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Photosynthetic organisms minimize potential harm from excess light by protection mechanisms collectively referred to as non-photochemical quenching. Two proteins involved in quenching, DAMAGED DNA-BINDING 1 and DE-ETIOLATED 1, are part of a complex containing CULLIN 4.
A distinct feature of pollen gains is their resistant outer wall, called the exine, which is mainly composed of sporopollenin, the toughest biopolymer known to date despite an unknown detailed structure. Now, a structural model of pine sporopollenin is revealed by the application of new degradation chemistry and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
A high-quality reference genome for the plant Liriodendron chinense places magnoliids as sister to the clade consisting of eudicots and monocots. Population genomic analyses unravel the evolution of two distinct species in the genus Liriodendron.
Detection of extrachromosomal linear DNAs in crops with large and transposon-rich genomes is challenging. Now an approach named ALE-sequencing is developed, allowing for the sensitive detection of active LTR retrotransposons in rice and tomato.
The authors focus on PIN2 during cell division in root cells to investigate how polarity is maintained during cytokinesis. Re-establishment of polarity is a cell-intrinsic process that depends on secretion, endocytosis and other proteins, such as the WAG1 kinase.
The genes FANCM, RECQ4 and FIGL1 affect meiotic recombination in Arabidopsis. By examining the effects of their orthologues on recombination in three crop species, the authors find that mutating RECQ4 could be a universal tool for increasing recombination.
A substantially improved genome assembly of Medicago truncatula generated using PacBio sequencing allows for the analyses about genome rearrangements, transposable elements, new players and candidate genomic regions involved in nodule development.
Assembling genomes to chromosome scale remains a challenge. Now, a study reports a strategy based on nanopore long reads and optical maps and uses it to produce high-quality chromosome-scale assemblies for the genomes of yellow sarson, broccoli and banana.
Root hairs are frequently used to study tip growth in plants. Most of the research was focused on the polarized tip region. Now, a mechanism involving PtdIns(4,5)P2 and a plant-specific Rho-GTPase is proposed to be required for hardening the shank of growing root hairs.
Nitrogen deficiency can lead to severe senescence and harvest losses. The regulatory mechanism depends on the NAC-domain-containing transcription factor ORE1. Now researchers have elucidated the critical post-translational pathway that regulates the protein levels of ORE1.
The supramolecular organization of photosystem I (PSI) in the moss Physcomitrella patens is elucidated by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, showing its structural organization is different from either Chlamydomonas reinhardtii or Arabidopsis thaliana.
Plant primary and secondary cell walls have distinct features and functions. Now, scientists have successfully replaced the secondary cell wall in Arabidopsis xylem fibres with a thick primary cell wall by specifically overexpressing AP2/ERF transcription factors.
Crop fungal diseases pose great threats to global food security. This study isolates and characterizes three BED-domain-containing immune receptor genes from hexaploid wheat that confer resistance to yellow rust with distinct recognition specificities.
Symbiotic nitrogen fixation is one of the most important sources of nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, the researchers demonstrate that light availability is an outstanding driver of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in tropical leguminous trees.
A study finds a novel mechanism of plant dosage compensation, where genomic imprinting results in higher expression of maternal X chromosomes, by examining the evolutionarily young XY sex determination system of Silene latifolia.
REF6 is a histone demethylase that antagonizes the effect of the Polycomb gene-silencing complex. Genome-wide approaches on a novel triple mutant show that REF6 and its paralogues dynamically and spatially restrict Polycomb activity during development.
Pectin, the major gelling component of the plant cell wall, is rich in galacturonic acids that compose the backbones of pectic polysaccharides. Now, researchers have identified a new family of enzymes responsible for synthesizing the backbone of pectin, RG-I.
This study provides a map of N6-methyladenine in the rice genome, examines its association with gene expression and 5-methylcytosine and reports a potential demethylase for this epigenomic mark.
Fossil records suggest that the Amazon rainforest in the pre-Columbian era was home to polyculture agroforestry, with multiple annual crops providing subsistence for indigenous groups who shaped the Amazon as early as 4,500 years ago.
In Arabidopsis, the pattern of auxin in the early embryo and surrounding tissues before and after pollination suggests that the auxin needed for embryo development comes from the adjacent maternal integument tissue.