College of Horticulture and Landscape, Yangzhou University, 48 East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, 48 East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou, China.
Tree Physiol. 2024 Feb 11;44(2). doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpae002.
Ancient trees are natural wonders because of their longevity, having lived for hundreds or thousands of years, and their ability to withstand changing environments and a variety of stresses. These long-lived trees have sophisticated defense mechanisms, such as the production of specialized plant metabolites (SPMs). In this review, we provide an overview of the major biotic and abiotic stresses that long-lived trees often face, as well as an analysis of renowned ancient tree species and their unique protective SPMs against environmental stressors. We also discuss the synthesis and accumulation of defensive SPMs induced by environmental factors and endophytes in these trees. Furthermore, we conducted a comparative genomic analysis of 17 long-lived tree species and discovered significant expansions of SPM biosynthesis gene families in these species. Our comprehensive review reveals the crucial role of SPMs in high resistance in long-lived trees, providing a novel natural resource for plant defense, crop improvement and even the pharmaceutical industry.
古树是自然奇观，因为它们寿命长，能活数百年甚至数千年，并且能够承受不断变化的环境和各种压力。这些长寿树木具有复杂的防御机制，例如产生特殊的植物代谢物（SPM）。在这篇综述中，我们概述了长寿树木经常面临的主要生物和非生物胁迫，并分析了著名的古树物种及其对环境胁迫因子的独特保护 SPM。我们还讨论了这些树木中由环境因子和内生菌诱导的防御 SPM 的合成和积累。此外，我们对 17 个长寿树种进行了比较基因组分析，发现这些物种中 SPM 生物合成基因家族显著扩张。我们的综合综述揭示了 SPM 在长寿树木高抗性中的关键作用，为植物防御、作物改良甚至制药工业提供了一种新的天然资源。
