcriptional regulation by miRNAs. Gene expression profiling of ApWRKYs under glufosinate ammonium, NaCl, and PEG-induced osmotic stress treatments revealed potential distinct regulatory roles. Furthermore, transient overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana found that ApWRKY1, ApWRKY2, and ApWRKY5 potentially regulate chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic efficiency under glufosinate treatment. These findings establish ApWRKYs as central regulators of stress adaptation in A. palmeri, provide novel insights into WRKY-mediated regulation, and lay a foundation for future functional investigations aimed at enhancing stress resilience and herbicide management in horticultural systems.

Glyoxalase I (GLYI) is the key regulatory enzyme in the glyoxalase pathway. This pathway enables plants to neutralize methylglyoxal (MG) using glutathione (GSH), a mechanism significant for their acclimation to environmental stress. While functionally significant, the specific functions of GLYI genes in Amaranthus palmeri remain unexplored. In this study, integrated bioinformatics and expression analysis was used to identify five GLYI genes in A. palmeri. The results indicate that ApGLYI proteins are hydrophilic and slightly acidic, localized to scaffolds 1, 11, 13, and 16 of the A. palmeri genome. Phylogenetic analysis grouped ApGLYIs with other plant GLYI proteins into three distinct clades, each exhibiting conserved motif patterns. Expression analyses demonstrate that ApGLYI genes participate in both early and late regulatory phases of MG detoxification and signaling, responding to diverse stimuli including high temperature, NaCl, osmotic stress, exogenous methylglyoxal, abscisic acid (ABA), and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). Conversely, glufosinate ammonium treatment appears to compromise this cellular detoxification system. These results offer the evolutionary trajectory and functional significance of the ApGLYI gene. They establish a foundation for subsequent studies toward managing A. palmeri infestation and using these genes to improve stress resilience in cultivated crops through breeding strategies.

The Golden2-like (GLK) transcription factors belong to the GARP family of transcription factors and play significant roles in plant growth, development, and responses to both abiotic and biotic stresses. This study employed bioinformatics and expression analyses to investigate the regulatory roles of wheat GLK proteins under various stress conditions, including abscisic acid (ABA) treatment, osmotic stress, and infection by Fusarium graminearum. The study identified 125 TaGLK proteins and revealed that TaGLKs play a significant role in wheat’s development and response to adverse environmental conditions. The results indicate that TaGLKs may serve as potential transcriptional regulators capable of integrating multiple cellular signals to coordinate various developmental and physiological processes. Evolutionary analysis classified the TaGLK proteins into six subgroups, which shared similar conserved domains and motifs. Protein–protein interaction network analysis revealed that TaGLKs are involved in photoreceptor activity, cell cycle progression, and protein regulation. Gene expression analysis of TaGLKs discovered that they play key functions in wheat development, as well as regulation of biotic and abiotic stress conditions. RT-qPCR analysis showed that TaGLKs regulate earlier and late effects of osmotic stress, F. graminearum infections, and ABA treatment in wheat. These findings provide knowledge for future studies of the functions of TaGLK TFs in wheat stress tolerance and development, which could have significant implications for enhancing wheat tolerance to various environmental stressors.

Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are widely distributed oxidoreductase enzymes that play important roles in plant growth, development, and responses to various stresses. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to identify and analyze the wheat GRX gene family and predict their properties and potential functions. RNA-seq and RT-qPCR expression analyses were used to investigate their regulatory functions under hormone treatment and fungal diseases. In this study, 86 GRX genes were identified in wheat and classified into CC-type, CGFS-type, and CPYC-type categories with no TaGRX located on chromosome 4B. The results show that TaGRXs regulate wheat transcriptional responses and have an integrative role in biotic and abiotic stress responses. TaGRXs are involved in wheat responses to Fusarium graminearum, Puccinia striiformis, and Erysiphe graminis diseases. TaGRX73-7D, TaGRX20-3A, and TaGRX29-3B play a negative regulatory role in E. graminis infection but a positive regulatory role in F. graminearum and P. striiformis infection. These TaGRXs play potential regulatory functions in wheat responses to the plant hormones and signaling molecules, including IAA, ABA, H₂O₂, and SA. The findings of this study lay the groundwork for further investigation of the functions of wheat GRX genes and their potential use as candidate genes for molecular breeding of stress-resistant wheat varieties.