Introduction – Company Background

GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. is a specialized manufacturer dedicated to the development and production of high-quality insoles.

With a strong foundation in material science and footwear ergonomics, we serve as a trusted partner for global brands seeking reliable insole solutions that combine comfort, functionality, and design.

With years of experience in insole production and OEM/ODM services, GuangXin has successfully supported a wide range of clients across various industries—including sportswear, health & wellness, orthopedic care, and daily footwear.

From initial prototyping to mass production, we provide comprehensive support tailored to each client’s market and application needs.

At GuangXin, we are committed to quality, innovation, and sustainable development. Every insole we produce reflects our dedication to precision craftsmanship, forward-thinking design, and ESG-driven practices.

By integrating eco-friendly materials, clean production processes, and responsible sourcing, we help our partners meet both market demand and environmental goals.

Core Strengths in Insole Manufacturing

At GuangXin Industrial, our core strength lies in our deep expertise and versatility in insole and pillow manufacturing. We specialize in working with a wide range of materials, including PU (polyurethane), natural latex, and advanced graphene composites, to develop insoles and pillows that meet diverse performance, comfort, and health-support needs.

Whether it's cushioning, support, breathability, or antibacterial function, we tailor material selection to the exact requirements of each project-whether for foot wellness or ergonomic sleep products.

We provide end-to-end manufacturing capabilities under one roof—covering every stage from material sourcing and foaming, to precision molding, lamination, cutting, sewing, and strict quality control. This full-process control not only ensures product consistency and durability, but also allows for faster lead times and better customization flexibility.

With our flexible production capacity, we accommodate both small batch custom orders and high-volume mass production with equal efficiency. Whether you're a startup launching your first insole or pillow line, or a global brand scaling up to meet market demand, GuangXin is equipped to deliver reliable OEM/ODM solutions that grow with your business.

Customization & OEM/ODM Flexibility

GuangXin offers exceptional flexibility in customization and OEM/ODM services, empowering our partners to create insole products that truly align with their brand identity and target market. We develop insoles tailored to specific foot shapes, end-user needs, and regional market preferences, ensuring optimal fit and functionality.

Our team supports comprehensive branding solutions, including logo printing, custom packaging, and product integration support for marketing campaigns. Whether you're launching a new product line or upgrading an existing one, we help your vision come to life with attention to detail and consistent brand presentation.

With fast prototyping services and efficient lead times, GuangXin helps reduce your time-to-market and respond quickly to evolving trends or seasonal demands. From concept to final production, we offer agile support that keeps you ahead of the competition.

Quality Assurance & Certifications

Quality is at the heart of everything we do. GuangXin implements a rigorous quality control system at every stage of production—ensuring that each insole meets the highest standards of consistency, comfort, and durability.

We provide a variety of in-house and third-party testing options, including antibacterial performance, odor control, durability testing, and eco-safety verification, to meet the specific needs of our clients and markets.

Our products are fully compliant with international safety and environmental standards, such as REACH, RoHS, and other applicable export regulations. This ensures seamless entry into global markets while supporting your ESG and product safety commitments.

ESG-Oriented Sustainable Production

At GuangXin Industrial, we are committed to integrating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) values into every step of our manufacturing process. We actively pursue eco-conscious practices by utilizing eco-friendly materials and adopting low-carbon production methods to reduce environmental impact.

To support circular economy goals, we offer recycled and upcycled material options, including innovative applications such as recycled glass and repurposed LCD panel glass. These materials are processed using advanced techniques to retain performance while reducing waste—contributing to a more sustainable supply chain.

We also work closely with our partners to support their ESG compliance and sustainability reporting needs, providing documentation, traceability, and material data upon request. Whether you're aiming to meet corporate sustainability targets or align with global green regulations, GuangXin is your trusted manufacturing ally in building a better, greener future.

Let’s Build Your Next Insole Success Together

Looking for a reliable insole manufacturing partner that understands customization, quality, and flexibility? GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. specializes in high-performance insole production, offering tailored solutions for brands across the globe. Whether you're launching a new insole collection or expanding your existing product line, we provide OEM/ODM services built around your unique design and performance goals.

From small-batch custom orders to full-scale mass production, our flexible insole manufacturing capabilities adapt to your business needs. With expertise in PU, latex, and graphene insole materials, we turn ideas into functional, comfortable, and market-ready insoles that deliver value.

Contact us today to discuss your next insole project. Let GuangXin help you create custom insoles that stand out, perform better, and reflect your brand’s commitment to comfort, quality, and sustainability.

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Thailand foot care insole ODM expert

Are you looking for a trusted and experienced manufacturing partner that can bring your comfort-focused product ideas to life? GuangXin Industrial Co., Ltd. is your ideal OEM/ODM supplier, specializing in insole production, pillow manufacturing, and advanced graphene product design.

With decades of experience in insole OEM/ODM, we provide full-service manufacturing—from PU and latex to cutting-edge graphene-infused insoles—customized to meet your performance, support, and breathability requirements. Our production process is vertically integrated, covering everything from material sourcing and foaming to molding, cutting, and strict quality control.Taiwan neck support pillow OEM factory

Beyond insoles, GuangXin also offers pillow OEM/ODM services with a focus on ergonomic comfort and functional innovation. Whether you need memory foam, latex, or smart material integration for neck and sleep support, we deliver tailor-made solutions that reflect your brand’s values.

We are especially proud to lead the way in ESG-driven insole development. Through the use of recycled materials—such as repurposed LCD glass—and low-carbon production processes, we help our partners meet sustainability goals without compromising product quality. Our ESG insole solutions are designed not only for comfort but also for compliance with global environmental standards.Breathable insole ODM development Thailand

At GuangXin, we don’t just manufacture products—we create long-term value for your brand. Whether you're developing your first product line or scaling up globally, our flexible production capabilities and collaborative approach will help you go further, faster.PU insole OEM production in Thailand

📩 Contact us today to learn how our insole OEM, pillow ODM, and graphene product design services can elevate your product offering—while aligning with the sustainability expectations of modern consumers.Thailand graphene product OEM service

In a comprehensive study published in Nature Genetics, researchers identified over 100 new genomic loci that influence blood pressure, using data from more than a million participants. The findings, which also relate to iron metabolism and adrenergic receptors, could lead to novel treatments for hypertension. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Over 100 new genomic regions linked to blood pressure were discovered, offering insights into iron metabolism and potential new drug targets for treating hypertension. NIH-led study finds genetic markers that explain up to 12% of the differences between two people’s blood pressure. National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers and collaborators have discovered over 100 new regions of the human genome, also known as genomic loci, that appear to influence a person’s blood pressure. Results of the study also point to several specific genomic loci that may be relevant to iron metabolism and a type of cellular receptor known as adrenergic receptors. The study, published recently in the journal  Nature Genetics, is one of the largest such genomic studies of blood pressure to date, including data from over 1 million participants and laying the groundwork for researchers to better understand how blood pressure is regulated. Such insights could point to potential new drug targets. NIH-led study finds genetic markers that explain up to 12% of the differences between two people’s blood pressure. Credit: Darryl Leja, National Human Genome Research Institute “Our study helps explain a much larger proportion of the differences between two people’s blood pressure than was previously known,” said Jacob Keaton, Ph.D., staff scientist in the Precision Health Informatics Section within the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) Intramural Research Program and first author of the study. “Our study found additional genomic locations that together explain a much larger part of the genetic differences in people’s blood pressure. Knowing a person’s risk for developing hypertension could lead to tailored treatments, which are more likely to be effective.” To understand the genetics of blood pressure, the researchers combined four large datasets from genome-wide association studies of blood pressure and hypertension. After analyzing the data, they found over 2,000 genomic loci linked to blood pressure, including 113 new regions. Among the newly discovered genomic loci, several reside in genes that play a role in iron metabolism, confirming previous reports that high levels of accumulated iron can contribute to cardiovascular disease. Potential for New Blood Pressure Treatments The researchers also confirmed the association between variants in the ADRA1A gene and blood pressure. ADRA1A encodes a type of cell receptor, called an adrenergic receptor, that is currently a target for blood pressure medication, suggesting that other genomic variants discovered in the study may also have the potential to be drug targets to alter blood pressure. “This study shows that these big genome-wide association studies have clinical relevance for finding new drug targets and are needed to discover more drug targets as we go forward,” said Dr. Keaton. From these analyses, the researchers were able to calculate a polygenic risk score, which combines the effects of all genomic variants together to predict blood pressure and risk for hypertension. These risk scores consider which genomic variants confer risk for hypertension and reveal clinically meaningful differences between people’s blood pressure. Polygenic risk scores have potential to serve as a useful tool in precision medicine, but more diverse genomic data is needed for them to be applicable broadly in routine health care. While the collected data was mostly from people of European ancestry (due to limited availability of diverse datasets when the study was started), the researchers found that the polygenic risk scores were also applicable to people of African ancestry, which was confirmed through analyzing data from NIH’s All of Us Research Program, a nationwide effort to build one of the largest biomedical data resources and accelerate research to improve human health. The Prevalence and Risks of Hypertension Nearly half of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, known as hypertension. High blood pressure often runs in families, meaning that there is a genetic component to developing the condition in addition to environmental contributions such as a high-salt diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and stress. When blood pressure is consistently too high, it can damage the heart and blood vessels throughout the body, increasing a person’s risk for heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and other conditions. For more on this research, see 2,000 Genetic Signals Linked to Blood Pressure Discovered in Study of Over a Million People. Reference: “Genome-wide analysis in over 1 million individuals of European ancestry yields improved polygenic risk scores for blood pressure traits” by Jacob M. Keaton, Zoha Kamali, Tian Xie, Ahmad Vaez, Ariel Williams, Slavina B. Goleva, Alireza Ani, Evangelos Evangelou, Jacklyn N. Hellwege, Loic Yengo, William J. Young, Matthew Traylor, Ayush Giri, Zhili Zheng, Jian Zeng, Daniel I. Chasman, Andrew P. Morris, Mark J. Caulfield, Shih-Jen Hwang, Jaspal S. Kooner, David Conen, John R. Attia, Alanna C. Morrison, Ruth J. F. Loos, Kati Kristiansson, Reinhold Schmidt, Andrew A. Hicks, Peter P. Pramstaller, Christopher P. Nelson, Nilesh J. Samani, Lorenz Risch, Ulf Gyllensten, Olle Melander, Harriette Riese, James F. Wilson, Harry Campbell, Stephen S. Rich, Bruce M. Psaty, Yingchang Lu, Jerome I. Rotter, Xiuqing Guo, Kenneth M. Rice, Peter Vollenweider, Johan Sundström, Claudia Langenberg, Martin D. Tobin, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Jian’an Luan, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Zoltan Kutalik, Samuli Ripatti, Veikko Salomaa, Giorgia Girotto, Stella Trompet, J. Wouter Jukema, Pim van der Harst, Paul M. Ridker, Franco Giulianini, Veronique Vitart, Anuj Goel, Hugh Watkins, Sarah E. Harris, Ian J. Deary, Peter J. van der Most, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, Bernard D. Keavney, Caroline Hayward, Archie Campbell, Michael Boehnke, Laura J. Scott, Thibaud Boutin, Chrysovalanto Mamasoula, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Annette Peters, Christian Gieger, Edward G. Lakatta, Francesco Cucca, Jennie Hui, Paul Knekt, Stefan Enroth, Martin H. De Borst, Ozren Polašek, Maria Pina Concas, Eulalia Catamo, Massimiliano Cocca, Ruifang Li-Gao, Edith Hofer, Helena Schmidt, Beatrice Spedicati, Melanie Waldenberger, David P. Strachan, Maris Laan, Alexander Teumer, Marcus Dörr, Vilmundur Gudnason, James P. Cook, Daniela Ruggiero, Ivana Kolcic, Eric Boerwinkle, Michela Traglia, Terho Lehtimäki, Olli T. Raitakari, Andrew D. Johnson, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Morris J. Brown, Anna F. Dominiczak, Peter J. Sever, Neil Poulter, John C. Chambers, Roberto Elosua, David Siscovick, Tõnu Esko, Andres Metspalu, Rona J. Strawbridge, Markku Laakso, Anders Hamsten, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Eco de Geus, Andrew D. Morris, Colin N. A. Palmer, Ilja M. Nolte, Yuri Milaneschi, Jonathan Marten, Alan Wright, Eleftheria Zeggini, Joanna M. M. Howson, Christopher J. O’Donnell, Tim Spector, Mike A. Nalls, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Yongmei Liu, Cornelia M. van Duijn, Adam S. Butterworth, John N. Danesh, Cristina Menni, Nicholas J. Wareham, Kay-Tee Khaw, Yan V. Sun, Peter W. F. Wilson, Kelly Cho, Peter M. Visscher, Joshua C. Denny, Million Veteran Program, Lifelines Cohort Study, CHARGE consortium, ICBP Consortium, Daniel Levy, Todd L. Edwards, Patricia B. Munroe, Harold Snieder and Helen R. Warren, 30 April 2024, Nature Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01714-w The project was led by researchers at NHGRI in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and other institutions, as part of the International Consortium of Blood Pressure. Over 140 investigators from more than 100 universities, institutes and government agencies contributed to this international study.

Sound recordings show blue whales communicate during foraging and adjust migration based on food abundance, highlighting their adaptability to environmental changes. The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest animal to ever inhabit our planet. Despite its gargantuan size, many aspects of its biology, behavior, and ecology still elude us. This magnificent mammal spends most of its time below the ocean’s surface, out of sight from scientists seeking to unlock its mysteries. But even when we cannot observe blue whales by sight, we can hear their powerful vocalizations that travel hundreds of kilometers. Using sound recordings from the heart of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, MBARI researchers and their collaborators have discovered new dimensions of blue whales’ lives. We have learned how blue whales cooperate to forage and how they tune into the productivity of their ecosystem to decide when to embark on their annual long-distance migration for breeding. The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, yet we still have many unanswered questions about its biology and ecology. New research leverages audio recorded by an underwater microphone on MBARI’s cabled observatory to better understand the behavior of these behemoths. Credit: © NOAA An underwater microphone (hydrophone) on MBARI’s cabled observatory has been a valuable tool for studying whales that gather seasonally in the fertile waters of Monterey Bay. The microphone records the calls of whales—acoustic data that offer insight into the animals’ behavior. “Because whales and other marine mammals use sound in the essential life activities of communicating, foraging, navigating, socializing, and reproducing, there is a wealth of expressed consciousness in the ocean soundscape. We aim to tap that wealth to better understand and protect ocean life,” said John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at MBARI. Previous research by Ryan and collaborators at Stanford University—including incoming MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow William Oestreich—coupled the hydrophone’s extensive archive of acoustic data with field studies to better understand blue whale behavior. When blue whales dive out of sight beneath the ocean’s surface, scientists turn to the whales’ booming vocalizations to study their behavior. Credit: William Oestreich (NMFS Permit #16111) “Our past research efforts with collaborators from around Monterey Bay opened the door to understanding the behavioral context of patterns in the acoustic data collected on blue whales with MBARI’s hydrophone. This context has set the stage for a series of studies which leverage the incredible long-term view on behavior that this acoustic record provides,” said Oestreich. Now MBARI’s acoustic data have contributed to two new research studies about blue whales led by graduate students at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. A study[1] by David Cade, published in Animal Behaviour in December, examined feeding aggregations of blue whales in Monterey Bay. Cade was recently a postdoctoral researcher in Ari Friedlaender’s Bio-Telemetry and Behavioral Ecology Lab at University of California, Santa Cruz, and is now a postdoctoral researcher in Jeremy Goldbogen’s lab at Hopkins Marine Station. Leveraging biologging tags, acoustic prey mapping, hydrophone recordings of social cues, and remote sensing of ocean currents, the research team, including Oestreich and Ryan, investigated the ecosystem dynamics underlying unusually dense aggregations of blue whales—up to 40 of the giants within a one-kilometer radius area. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans that are the primary food source of blue whales. Dense aggregations of krill occur seasonally in Monterey Bay, sustaining populations of many marine animals. Credit: © 2003 MBARI “We are only just beginning to study the role of these giant, but ephemeral, krill patches that can feed a super-group of blue whales. These ‘hotspots’ likely play a critical role overall in a blue whale’s ability to find enough food before it swims south for the winter. The MBARI hydrophone is giving us new insights into not only blue whale behavior, but what that behavior can tell us about the prey conditions in Monterey Bay that are critical for the entire ecosystem,” said Cade. The combination of oceanographic conditions and seafloor terrain (bathymetry) concentrated large numbers of shrimp-like crustaceans called krill, which are the primary food of blue whales. The immense size of the krill swarms allowed these “supergroups” of blue whales to forage together without exhausting the food supply. Social Foraging Strategies of Blue Whales Ryan and Oestreich were studying all types of blue whale vocalizations, including one that is associated with foraging. “In the hours immediately preceding these remarkable aggregations of foraging blue whales, MBARI’s hydrophone recorded anomalously dense clusters of a specific blue whale call type. This exciting finding raised a number of questions and hypotheses concerning the role that these vocalizations play in blue whales’ foraging and sharing of information,” recalled Oestreich. By studying vocalizations from “supergroups” of blue whales while they feasted on krill in Monterey Bay, researchers observed that rather than keeping quiet about finding an abundance of food, individual whales called to others to share in the feast. Credit: © Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing (NMFS Permit #16111) The hydrophone recordings revealed that, counterintuitively, the whales exhibited a social foraging strategy. The research team observed that rather than competing for food, blue whales called to other whales to signal food was present. The blues’ bellows invited others to join the feast. Modeling of social interactions indicated that using social information from other whales reduced the time required for individual whales to discover and exploit the dense patches of food that they need to survive. The whales’ foraging became more efficient, without any apparent costs to the caller who first found the patch of food. Migration Patterns Revealed by Whale Songs A second study,[2] led by Oestreich and published this month in Functional Ecology, also utilized MBARI’s acoustic archive to gain new insight into blue whale behavior. In 2020, Oestreich and a team of researchers from MBARI and Stanford University documented distinct seasonal changes in blue whale vocalizations that reveal when these gentle giants begin their annual migration. During summer and early fall, blue whales sing more during the night. Later in the fall and into winter, the whales begin singing more during the day. This change coincides with the time of year when the whales reduce feeding and begin their annual southward migration. Data from biologging tags confirmed that the acoustic signature detected by the hydrophone reflected changes in the whales’ behavior. Excerpt from a blue whale song recorded in Monterey Bay, California. To make the low-frequency sound more audible, playback speed is 10x original. This spectrogram illustrates the “A,” “B,” and “C” calls of blue whales, paired with audio of these same calls played back at ten times their original speed to make them easier to hear. This audio was recorded from MBARI’s hydrophone located in the heart of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The day/night pattern of “B calls” can be used as an indicator of whether the whales are feeding or migrating. Credit: © 2020 MBARI Now, Oestreich and his collaborators have used MBARI hydrophone data to understand how blue whales change the timing of their migration back to breeding areas from year to year. We have long known that whales time their migratory movements with natural cycles in their marine habitat, especially seasonal changes in productivity. But how populations adjust the timing of their migrations in response to year-to-year environmental variability remained unclear. The data, collected from summer 2015 through spring 2021, recorded the bellowing vocalizations of blue whales in the Monterey Bay region. Sound signaled when whales stopped foraging on the local abundance of krill to begin their southward breeding migration. To the team’s surprise, the start of the whales’ migration could vary up to four months from year to year. Considering that the blue whale breeding season itself spans only approximately four months, this large variation in the timing of migration was initially puzzling. Here, data about ecosystem changes from year to year offered important clues. Migration timing closely followed conditions within the whales’ foraging habitat. Specifically, blue whales lingered longer off central California when the ecosystem provided more opportunity for them to build energy stores. A later transition from foraging to migration occured in years with an earlier onset, later peak, and greater accumulation of biological productivity. A blue whale surfaces between foraging dives in Monterey Bay, California. Credit: William Oestreich (NMFS Permit #16111) These findings suggest that in years of the highest and most persistent biological productivity, blue whales wait to begin their southward migration. Researchers believe the whales do not simply depart toward their southern breeding grounds as soon as sufficient energy reserves are accumulated. Rather, the whales delay their migration when food is plentiful to maximize their energy intake on their foraging grounds. “We previously showed that blue whales use long-term memory to time their arrival on foraging grounds based on when they expect food to be available because they don’t have advance information about what foraging conditions will be like when they arrive. Yet when making the decision of when to depart foraging grounds, they have much more immediate information to rely on to determine whether it’s best to stay or leave. This allows these whales to be incredibly flexible in when they initiate their southward migration to return to breeding areas,” explained Briana Abrahms, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington and a coauthor on the study on migration timing. “It’s really exciting to learn so much more about how and when these animals decide to make such massive movements in the ocean.” Adapting to Global Change The use of flexible cues—likely including foraging conditions and long-distance acoustic signals—in timing a major life history transition may be key to the persistence of this endangered population as it navigates an ecosystem that experiences large natural and anthropogenic changes. “This research indicates that blue whales are more flexible in their foraging and migratory behavior than previously realized. Such flexibility is critical for adaptation to an era of rapid global change—whether this behavioral flexibility allows blue whales to adapt to long-term changes in their foraging habitat remains to be seen,” said Oestreich. Open access to scientific data is a fundamental value for MBARI and part of the institute’s mission. As part of MBARI’s commitment to open collaboration, the original audio recordings for the entire study period are available through the Pacific Ocean Sound Recordings project via the Registry of Open Data on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. “Scientific discovery and progress require transparency, reproducibility, and extensibility. Toward fulfilling these requirements, we share all of our audio recordings—150 terabytes and growing—together with an analysis toolbox,” said Ryan. “Our most recent confirmation of the value of open data occurred last week, when a tenth grader from Canada contacted me to show me how he had extended research from one of our published studies.” MBARI also streams live underwater audio to the Soundscape Listening Room to share the wonder and excitement of the ocean soundscape with the public. The live soundscape can be full of ocean “voices”—from the complex song compositions of humpback whales to the chatter of dolphin pods. The listening room also includes archived sounds for listening when the live stream is quiet. MBARI technology has proven invaluable to researchers studying the behavior of endangered blue whales. MBARI will expand these efforts in 2022 with the new Blue Whale Observatory. This new project—led by Oestreich and Ryan with marine ecologist Kelly Benoit-Bird and researcher Chad Waluk—will examine blue whale ecology in depth by integrating interdisciplinary sensing of the whales, krill, and their ecosystem. The observatory will leverage an array of technologies to bring together the pieces of a complex, important, and beautiful puzzle. References: “Social exploitation of extensive, ephemeral, environmentally controlled prey patches by supergroups of rorqual whales” by David E. Cade, James A. Fahlbusch, William K. Oestreich, John Ryan, John Calambokidis, Ken P. Findlay, Ari S. Friedlaender, Elliott L. Hazen, S. Mduduzi Seakamela and Jeremy A. Goldbogen, 19 November 2021, Animal Behaviour. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.09.013 “Acoustic signature reveals blue whales tune life-history transitions to oceanographic conditions” by William K. Oestreich, Briana Abrahms, Megan F. McKenna, Jeremy A. Goldbogen, Larry B. Crowder and John P. Ryan, 3 February 2022, Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14013

UC San Diego and Stanford scientists studied maize (corn) plant roots and their metabolites—molecules involved in the plant’s energy production—under different settings, including a control condition (left) and treated with aconitate (center) and succinate (right). Credit: Dickinson Lab, UC San Diego Researchers have leveraged high-tech imaging originally designed for cancer research to gain fresh insights into the vital chemicals at work within plant roots. This groundbreaking research has led to the development of a chemical “roadmap” that holds significant implications for agricultural productivity, food creation, and climate resilience. When casually strolling through a park on a sunny spring day, it’s easy to overlook the unseen complexities beneath the ground. Plant biologists, however, understand that the vast, meticulously structured root systems that exist underground are fundamental to the life and growth of plants. For instance, the intricate root networks of trees can stretch out underground just as extensively as the trees themselves reach skyward. The research team, led by UC San Diego Biological Sciences Postdoctoral Scholar Tao Zhang and Assistant Professor Alexandra Dickinson, used an advanced imaging technology to investigate the roots of maize plants. They developed a “chemical roadmap” detailing the distribution of critical small molecules along the plant’s stem cells and their impact on the plant’s development. The study’s insights, published in the journal Nature Communications, could provide key insights into how these essential root chemicals affect plant growth. “This chemical roadmap provides a resource that scientists can use to find new ways of regulating plant growth,” said Dickinson, a faculty member in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. “Having more information about how roots grow could be useful in conservation as we think about protecting our plants in natural environments and making them more sustainable, especially in agriculture.” Researchers used an advanced imaging technology to develop a new understanding of essential root chemicals that are responsible for plant growth. Credit: Dickinson Lab, UC San Diego While working as a visiting scientist at Stanford University, Dickinson began collaborating with study co-first author Sarah Noll and Professor Richard Zare, who developed a mass spectrometry imaging system that helps surgeons distinguish between cancerous and benign tissue during tumor-removal operations. Dickinson, Zare, and Noll adapted the technology—called “desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging” or DESI-MSI—to probe plant roots for the chemicals involved in growth and energy production. They initially focused on maize plants at the root tips, where stem cells play an active role in the plant’s development. Their method involved cutting through the center of the root to get a clear image of the chemicals inside. “To help understand plant roots from the biology side, we needed to find out which chemicals are there,” said Zare. “Our imaging system sprays out droplets that strike different portions of the root and dissolve chemicals at that location. A mass spectrometer collects the droplet splash and tells us what those dissolved chemicals are. By systematically scanning the droplet target spot we make a spatial map of the root chemicals.” Clustered TCA Metabolites and Development The resulting images, believed to be some of the first to reveal the transition between stem cells and mature root tissue, show the foundational role of metabolites—molecules involved in the plant’s energy production. Tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites became the focus of the research since they were found to be a key player in controlling root development. Coming into the study, the researchers expected a relatively uniform distribution of chemicals. Instead, with their chemical roadmap in hand, they found that TCA metabolites are clustered in patches across the root. “I was surprised by how many chemicals are featured in really distinct patterns,” said Dickinson. “We can see that the plant is doing this on purpose—it needs these molecules in specific regions to grow properly.” The Dickinson lab showed that these TCA metabolites have predictable effects in development, not only in maize, but in another plant species as well (Arabidopsis). This is likely because TCA metabolites are highly conserved—they are made in all plants as well as animals. Unveiling Mystery Compounds for Stress Resistance Also emerging from the new images were previously unidentified chemical compounds. Dickinson says the mystery compounds could be critical for plant growth since they also are grouped in patterns at specific locations, suggesting a prominent role in development. Dickinson and her colleagues are now investigating these compounds and comparing varieties of maize that have different levels of stress resistance to adverse threats such as severe climate conditions and drought. The new information will help them develop novel chemical and genetic strategies for improving plant growth and stress resilience. “We’re looking at different maize plants that have drought resistance to see if we’ve already found chemicals that are specific to that variety that we haven’t seen in other varieties,” said Dickinson. “We think that could be a way to find new compounds that can promote growth, especially in harsh conditions.” Reference: “Chemical imaging reveals diverse functions of tricarboxylic acid metabolites in root growth and development” by Tao Zhang, Sarah E. Noll, Jesus T. Peng, Amman Klair, Abigail Tripka, Nathan Stutzman, Casey Cheng, Richard N. Zare, and Alexandra J. Dickinson, 4 May 2023, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38150-z The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Hellman Foundation, the William E. McElroy Charitable Foundation, the Revelle Provost Summer Research Scholarship, and the Genentech Scholars Program.

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