Volume 1 Issue 4, April 2015

The diversity of agricultural systems has been minimized in order to maximize yields under favourable conditions. Diversification of agroecosystems may be required to maintain and stabilize yields in an increasingly unpredictable climate.

Analysis of fruit development in Arabidopsis reveals how a four-component regulatory module, comprising a microRNA and three types of transcription factors, functions to control fruit size.

Messenger RNAs are translocated between plant shoots and roots in patterns that reflect directionality, environmental responsiveness, and organ targeting.

Breakthrough technologies to study living cells at the subcellular scale reveal that light modulates the dynamic and reversible morphological adaptation of peroxisomes to optimize metabolic exchanges with chloroplasts during photorespiration.

There's a lack of knowledge on the extent to which mRNAs are transported across tissues in plants. Now a study combining RNA-seq with grafting experiments identifies 2,006 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana that generate mobile mRNAs.

Plant organs bend in response to external stimuli such as light or gravity. This study documents the role of the actin–myosin cytoskeleton in the process by which the organs stop bending once they reach adequate posture.

Plant species diversity regulates the productivity and stability of natural ecosystems and their resilience to disturbance. Experiments in a managed grassland suggest that whereas species diversity promotes livestock fodder production, genetic diversity enhances the temporal stability of that production.

A gene that helps protect potatoes from destructive late blight is identified in a wild relative. It encodes a membrane receptor-like protein, the first discovered in this system, and makes cultivated potato plants more resistant to a broad range of pathogens.

Plant cell organelles interact dynamically, most notably during photosynthesis. A femtosecond laser technology, that creates localized micro-shockwaves, is used to precisely analyse adhesion forces between peroxisomes, mitochondria and chloroplasts.

The mechanism of how plant growth is controlled during the reproductive phase is not well understood. Now a study reveals a new miRNA-dependent module integrating auxin signalling and developmental pathways to promote Arabidopsis fruit morphogenesis.