PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future

Li Wang; Mohamed Amar; Carlos I. Arbizu; John L. Bowman; Charles H. Cannon; David J. Cantrill; Xiaofeng Cao; Shilin Chen; Xiaoya Chen; Xuemei Chen; Kang Chong; Xingwang Deng; E Weinan E; Hongwei Guo; Chuan He; Peter Hollingsworth; Qing Hu; Hongzhi Kong; Ilia J. Leitch; Dezhu Li; Jiayang Li; Hongtao Liu; William Lucas; Eshchar Mizrachi; Mijoro Rakotoarinivo; Hai Ren; Loren Rieseberg; Jue Ruan; Rosa Scherson; Harald Schneider; Douglas E. Soltis; Hang Sun; Marcio C. Silva-Filho; Stephen Smith; Alex Twyford; Björn Usadel; Yves Van de Peer; Cássio Van den Berg; Rajeev K. Varshney; Lyderson Facio Viccini; Qingfeng Wang; Xiao Quan Wang; Yadong Wang; Jonathan Wendel; Rod Wing; Gane Ka Shu Wong; Yaowu Xing; Xun Xu; Nieng Yan; Huanming Yang; Shouzhou Zhang; Yuxian Zhu; Pamela S. Soltis; Detlef Weigel; Sanwen Huang

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future

Li Wang
, Mohamed Amar
, Carlos I. Arbizu
, John L. Bowman
, Charles H. Cannon
, David J. Cantrill
, Xiaofeng Cao
, Shilin Chen
, Xiaoya Chen
, Xuemei Chen
, Kang Chong
, Xingwang Deng
, E Weinan E
, Hongwei Guo
, Chuan He
, Peter Hollingsworth
, Qing Hu
, Hongzhi Kong
, Ilia J. Leitch
, Dezhu Li

Jiayang Li, Hongtao Liu, William Lucas, Eshchar Mizrachi, Mijoro Rakotoarinivo, Hai Ren, Loren Rieseberg, Jue Ruan, Rosa Scherson, Harald Schneider, Douglas E. Soltis, Hang Sun, Marcio C. Silva-Filho, Stephen Smith, Alex Twyford, Björn Usadel, Yves Van de Peer, Cássio Van den Berg, Rajeev K. Varshney, Lyderson Facio Viccini, Qingfeng Wang, Xiao Quan Wang, Yadong Wang, Jonathan Wendel, Rod Wing, Gane Ka Shu Wong, Yaowu Xing, Xun Xu, Nieng Yan, Huanming Yang, Shouzhou Zhang, Yuxian Zhu, Pamela S. Soltis, Detlef Weigel, Sanwen Huang

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Benha National University
Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas
Monash University
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
CAS - Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology
Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peking University
CAS - Institute of Botany
Southern University of Science and Technology
The University of Chicago
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Shandong Agricultural University
Shenzhen University
University of California at Davis
University of Pretoria
Université d'Antananarivo
CAS - South China Institute of Botany
University of British Columbia
Universidad de Chile
University of Florida
CAS - Kunming Institute of Botany
Universidade de São Paulo
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Edinburgh
Jülich Research Centre
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Ghent University
Nanjing Agricultural University
Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
Murdoch University
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora
CAS - Wuhan Institute of Botany
Harbin Institute of Technology
Iowa State University
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
University of Alberta
BGI-Shenzhen
Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation
Zhejiang University
Wuhan University
Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society
University of Tübingen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Land plants underpin civilization and planetary health, yet their genomic diversity remains largely uncharted. Current resources are unstandardized and scarce, lacking reference genomes for 95% of genera, 70% of families, and 51% of orders, impeding evolutionary and functional insight. We thus propose the PLAN e T initiative, an international effort to generate high-quality, standardized genomes across the plant tree of life. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with genomics, we will decode conserved principles to advance fundamental plant biology, biodiversity conservation, crop improvement, and natural product discovery. Engaging around 100 labs to train 1,000 scientists, we will tackle pivotal questions for a sustainable future.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2519-2532
Number of pages	14
Journal	Cell
Volume	189
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026
State	Published - 30 Apr 2026
Externally published	Yes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

biodiversity conservation
common heritage of humanity
crop improvement
embryophytes
evolution
genomics
natural products

Access to Document

10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

Cite this

Wang, L., Amar, M., Arbizu, C. I., Bowman, J. L., Cannon, C. H., Cantrill, D. J., Cao, X., Chen, S., Chen, X., Chen, X., Chong, K., Deng, X., Weinan E, E., Guo, H., He, C., Hollingsworth, P., Hu, Q., Kong, H., Leitch, I. J., ... Huang, S. (2026). PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future. Cell, 189(9), 2519-2532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

@article{32f252233703482e95dae641246197b3,

title = "PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future",

abstract = "Land plants underpin civilization and planetary health, yet their genomic diversity remains largely uncharted. Current resources are unstandardized and scarce, lacking reference genomes for 95\% of genera, 70\% of families, and 51\% of orders, impeding evolutionary and functional insight. We thus propose the PLAN e T initiative, an international effort to generate high-quality, standardized genomes across the plant tree of life. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with genomics, we will decode conserved principles to advance fundamental plant biology, biodiversity conservation, crop improvement, and natural product discovery. Engaging around 100 labs to train 1,000 scientists, we will tackle pivotal questions for a sustainable future.",

keywords = "biodiversity conservation, common heritage of humanity, crop improvement, embryophytes, evolution, genomics, natural products",

author = "Li Wang and Mohamed Amar and Arbizu, \{Carlos I.\} and Bowman, \{John L.\} and Cannon, \{Charles H.\} and Cantrill, \{David J.\} and Xiaofeng Cao and Shilin Chen and Xiaoya Chen and Xuemei Chen and Kang Chong and Xingwang Deng and \{Weinan E\}, E and Hongwei Guo and Chuan He and Peter Hollingsworth and Qing Hu and Hongzhi Kong and Leitch, \{Ilia J.\} and Dezhu Li and Jiayang Li and Hongtao Liu and William Lucas and Eshchar Mizrachi and Mijoro Rakotoarinivo and Hai Ren and Loren Rieseberg and Jue Ruan and Rosa Scherson and Harald Schneider and Soltis, \{Douglas E.\} and Hang Sun and Silva-Filho, \{Marcio C.\} and Stephen Smith and Alex Twyford and Bj{\"o}rn Usadel and \{Van de Peer\}, Yves and \{Van den Berg\}, C{\'a}ssio and Varshney, \{Rajeev K.\} and Viccini, \{Lyderson Facio\} and Qingfeng Wang and Wang, \{Xiao Quan\} and Yadong Wang and Jonathan Wendel and Rod Wing and Wong, \{Gane Ka Shu\} and Yaowu Xing and Xun Xu and Nieng Yan and Huanming Yang and Shouzhou Zhang and Yuxian Zhu and Soltis, \{Pamela S.\} and Detlef Weigel and Sanwen Huang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors.",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026",

language = "英语",

volume = "189",

pages = "2519--2532",

journal = "Cell",

issn = "0092-8674",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

number = "9",

}

Wang, L, Amar, M, Arbizu, CI, Bowman, JL, Cannon, CH, Cantrill, DJ, Cao, X, Chen, S, Chen, X, Chen, X, Chong, K, Deng, X, Weinan E, E, Guo, H, He, C, Hollingsworth, P, Hu, Q, Kong, H, Leitch, IJ, Li, D, Li, J, Liu, H, Lucas, W, Mizrachi, E, Rakotoarinivo, M, Ren, H, Rieseberg, L, Ruan, J, Scherson, R, Schneider, H, Soltis, DE, Sun, H, Silva-Filho, MC, Smith, S, Twyford, A, Usadel, B, Van de Peer, Y, Van den Berg, C, Varshney, RK, Viccini, LF, Wang, Q, Wang, XQ, Wang, Y, Wendel, J, Wing, R, Wong, GKS, Xing, Y, Xu, X, Yan, N, Yang, H, Zhang, S, Zhu, Y, Soltis, PS, Weigel, D & Huang, S 2026, 'PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future', Cell, vol. 189, no. 9, pp. 2519-2532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

TY - JOUR

T1 - PLANeT

T2 - Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future

AU - Wang, Li

AU - Amar, Mohamed

AU - Arbizu, Carlos I.

AU - Bowman, John L.

AU - Cannon, Charles H.

AU - Cantrill, David J.

AU - Cao, Xiaofeng

AU - Chen, Shilin

AU - Chen, Xiaoya

AU - Chen, Xuemei

AU - Chong, Kang

AU - Deng, Xingwang

AU - Weinan E, E

AU - Guo, Hongwei

AU - He, Chuan

AU - Hollingsworth, Peter

AU - Hu, Qing

AU - Kong, Hongzhi

AU - Leitch, Ilia J.

AU - Li, Dezhu

AU - Li, Jiayang

AU - Liu, Hongtao

AU - Lucas, William

AU - Mizrachi, Eshchar

AU - Rakotoarinivo, Mijoro

AU - Ren, Hai

AU - Rieseberg, Loren

AU - Ruan, Jue

AU - Scherson, Rosa

AU - Schneider, Harald

AU - Soltis, Douglas E.

AU - Sun, Hang

AU - Silva-Filho, Marcio C.

AU - Smith, Stephen

AU - Twyford, Alex

AU - Usadel, Björn

AU - Van de Peer, Yves

AU - Van den Berg, Cássio

AU - Varshney, Rajeev K.

AU - Viccini, Lyderson Facio

AU - Wang, Qingfeng

AU - Wang, Xiao Quan

AU - Wang, Yadong

AU - Wendel, Jonathan

AU - Wing, Rod

AU - Wong, Gane Ka Shu

AU - Xing, Yaowu

AU - Xu, Xun

AU - Yan, Nieng

AU - Yang, Huanming

AU - Zhang, Shouzhou

AU - Zhu, Yuxian

AU - Soltis, Pamela S.

AU - Weigel, Detlef

AU - Huang, Sanwen

PY - 2026/4/30

Y1 - 2026/4/30

N2 - Land plants underpin civilization and planetary health, yet their genomic diversity remains largely uncharted. Current resources are unstandardized and scarce, lacking reference genomes for 95% of genera, 70% of families, and 51% of orders, impeding evolutionary and functional insight. We thus propose the PLAN e T initiative, an international effort to generate high-quality, standardized genomes across the plant tree of life. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with genomics, we will decode conserved principles to advance fundamental plant biology, biodiversity conservation, crop improvement, and natural product discovery. Engaging around 100 labs to train 1,000 scientists, we will tackle pivotal questions for a sustainable future.

AB - Land plants underpin civilization and planetary health, yet their genomic diversity remains largely uncharted. Current resources are unstandardized and scarce, lacking reference genomes for 95% of genera, 70% of families, and 51% of orders, impeding evolutionary and functional insight. We thus propose the PLAN e T initiative, an international effort to generate high-quality, standardized genomes across the plant tree of life. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with genomics, we will decode conserved principles to advance fundamental plant biology, biodiversity conservation, crop improvement, and natural product discovery. Engaging around 100 labs to train 1,000 scientists, we will tackle pivotal questions for a sustainable future.

KW - biodiversity conservation

KW - common heritage of humanity

KW - crop improvement

KW - embryophytes

KW - evolution

KW - genomics

KW - natural products

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105036525622

U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2026.01.026

M3 - 文章

C2 - 42066746

AN - SCOPUS:105036525622

SN - 0092-8674

VL - 189

SP - 2519

EP - 2532

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 9

ER -

PLANeT: Understanding and leveraging the genome of land plants for a sustainable future

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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