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Orange carotenoid proteins are involved in photoprotection in cyanobacteria. In this Article, a new family of orange carotenoid proteins are identified and characterized, combining phylogenetic analysis, biochemistry, spectroscopy and structural studies.
The evening complex coordinates plant growth and environmental signalling with the circadian clock. Here, a comprehensive dataset of direct transcriptional targets of the evening complex uncovers a high-quality global regulatory network.
Modelling and remote sensing predict that near-future climate change could make 41–61% of the growing area of coffee in Ethiopia unusable. However, relocation of coffee areas and forest conservation could see coffee farming areas increase fourfold.
In plants, photosystem II forms supercomplexes of core and light-harvesting complexes. Cryo-electron microscopy and single-particle analysis provides a 3D structure of the supercomplex from Arabidopsis at 5.3 Å resolution.
High-resolution images and tomography show unprecedented 3D structures of plasmodesmata. In cells just post-cytokinesis, plasmodesmata do not have a visible cytoplasmic sleeve but still conduct cell-to-cell movement of micro- and macromolecules.
Carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of crop remains from archaeological sites in northern Mesopotamia show labour-intensive practices such as manuring and water management forming an integral part of agriculture since the seventh millennium bc.
The NOPE1 gene is required for arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in maize. The causal gene is now identified using rice. It is the first identified GlcNAc transporter in plants, needed for presymbiotic fungal reprogramming.
The origin of photosynthetic eukaryotes requires two major endosymbiosis events. Organelle acquisitions impose an increase in reactive oxygen species production, as well as the expansion of redox-sensitive proteasome in photosynthetic eukaryotes.
Roots bend towards water. The root cortex in the elongation zone is the site of perception during hydrotropism but also the site of differential root growth, which is different from gravitropism.
An effective and high-throughput technology spatially profiles the whole transcriptome of intact plant tissues from Arabidopsis thaliana, Populus tremula and Picea abies. It is also suitable for other species that are less genetically tractable.
A new screen for Arabidopsis defective in Casparian strip formation identifies EXO70A1 as a central player. This subunit of the exocyst complex is needed for correct ring-like CASP1 localization, but its role is uncoupled from secretion.
Lichens are symbioses of fungi and green algae or cyanobacteria. Here, the finding of 152 fossil lichens from Palaeogene amber greatly increases the number of known fossil lichens. Their morphologies show that the European Palaeogene amber forests were temperate and humid.
Plants protect their photosynthetic apparatus from excess light energy through non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). This study shows that NPQ is catalysed by two independent mechanisms, only one of which is dependent on lutein.
How the two types of key trans-acting factors, PLS-type pentatricopeptide repeat protein and the multiple organellar RNA editing factor, cooperate in plant RNA editing remains unknown. A study now uses crystal structures to characterize the mechanism.
The mechanism underlying vegetative desiccation tolerance (DT) of plants remains elusive. A study now sequences the genome and transcriptome for the resurrection plant, Xerophyta viscosa, and supports that vegetative DT arose by redirection of the seed DT pathway.
Vascular plants use osmotic pressure differences to transport sugars. A synthetic microfluidic model explores the nonlinear dynamics of this process, showing that passive loading is sufficient to drive long-distance transport in large plants and trees.
The Malawian Farm Input Subsidy Programme has been credited with transforming the country's food security. However, an analysis based on net photosynthesis shows that production gains and the efficacy of fertilizer subsidies may have been overestimated.
It is shown that the balance of van der Waals and electrostatic forces can explain grana stacking in chloroplasts. Electrostatic forces vary with phosphorylation of proteins, producing contrasting effects on stacking and intra-membrane organization.
BRITTLE LEAF SHEATH1, which belongs to a novel class of Golgi-localized esterases, acts as a xylan deacetylase in rice. This is the first report that shows the importance of xylan deacetylation for proper function of the plant secondary cell wall.
Chloroplasts are ancient prokaryotes that divide by constriction of a ring-like division machinery. Structural determination of the intermembrane region of the ARC6–PDV2 complex helps to understand the coordination between inner and outer rings.