Sustainable goals for contemporary world seek viable solutions for interconnected challenges, particularly in the fields of food and energy security and climate change. We present bamboo, one of the versatile plant species on earth, as an ideal candidate for bioeconomy for meeting some of these challenges. With its potential realized, particularly in the industrial sector, countries such as China are going extensive with bamboo development and cultivation to support a myriad of industrial uses. These include timber, fiber, biofuel, paper, food, and medicinal industries. Bamboo is an ecologically viable choice, having better adaptation to wider environments than do other grasses, and can help to restore degraded lands and mitigate climate change. Bamboo, as a crop species, has not become amenable to genetic improvement, due to its long breeding cycle, perennial nature, and monocarpic behavior. One of the commonly used species, moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is a potential candidate that qualifies as industrial bamboo. With its whole‐genome information released, genetic manipulations of moso bamboo offer tremendous potential to meet the industrial expectations either in quality or in quantity. Further, bamboo cultivation can expect several natural hindrances through biotic and abiotic stresses, which needs viable solutions such as genetic resistance. Taking a pragmatic view of these future requirements, we have compiled the present status of bamboo physiology, genetics, genomics, and biotechnology, particularly of moso bamboo, to drive various implications in meeting industrial and cultivation requirements. We also discuss challenges underway, caveats, and contextual opportunities concerning sustainable development.

Plant development processes are regulated by epigenetic alterations that shape nuclear structure, gene expression, and phenotypic plasticity; these alterations can provide the plant with protection from environmental stresses. During plant growth and development, these processes play a significant role in regulating gene expression to remodel chromatin structure. These epigenetic alterations are mainly regulated by transposable elements (TEs) whose abundance in plant genomes results in their interaction with genomes. Thus, TEs are the main source of epigenetic changes and form a substantial part of the plant genome. Furthermore, TEs can be activated under stress conditions, and activated elements cause mutagenic effects and substantial genetic variability. This introduces novel gene functions and structural variation in the insertion sites and primarily contributes to epigenetic modifications. Altogether, these modifications indirectly or directly provide the ability to withstand environmental stresses. In recent years, many studies have shown that TE methylation plays a major role in the evolution of the plant genome through epigenetic process that regulate gene imprinting, thereby upholding genome stability. The induced genetic rearrangements and insertions of mobile genetic elements in regions of active euchromatin contribute to genome alteration, leading to genomic stress. These TE-mediated epigenetic modifications lead to phenotypic diversity, genetic variation, and environmental stress tolerance. Thus, TE methylation is essential for plant evolution and stress adaptation, and TEs hold a relevant military position in the plant genome. High-throughput techniques have greatly advanced the understanding of TE-mediated gene expression and its associations with genome methylation and suggest that controlled mobilization of TEs could be used for crop breeding. However, development application in this area has been limited, and an integrated view of TE function and subsequent processes is lacking. In this review, we explore the enormous diversity and likely functions of the TE repertoire in adaptive evolution and discuss some recent examples of how TEs impact gene expression in plant development and stress adaptation.

The oxidation-reduction (redox) status of the cell influences or regulates transcription factors and enzymes involved in epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, histone protein modifications, and chromatin structure and remodeling. These changes are crucial regulators of chromatin architecture, leading to differential gene expression in eukaryotes. But the cell’s redox homeostasis is difficult to sustain since the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) is not equal in plants at different developmental stages and under abiotic stress conditions. Exceeding optimum ROS and RNS levels leads to oxidative stress and thus alters the redox status of the cell. Consequently, this alteration modulates intracellular epigenetic modifications that either mitigate or mediate the plant growth and stress response. Recent studies suggest that the altered redox status of the cell reform the cellular functions and epigenetic changes. Recent high-throughput techniques have also greatly advanced redox-mediated gene expression discovery, but the integrated view of the redox status, and its associations with epigenetic changes and subsequent gene expression in plants are still scarce. In this review, we accordingly focus on how the redox status of the cell affects epigenetic modifications in plants under abiotic stress conditions and during developmental processes. This is a first comprehensive review on the redox status of the cell covering the redox components and signaling, redox status alters the post-translational modification of proteins, intracellular epigenetic modifications, redox interplay during DNA methylation, redox regulation of histone acetylation and methylation, redox regulation of miRNA biogenesis, redox regulation of chromatin structure and remodeling and conclusion, future perspectives and biotechnological opportunities for the future development of the plants. The interaction of redox mediators such as ROS, RNS and antioxidants regulates redox homeostasis and redox-mediated epigenetic changes. We discuss how redox mediators modulate epigenetic changes and show the opportunities for smart use of the redox status of the cell in plant development and abiotic stress adaptation. However, how a redox mediator triggers epigenetic modification without activating other redox mediators remains yet unknown.

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis (Carriere) J. Houzeau) is a rapidly growing grass of industrial and ecological importance. However, the molecular mechanisms of its remarkable growth are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the early-stage growth of moso bamboo shoots and defined three different growth stages based on histological and biochemical analyses, namely, starting of cell division (SD), rapid division (RD) and rapid elongation (RE). Further analyses on potentially relevant cellular pathways in these growth stages using multi-omics approaches such as transcriptomics and proteomics revealed the involvement of multiple cellular pathways, including DNA replication, repair and ribosome biogenesis. A total of 8045 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 1053 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified in our analyses. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses of detected DEGs identified several key biological pathways such as phytohormone metabolism, signal transduction, cell wall development and carbohydrate metabolism. The comparative analysis of proteins displayed that a total of 213 DEPs corresponded with DEGs and 3 significant expression profiles that could be promoting the fast growth of bamboo internodes. Moreover, protein–protein interaction network prediction analysis is suggestive of the involvement of five major proteins of signal transduction, DNA synthesis and RNA transcription, and may act as key elements responsible for the rapid shoot growth. Our work exploits multi-omics and bioinformatic approaches to unfurl the complexity of molecular networks involved in the rapid growth of moso bamboo and opens up questions related to the interactions between the functions played by individual molecular pathway.

Browning presents a significant challenge in the in vitro culture of economically important woody plants, primarily due to high levels of lignification and the accumulation of secondary metabolites. This phenomenon hampers the development of efficient regeneration and genetic transformation systems across diverse species. This review examines the internal and external factors contributing to browning, including genetic attributes, tree genotypes, physiological state of explants, explant surface sterilization, medium composition, and overall culture conditions. It explores the underlying mechanisms of browning, particularly enzymatic browning caused by the oxidation of phenolic compounds, and highlights the crucial role of redox pathways and phenolic metabolism. Conventional methods for assessing browning, such as sensory evaluation by researchers and the examination of paraffin sections stained with toluidine blue, are commonly used but introduce significant delays and potential biases. The review emphasizes the importance of accurate and timely browning assessment methods, notably the use of Fluorescein diacetate (FDA) staining, as a reliable and quantitative measure of cell viability to better evaluate browning intensity and progression. Additionally, this review explores the potential manipulation of key genes in the phenylpropanoid pathway to lower phenolic biosynthesis. Advanced strategies, such as regenerative gene manipulation and natural product encapsulation, are also discussed for their potential to improve regeneration outcomes. By integrating recent advancements in molecular biology and tissue culture techniques, this review offers novel insights and potential solutions for mitigating browning, thereby enhancing the regeneration capacities of woody plants. This comprehensive approach addresses the mechanistic bases of browning and underscores the importance of optimizing cultural practices and genetic strategies to overcome this challenge.