On the afternoon of September 14, 2026, NCU School of Life Sciences convened the 14th and 15th sessions of its Elite Forum in Room A102A of the Fundamental Laboratory Building, Qianhu Campus. The event was hosted by Dr.Dong Wang, deputy dean of the School of Life Sciences. The forum featured distinguished lectures by Dr.Jinsong Wu and Dr.Lei Wang from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Jinsong Wu delivered the first report, titled "Can Plants Have the Best of Both Worlds? Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Trade-off between Plant Growth and Defense," examined the decoupling of plant disease resistance from growth regulation. Addressing the core scientific issue of the growth-defense trade-off, the presentation synthesized over a decade of research. It elucidated the dual regulatory role of NaERF_IDOG, a key downstream factor in jasmonic acid signaling that simultaneously activates disease resistance and inhibits growth. Additionally, it clarified how auxin regulates nicotine biosynthesis via NaARF5, demonstrating that precise editing of specific regulatory nodes can disrupt the inherent balance between growth and defense, thereby offering novel theoretical frameworks for crop resistance breeding.

Dr. Lei Wang’s lecture titled "Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Synergistic Regulation of Plant Thigmomorphogenesis by Jasmonic Acid, Ethylene, and Gibberellins," introduced thigmomorphogenesis as an adaptive response to mechanical stimuli, highlighting the importance of multi-hormonal synergistic regulation in understanding plant environmental adaptation. Dr. Wang detailed her team’s systematic findings on three aspects: jasmonic acid signaling functions, ethylene-gibberellin interactions, and the molecular pathways governing thigmomorphogenesis, all framed around the central question of multi-hormonal signal crosstalk and developmental regulation.

Collectively, these reports illustrated complex regulatory mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to external environments through the lenses of the growth-defense trade-off and mechanical stimulus responses. The strategy of decoupling growth from defense offers new directions for balancing crop productivity and resistance. During the subsequent discussion, faculty and students engaged in in-depth exchanges regarding experimental design, pathway validation, and field application prospects, reflecting a vibrant academic atmosphere characterized by active scholarly engagement.