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Broomrape (Orobanche) is a parasitic plant that infects crops. Here, quantitative genetics and mapping in sunflower identify one resistance gene named HaOr7. It is a membrane receptor-like kinase that prevents attachment of the parasitic plant to the sunflower roots.
The authors studied the function of a PIN gene in a filamentous charophyte green alga (Klebsormidium flaccidum). They found that the plasma membrane auxin efflux function is an early trait that emerged before divergence between algae and land plants.
This study identifies the CLE peptides involved with the SUNN receptor in the autoregulation of the mycorrhizal symbiosis pathway during colonization of Medicago roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
In Brassicaceae, half of the flowers are formed on secondary inflorescences, independently of the absolute number of flowers. This rule is valid in several species and various Arabidopsis mutants.
Walking ants can slightly bend Venus flytrap sensory hairs and induce an action potential (AP) in vivo. The minimal deflection angle able to fire an AP and other properties of these trigger hairs are described and quantified.
In poplar, a quantitative genetic screen identifies a G-type lectin receptor-like kinase that mediates ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with Laccaria bicolor. Expression of the kinase in non-host Arabidopsis makes mycorrhizal colonization possible.
The mechanism of how trehalose 6-phosphate phosphatases (TPPs) regulate meristem fate remains unknown. Now, genetic and biochemical evidences support that this regulatory role is uncoupled from the enzymatic activity of TPPs.
In rice, a transcription factor named PREMATURE INTERNODE ELONGATION 1 (PINE1) represses internode elongation. During the vegetative phase, PINE1 reduces sensitivity to gibberellin and can uncouple floral transition from stem elongation.
Two sperm-specific DOMAIN OF UNKNOWN FUNCTION 679 membrane proteins are found to facilitate the gamete fusion events during double fertilization in angiosperms, with a greater impact on egg–sperm fusion than on sperm–central cell fusion.