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This description of the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome includes a newly discovered sex chromosome. Interactions among sex, autosomes and environment show direct effects on Sphagnum growth which influences global carbon sequestration.
The authors show that photoperiod controls seed size in multiple plant species. CONSTANS, the central regulator of photoperiod, directly represses the transcription of AP2, thereby controlling seed size in both Arabidopsis and soybean.
LEAFY is a master transcription factor that regulates flower development through interaction with other proteins such as the F-box UFO. This study shows that UFO unexpectedly acts as a transcriptional cofactor that drives LEAFY to new genomic locations.
A 5,400-year record of climate and olive tree dynamics from the Mediterranean illuminates the detrimental consequences on olive agriculture that ongoing temperature increases will have during the twenty-first century.
Various clades of legume plants irreversibly modify the development of their symbiotic nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. Key transcription factors controlling this process have been identified. They are conserved and functional even in plant species that do not induce such a terminal differentiation.
During evolution, the acquisition of special types of cells and tissues requires new regulatory genes that control cell division and cell differentiation. Here, we found that stomatal basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are co-opted for the development of seta in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, which lacks true stomata.
In Arabidopsis, the final size of the seed is determined early on during its development by the growth of a single multinucleate cell, the coenocytic endosperm. The endosperm arises from a second fertilization event, alongside the embryo, and dominates the onset of seed development while later nourishing and supporting embryo growth.
Plant cells possess a bewildering number of different intracellular transport routes. A comprehensive interactome-based analysis on a set of core players unravels novel common components and surprising connections.
In land plants, the Ia and IIIb basic helix–loop–helix (Ia-IIIb bHLH) module regulates stomatal development. This study shows that a Ia-IIIb bHLH heterodimer, MpSETA-MpICE2, regulates seta formation in Marchantia and suggests a common mechanism underlying stomata and setae formation.
The maternal inheritance of organelles (such as chloroplasts and mitochondria) is the rule in most eukaryotes. In tobacco, chilling stress during pollen development and deactivation of an exonuclease that degrades organellar DNA facilitate paternal plastid transmission, thereby revealing that both genetic and environmental factors determine organelle inheritance.
Mutations in two single genes (AtPS1 and AtJAS) in Arabidopsis thaliana are individually sufficient to restore haploid male fertility with no effect on haploid female fertility. Genes restoring haploid male fertility can bypass laborious and resource-intensive chemical methods, thereby markedly increasing the efficiency of doubled haploid (DH) technology to accelerate crop breeding.
Ali and Shin et al. have characterized the cellular dynamics of coenocytic endosperm development in Arabidopsis thaliana. They demonstrate the role of actin filaments in controlling the final seed size.
Crops with broad-spectrum resistance to multiple diseases are highly desirable in agricultural production. This study reports a natural gene variant that produces a proteasome maturation factor and improves rice resistance to four notorious pathogens.
Mitochondria and plastids are usually inherited maternally. Using genetic screens in tobacco, this study shows that low temperatures and knockout of the organellar exonuclease DPD1 lead to paternal transmission of plastids at high frequencies.