Featured
-
-
Article |
Structures of a phycobilisome in light-harvesting and photoprotected states
Cryogenic electron microscopy structures of the Synechocystis phycobilisome—alone and bound with orange carotenoid protein—reveal detailed information regarding the biophysical basis of the control of cyanobacterial light harvesting.
- María Agustina Domínguez-Martín
- , Paul V. Sauer
- & Cheryl A. Kerfeld
-
Article |
Warm springs alter timing but not total growth of temperate deciduous trees
Warmer spring temperatures affect the timing of stem diameter growth of temperate deciduous trees but have little effect on annual growth.
- Cameron Dow
- , Albert Y. Kim
- & Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira
-
Article |
Structures and mechanisms of the Arabidopsis auxin transporter PIN3
Arabidopsis thaliana PIN3 structures reveal the molecular mechanisms of the transport of indole-3-acetic acid and the inhibition of polar auxin transport by N-1-naphthylphthalamic acid.
- Nannan Su
- , Aiqin Zhu
- & Jiangtao Guo
-
Article
| Open AccessStructural insights into auxin recognition and efflux by Arabidopsis PIN1
Structures of the Arabidopsis thaliana auxin exporter PIN1 in the apo state, bound to the natural auxin or bound to an inhibitor provide insights into the polar auxin transport mechanisms mediated by PIN family transporters.
- Zhisen Yang
- , Jing Xia
- & Linfeng Sun
-
Article |
Competition for pollinators destabilizes plant coexistence
Competition for pollinators weakens plant coexistence by destabilizing interactions between plant species; this is crucial for determining the effects of the decline in pollinators.
- Christopher A. Johnson
- , Proneet Dutt
- & Jonathan M. Levine
-
Article |
A receptor–channel trio conducts Ca2+ signalling for pollen tube reception
The molecular mechanism by which FERONIA, LORELEI and NORTIA work together to facilitate calcium-mediated synergid–pollen tube communication in flowering plants is presented.
- Qifei Gao
- , Chao Wang
- & Sheng Luan
-
Article
| Open AccessBiosynthesis of strychnine
The biosynthetic pathway of strychnine, brucine and diaboline is described, and the biosynthesis of these complex, pharmacologically active compounds has been successfully recapitulated in Nicotiana benthamiana from an upstream intermediate.
- Benke Hong
- , Dagny Grzech
- & Sarah E. O’Connor
-
News & Views |
From the archive: Shakespeare’s stage directions, and fern fever
Snippets from Nature’s past.
-
Article
| Open AccessStructures and mechanism of the plant PIN-FORMED auxin transporter
Structural and biophysical analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana auxin transporter PIN8 reveal that PIN transporters export auxin using an elevator mechanism.
- Kien Lam Ung
- , Mikael Winkler
- & Bjørn Panyella Pedersen
-
Article
| Open AccessIncreasing the resilience of plant immunity to a warming climate
Suppression of salicylic acid production in Arabidopsis thaliana at high temperature is caused by decreased recruitment of GUANYLATE BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 3 defence-associated condensates on promoter sites of master immune regulatory genes.
- Jong Hum Kim
- , Christian Danve M. Castroverde
- & Sheng Yang He
-
News & Views |
Potato genomes pave the way to crop improvement
High-quality genome sequences for 44 wild and cultivated potatoes will enable researchers to better study this essential crop’s evolution and develop varieties that can withstand heat and drought caused by climate change.
- Juanita Gutiérrez-Valencia
- & Tanja Slotte
-
Article
| Open AccessGenome evolution and diversity of wild and cultivated potatoes
High-quality diploid assemblies of potato genomes from 24 wild and 20 cultivated potatoes provide insights into the complex evolution and diversity of potatoes, and could have applications in the breeding of hybrid potatoes.
- Dié Tang
- , Yuxin Jia
- & Sanwen Huang
-
Article
| Open AccessGraph pangenome captures missing heritability and empowers tomato breeding
A precise catalogue of more than 19 million variants from 838 tomato genomes, including 32 new reference-level genome assemblies, advances the understanding of the heritability of complex traits and demonstrates the power of the graph pangenome in crop breeding.
- Yao Zhou
- , Zhiyang Zhang
- & Sanwen Huang
-
News |
One tree or two? Genes confirm Iban traditional knowledge in Borneo
Words in the languages of the Iban and Dusun people are the tip-off that a tree given a single scientific name is actually two species.
- Freda Kreier
-
Article
| Open AccessAn oxygen-sensing mechanism for angiosperm adaptation to altitude
Plants have adapted to grow at specific altitudes by regulating chlorophyll synthesis in response to ambient oxygen concentration, calibrated by altitude-dependent activity of GROUP VII ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR.
- Mohamad Abbas
- , Gunjan Sharma
- & Michael J. Holdsworth
-
News Round-Up |
Gene-edited tomatoes, South Asian heatwave and Australian election
The latest science news, in brief.
-
News |
Gene-edited tomatoes could provide new source of vitamin D
Plants rich in a precursor to the vitamin could help to address deficiencies — but face a long road to market.
- Heidi Ledford
-
Article
| Open AccessThe mosaic oat genome gives insights into a uniquely healthy cereal crop
Assembly of the hexaploid oat genome and its diploid and tetraploid relatives clarifies the evolutionary history of oat and allows mapping of genes for agronomic traits.
- Nadia Kamal
- , Nikos Tsardakas Renhuldt
- & Nick Sirijovski
-
Article |
Structural basis of NPR1 in activating plant immunity
Cryo-electron microscopy and crystal structures of Arabidopsis NPR1—a bird-shaped homodimer—and its complex with the transcription factor TGA3 provide an explanation for a direct role of salicylic acid and enhanceosome assembly in regulating NPR1-dependent gene expression.
- Shivesh Kumar
- , Raul Zavaliev
- & Pei Zhou
-
Article |
Phytocytokine signalling reopens stomata in plant immunity and water loss
A plant endogenous peptide-receptor signaling pathway termed SCREW–NUT is described; it counteracts microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)- and abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure to regulate the reopening of stomata after biotic and abiotic stresses.
- Zunyong Liu
- , Shuguo Hou
- & Libo Shan
-
Technology Feature |
Base edit your way to better crops
Plant scientists are turning to genome-editing techniques to precisely tailor the productivity and consumer appeal of important crops.
- Michael Eisenstein
-
Article |
Alternative photosynthesis pathways drive the algal CO2-concentrating mechanism
The CO2-concentrating mechanism of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is dependent on pH gradients generated by both cyclic electron flow and O2 photoreduction.
- Adrien Burlacot
- , Ousmane Dao
- & Gilles Peltier
-
-
Article |
Plant phytochrome B is an asymmetric dimer with unique signalling potential
The inactive Pr conformer of Arabidopsis phytochrome B shows a topologically complex dimeric organization that is distinct from its prokaryotic relatives.
- Hua Li
- , E. Sethe Burgie
- & Richard D. Vierstra
-
News Round-Up |
Sci-Hub downloads, Mars rover delay and academic strikes in Nigeria
The latest science news, in brief.
-
Article |
Genome-edited powdery mildew resistance in wheat without growth penalties
Tamlo-R32, an engineered wheat mutant allele of the Mildew resistance locus O (MLO) gene, confers resistance to powdery mildew, retains robust wheat growth, and can be transferred to other agriculturally important wheat varieties.
- Shengnan Li
- , Dexing Lin
- & Caixia Gao
-
News & Views |
A hard graft problem solved for key global food crops
Grafting has long been used to join tissues of different plants in horticulture and research. Methods have now been devised to extend the technique to plants called monocotyledons, which include major crops such as cereals and bananas.
- Colin Turnbull
- & Sean Carrington
-
Article |
Monocotyledonous plants graft at the embryonic root–shoot interface
Intra- and inter-specific grafting is possible in most orders of monocotyledonous plants, and this process could be used to combat diseases that affect crops, such as Panama disease in bananas.
- Gregory Reeves
- , Anoop Tripathi
- & Julian M. Hibberd
-
Article |
NLRs guard metabolism to coordinate pattern- and effector-triggered immunity
The deubiquitinase PICI1 is identified as part of an immunity hub that coordinates pattern- and effector-triggered immunity and is involved in conferring broad-spectrum resistance to blast across different subspecies of rice.
- Keran Zhai
- , Di Liang
- & Zuhua He
-
Article |
Architecture of the chloroplast PSI–NDH supercomplex in Hordeum vulgare
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the photosystem I–NADH dehydrogenase-like supercomplex in barley provide structural details to elucidate the functions and regulation of photosystem I-dependent cyclic electron transport in chloroplasts.
- Liangliang Shen
- , Kailu Tang
- & Xing Zhang
-
Article
| Open AccessA chickpea genetic variation map based on the sequencing of 3,366 genomes
Whole-genome sequencing of 3,171 cultivated and 195 wild chickpea accessions is used to construct a chickpea pan-genome, providing insight into chickpea evolution and enabling breeding strategies that could improve crop productivity.
- Rajeev K. Varshney
- , Manish Roorkiwal
- & Xin Liu
-
News & Views |
A seagrass harbours a nitrogen-fixing bacterial partner
How underwater seagrasses obtain the nitrogen they need has been unclear. Evidence has now emerged of a partnership with a bacterium that might be analogous to the system used by many land plants to gain nitrogen.
- Douglas G. Capone
-
Article
| Open AccessCold-induced Arabidopsis FRIGIDA nuclear condensates for FLC repression
In Arabidopsis thaliana, downregulation of the floral repressor FLC in response to cold occurs through a mechanism in which the FLC activator FRIGIDA is sequestered into biomolecular condensates away from the FLC promoter.
- Pan Zhu
- , Clare Lister
- & Caroline Dean
-
News & Views |
From the archive
Nature’s pages feature efforts to ensure thermometer accuracy and offer some gardening advice.
-
Article |
Cell surface and intracellular auxin signalling for H+ fluxes in root growth
Auxin rapidly modulates root growth through simultaneous activation of two opposing mechanisms—TMK1-mediated apoplast acidification and TIR1/AFB-mediated apoplast alkalinization.
- Lanxin Li
- , Inge Verstraeten
- & Jiří Friml
-
Article
| Open AccessTMK-based cell-surface auxin signalling activates cell-wall acidification
Auxin induces transmembrane-kinase-dependent activation of H+-ATPase in the plasma membrane through phosphorylation of its penultimate threonine residue, promoting apoplastic acidification and hypocotyl cell elongation in Arabidopsis.
- Wenwei Lin
- , Xiang Zhou
- & Zhenbiao Yang
-
Article
| Open AccessEvidence for European presence in the Americas in ad 1021
Precise dating of wooden artefacts at a Norse settlement in Newfoundland establishes that the Norse were in the Americas in ad 1021.
- Margot Kuitems
- , Birgitta L. Wallace
- & Michael W. Dee
-
News & Views |
From the archive
Nature’s pages feature a look at British wild flowers, and examine the construction of an aquarium at Crystal Palace.
-
Article |
Spatiotemporal origin of soil water taken up by vegetation
Global inverse modelling of plant water acquisition depth and isotope-based plant water use estimates demonstrate globally prevalent use of precipitation from distant sources, and that water-stressed ecosystems are well suited to using past and remote precipitation.
- Gonzalo Miguez-Macho
- & Ying Fan
-
News |
New rules will make UK gene-edited crop research easier
The government’s decision to ease requirements will lower the cost of field trials, but does not yet address the path to market.
- Heidi Ledford
-
Article |
Fine-root traits in the global spectrum of plant form and function
The authors analyse the coordination and trade-off of the aboveground and fine-root traits of vascular plants using global trait databases.
- Carlos P. Carmona
- , C. Guillermo Bueno
- & Riin Tamme
-
Article |
Activation of TIR signalling boosts pattern-triggered immunity
A study reveals that activation of Toll/interleukin-1 receptor signalling is an important mechanism for boosting plant defence during pattern-triggered immunity.
- Hainan Tian
- , Zhongshou Wu
- & Yuelin Zhang
-
Where I Work |
Breeding the sweetest biofuels in the business
Morexa Martin-Gardiner relishes the seasonal shifts of her work on a sugar-cane research station in Barbados.
- James Mitchell Crow
-
Article |
The EDS1–PAD4–ADR1 node mediates Arabidopsis pattern-triggered immunity
The authors provide mechanistic insights into the crosstalk between signalling components of pattern-triggered immunity and effector-triggered immunity and their molecular linkers.
- Rory N. Pruitt
- , Federica Locci
- & Thorsten Nürnberger
-
Article |
Pollinators contribute to the maintenance of flowering plant diversity
The authors show that plant–pollinator interactions confer a fitness advantage to rare plant species in a biodiversity hotspot.
- Na Wei
- , Rainee L. Kaczorowski
- & Tia-Lynn Ashman
-
Article |
The Montreal Protocol protects the terrestrial carbon sink
Modelling suggests that the Montreal Protocol may be mitigating climate change by protecting the land carbon sink, as well as by protecting the ozone layer and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Paul J. Young
- , Anna B. Harper
- & Rolando R. Garcia
-
Where I Work |
A race against time to feed the world
Agrochemical scientist Sarah Iveson is excited about digital agriculture’s potential to make crops more resilient to climate change as the global population grows.
- Linda Nordling
-
Nature Podcast |
The scientist whose hybrid rice helped feed billions
A historian reflects on the life of Chinese crop scientist Yuan Longping, and the possible influence of geothermal energy production on earthquake aftershocks.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
-
Obituary |
Yuan Longping (1930–2021)
Crop scientist whose high-yield hybrid rice fed billions.
- Shellen X. Wu
Browse broader subjects
Browse narrower subjects
- Biofuels
- Light responses
- Natural variation in plants
- Photosynthesis
- Plant biotechnology
- Plant breeding
- Plant cell biology
- Plant development
- Plant domestication
- Plant ecology
- Plant evolution
- Plant genetics
- Plant hormones
- Plant immunity
- Plant molecular biology
- Plant physiology
- Plant reproduction
- Plant signalling
- Plant stress responses
- Plant symbiosis
- Secondary metabolism
- Stomata
- Tropism