Background: Nitrogen (N) deficiency is a major constraint for plant production in many areas. Developing the new crop genotypes with high productivity under N deficiency is an important approach to maintain agricultural production. Therefore, understanding how plant response to N deficiency and the mechanism of N-deficiency tolerance are very important for sustainable development of modern crop production.Results: In this study, the physiological responses and fatty acid composition were investigated in 24 wheat cultivars under N-deficient stress. Through Pearson’s correlation analysis and principal component analysis, the responses of 24 wheat cultivars were evaluated. The results showed that the plant growth and carbohydrate metabolism were all differently affected by N deficiency in all tested wheat cultivars. The seedlings that had high shoot biomass also maintained high level of chlorophyll content under N deficiency. Moreover, the changes in fatty acid composition, especially the linolenic acid (18:3) and the double bond index (DBI), showed close positive correlations with the shoot dry weight and chlorophyll content alterations in response to N-deficient condition. These results indicated that beside the chlorophyll content, the linolenic acid content and DBI may also contribute to N-deficiency adaptation, thus could be considered as efficient indicators for evaluation of different response in wheat seedlings under N-deficient condition.Conclusions: The alteration in fatty acid composition can potentially contribute to N-deficiency tolerance in plants, and the regulation of fatty acid compositions maybe an effective strategy for plants to adapt to N-deficient stress.

Substantial single-species studies have reported the facility of nitric oxide (NO) in alleviating heavy metal-induced stress in plants. Understanding the mechanisms of NO-involved stress alleviation is progressing; however, a quantitative description of the alleviative capacity of NO against heavy metal stress is still lacking. We combined the results of 86 studies using meta-analysis to statistically assess the responses of heavy metal-stressed plants to NO supply across several metal stresses and plant families. The results showed that plant biomass was consistently improved following NO supply to metal-stressed plants. NO played an important role in mitigating oxidative damage caused by heavy metal stress by significantly stimulating the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, NO supply consistently increased the Ca, Fe, and Mg contents in both leaves and roots. Plant tissues accumulated less heavy metals when exposed to heavy metal stress after NO addition. Additionally, the best concentration of SNP (an NO donor) for hydroponic culture is in the range of 75–150 μM. We further confirmed that NO application can generally alleviate plant heavy metal stress and its action pathway. The results presented here can help guide future applications of NO as a plant growth regulator in agriculture and breeding plants for heavy metal stress tolerance.

Chaenomeles speciosa, a plant species with high ornamental value, exhibited significant darkening of its petal coloration under drought conditions. This chromatic alteration primarily stems from anthocyanin biosynthesis and transport. Through integrated proteomic and transcriptomic analyses, we identified CsABCG6, a transporter of the ABCG subfamily, as a key regulator. The molecular docking analysis preliminarily demonstrated that CsABCG6 bound to anthocyanin monomers. Functional characterization revealed a dual role of CsABCG6 in regard to anthocyanin metabolism; it displayed anthocyanin transport activity in yeast systems, whereas transient transformation assays confirmed its capacity to enhance anthocyanin biosynthesis. Stable transformation experiments in tobacco further validated the anthocyanin-promoting function of the previously identified transcription factor CsMYB6. Yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and dual-luciferase assays (LUC) established that CsMYB6 transcriptionally activates the CsABCG6 promoter, thus collectively defining the CsMYB6-CsABCG6 signaling module as a critical mechanism for the precise dynamic regulation of anthocyanin metabolism under drought stress.

Based on data from the literature in the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases, this study collected 325 articles published between 2020 and 2025. Using Citespace software (version 6.4) to analyze publication volume, countries, institutions, disciplinary categories, and keywords, we examined research characteristics, hotspots, and bottlenecks in the field of ecological remediation for heavy metal pollution in mining area soils. Results indicate: (1) Publication volume in this field showed an upward trend from 2020 to 2024, accounting for 70.2% of this dataset being from the environmental sciences. Chinese scholars demonstrated significant dominance and high engagement, though interdisciplinary depth remained insufficient; (2) from 2020 to 2025, the research focus shifted from risk identification to precise remediation, forming a complete logical chain of ‘identification–remediation–optimization’. Green technologies (biological/combined remediation) emerged as mainstream approaches in integrated remediation. (3) A significant gap exists between research and practice. Many innovative technologies are costly and difficult for enterprises to bear, while low-cost techniques like ‘waste-to-waste treatment’ lack sufficient research and application, hindering large-scale implementation. This study reveals the current situation of ‘intense research but difficult application’ in the ecological remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils in mining areas. The findings provide a scientific basis for technological innovation, practical implementation, and policy making.