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The critical importance of accurate chemical notation for the superoxide radical (O •−2 ) in the plant literature

Nature Plants volume 12, pages 2–4 (2026)Cite this article

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The superoxide radical anion is a fundamental reactive oxygen species, with important functions in plant growth, development and stress responses. A search for ‘superoxide anion’ and ‘plant’ in PubMed retrieved 3,327 publications since the year 2000, with 87 of these publications in 2025 through June. Unfortunately, despite the biological ubiquity of the superoxide anion, inconsistent and chemically inaccurate notation widely persists in the plant biological literature. This Comment clarifies the correct notation for the superoxide anion (O •−2 ), highlights widespread errors and urges standardization to prevent scientific ambiguity.

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Fig. 1: The metabolism and functions of the superoxide anion in plants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (#32322010, #32570340) and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (252300421075).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, China

    Wen-Cheng Liu

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Neurobiology Research Programme, Life Sciences Institute, Centre for Life Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Barry Halliwell

  3. School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Christine Helen Foyer

Authors
  1. Wen-Cheng Liu
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  2. Barry Halliwell
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  3. Christine Helen Foyer
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Contributions

C.-H.F. and W.-C.L. initiated the project, analysed data and led the writing. B.H. contributed to writing, reviewing and editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine Helen Foyer.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Liu, WC., Halliwell, B. & Foyer, C.H. The critical importance of accurate chemical notation for the superoxide radical (O •−2 ) in the plant literature. Nat. Plants 12, 2–4 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02173-9

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