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The failure of Liberica coffee as a global crop plant by the turn of the twentieth century was due to a number of factors, including the inappropriate selection of material for global dissemination. Renewed interest in this species, particularly in the excelsa variant, is evident across the coffee supply chain. In a warming world, and in an era beset with supply chain disruption, Liberica coffee could re-emerge as a major crop plant.
This Perspective reviews recent advances in crop transformation technologies that promise to lead to the widespread adoption of genome editing in crop species.
The long and trailing vines of most cucurbits represent an undomesticated trait that hampers dense planting and yields, and also incurs a high labour cost. A targeted artificial evolution strategy was developed to suppress stem elongation of cucurbits in a dose-dependent manner, thereby enhancing yield and reducing labour costs.
This study describes a targeted artificial evolution strategy to create a continuum of compact phenotypes in cucurbit crops for higher yield and labour efficiency, based on screening natural populations and artificially generating novel variants.
A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of vegetation maximum gross primary production is lacking. Here the authors show that the seasonal peak photosynthesis is hindered by late canopy development due to climatic and nutrient limitations.
The TPLATE complex (TPC) is an ancient multi-subunit adaptor complex, essential for clathrin-mediated endocytosis in plants. We found that the evolutionary specific SH3 domain on the large TPC subunit, TASH3, recognizes ubiquitinated cargo proteins at the plasma membrane, providing a link between endocytosis and internalization of ubiquitinated proteins.
Three classes of SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes exist in Arabidopsis that differentially regulate chromatin accessibility, gene expression and development.
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.
Ubiquitination triggers endocytosis of proteins from the plasma membrane. The TASH3 subunit of the TPLATE complex recognizes ubiquitinated proteins via its SH3 domain-containing appendage and initiates their internalization from the plasma membrane.
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.
Appropriate root system architecture (RSA) is essential for efficient water and nutrient use, especially in high-density planting conditions in intensive maize cropping systems. Modern maize breeding has favoured steeper, narrower root systems. We identified two auxin-related genes, ZmRSA3.1 and ZmRSA3.2, which can potentially be used for future improvement of maize RSA.
The root-related changes in maize domestication, improvement and modern breeding were systematically investigated, and candidate genes related to maize root system architecture were identified for future genetic improvement.