Illuminating plant signaling networks drives modern agricultural development through integrating multimodal sensing technologies
Feng Gao, Guang-Ye Wang, A-Ling Tang, Hou-Yun Huang, Meihong Ge, Shuai Tan, Shi-Tao Liu, Wei Niu, Tien‐Chang Lu, Ya-Ping Wu, Linlin Yang, Xiang Zhou, Yang Song
Abstract
Accurate monitoring of plant signaling molecules represents a critical foundation for unraveling the complex biological mechanisms underlying growth regulation, stress adaptation, and immune defense. Recent advancements in fluorescent probe engineering, nano-enabled sensing platforms, and genetically encoded biosensors have garnered substantial interest within the plant pathology and chemical biology communities by enabling real-time visualization and precise spatiotemporal tracking of key phytohormonal dynamics—including auxin, cytokinin, gibberellin, abscisic acid, ethylene, jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, brassinosteroids, and strigolactones—as well as secondary signaling mediators such as hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), nitric oxide (NO), and calcium ions (Ca 2+ ). Despite significant progress in molecular sensor development for phytohormone visualization, comprehensive reviews summarizing this literature remain scarce, thereby hindering the broader adoption and advancement of these technologies. To address this critical gap, our review systematically synthesizes relevant studies and focuses on three strategic priorities: refining molecular recognition mechanisms, integrating nanomaterials to enhance performance, and overcoming challenges in specificity and multi-analyte detection. This review provides a thorough overview of current design principles, recognition mechanisms, plant applications, technological breakthroughs, and limitations in signaling molecule sensors. Particular emphasis is placed on emerging interdisciplinary approaches, including AI-driven biosensor optimization frameworks and multiscale ecological monitoring systems, which collectively define new frontiers for plant signaling research. Overall, this comprehensive review provokes the disruptive technological capacity of next-generation biosensing architectures in the fields of molecular pathogenesis decoding within phytohormone signaling networks, engineering climate-resilient crop prototypes, optimizing intelligent agricultural systems, and implementing ecological integrity preservation protocols.