Reviews & Analysis

Hormone-dependent suberin deposition is a key process in root development and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. A recent study demonstrates that long- and short-distance transport of abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) via four members of the nitrate and peptide transporter family (NPFs) is crucial for endodermal suberization in roots.

Only a limited subset of angiosperms produce cannabinoids. Evidence for the independent evolution of cannabinoid biosynthesis was discovered in the South African plant Helichrysum umbraculigerum. This discovery provides an alternative set of enzymes that will expand the synthetic biology toolbox for those interested in manipulating the pathway for drug discovery.

Sequences of almost 800 wheat genomes have retraced the history of wheat: when and where it was domesticated, how cultivation spread from its Middle Eastern centre of origin and how the genome adapted to selective pressures in new agricultural habitats, not least thanks to its ability to take up genes from wild cousins.

A tethering approach based on a LexA–CENH3 fusion protein in maize activates functional centromeres at synthetic LexO repeat arrays. The synthetic centromeres cause fragmentation of the resulting dicentric chromosomes, resulting in stably inherited and self-sustaining neochromosomes.

Using leaf explants and morphological regulator genes (Babyboom and Wuschel 2) driven by new promoter combinations, an efficient transformation and genome editing system is developed in maize and sorghum and successfully applied in seven other Poaceae grass species.

Various clades of legume plants irreversibly modify the development of their symbiotic nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. Key transcription factors controlling this process have been identified. They are conserved and functional even in plant species that do not induce such a terminal differentiation.

In Arabidopsis, the final size of the seed is determined early on during its development by the growth of a single multinucleate cell, the coenocytic endosperm. The endosperm arises from a second fertilization event, alongside the embryo, and dominates the onset of seed development while later nourishing and supporting embryo growth.

Plant cells possess a bewildering number of different intracellular transport routes. A comprehensive interactome-based analysis on a set of core players unravels novel common components and surprising connections.

In plant mitochondria, NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) and the cytochrome bc₁ complex (complex III) form a I + III₂ supercomplex, which is thought to stabilize the structure of the component complexes. Protein–protein interactions at three sites on the membrane arm of complex I partly resemble those in mammals, but also have plant-specific features.

Analysis of cambial development in the tree Populus trichocarpa reveals how a zinc-finger transcription factor, Populus trichocarpa VASCULAR CAMBIUM-SPECIFIC 2 (PtrVCS2), controls the rate of cell proliferation by changing the dynamics of histone acetylation at the Populus trichocarpa WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX4a (PtrWOX4a) promoter.