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Plants contain small levels of cholesterol. Analysis of transcripts, proteins and individual gene silencing in tomato identifies a biosynthetic pathway involving 12 enzymes that is shown to be functional by expression of the full set in Arabidopsis.
The genetic model for heterostyly in Primula involves two floral morphs, pin and thrum, with reciprocal anther and stigma heights. This study reveals that the thrum morph is hemizygous and controlled by a cluster of five linked genes absent in the pin morph.
The CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco from Paniceae grasses shows extensive variation in kinetic responses. Amino acid substitutions in the large subunit could be a route to tailoring the properties of crop Rubiscos to suit future climates.
Different cucurbits produce cucurbitacins with varied structures and activities. A comparative genomic study illustrates the genetic basis of cucurbitacin differentiation and tissue-specific cucurbitacin synthesis.
Plants sense bacterial invaders through the binding of non-self molecular patterns and membrane receptors. Natural variation in tomato is used to identify a new receptor for cold-shock protein that can be used to enhance immunity in other species.
Crassulacean plants have high water-use efficiency and are resilient to drought. A system-wide comparative analysis of protein, transcript and metabolite variations in Agave is presented and may help to transfer this efficiency to other crops.
The evolution of sex-biased gene expression in plants is elusive. By comparing the transcriptomes of two closely related species of different mating systems, a study has found that the change in expression preferentially occurred in females and in sex-linked genes.
The legume–Rhizobium symbiosis allows nitrogen fixation. Development of nodules is a finely regulated developmental process that involves a DNA demethylase called DEMETER, linking epigenetic regulation and symbiosis.
The Arabidopsis ROS1 is the first characterized DNA demethylase in eukaryotes. Now, an epigenomic study has revealed the features of ROS1-targeted genomic loci and identified a new class of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) targets.
A proof-of-concept study developed and validated a high-accuracy model to predict traits based on genotypes using data from a set of sorghum accessions, demonstrating a global strategy to assess and utilize the valuable germplasms in gene banks.
Small RNAs (sRNAs) expressed in plants that target the Dicer-like (DCLs) genes of a fungal pathogen are shown to effectively silence the fungal DCLs and reduce pathogenicity after being taken up, demonstrating fungus–plant sRNA trafficking and a new approach for fungus control.
Invading plant species have direct and indirect effects on both native and other non-native species. This meta-analysis finds that while non-native plants negatively affect all their neighbours, they affect natives around twice as harshly as other non-natives.
The predicted rise in CO2 levels during this century is expected to stimulate crop yields, offsetting losses from greater drought. But this study, using free-air CO2 enrichment, shows soybean yield gains dropping to zero as drought stress increased.
A quadruple mutant of Arabidopsis lacking all four subunits of light harvesting complex I (LHCI) compensates by binding LHCII complexes to photosystem I instead. This maintained similar excitation energy transfer efficiency but with a much reduced absorption cross-section.
Leaves vary their temperatures to improve their physiological performance. Theoretical considerations predict, and data for diverse taxa show, a moderate level of leaf thermoregulation maximizing net carbon assimilation.
FLS2 is the well-known plasma membrane receptor for flg22, a specific region of bacterial flagellin. But Solanaceae can also detect flagellin through another epitope, flgII-28, thanks to the novel receptor-like kinase FLS3 now identified in tomato.
In Arabidopsis, the Polycomb proteins mediate an epigenetic memory system that is important for gene silencing via histone methylation during development. Two novel deubiquitinases, UBP12 and UBP13, have now been identified and characterized in this regulatory network.
Little is known about how hybrid taxa become established as new species. Studying floral morphology evolution in different Nicotiana allopolyploids shows transgressive shortening and broadening of the corolla accompanies hybrid species formation/hybridization.
The Casparian strip (CS) is a hydrophobic endodermal barrier isolating the cortex from the vasculature in the roots. A visual genetic screen identifies SCHENGEN1, a novel receptor-like kinase crucial for the integrity and positioning of the CS.
Genetic resistance to pathogens is costly, but plants maintain R-gene diversity. The authors show that, in the absence of disease, both resistant and susceptible alleles of RPS2 provide a fitness benefit compared with an artificial deletion.