Research articles

Coffea stenophylla is a recently rediscovered, narrow-leaved wild coffee from Upper West Africa. Rigorous sensory evaluation (tasting) rates its flavour profile as analogous to high-quality Arabica coffee, but it can grow at much higher temperatures.

The light-dependent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (LPOR) is involved in chlorophyll synthesis and insertion into the thylakoid membrane. Here, a high-resolution structure of membrane-bound LPOR advances the mechanistic understanding of chlorophyll synthesis and thylakoid biogenesis.

Etioplasts are photosynthetically inactive plastids that are converted to chloroplasts under light exposure. To study thylakoid membrane biogenesis, cryo-electron tomography is used to image membranes isolated from etioplasts and reconstruct the architecture of proteins associated with the membrane.

Using the preserved remains of a short-winged flower beetle in mid-Cretaceous amber, this Article provides some of earliest clues as to the origins of angiosperm pollination.

Photosystems need auxiliary proteins to assist their assembly. Cryo-electron microscopy of a cyanobacterial photosystem II assembly intermediate at 2.94 Å reveals mechanisms protecting against photodamage during vulnerable stages of biogenesis.

Engineering over 60 promoter alleles in two tomato fruit size genes showed the complex interactions among cis-regulatory variants in shaping quantitative trait variation. Dissection of this complexity can guide predictable engineering of crop traits.

HIGH CROSSOVER RATE1 (HCR1) represses meiotic crossovers and encodes PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE X1, which therefore has a major role opposing the function of pro-recombination kinases to restrict crossovers in Arabidopsis.

Many genome-wide datasets from various sources are combined to generate an integrative gene regulatory network in Arabidopsis. This network is used to predict and validate new transcriptional regulators of ROS signalling.

The link between rhizosphere microbial community, root architecture and performance in nitrogen-poor soils is comprehensively investigated in maize, and the role of exuded flavone to promote specific beneficial bacterial taxa is characterized.

ABCG56, a cytokinin transporter, plays a role in the establishment of nodulation and nitrogen-fixing symbiosis in the model legume Medicago truncatula.

Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester cyclase catalyses the formation of the isocyclic ring in the synthesis of chlorophyll. Kinetic analyses and mass spectrometry identified intermediates in the reaction.

The perception of immune elicitors induces fast and massive transcriptional reprogramming. A comprehensive analysis of the response to seven molecules uncovers a core danger response and highlights the role of a family of calcium-permeable channels in immunity.

The wheat Pm4 gene conferring race-specific powdery mildew resistance is identified to encode a chimeric kinase-MCTP protein. Its two alternative splice variants interact to form an ER-associated complex and are both essential for resistance function.

Bitterness is one of the fruit traits that are most disliked by consumers. In this study, the authors identified and characterized a tonoplast membrane transporter in tomato fruit, which is responsible for the translocation of bitter α-tomatine and other derivatives from the vacuole to the cytoplasm for non-bitter conversion.

Species once considered extinct have now, through improved taxonomic knowledge and collection activities, been restored, with lessons for conservation policies both in Europe and globally.

Systemic nitrogen signalling controls root nitrogen acquisition. The regulatory pathways involve the CEP–CEPD network and the high-affinity nitrate transporter NRT2.1. In this study, the authors identified CEPH, a type 2C protein phosphatase, acting downstream of the CEPD/CEPDLs to regulate the activity of NRT2.1 and nitrate uptake in Arabidopsis.

Suberin is a complex hydrophobic biopolymer in the cell wall of various plant cell types, including the young root endodermis. Here, the authors identified two sets of auxin-regulated enzymes that mediate suberin biosynthesis and remodelling in the differentiated root endodermis in Arabidopsis.

Cuticular conductance to water is a key factor in determining plant survival in drought but is difficult to measure. Using an electrical resistance analogy for leaf gas exchange results in a more accurate calculation of gas exchange parameters.