PubMed · 2026-06-30
Researchers mapped the gene networks that help hemp plants cope with low phosphorus in soil, finding distinct organ-specific responses in leaves and roots, and identifying a key gene (SPX3) that coordinates how the plant redirects resources toward reproduction when nutrients run short.
WGCNA identified 12 co-expression modules across hemp organs; 2 modules (leaf- and root-specific) were strongly correlated with phosphorus status and overlapped significantly with genes selected during Cannabis domestication.
SPX DOMAIN GENE3 (SPX3) was identified as a central hub gene in leaf tissue coordinating the shoot phosphate starvation response and prioritization of resources toward reproductive organs.
Strigolactone hormones and transcription factors from the SCARECROW-LIKE (SCL) family drive root system architecture remodeling under phosphate deficiency, revealing a hormone-mediated tolerance mechanism in hemp.
