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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.
Plant-optimized transcription activator-like effector-linked deaminases enable site-specific A-to-G base editing in the chloroplast genome, leading to heritable homoplasmic base conversions and phenotypic changes.
For a long time, root hairs were believed to expand via tip growth only. This study shows that the root hair shank undergoes considerable expansion too, which coincides with the deposition of new cell wall material in the shank.
Manipulation of genetic exchange is an important objective of plant breeders. Using chromosome engineering to invert a 17.1 Mb fragment on chromosome 2 in Arabidopsis thaliana, meiotic recombination could be suppressed in nearly the entire chromosome.
Root exudates play a key role in modulating the soil microbiota. The export of bitter triterpenes (mediated by a Multidrug and Toxic Compound Extrusion protein) shapes the rhizosphere, leading to robust disease resistance.
Combining very high-resolution imagery of dryland forests worldwide with climate and aquifer data from the mid-Holocene period, this paper illustrates how geological forces of the past shaped today’s forests.
The development of root nodules implies tissue-specific epigenetic modifications of the plant genome, key for proper symbiotic gene expression and nodule activity. This study reveals the DNA methylation dynamics during nodule development.
The normalized difference vegetation index is an established remote sensing indicator for measuring greenspace, but this Letter highlights a potential drawback to be taken into account when applying the index in urban areas.
Gene regulation modulates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by as yet largely unknown effectors in plants. A systems biology approach identifies and characterizes GBF2 as a new transcriptional regulator of plant ER stress responses.
Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) can repress translation efficiency to achieve low but precise protein production. Wu et al. show that uORFs function to buffer a stable production of a clock protein, TOC1, for sustaining a robust circadian rhythm in plant cells.
Membrane receptor kinases are involved in many signalling pathways in plants. Here, the authors show that a common mechanism, consisting of a RLCK kinase and a PP2C phosphatase, regulates signalling downstream of receptors, both in immunity and development.
Gene duplication and subsequent paralogue diversification shape phenotypes. This study shows how paralogues controlling stem cell proliferation evolve over short time scales and provides an evo-devo perspective for trait engineering in crop design.
In hexaploid persimmon, the RADIALIS-like gene was identified as a key player in the reversion of male flowers to hermaphroditism. Interestingly, it acts independently of the pathways involved in the ancestral transitions away from hermaphroditism.
Equatorial latitudes are often assumed to be regions of high biodiversity from which new species radiate. However, late Silurian–Early Devonian strata show that during their first major diversification, land plants were less diverse in the tropics.
Terrestrial biosphere models use a temperature function for N fixation in trees that may not be accurate. This Letter presents evidence that higher temperatures, caused by global warming, may increase N fixation.
The crucial enzyme for photosynthesis, Rubisco, is deactivated during periods of shade and slowly recovers when illuminated. In fluctuating light conditions crop productivity could be substantially increased by slowing Rubisco deactivation during shade.
Over-expressing TaWOX5 substantially increases the transformation efficiencies of wheat and other cereals, including barley and maize, with reduced genotype dependency, and transformed transgenic plants can readily be screened using a visible phenotype.
A study finds that N-terminal RT–Cas9 nickase fusion, versus the commonly applied C-terminal fusion, and multiple-nucleotide substitutions in prime editing guide RNAs can synergistically and greatly enhance the efficiency of prime editor 3 in rice and maize.
Single-cell profiling of callus from hypocotyl explants shows the heterogeneity of this tissue and identifies gene networks needed for plant regeneration, in particular the essential roles of WOX5 and WOX7 in this biological process.
This study reports a donor DNA-free approach for gene knock-up based on CRISPR. It induced designed promoter swap or replacement for target genes by triggering genomic inversion or duplication so as to elevate gene expression and generate new traits.