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Engineering over 60 promoter alleles in two tomato fruit size genes showed the complex interactions among cis-regulatory variants in shaping quantitative trait variation. Dissection of this complexity can guide predictable engineering of crop traits.
ABCG56, a cytokinin transporter, plays a role in the establishment of nodulation and nitrogen-fixing symbiosis in the model legume Medicago truncatula.
The perception of immune elicitors induces fast and massive transcriptional reprogramming. A comprehensive analysis of the response to seven molecules uncovers a core danger response and highlights the role of a family of calcium-permeable channels in immunity.
Systemic nitrogen signalling controls root nitrogen acquisition. The regulatory pathways involve the CEP–CEPD network and the high-affinity nitrate transporter NRT2.1. In this study, the authors identified CEPH, a type 2C protein phosphatase, acting downstream of the CEPD/CEPDLs to regulate the activity of NRT2.1 and nitrate uptake in Arabidopsis.
Codon usage bias of transposons (TEs) causes ribosome stalling, inducing truncated RNAs that are guided to siRNA bodies for epigenetically activated small interfering RNA (easiRNA) biogenesis. This process selectively targets TEs to the easiRNA biogenesis pathway for silencing and involves SGS3 phase separation.
Genome-wide chromatin profiling revealed a role of the histone demethylase FLD and its associating factor LD in regulating overlapping bidirectional transcription by modulating H3K4me1 levels and DNA topology. The effect of FLD depends on DNA topoisomerase I.
Two gene editing strategies for engineering quantitative variation of yield-related traits in maize are demonstrated: creating promoter-edited weak alleles of CLE genes or null alleles of redundant compensating CLE genes using CRISPR–Cas9.
The expression of a light-gated anion channelrhodopsin from a unicellular algae and a retinal-producing enzyme from a marine bacterium enable green light optogenetic manipulation of plant cells, as demonstrated in pollen tubes.
Zinc (Zn) is one of the essential micronutrients for plant growth and development, but the Zn-sensing mechanisms are poorly understood in plants. Two Arabidopsis bZIP transcription factors were previously shown to modulate plant responses to Zn deficiency. In this study, the authors find that they are indeed the sensors of Zn in Arabidopsis.
In rice, it is known that miR168 regulates AGO1. Using a target mimic approach to suppress the microRNA enhances resistance against rice blast disease, increases grain yield and shortens growth period, including in field trials.
Genomic analyses of ancient and modern common beans reveal that most domesticated traits were selected 2,500 years ago or earlier, but genetic erosion occurred only in the past 600 years. This decoupling indicates a weak selection pressure imposed by early Andean farmers.
Comparative genomics revealed similar distribution patterns of deleterious mutations in maize and sorghum but a post-domestication reduction of genetic load in sorghum, which is probably caused by sorghum’s high selfing rate and unique domestication history.
An engineered SpRY Cas9 variant enables efficient gene editing without PAM requirement in rice transgenic lines and Dahurian larch protoplasts, and its derived base editors can edit the rice genome efficiently in a PAM-less fashion too.
MALE-ASSOCIATED ARGONAUTE-1 and -2 promote heat-induced phasiRNA production, which represses heat-activated retrotransposons and protects male fertility. This activity is regulated by heat-mediated hypophosphorylation of the Argonaute proteins.