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Vascular plants use osmotic pressure differences to transport sugars. A synthetic microfluidic model explores the nonlinear dynamics of this process, showing that passive loading is sufficient to drive long-distance transport in large plants and trees.
The Malawian Farm Input Subsidy Programme has been credited with transforming the country's food security. However, an analysis based on net photosynthesis shows that production gains and the efficacy of fertilizer subsidies may have been overestimated.
It is shown that the balance of van der Waals and electrostatic forces can explain grana stacking in chloroplasts. Electrostatic forces vary with phosphorylation of proteins, producing contrasting effects on stacking and intra-membrane organization.
BRITTLE LEAF SHEATH1, which belongs to a novel class of Golgi-localized esterases, acts as a xylan deacetylase in rice. This is the first report that shows the importance of xylan deacetylation for proper function of the plant secondary cell wall.
Chloroplasts are ancient prokaryotes that divide by constriction of a ring-like division machinery. Structural determination of the intermembrane region of the ARC6–PDV2 complex helps to understand the coordination between inner and outer rings.
In thylakoid membranes, photosystem I (PSI) forms a supercomplex with its light-harvesting antenna, light-harvesting complex I (LHC1). This crystal structure of plant PSI–LHCI shows details of the configuration of PsaK and integral networks of water molecules and lipids.
The rice resistance gene Xa4, which protects rice against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, is widely used in global rice production. Now, a study reveals that Xa4 encodes a cell-wall-associated kinase that improves multiple agronomic traits by regulating cell wall strength.
The two GRAS transcription factors SHR and SCR play a role in root development by interacting with proteins of the BIRD/IDD family, such as JACKDAW. Structural and biochemical characterization of the three components explains how the subunits interact together and with DNA.
The PsbS protein is essential in triggering non-photochemical quenching. Antibody pull-down assays show that a combination of ΔpH and zeaxanthin increases PsbS binding to specific minor proteins in the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II.
A Catharanthus roseus tonoplast-localized transporter has been identified and characterized to export strictosidine, the central intermediate of terpene and alkaloid biosynthesis pathways, from the vacuole to the cytosol.
Application of pathogen-specific double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was proposed as an approach against plant viruses. However, the instability of dsRNA hampers its application. Now, a study has used clay nanosheets to deliver dsRNA and obtain sustained protection against viruses.
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.