GATA factors are evolutionarily conserved transcription regulators that are implicated in the regulation of physiological changes under abiotic stress. Unfortunately, there are few studies investigating the potential role of GATA genes in potato plants responding to salt and osmotic stresses. The physicochemical properties, chromosomal distribution, gene duplication, evolutionary relationships and classification, conserved motifs, gene structure, interspecific collinearity relationship, and cis-regulatory elements were analyzed. Potato plants were treated with NaCl and PEG to induce salinity and osmotic stress responses. qRT-PCR was carried out to characterize the expression pattern of StGATA family genes in potato plants subjected to salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 loss-of-function and gain-of-function plants were established. Morphological phenotypes and growth were indicated. Photosynthetic gas exchange was suggested by the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance. Physiological indicators and the corresponding genes were indicated by enzyme activity and mRNA expression of genes encoding CAT, SOD, POD, and P5CS, and contents of H₂O₂, MDA, and proline. The expression patterns of StGATA family genes were altered in response to salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 protein is located in the nucleus. StGATA12 is involved in the regulation of potato plant growth in response to salinity and osmotic stress. Overexpression of StGATA12 promoted photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance under salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 overexpression induced biochemical responses of potato plants to salinity and osmotic stress by regulating the levels of H₂O₂, MDA, and proline and the activity of CAT, SOD, and POD. StGATA12 overexpression induced the up-regulation of StCAT, StSOD, StPOD, and StP5CS against salinity and osmotic stress. StGATA12 could reinforce the ability of potato plants to resist salinity and osmosis-induced damages, which may provide an effective strategy to engineer potato plants for better adaptability to adverse salinity and osmotic conditions.

Oat is a dual-purpose crop valued for both grain and forage. The stay-green (SG) trait, which delays leaf senescence and prolongs photosynthesis, has been shown to increase yield and quality in several crop species, yet its performance across diverse environments in oats remains underexplored. In this study, multi-location field trials were conducted in Ledu, Huangzhong and Haiyan, Qinghai Province, China, to comprehensively evaluate the performance of stay-green oat lines. The traits evaluated included grain yield components, nutritional quality, and seedling establishment traits. A TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution) model, coefficient of variation (CV) and G × E (genotype × environment) visualization were used to assess adaptability, stability, and genotype × environment interactions. On average, the stay-green lines exhibited an 16.00% increase in plot yield and a 22.93% increase in thousand-grain weight compared to controls. Notable improvements were also observed in the starch (7.58% LN_SG in HZ and HY) and protein (3.58%, QY5_SG all the sites) contents, as well as multiple seedling establishment indices, with the seedling vigor indices increasing by more than 50%. Stability analysis further showed that the stay-green lines were stable in spike length, thousand-grain weight, water-soluble carbohydrates, and seed and seedling vigor. TOPSIS analysis identified ‘LN_SG’ as the top-performing and most adaptable genotype across all environments. Overall, stay-green oat lines demonstrated superior performance in grain yield, nutritional quality, and seedling establishment. These findings highlight their potential for field application and their value as parental materials in oat breeding programs enhancing environmental adaptability and stability.

Early senescence of alpine pasture grass, manifested as rapid yellowing at the onset of autumn on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, constrains the sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry. Breeding stay-green forage germplasm is key to mitigating this problem. To identify superior stay-green germplasm and preliminarily elucidate the main drivers of senescence, we evaluated six stay-green lines of Elymus sibiricus with non-stay-green materials as controls. Fixed-site field observations were conducted for three consecutive years in Haiyan County, Qinghai Province. We quantified dynamic changes in phenotypic, photosynthetic, and physiological traits during senescence, applied mixed-effects models to identify factors associated with stay-green, and used the TOPSIS model for comprehensive evaluation. The results showed that plant height, green leaf area, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and root activity of stay-green E. sibiricus were significantly higher than those of non-stay-green materials at all planting years, and the senescence rate was significantly slower. All traits performed optimally at the third year. Relative to HB-2, HB-4, HB-8, HB-10, HB-11, and HB-15 (stay-green E. sibiricus), plant height, green leaf area, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and root activity of CK (non-stay-green E. sibiricus) were 0.83, 0.95, 0.79, 0.82, 0.80, and 0.78; 0.37, 0.37, 0.34, 0.35, 0.31, and 0.35; 0.82, 0.84, 0.80, 0.86, 0.82, and 0.75; 0.86, 0.86, 0.74, 0.89, 0.77, and 0.70; and 0.72, 0.74, 0.66, 0.78, 0.70, and 0.61, respectively. Mixed-effects modeling identified chlorophyll, root vitality, soluble sugars, and photosynthesis as the primary determinants of stay-green in E. sibiricus. The TOPSIS model indicated that HB-15 maintained the highest fitting degree values in years 2–4. These values were 0.69, 0.62, and 0.71, respectively. Therefore, HB-15 was the most ideal stay-green germplasm. These findings provide a theoretical basis and elite parental materials for breeding new stay-green varieties of E. sibiricus.