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Next-generation crop protection strategies must be clean and green as well as effective. Delivery of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a BioClay spray to control the sap-sucking pest whitefly is one such strategy. This tool disrupts multiple whitefly life cycle stages in planta, with adjuvant-enhanced foliar uptake complementing the clay-mediated delivery of dsRNA.
This Perspective analyses how biological and economic factors determine whether a commercial plant breeder will opt for a hybrid breeding system, and finds that the cost of seed production is a key factor.
Theory and single-cell experiments outline a new role for upstream open reading frames in buffering cellular heterogeneity in protein abundance at the translation level.
Xylan-rich nanodomains at pit borders of xylem vessels determine a pitted wall pattern by anchoring cellulosic nanofibrils at the pit edges and are crucial to support vessel robustness, water transport and leaf transpiration. These nanocompartments are mostly produced by the de novo xylan synthase IRREGULAR XYLEM (IRX)10 and its homologues.
Extensive genetics and genomics analyses reveal the co-transcriptional processing mode of primary substrates of microRNAs in Arabidopsis, and an unexpected promoting role of R-loops in the process.
Genome sequences and expression data for partly and wholly mycoheterotrophic orchids shed light on shifts in nuclear genes that may help drive dependence on fungi for carbon.
By sequencing and analyzing the genomes of the partially and fully mycoheterotrophic orchids Platanthera zijinensis and P. guangdongensis, respectively, we reveal not only the potential molecular basis underlying important mycoheterotrophic traits, but also nutrient supplement mechanisms in the early and later stage of mycoheterotrophic growth, illuminating the evolution of mycoheterotrophic plants.
The first complete cycad genome offers an invaluable solution to sex determination, one of the largest conservation challenges in these enigmatic plants.
Homogalacturonans are the most abundant pectin subtype in plant cell walls and also function as signalling molecules. Homogalacturonans thus connect the cell wall and plasma membrane to regulate plant growth and development.
Theory predicts duplicate genes will evolve new functions or be lost from genomes rather than maintain redundant functions. Kwon et al. show that redundant plant genes can be maintained if they actively compensate for perturbation of their partners at the shoot tip, but that this might not be an evolutionarily stable strategy to stave off degenerative mutations.
In plants, impairing transgenerational resetting of juvenility leads to premature flowering in the offspring. This robust reset process is mediated by de novo activation of MIR156/7-family genes at different developmental stages through distinct reprogramming routes.
Development of flowers typically employs conserved molecular pathways and recurrent sets of homologous genes. A new study shows that a homologue of RADIALIS, a gene well known to control flower symmetry, is recruited to serve a different function.
A recent study suggests that the optimal temperature for symbiotic nitrogen fixation rates exceeds the plant’s preferred growth temperature in laboratory conditions. A few degrees of warming could thereby increase or decrease nitrogen fixation rates, depending on the optimal rate among species.
Growth defects associated with disruption of the mildew susceptibility gene MLO are rescued in bread wheat and Arabidopsis by transcriptional activation of a proximal monosaccharide transporter
The difference in phloem pressure is the driving force that moves photosynthetic products and other solutes from the source to the sink. Measurements with emerging technologies reveal that sugar loading is not essential for maintaining phloem pressure and phloem bulk flow in the maize sugar-loading-defective mutant sut1.
Dual recognition specificity of an MLA immune receptor in barley demonstrates that the deployment of mildew-resistant cultivars by plant breeders has unintentionally affected nonhost resistance to wheat stripe rust.
