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Analysis of genomic and phenotypic data in Helianthus species demonstrates that large chromosomal regions contribute to multiple traits associated with distinct ecotypes.
Exudates released from plant roots can recruit beneficial microorganisms that boost plant growth and immunity. In Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato, active DNA demethylation regulates the production of myo-inositol, a root exudate which recruits a specific plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium.
Identifying protein components of the nuclear envelope is a slow and challenging process. Now a proximity labelling technique adapted for plants reveals novel protein components in this under-researched membrane.
A negative-strand RNA virus is engineered to express both CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) and single-guide RNAs, enabling gene editing as the virus infects the plant.
This Review presents recent advances in our understanding of calcium signalling mechanisms, and how calcium channels work together to encode stimulus-specific calcium patterns, to finally elicit changes in cellular responses.
One consequence of climate change is an increased frequency of flood and drought episodes. This Perspective explores how water availability regulates root architecture and water transport capacity (hydraulics), from sensing mechanisms to novel responses.
A geographically diverse group of 29 ethnobiologists addresses three common themes in response to the COVID-19 global health crisis: impact on local communities, future interactions between researchers and communities, and new (or renewed) conceptual and/or applied research priorities for ethnobiology.
The diel cycle controls the rhythmic changes in photosynthesis. Now, magnesium levels in the chloroplast are shown to follow a diurnal rhythmic change, and a transporter appears to facilitate such a fluctuation, thereby fine-tuning plant photosynthesis on a diel basis.
The critical epigenetic features that characterize remethylable and non-remethylable loci in Arabidopsis determine the capacity of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM)-targeted genomic regions to form stable epialleles.
Plant elicitor peptides (Peps) enhance immunity against diverse pathogens. Engineering a naturally occurring rhizobacterium to deliver Peps to the plant root system offers a new opportunity in integrated pest management.
This Perspective summarizes recent advances made on in planta haploid induction systems and how these advances contribute to our understanding of plant reproduction and innovations of plant breeding.
Plants need to respond swiftly against attacks, but when pathogen pressure is weak, defence genes must be repressed as they impede development and growth. Three RNA helicases are now found to control decapping-dependant mRNA decay and negatively regulate plant immunity.
The need for increased crop yields has led to growing interest and research in agricultural intensification, which has a myriad of environmental impacts. Intercropping can bring the benefits of intensification within a reasonable footprint.
Seed germination is tightly regulated so that it only occurs in optimal environmental conditions; for root parasitic plants, this is the presence of a potential host plant revealed by strigolactone exudates. New research shows that, unexpectedly, this response to strigolactone bypasses the core gibberellin-dependent pathway for germination.
Genetic redundancy is a problem when studying auxin in flowering plants. The minimal auxin response system in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha allows a detailed and thorough probing of the specificity of auxin response factors in planta.
Leaf development follows a common principle but is also flexibly tuned in different species in a spatiotemporal manner. A novel regulatory mechanism controlling leaflet formation has been identified in Medicago.
Integrating natural selection and other organizing principles into next-generation vegetation models could render them more theoretically sound and useful for earth system applications and modelling climate impacts.
Maintenance of active photosystem II requires rapid turnover of the D1 protein, which is encoded in the chloroplast genome. Nuclear expression of D1 is now used to improve photosynthesis and crop yield under normal and heat-stress conditions.
