Volume 10 Issue 3, March 2024

Cell edges are part of a coordinate system used by the cell to direct three-dimensional growth in an organized manner. They emerge as signalling hubs with unique composition, capable of sensing mechanical stresses derived from neighbouring cells, to negotiate and harmonize individual cellular growth rates, therefore avoiding mechanical conflict.

Plants regulate their microbiota to cope with diverse stresses. A recent study shows that rice maintains homeostasis of its phyllosphere microbiome through a secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene, which offers potential for harnessing microbiome-shaping genes in disease-resistance breeding.

Beaksedges harbour multiple centromeres in each chromosome, yet crossover distribution is distally biased, like in monocentric species, but with no correlation with (epi)genomic features. This study suggests that synapsis dynamics starting from chromosomal ends is key to the recombination pattern.

Glandular trichomes on plant leaves and stems synthesize and store specialized compounds. We identified a novel lignin-based structure (which we named the neck strip) required for storage of compounds in cucumber glandular trichomes and demonstrated the mechanism of specialized compound accumulation in glandular trichomes.

The ATP-dependent chromatin remodeller DDM1 has a vital role in plant DNA methylation, influencing gene silencing and suppression of transposable elements. The structure of DDM1 in complex with nucleosome in different states of the ATP hydrolysis process reveals the molecular mechanism underlying chromatin remodelling by DDM1.

In this Perspective, Finger and Möhring discuss the emergence of pesticide-free crop production systems in Europe in the context of real-world examples and highlight the barriers to adoption of this cropping strategy.

This study reports that in European beech masting, the summer solstice serves as a celestial trigger that enables cohesive timekeeping across distant beech populations, allowing seed production to be synchronized at a subcontinental scale.

Cryogenic electron microscopy structures of DDM1–nucleosome complexes in ADP–BeF_x-bound, ADP-bound and nucleotide-free conformations reveal insights into the mechanism underlying chromatin remodelling by DDM1, a key chromatin remodeller involved in plant DNA methylation.

Glandular trichomes (GTs) are biofactories that produce and store specialized compounds beneficial to plants as well as to humans. Using cucumber, we have discovered a new cell wall structure, ‘neck strip’, allowing GTs to function as biofactories.

Timber harvest claims can be scrutinized based on a combination of wood chemical composition and species distribution. The location of timber harvest can be determined within 180 to 230 km of true location across Eastern Europe.

Trait prioritization studies have informed crop breeding programmes for decades. This scoping review identifies broad crop coverage, systematic sex disaggregation and reduced regional bias as priorities for more inclusive, demand-driven initiatives.

This study by Scacchi et al. shows that a mobile small-RNA-based Turing system dynamically organizes plant organ polarity. The afforded developmental flexibility accounts for diversity in organ shapes, from radialized or cup-shaped to the robust planar shape of a typical leaf.

Castellani, Zhang and colleagues found that centromeres and (epi)genetic features influence local crossover positions during meiotic recombination in a plant with diffused centromeres, whereas chromosome synapsis dynamics seems key to broad-scale crossover patterning.

Histone acetylation is a predominant active chromatin mark. A feedback mechanism by which histone acetyltransferase responds to varying levels of acetyl coenzyme A in plants under adverse conditions maintains histone acetylation homeostasis.

Chromosomal patterning of meiotic crossovers is mediated by pro-crossover HEI10 E3 ligase dynamics. This study reveals that a network of HSP40–HSP70 chaperones facilitates HEI10 proteolysis, thereby limiting formation of closely spaced crossovers.

In response to abscisic acid, the m⁶A reader ECT8 undergoes phase separation to form cytoplasmic condensates and sequesters m⁶A-modified abscisic acid receptor PYL7 mRNA in stress granules, which suppresses PYL7 translation for feedback regulation of abscisic acid perception.

How do multicellular organisms integrate cell- and tissue-scale mechanical information to coordinate growth? Elliott et al. show that plant cells establish a self-regulating cell-wall-sensing module at their one-dimensional cell edges to control three-dimensional growth.

The authors show that RALF22 has a dual role in cell wall assembly in root hairs: as a structural component organizing cell wall architecture and as a feedback signalling molecule that regulates this process depending on its interaction partners.

This study reveals that the thylakoid ultrastructural and supramolecular rearrangements that occur during the dark-to-light transition in plants control the connectivity between the two photosystems that drive oxygenic photosynthesis.