Articles in 2015

To understand the mechanisms of grain size control, researchers experimentally reveal that the molecular module miR396/GRF4 regulates rice grain size by activating brassinosteroid signalling. Modulating miR396/GRF4 or brassinosteroid responses can thus be used to improve crop yield.

Arsenic contamination of groundwater and soils threatens the health of tens of millions people worldwide. A series of laboratory experiments suggest that in Arabidopsis, inositol transporters are responsible for arsenite loading into the phloem, the key source of arsenic in seeds.

The molecular network controlling seed size remains elusive. Using genetic and functional analyses, researchers found that the transcription factor OsGRF4 (GS2) forms a module with its regulator OsmiR396 and coactivator GIFs to regulate grain size in rice.

The regulatory pathway associated with crop yield remains poorly understood. Now researchers have found that blocking miR396 dramatically increases rice grain yield by inducing the GRF6 gene and subsequently activating the auxin pathway and development-related genes.

Central carbon metabolism in cyanobacteria consists of the CBB cycle, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway and the TCA cycle. Metabolic analyses of mutant and wild-type Synechocystis reveal the presence of a functional phosphoketolase pathway, previously uncharacterized in photosynthetic organisms.

How spiral flowers produce organs in variable numbers remains elusive. By studying Nigella damascena, scientists now illuminate the genetic programs that specify floral organ identity and determine the flexibility of organ numbers in spiral flowers.

In the Brassica self-incompatibility (SI) response, the downstream signalling network of ARC1 E3 ubiquitin ligase remains elusive. Now, glyoxalase I is shown to be an ARC1-targted compatibility factor whose degradation leads to the SI response.

Dinitrogen fixation by plants is a major source of new nitrogen to land ecosystems. Climatic constraints on the nitrogen cycle can explain biome-scale differences in the abundance of nitrogen fixing trees, according to an analysis of the ecological and evolutionary conditions under which different fixation strategies emerge.

Double fertilization in flowering plants produces both the embryo and the endosperm that is going to nourish it, forming a seed. Development of the endosperm is triggered by auxin production, derepressed by an epigenetic pathway after fertilization.

To ensure efficient photosynthesis the flow of electrons through the two photosystems in the chloroplast must be carefully balanced. This paper shows that LHCI mediates interactions between LHCII peripheral to the core and the PSI supercomplex.

When damaged by excess light the core proteins of photosystem II are repaired by selective degradation by the protease FtsH. Increased degradation after removal of outer subunits, suggests that protease accessibility identifies proteins as damaged.

Manganese is an essential metal for plant growth. A series of laboratory experiments suggest that metal tolerance protein 9 (MTP9), a member of the cation diffusion facilitator family, is required for manganese translocation, and thereby uptake, in rice.

The ppGpp-dependent control of cell activities, namely the stringent response, has been elusive in eukaryotes. Arabidopsis mutant analysis now shows that plant stringent response controls organelle function and contributes to systematic growth.

The model and geographic location(s) of Asian rice domestication has been a controversial topic. Now a reanalysis of a previously published large genomic dataset, supports three geographically separate domestications of Asian rice.

Circadian clocks regulate many biological processes. The authors show the existence of two decentralized tissue-specific clocks: one in the vasculature for photoperiodic control of flowering, one in the epidermis for temperature-dependant elongation.

The viral hypersensitivity of Nicotiana benthamiana results from an insertion in the RNA polymerase, Rdr1. Population analyses showed that the Rdr1 insertion originated from a population that trades viral defence for vigour in an extreme Australian habitat.

Morphogenesis needs cellular polarity. In root hair cells initiation, ROPs, DRPs and PIP5K3 are recruited in bulging sterol-enriched membrane domains. A lipid-binding AGC kinase called D6PK modulates this establishment of planar cell polarity.

Wood is the main terrestrial biotic reservoir for long-term carbon sequestration. High-resolution cellular-based measurements of wood formation dynamics in coniferous forests in northeastern France suggest that woody biomass production lags stem-girth expansion by over a month

Plant survival is greatly impaired when oxygen levels are limiting, such as during flooding events. A series of laboratory experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana suggests that the universal stress protein HRU1 coordinates oxygen sensing with ROS signalling under anoxic conditions.

NLPs are immunogenic patterns present in three kingdoms of life. The authors identify the leucin-rich repeat membrane protein RLP23 as the NLP receptor in Arabidopsis. Expression of RLP23 in potato enhances immunity against pathogenic microbes.