{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T05:16:46Z","timestamp":1788499006301,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788307200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2021YFD2200203"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFD2200203"]}]},{"name":"Inner Mongolia Key R&D and Commercialization Program","award":["2025KJHZ0023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025KJHZ0023"]}]},{"name":"Henan Key R&D Program Projects","award":["252102110260"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["252102110260"]}]},{"name":"Foundation of Provincial Talent Program: Zhongyuan Scholars Workstation Funding Program","award":["254400510003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["254400510003"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is a highly conserved protein family unique to eukaryotes, yet its functional characterization in woody plants remains limited. In this study, we identified four eIF5A genes (PtoeIF5A1\u2013PtoeIF5A4) from the genome of Populus tomentosa, a fast-growing tree species indigenous to China, and characterized their expression patterns and functional roles through bioinformatics analysis, quantitative real-time PCR, stable overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana, and transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Our results demonstrated that all PtoeIF5A proteins contain a conserved OB-fold domain and multiple phosphorylation sites, with PtoeIF5A1 showing predominant expression in roots and secondary xylem. Functional assays revealed that PtoeIF5A1 overexpression accelerated inflorescence stem elongation and early flowering in Arabidopsis, induced visible chlorosis and programmed cell death (PCD) in tobacco leaves, and significantly enhanced salt tolerance under NaCl treatment. Collectively, these findings establish PtoeIF5A1 in poplar as a pleiotropic regulator integrating developmental cues, programmed cell death, and stress responses; and as a valuable genetic resource for breeding stress-resilient woody plants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15172702","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T14:35:29Z","timestamp":1788359729000},"page":"2702","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["PtoeIF5A1: A Pleiotropic Regulator of Development, PCD, and Salt Tolerance in Populus tomentosa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Dan","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Environmental Engineering, Yellow River Conservancy Technical University, Kaifeng 475004, China"},{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Guan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Feng","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Environmental Engineering, Yellow River Conservancy Technical University, Kaifeng 475004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1699-805X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lijiao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2747-480X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wancong","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Germplasm Resources and Biotechnology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300384, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liping","family":"Ding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9579-6747","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lin","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qingkuo","family":"Lan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Germplasm Resources and Biotechnology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300384, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianhua","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yajuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9857-9609","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiewei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Design and Intelligent Breeding, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"95","article-title":"Hypusine: Its post-translation formation in eukaryotic initiation factor 5A and its potential role in cellular regulation","volume":"2","author":"Park","year":"1993","journal-title":"Biofactors"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"3105","article-title":"Translation initiation factor 5A and its hypusine modification are essential for cell viability in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae","volume":"11","author":"Schnier","year":"1991","journal-title":"Mol. 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