News & Views

The effect of DNA methylation on gene expression has been known for decades. However, the mechanism by which DNA methylation functions to repress transcription has remained a major question in the field. Wang et al. now narrow this gap through their examination of the methylation binding protein MBD2 and expose how DNA methylation is read upstream of transcriptional repression.

The Lycopodium alkaloids represent a valuable source of neuroactive compounds. The biosynthesis of these specialized metabolites is now shown to involve three α-carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes that are responsible for constructing the key carbon–carbon bonds within their distinctive polycyclic alkaloid structures.

A full pot of diversity is discovered in the tea pangenome.

In angiosperms, the proliferation and differentiation of egg and central cells need to be repressed before fertilization. Autonomous endosperm development has been observed and well-studied in Arabidopsis mutants of FERTILIZATION INDEPENDENT SEED (FIS)-class POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 (PRC2), but how defects of PRC2 components affect embryo development remains unclear. Wu et al. now describe an essential clue for understanding parthenogenetic embryogenesis from the rice double mutant osfie1 osfie2.

By assembling a high-quality carrot reference genome and resequencing 630 accessions, a study by Coe et al. reveals the transformative journey of carrot from wild progenitor to modern cultivar and the concomitant accumulation of carotenoids in its taproot.

Single-nucleus transcriptomic analysis of Medicago roots reveals dynamic cell-specific responses to the Nod factor — a bacterially secreted chito-lipopolysaccharide with a key role in the root nodule symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia — and identifies the receptor-like kinase FERONIA as a phosphorylation target of the Nod factor receptor LYK3, which together function to control nodule formation and bacterial infection.

To control the movement of water and nutrients, vascular plants seal the paracellular space between adjacent endodermal cells with a tight junction-like complex comprising the Casparian strip and Casparian strip membrane domain. In rice, GAPLESS proteins mediate the attachment of these two components and enable nutrient homeostasis.

A robust strategy to obtain edited crops without integration of a transgene is developed based on co-editing the ALS gene and a gene of interest.

The inclusion of retrotransposon long terminal repeats — and of other repeated sequences — enhances transfer DNA copy numbers in plant cells during transformation. Gene editing and homologous recombination-mediated gene targeting can therefore be improved by these means: however, the mechanism remains a mystery.

Phenolic acids, such as salicylic acid, are part of a mechanism that helps to suppress the growth of neighbouring plants. New work shows that phenolic acids inhibit global translation by promoting the sequestration of ribosomal subunits into stress granules.

Highly repetitive regions such as centromeres bedevilled genome assembly for decades until a recent flurry of gapless genome publications. Attention is now focused on interpreting the chromatin within these most repetitive regions, as illustrated by a new paper on simultaneously measuring open chromatin and DNA methylation using long-read sequencing.

A new study reveals that epigenetic mechanism mediates temperature control of callose synthase expression to regulate opening of plasmodesmata and facilitate bud sprouting in lilies.

High-quality genomes of the cultivated strawberry’s progenitors provide the strongest evidence to date for the identity and chromosomal composition of the four subgenomes of octoploid strawberry.

Organisms have developed specialized and intricate mechanisms to cope with environmental threats that depend on their natural habitat and ability to move. Arabidopsis demonstrates an impressive adaptation using cryptochrome 1 to maintain genomic stability through a blue-light-mediated process that involves the recruitment of repair proteins to double-strand breaks.

The destructive panicle disease rice false smut is caused by the biotrophic fungus Ustilaginoidea virens. Disease-suppressive microorganisms present in rice panicles have now been found to mediate fungal resistance by modulating the metabolism of the host plant.

The nucleoskeleton maintains nuclear integrity and chromatin organization at the inner nuclear surface. Here, Wang et al. revealed a disassociation of nuclear skeleton proteins from the nuclear periphery upon heat stress, which affects genome architecture and alters gene expression.

Transcriptomics of nitrogen-fixing plants and their symbionts reveals the origins of root-nodulating symbiosis and how it has endured more in some groups than others

The new structure for the H⁺-coupled sucrose uptake transporter AtSUC1 helps us understand the mechanism used by plants for cellular sucrose uptake and phloem loading.

The regulatory networks that underlie the regeneration capacity of wheat reveal new opportunities for overcoming barriers to highly efficient and genotype-independent transformation.

Short-term heat stress affects the morphology and function of the plant Golgi apparatus in a reversible manner. The autophagy component AUTOPHAGY 8 relocalizes to heat stress-induced vacuolated Golgi cisternae and contributes to their restoration, revealing a role of this protein outside of the canonical autophagy pathway.