Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Tropical carbon stocks are essential for proper accounting of global carbon budgets, but difficult to monitor on a large scale. L-band microwave observations used here enable direct and spatially explicit accounting of annual carbon fluxes from different types of land surface.
Cryoelectron microscopy of photosynthetic supercomplexes from the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis reveals a protein–pigment network different from the green-type light-harvesting apparatus. This provides insights into the evolution of light harvesting.
Using genome assemblies of 47 Brassicaceae species and a new interspecies association mapping strategy, a study reveals the association between CG to TG substitution rates and the presence of CHROMOMETHYLASE3 orthologues or gene-body methylation.
A simple, cheap and portable smartphone-based sensor is used to detect the presence of ten different volatiles emitted during tomato infection by an oomycete.
Analyses of the single-cell 3D genome structures of rice eggs, sperm and unicellular zygotes reveal plant-specific 3D genome features and a compact silent centre in the egg and unicellular zygote that may be involved in regulating zygotic genome activation.
A study identified unprecedented horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events in Cuscuta campestris and related species, and provides insights into convergent HGTs between Cuscuta and Orobanchaceae parasites and the functional importance of the HGT sequences.
Prochlorococcus can adapt to the oceans’ highly stratified low-nutrient conditions. Atomic force microscopy of thylakoid membranes shows a series of specialized PSI configurations adapted to the environmental niche occupied by a particular ecotype.
Kava (Piper methysticum), an ethnomedicinal shrub native to the Polynesian islands, produces psychoactive kavalactones and anticancer flavokavains. Structures of key enzymes in their biosynthetic network may enable heterologous production.
A high-quality draft genome assembly of Musa balbisiana (the banana B-genome) is reported. Comparative genomic and gene functional analyses provide insights into the subgenome evolution and functional divergence between the A- and B-subgenomes.
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.
The Early Cretaceous record of monocots is poor compared to other angiosperms. A well-preserved fossil monocot from the Crato plattenkalk limestone supports the possibility of an early radiation of monocots into the tropics of Northern Gondwana.
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.
Expression of heterologous proteins from plastid genomes can compromise plant growth. However, field-grown tobacco plants overproducing a bacterial cellulase suffer no loss in biomass or Rubisco content and little reduction in photosynthesis.
Knockout of cytoplasmic male-sterility-associated genes using TALENs with mitochondria localization signals rescues male sterility in rice and rapeseed, validating the role of these genes, and provides a method for plant mitochondrial genome editing.
In moss, a subgroup of uncharacterized AP2/ERF transcription factors called STEMIN promotes stem cell formation and regeneration, specifically through a repressive chromatin mark on its target genes.
STIGMATIC PRIVACY 1 (SPRI1) encodes a stigma-specific plasma membrane protein. It ensures intraspecific fertilization by rejecting pollen tubes of distantly related species in a manner independent of self-incompatibility, thus functioning as an interspecies barrier mechanism.
Fossil fuel and fertilizer use has led to increased nitrogen and sulfur pollution deposition in the United States, introducing mixed impacts on herbaceous species that could impact ecosystems as well as the individual plants.
Arabidopsis MPK3 and MPK6 are involved in many biological processes. How do they achieve their signalling specificity? Structural, biochemical and genetic approaches show that the bHLH protein SCREAM acts as a scaffold to recruit downstream substrates during stomatal development.
In C4 grasses, malate is decarboxylated by NADP-malic enzyme in bundle sheath cells. The structures of maize and sorghum varieties identify amino acids important for catalytic efficiency, tetrameric structure and pH-dependent inhibition malate
Using large-scale data describing five decades of wheat breeding progress in western Europe, a study shows that breeding for high performance enhances wheat productivity under not only optimal conditions but also conditions with reduced agrochemical inputs.