Biotic articles from across Nature Portfolio

Asian soybean rust (ASR) is a devastating disease of soybean. Here, the author report the identification of an atypical pair of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) encoding genes and how they function together to confer broad-spectrum resistance to ASR.

Huang et al. show how plant Sw-5b NLR mimics the ABA receptor to activate ABA-dependent antiviral immunity via the PP2C-SnRK2 complex. They reveal that Sw-5b NLR induces ABA accumulation, upregulates ABA response genes, and triggers defense against viral infections by releasing SnRK2 from  PP2C inhibition.

Powdery mildew is a fungal leaf disease that reduces yield and grain quality in susceptible wheat varieties. Here, the authors report the cloning of the wild emmer wheat originated powdery mildew resistance gene Pm36 as a membrane associated tandem kinase and its possible resistance mechanism.

Upon stress, plants activate a signaling cascade leading to resistance or stress adaptation. Here, Ang & Saju et al. use sensor multiplexing to elucidate the interplay between H₂O₂ and SA signaling as plants mount stress-specific defense responses.

We reveal that a family of plant stress-induced signalling peptides, SERINE-RICH ENDOGENOUS PEPTIDES (SCOOPs), is much larger than originally thought, and identify key proteases required for their biogenesis. We find that impairing SCOOP biogenesis phenocopies a mutant of the SCOOP receptor MALE DISCOVERER 1-INTERACTING RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 2 (MIK2).

Genetic improvement of disease resistance in crops often incurs a yield penalty. We identified the ERAD-related ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme OsUBC45 as a positive regulator of rice resistance against multiple pathogens while also improving yield. The underlying mechanism involves OsUBC45 facilitating ubiquitination-mediated degradation of negative regulators of rice yield and immunity.

Nano-enabled fertilizers and pesticides can bring new economic benefits to agricultural practices with reduced environmental impacts. Moving forward, nano-enabled agrochemicals should continue to be optimized for greater efficiency.

Sweet potato weevils (SPWs) pose one of the greatest challenges to sweet potato production worldwide; however, the genetic basis of SPW resistance remains unclear. This study identifies two major SPW resistance genes in sweet potato and provides new insights into the mechanisms by which sweet potato defends against SPWs.

Translation reprogramming in plants in response to innate-immunity induction relies on a novel cap-independent translation pathway.