Reviews & Analysis

We applied single-molecule nanopore sequencing to over 120 million full-length RNAs, including the poly(A) tail, from various tissues and plant species. The resulting dataset enables the genome-wide characterization of plant poly(A) tails at the single gene level across different tissues and species.

This Review summarizes current technologies for organellar genome editing in plants and their applications, and highlights opportunities brought by emerging techniques such as RNA editing, prime editing and new transformation methods.

Plant microtubules align along directions of anisotropic mechanical stress. Live cell imaging of epidermal pavement cells reveals that cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs) are present in regions of anisotropic mechanical stress in patterns similar to those of microtubules. The coupling of microtubules and CSCs hampers the response of microtubules to mechanical stresses.

Changes in climate, including increases in the frequency of lightning, will differentially affect the fitness and mortality of tropical tree species. Variation in the sensitivity of species to climate change will in turn lead to shifts in the composition of tropical forests and the services that they provide.

Cellular responses to environmental and developmental signals depend on the recruitment of transcription factors to specific genes. Although PIF4 and CDF2 belong to different transcription factor families in Arabidopsis thaliana, data suggest that they act co-operatively to bind to specific target genes in the gene network that regulates hypocotyl cell elongation.

Charles Darwin suggested that phylogenetic distance between introduced aliens and natives might determine invasion success, but he was inconclusive about the direction of the relationship. An analysis of alien plants introduced to Southern Africa for cultivation reveals that the relationship changes direction from one invasion stage to the other.

The biological importance of centromere distribution in the nucleus, which is classified as polarized or dispersed, has been debated. Molecular and cytogenic analyses have revealed that two regulatory processes establish a dispersed distribution and that centromere distribution might be linked to the maintenance of genome integrity.

A national survey of organic farmers shows that the use of sustainable farming practices differs with farm size. Although organic agriculture is often considered to be homogeneous, this survey suggests that a greater focus on farm size and socio-technical change is needed to improve the sustainability of food production.

CLE peptides control stem-cell activity in meristems. Recent studies in Marchantia and Arabidopsis support the idea that an ancestral function of CLE peptides was to promote stem cells. After gene duplication in angiosperms, a subset of CLE peptides became stem-cell suppressors.

Grain yield in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is largely determined by spike architecture. Mutations in DUO-B1, encoding an AP2/ERF protein, result in a spike architecture with extra spikelets that increases both grain number per spike and yield under field conditions. Genetically modifying DUO-B1 has the potential to increase cereal production.

Comparative and evolutionary genomics analyses for more than 1,600 re-sequenced maize lines identified vast amounts of differentially and complementary selected regions and genes among female and male heterotic groups used in modern hybrid maize breeding.

Regulation of organ growth involves multiple pathways that coordinate cell number and size in a process that is highly dependent on nutrient supply and energy levels. The simplicity of the Arabidopsis root tip provides a suitable model for the genetic dissection of plant organ growth regulation.

In the phloem of vascular plants, distinct cell types are arranged in precise positions to ensure effective loading, transport and unloading of photosynthates and signalling molecules. Feedback between transcription factors and mobile peptides triggers and controls the differentiation of phloem at the growing root tip.

Organisms living at elevation are exposed to a constant state of hypoxia compared to those at low altitude. A recent study¹ has shown that flowering plants acclimatize to high altitude through natural variation in molecular oxygen (O₂) sensing, with high-altitude populations exhibiting increased O₂ sensitivity to balance physiological and metabolic outputs. This finding demonstrates convergent mechanisms for altitude adaptation across eukaryotic kingdoms despite differences in the hypoxia-signalling pathways of plants and animals.

Arabidopsis embryonic root development involves the formation of distinct cell types and tissues in a tightly regulated and thereby highly predictable spatio-temporal manner. A crosstalk between maternal and embryonic genes orchestrates division orientation and fate specification to control root development.

Methylation is a frequent modification of glycans and polysaccharides. This process relies on the transport of cytosolic S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) into the Golgi lumen. This work identifies Golgi-localized major facilitator superfamily transporter members as putative SAM transporters in plants and reveals their importance for polysaccharide methylation and maintenance of the properties of cell walls.

The analysis of the 11-gigabase, hexaploid oat genome reveals a mosaic chromosome structure with complex rearrangements related to polyploidization. The high-quality oat reference genome will facilitate the molecular identification of health food traits and the implementation of genomics-based oat breeding.

Worldwide, vitamin D deficiency affects around 1 billion people. A recent study indicates that blocking a duplicated branch of phytosterol biosynthesis in tomato leads to provitamin D₃ accumulation.

How T-DNAs become incorporated into the host chromosome has been a subject of lively debate for the last quarter century. Kralemann et al. report data revealing the mechanism of genomic capture of the right border and validating the role of DNA polymerase θ in the capture of the left border.

Same Cas9 protein, two different jobs: the CRISPR-Combo genome engineering strategy enables simultaneous gene activation and genome editing for different targets through changes to the guide RNA structure.