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Comparative and evolutionary genomics analyses for more than 1,600 re-sequenced maize lines identified vast amounts of differentially and complementary selected regions and genes among female and male heterotic groups used in modern hybrid maize breeding.
Regulation of organ growth involves multiple pathways that coordinate cell number and size in a process that is highly dependent on nutrient supply and energy levels. The simplicity of the Arabidopsis root tip provides a suitable model for the genetic dissection of plant organ growth regulation.
In the phloem of vascular plants, distinct cell types are arranged in precise positions to ensure effective loading, transport and unloading of photosynthates and signalling molecules. Feedback between transcription factors and mobile peptides triggers and controls the differentiation of phloem at the growing root tip.
Organisms living at elevation are exposed to a constant state of hypoxia compared to those at low altitude. A recent study1 has shown that flowering plants acclimatize to high altitude through natural variation in molecular oxygen (O2) sensing, with high-altitude populations exhibiting increased O2 sensitivity to balance physiological and metabolic outputs. This finding demonstrates convergent mechanisms for altitude adaptation across eukaryotic kingdoms despite differences in the hypoxia-signalling pathways of plants and animals.
Arabidopsis embryonic root development involves the formation of distinct cell types and tissues in a tightly regulated and thereby highly predictable spatio-temporal manner. A crosstalk between maternal and embryonic genes orchestrates division orientation and fate specification to control root development.
The analysis of the 11-gigabase, hexaploid oat genome reveals a mosaic chromosome structure with complex rearrangements related to polyploidization. The high-quality oat reference genome will facilitate the molecular identification of health food traits and the implementation of genomics-based oat breeding.
Worldwide, vitamin D deficiency affects around 1 billion people. A recent study indicates that blocking a duplicated branch of phytosterol biosynthesis in tomato leads to provitamin D3 accumulation.
How T-DNAs become incorporated into the host chromosome has been a subject of lively debate for the last quarter century. Kralemann et al. report data revealing the mechanism of genomic capture of the right border and validating the role of DNA polymerase θ in the capture of the left border.
Same Cas9 protein, two different jobs: the CRISPR-Combo genome engineering strategy enables simultaneous gene activation and genome editing for different targets through changes to the guide RNA structure.
Theory and single-cell experiments outline a new role for upstream open reading frames in buffering cellular heterogeneity in protein abundance at the translation level.
Extensive genetics and genomics analyses reveal the co-transcriptional processing mode of primary substrates of microRNAs in Arabidopsis, and an unexpected promoting role of R-loops in the process.
Genome sequences and expression data for partly and wholly mycoheterotrophic orchids shed light on shifts in nuclear genes that may help drive dependence on fungi for carbon.
The first complete cycad genome offers an invaluable solution to sex determination, one of the largest conservation challenges in these enigmatic plants.
Theory predicts duplicate genes will evolve new functions or be lost from genomes rather than maintain redundant functions. Kwon et al. show that redundant plant genes can be maintained if they actively compensate for perturbation of their partners at the shoot tip, but that this might not be an evolutionarily stable strategy to stave off degenerative mutations.
Development of flowers typically employs conserved molecular pathways and recurrent sets of homologous genes. A new study shows that a homologue of RADIALIS, a gene well known to control flower symmetry, is recruited to serve a different function.
A recent study suggests that the optimal temperature for symbiotic nitrogen fixation rates exceeds the plant’s preferred growth temperature in laboratory conditions. A few degrees of warming could thereby increase or decrease nitrogen fixation rates, depending on the optimal rate among species.
Growth defects associated with disruption of the mildew susceptibility gene MLO are rescued in bread wheat and Arabidopsis by transcriptional activation of a proximal monosaccharide transporter
The difference in phloem pressure is the driving force that moves photosynthetic products and other solutes from the source to the sink. Measurements with emerging technologies reveal that sugar loading is not essential for maintaining phloem pressure and phloem bulk flow in the maize sugar-loading-defective mutant sut1.
Dual recognition specificity of an MLA immune receptor in barley demonstrates that the deployment of mildew-resistant cultivars by plant breeders has unintentionally affected nonhost resistance to wheat stripe rust.
