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Plants frequently face trade-offs of growth and defence. One way for the switch is to produce defensive compounds from primary pathway intermediates. Here, the researchers characterized the biosynthetic pathway of an antibiotic diterpenoid in maize and revealed a crosstalk between maize secondary metabolism and gibberellin biosynthesis.
This study identified structural variants in grapevine populations, including wild progenitors, using a de novo assembly and comparative genomics approach, and examined their evolutionary genomics and roles in domestication and phenotypic evolution.
Coumarins are a large class of plant secondary metabolites in the phenylpropanoids family. Now, a novel enzyme, coumarin synthase, is shown to catalyse a key step of coumarin synthesis in Arabidopsis roots and regulate iron uptake in alkaline soils.
Using a set of eleven maize lines that were selfed for six generations, a study examined the dynamics of heterozygosity and genome size resulting from selfing and the purging patterns of deleterious single nucleotide polymorphisms and transposable elements.
Phosphatidic acid constitutes less than 1% of total lipids, but does not play a minor role. It serves as a lipid precursor, affects membrane curvature and regulates signalling transduction. Now, by employing a new powerful PAleon biosensor, the researchers visualized PA dynamics in different pH conditions corresponding to salt stress responses in Arabidopsis.
Stomata act to control CO2 uptake and water loss, integrating endogenous signals with environmental cues to ‘set’ stomatal aperture. Separate closure-inducing signals access unique but partially overlapping, modular gene networks.
A novel algorithm, ALLHiC, for building allele-aware, chromosomal-scale assembly for autopolyploid genomes using Hi-C paired-end reads is developed and successfully applied in constructing the autotetraploid and autooctoploid sugar-cane genomes.
The three-dimensional (3D) genomes of Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea generated using Hi-C provide insights into the role of 3D organization in genome evolution. Specifically, stronger chromatin interaction is associated with gene retention during diploidization.
Cryoelectron microscopy of photosynthetic supercomplexes from the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis reveals a protein–pigment network different from the green-type light-harvesting apparatus. This provides insights into the evolution of light harvesting.
Using genome assemblies of 47 Brassicaceae species and a new interspecies association mapping strategy, a study reveals the association between CG to TG substitution rates and the presence of CHROMOMETHYLASE3 orthologues or gene-body methylation.
A simple, cheap and portable smartphone-based sensor is used to detect the presence of ten different volatiles emitted during tomato infection by an oomycete.
A study identified unprecedented horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events in Cuscuta campestris and related species, and provides insights into convergent HGTs between Cuscuta and Orobanchaceae parasites and the functional importance of the HGT sequences.
Prochlorococcus can adapt to the oceans’ highly stratified low-nutrient conditions. Atomic force microscopy of thylakoid membranes shows a series of specialized PSI configurations adapted to the environmental niche occupied by a particular ecotype.
Kava (Piper methysticum), an ethnomedicinal shrub native to the Polynesian islands, produces psychoactive kavalactones and anticancer flavokavains. Structures of key enzymes in their biosynthetic network may enable heterologous production.
A high-quality draft genome assembly of Musa balbisiana (the banana B-genome) is reported. Comparative genomic and gene functional analyses provide insights into the subgenome evolution and functional divergence between the A- and B-subgenomes.
The Early Cretaceous record of monocots is poor compared to other angiosperms. A well-preserved fossil monocot from the Crato plattenkalk limestone supports the possibility of an early radiation of monocots into the tropics of Northern Gondwana.
Expression of heterologous proteins from plastid genomes can compromise plant growth. However, field-grown tobacco plants overproducing a bacterial cellulase suffer no loss in biomass or Rubisco content and little reduction in photosynthesis.
Knockout of cytoplasmic male-sterility-associated genes using TALENs with mitochondria localization signals rescues male sterility in rice and rapeseed, validating the role of these genes, and provides a method for plant mitochondrial genome editing.
STIGMATIC PRIVACY 1 (SPRI1) encodes a stigma-specific plasma membrane protein. It ensures intraspecific fertilization by rejecting pollen tubes of distantly related species in a manner independent of self-incompatibility, thus functioning as an interspecies barrier mechanism.
Fossil fuel and fertilizer use has led to increased nitrogen and sulfur pollution deposition in the United States, introducing mixed impacts on herbaceous species that could impact ecosystems as well as the individual plants.