Human activities exert both beneficial and detrimental impacts on the ecosystem. In recent years, greenhouse gas emissions have significantly increased due to global climate change, causing profound alterations in ecosystem distribution and productivity. The synergistic interplay between climatic shifts and anthropogenic activities is intensifying ecological transformations and disturbances, and accelerating biodiversity depletion. The Plantago genus (Plantaginaceae family) includes 14 herbaceous species among China’s flora. This study was conducted to elucidate the spatial distribution of Plantago species patterns across China and evaluate their differential responses to impending climate change and human interventions. In this study, we projected the potential distributions of Plantago species under three climate scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, and SSP585) across current and future temporal intervals (2021–2040, 2041–2060, 2061–2080, and 2081–2100) using the MaxEnt model integrated with ArcGIS V10.8 spatial analysis. A spatial trend analyses was also conducted to assess habitat suitability dynamics by incorporating anthropogenic influence parameters. The model validation yielded AUC values exceeding 0.9, demonstrating excellent model performance and predictive reliability. Precipitation variability and anthropogenic pressure emerged as the most predominant determinants shaping Plantago distributions. Centroid migration analyses further indicated the progressive northward displacement of optimal habitats under the projected climate scenarios. These findings significantly advance our understanding of Plantago species’ adaptive responses to environmental changes. This study also offers an invaluable scientific foundation for sustainable resource management and ecological conservation strategies.

Corolla movement is a typical plant movement behavior that enables plants to optimize pollination and adapt to environmental changes. Nevertheless, its molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. In the present study, we conduct a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of Mirabilis jalapa (Nyctaginaceae) corolla at five stages (AG-EG) to elucidate the regulatory networks underlying movement. The results showed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mainly associated with cellular processes, catalytic activity, MAPK signaling, plant hormone signal transduction, and photosynthesis-related pathways, highlighting their involvement in corolla dynamics. Transcriptome profiling further demonstrated that auxin, ethylene, and abscisic acid signaling pathways were key hormonal regulators of corolla movement. Moreover, Ca²⁺ transport genes (CNGCs and CMLs) and respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs) were significantly enriched, indicating that Ca²⁺–ROS signaling oscillations also play an important role in driving differential cell expansion and turgor changes. Transcription factor analysis also revealed the upregulation of WRKY2, WRKY22, and WRKY33, suggesting that WRKYs act as the critical transcriptional regulators linking ROS–Ca²⁺ signals with downstream gene expression. The reliability of RNA-Seq data was confirmed by RT-qPCR, which showed high consistency with transcriptome profiles. These findings suggested that corolla movement in M. jalapa is carried through the integration of hormonal pathways, Ca²⁺–ROS signaling, and WRKY-mediated transcriptional regulation. This research provided novel insights into the molecular basis of plant movement and established a foundation for further study on floral dynamics and adaptive strategies in angiosperms.

Jinggang honey pomelo (Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.), a regional cultivar group from Jiangxi Province, China, remains insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated morphological, peel-color, structural, edible, and physicochemical traits of ‘Jinlan’, ‘Jinsha’, and ‘Taoxi’ at immature (July) and commercial maturity (October–November) stages. The cultivars showed distinct developmental trajectories. At maturity, ‘Jinsha’ had the strongest late-stage growth (~186% fruit-weight increase; 9.0-fold flesh-weight gain) and high juice yield and edible rate. ‘Taoxi’ produced large fruits with the highest soluble solids content and titratable acidity, but retained substantial seed loads (69.15 ± 7.73 seeds per fruit). ‘Jinlan’ showed moderate enlargement but the highest mature-stage vitamin C content and retention. Peel-color development was cultivar-specific, with total color change following ‘Jinsha’ > ‘Taoxi’ > ‘Jinlan’. Within the local commercial harvest window, both soluble solids and titratable acidity increased, but the proportional increase in TA exceeded that of SSC, so the sugar–acid ratio declined in all three cultivars. Integrated principal component analysis (PCA) of 17 quantitative traits explained 82.51% of total variance in the first three components, confirming multidimensional quality differentiation jointly shaped by developmental stage and cultivar. These findings characterize cultivar-specific quality profiles, inform targeted market positioning, and provide a basis for future studies on harvest optimization and quality grading of Jinggang honey pomelo.