Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41491466›Full record

ArticleBMC plant biology2026

Biased retention and functional diversification of CESA superfamily genes in Medicago mediating development and abiotic stress responses.

Zhixi Fu, Xinyi Zheng, Yu Gong, Huijie Wang, Changying Xia, Xiaolong Ren, Demin Ye, Huabo Liu, Xiaoxia Zhang, Bo Xu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC plant biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Zhixi Fu *Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Land Resources Evaluation and Monitoring in Southwest, (Sichuan Normal University), Chengdu, 610101, China.
Xinyi Zheng *Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Land Resources Evaluation and Monitoring in Southwest, (Sichuan Normal University), Chengdu, 610101, China.
Yu Gong *State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
Huijie Wang *State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
Changying XiaCollege of Teacher Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Xiaolong RenState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
Demin YeState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
Huabo LiuMiyun District Agricultural Technology Extension Station, Beijing, 101599, China.
Xiaoxia ZhangState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. zhangxiaoxia@ibcas.ac.cn.
Bo XuState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.

Funding

Key Laboratory of Chemistry in Ethnic Medicinal Resources (Yunnan Minzu University), State Ethnic Affairs Commission & Ministry of Education No. MZY2301the Foundation of Sustainable Development Research Center of Resources and Environment of Western Sichuan, Sichuan Normal University No. 2020CXZYHJZX03The National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 32000158the strategic priority research programme of the Chinese Academy of Sciences XDA26030104
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Medicago sativa is a globally cultivated forage crop, and improving its digestibility and stress tolerance remains a central breeding goal. The Cellulose synthase (CESA) superfamily is central to cell wall biosynthesis and influences plant development, stress responses, and forage quality; however, its evolutionary trajectory in Medicago is poorly resolved. Here, we identified 431 CESA superfamily genes from five Medicago species and four outgroup taxa. Phylogenetic analyses classified these genes into eight clades, including CesA and CslA/B/C/D/E/G/M subfamilies. Gene duplication analyses revealed that both tandem duplication and whole genome duplication (WGD) drove superfamily expansion, with a WGD event occurring in the common ancestor of Papilionooideae (PWGD). Tandem duplication plays a more prominent role than the PWGD-derived duplication. Transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that CESA genes in M. sativa subsp. sativa are broadly involved in development and respond strongly to salt and drought stresses. Notably, loss of CesA gene copies and biased retention of duplicated genes were observed in the MsCslB, MsCslA, MsCslE, and MsCslD subfamilies. Among tandem duplicates, MsCslB5.1 and MsCslB10.1 exhibited pronounced stress-responsive expression. These patterns may reflect domestication-related selection for improved forage quality and stress tolerance. Together, our findings establish a comprehensive evolutionary framework for the CESA superfamily and provide candidate genes with potential value for molecular breeding in Medicago forage crops.

Indexed as

GlucosyltransferasesMedicagoMedicago sativaPlant ProteinsStress, PhysiologicalEvolution, MolecularGene DuplicationGene Expression Regulation, PlantGenes, PlantMultigene FamilyPhylogenycellulose synthaseGlucosyltransferasesPlant ProteinsBiased preservationCESA superfamilyDevelopmentMedicagoStress response

Identifiers

PMID41491466
PMCPMC12870174

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.