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Stomatal guard cells regulate CO2 entry to the leaf for photosynthesis but respond slowly to fluctuating light, thus reducing carbon assimilation and water use efficiencies. Substantial efficiency gains are realized by engineering the gating of a K+ channel native to the guard cells.
mGWAS reveals ZmICE1 as a key hub for integrating amino acid metabolic pathways and cold tolerance in maize. Natural variation in ZmICE1 promoter regulates the binding affinity of ZmMYB39, which confers the diverse cold tolerance in maize.
Reactive oxygen species are major regulatory molecules in diverse cellular processes. This article shows how an Arabidopsis thiol peroxidase, PRXIIB, senses endogenous H2O2 and regulates immune responses through a redox relay mechanism.
This study presents a chloroplast photosystem I structure identified by cryogenic electron microscopy from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In contrast to the cyanobacterial complex, the absence of PsaH and Lhca2 allows a head-to-head orientation of the photosystem I–light-harvesting complex I monomers.
The genome of the model fern species Ceratopteris richardii reveals a history of remarkably dynamic genome evolution, including rapid changes in genome content and structure following the most recent whole-genome duplication approximately 60 million years ago.
Plants confronted with nutrient deficiency allocate more resources to roots to maximize nutrient acquisition and growth. This study uncovers how plants repress phosphate uploading to curtail the long-distance transportation of phosphate to shoots.
The evolutionarily conserved energy sensor SnRK1 interacts with and phosphorylates NLP7 to promote its cytoplasmic localization and degradation, thereby inhibiting nitrate signalling.
The chromosome-level genome of maidenhair fern, a model species representing the major homosporangium ferns, lays the foundation for studies on fern biology, origin of euphyllophytes and seed plant evolution.
Chromatin remodelling exerts nuclear control over plastid development: two Arabidopsis homologues of the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase component EPL1 mediate light-dependent activating chromatin remodelling at positions where genes required for chloroplast biogenesis are encoded.
The ancient expansion of savannahs has long been examined through models and palaeorecords, but this new experiment combining CO2 and drought finds the physiological mechanisms priming the forest-to-savannah transition.
This study sheds light on the mechanisms by which different MYB and bHLH transcription factors select their partners to form complexes, and reveals two types of MYB–bHLH interaction modes that are evolutionarily conserved but evolved independently in plants.
This study examines the differential rates of lightning damage and mortality among tree species across a tropical forest in Panama, finding differences in species tolerance to lightning with implications for how lightning shapes forest composition and ecosystem function.
The behaviour of cellulose synthase and its interaction with microtubules are affected by mechanical stress. The interaction of cellulose synthase with microtubules impedes the response of microtubules to mechanical stress.
Hypocotyl cell elongation is promoted by combinatorial action of PIF4 and CDF2. This occurs because PIF4 enhances binding of CDF2 to common target genes increasing their transcription. These genes include the auxin biosynthesis gene YUCCA8.
Phenology studies tend to use air temperature instead of plant tissue temperature. This study provides evidence that air and plant temperatures differ to such an extent as to make us reconsider our current interpretation of phenology.
This paper examines how the relationship between native and alien plants changes the nature of an invasion, finding that the stages, and ultimate success, of an invasion are intrinsically linked to the phylogenetic relationship.
Exploring the occurrence of the level of water saturation of air within leaves uncovers a mechanism for maintaining photosynthesis and vascular flow under dry conditions.
Nitrogen fixation by legumes into the soil has long been known to benefit other plants, but this study finds a bidirectional relationship by which grasses help provide key nutrients for legumes. Grasses and clovers exploit soil nutrients better together than separately.
The phloem pole atlas has over 10,000 cells, with an unprecedented resolution of the transcriptional dynamics in phloem development. Despite distinct mature transcriptional states, co-expression networks show common states in protophloem-adjacent cells.
In Arabidopsis cells undergoing mitosis, centromere distribution is shown to be regulated by two steps: scattering in M-phase and stabilization in interphase. This may affect the maintenance of genome integrity rather than gene regulation.