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.
The evolution and phylogenetic placement of gnetophytes have remained elusive. The draft genome for a gnetophyte, Gnetum montanum, is now reported. Comparative analyses identify genomic features distinguishing gnetophytes from other gymnosperms.
The transition from darkness to light alters thylakoid membrane architecture and the organization of photosynthetic complexes. Structured illumination microscopy shows increased but smaller grana, with consequences for photosynthetic efficiency and quenching.
Auxin-induced callus formation, known as a type of cell reprogramming, involves several transcription factors that act in lateral root initiation for plant development. Now, a new partnership of transcription factors is identified to reveal the regulatory network of auxin-induced cell reprogramming.
Plants have remarkable regeneration ability under the control of phytohormones such as auxin and cytokinin. Here, the researchers identify a heterodimer that consists of two key transcription factors mediating the auxin-induced callus formation.
Breeding crops with a high yield and superior adaptability is vital to maintaining global food security. New technologies on multiple scales are re-engineering traditional plant breeding to meet these challenges.
Modern plant biology relies heavily on genetic sequence information from species with a diversity of origins. Could proposed changes to the terms of use of this digital sequence information threaten the development of new crop varieties and improvements in global agriculture?
The function of MADS-box genes has been extensively studied in fungi, animals and flowering plants. Now, researchers report their role in non-flowering plants and further explore the evolution of this gene family in land plants.
In Clarkia species, petals have spots at specific positions, an important ecological trait that affects pollination. The evolution of this trait is explained by mutations in a single promoter that rewire a developmental transcription factor network.
It is hypothesized that morphological evolution occurs through a variety of molecular mechanisms. The position and patterning of petal spots in Clarkia evolved through changes to the regulatory region of a gene that encodes a transcriptional activator of pigment synthesis, prompting its control by novel positional cues.
The seed coat of many leguminous species has a powdery bloom containing hazardous allergens. In wild soybeans, the bloom is controlled by the BLOOM1 gene, a mutation in which abolishes bloom and elevates seed oil content in domesticated strains.
Fully enclosed, controlled-environment growth chambers can accelerate plant development. Such ‘speed breeding’ reduces generation times to accelerate crop breeding and research programmes, and can integrate with other modern crop breeding technologies.