Brief Communications

NARROW LEAF1 (NAL1) exerts a multifaceted influence on rice leaf morphology and yield. Recent crystal study proposed that histidine 233 (H233) is part of the catalytic triad. Here we report that H234 instead of H233 is a component of the catalytic triad alongside D291 and S385.

An efficient method of cyto-swapping by haploid induction using a CENH3 mutation is reported in maize, to convert commercial germplasm to cytoplasmic male sterility for hybrid seed production.

Huang et al. develop a potent genome editing toolkit to generate transgene-free genome-edited plants in the T0 generation by co-editing of ALS gene (without obvious fitness costs) and gene(s) of interest via Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression.

This study introduces a new multiplexed fluorescence in situ hybridization method, PHYTOMap, that enables single-cell and spatial analysis of gene expression in whole-mount plant tissue in a transgene-free manner and at low cost.

Strigolactone (SL) regulates plant development. Structural analysis shows that when SL binds its receptor ShHTL5, conformational changes occur including the creation of internal tunnels that posit an explanation for how SL by-products exit the receptor after signalling.

In plants, mechanically triggered signalling cascades involve intracellular calcium waves. The kinetics of waves induced by the application and release of force to a cell are distinct, suggesting that plants distinguish touch from letting go.

Callixylon wood from the Late Devonian (approximately 360 Myr ago) is found to contain tyloses, swellings of parenchyma cells into adjacent water-conducting cells that develop in response to embolism and pathogen infection.

The integration of single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics is used to profile dynamic changes during soybean nodule maturation. The approach identifies a rare cell type that specifically expresses numerous genes required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

This study identifies two genes that are important for protecting wheat against blast fungus, a pathogen that also infects related grasses. This work helps identify potential strategies for breeding wheat with improved resistance to this damaging fungus.

On the basis of 38,994 records of giant trees belonging to 237 species across Japan, this study shows that macroecological processes such as climate may drive spiritual ecosystem services obtained from giant trees.

The lack of haploid male fertility is a bottleneck to improve the efficiency in doubled haploid technology for accelerating crop breeding. This study shows that mutations in the parallel spindle genes are sufficient to restore haploid male fertility in Arabidopsis.

Endogenous formation of nitroxyl has been discovered by real-time detection in plant cells. Evidence shows that nitroxyl has a specific accumulation pattern different from nitric oxide in response to senescence- and hypoxia-induced redox shifts.

Species databases are critical tools for biologists and conservationists around the world, but a number of problems, including lack of common standards, are causing issues that even include the miscategorization of species as extinct when they are not.

Extant asterids comprise over 80,000 species of flowering plants. A fossil fruit from western North America shows that the lamiid clade of asterids diverged over 80 million years ago.

Comparative genomic analysis of 350 plant species reveals that cell-surface and intracellular immune receptor gene families co-expand or co-contract. This suggests an evolutionary relationship between the two branches of the plant immune system.

Vitamin D insufficiency is a major public health problem requiring dietary fortification and supplement solutions. This study produced gene-edited tomato lines that accumulate provitamin D₃ in fruits, offering a new dietary source of vitamin D₃.

This analysis looks at water use efficiency within and across multiple regions with different plant functional types, and finds that water use efficiency values tend to converge for some types despite distinct geographic and climatic zones.

An examination of the potential use of fruit and wood from olive trees on the coast of Morocco approximately 100,000 years ago.

By quantifying over 100 Cannabis samples for terpene and cannabinoid content and genotyping them for over 100,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms, this study finds that Cannabis labelling is associated with genetic variants in terpene synthase genes.

Field photographs are essential for research and conservation, but are difficult to access since there is no central database or connection between archives. The 25 leading databases hold only 53% of the plant species of the Americas, illustrating the need for increased work on collecting and standardizing this valuable data.