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Rubisco catalyses the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into organic compounds in photosynthesis, and therefore plays a pivotal role in plant metabolism. The complex cellular machineries invovled in the assembly and metabolic repair of this most abundant enzyme are explored in this Review.
Cells associated with the male germlines of grasses produce huge amounts of small RNAs. A large survey of two types of small RNA in maize uncovers unique characteristics associated with male fertility, but the molecular mechanism by which these germline-associated small RNAs function remains unclear.
Overexpressing a receptor–ligand pair specifically in their native tissue domains dramatically promotes wood formation and biomass production in trees.
The tricarboxcylic acid cycle has been exhaustively studied for decades so it is not unreasonable to expect that it would retain few undiscovered surprises. However, experimental analyses in cyanobacteria show it to be remarkably plastic, dependent on what it is producing and how much.
Most orchid flowers have an enlarged median petal, the ‘lip’, which plays a crucial role in attracting pollinators. The existence and appearance of this organ is due to the presence of specific protein complexes involved in floral development, which are differentially expressed in orchid species with more or less pronounced lips.
Analysis of fruit development in Arabidopsis reveals how a four-component regulatory module, comprising a microRNA and three types of transcription factors, functions to control fruit size.
Breakthrough technologies to study living cells at the subcellular scale reveal that light modulates the dynamic and reversible morphological adaptation of peroxisomes to optimize metabolic exchanges with chloroplasts during photorespiration.
Messenger RNAs are translocated between plant shoots and roots in patterns that reflect directionality, environmental responsiveness, and organ targeting.
The diversity of agricultural systems has been minimized in order to maximize yields under favourable conditions. Diversification of agroecosystems may be required to maintain and stabilize yields in an increasingly unpredictable climate.
A new large-scale sequencing and phenotyping experiment of hybrid rice varieties leads to associations with genetic determinants whose mode of action was revealed.
The auxin receptor TIR1 is an F-box protein functioning in a ubiquitin ligase complex to target repressors for degradation. It is itself an unstable protein, but newly identified mutations protect both TIR1 and its substrates from degradation. These mutations could help in identifying the substrates for hundreds of other F-box proteins.
The nitrate transporter NRT1.1 is a versatile plasma-membrane protein that mediates not only nitrate uptake in roots, but also nitrate sensing and signalling. A study of the structural features of NRT1.1 reveals how this protein can coordinate a range of physiological and morphological responses to nitrate.
Animal microRNAs appear to either cleave or repress the translation of target messenger RNAs depending on complementarity between the two. Contrastingly, the biogenesis of plant microRNAs seems to dictate their mode of action.
The protein content of plant cells is constantly being updated. Proteomic analyses are revealing the cellular processes that contribute to protein synthesis and degradation in plants, and their sensitivity to developmental and environmental change.
Transposons are a major component of many plant genomes. A comparison of two related species differing in genome size and transposon content provides an opportunity to study how transposons contribute to shaping the genome and epigenome.
Asymmetric cell divisions establish the patterning of stomata in maize. PAN receptor-like kinases were thought to start a signalling cascade leading to pre-mitotic polarization of the cell. Re-analysis of mutants now reveals that the SCAR/WAVE complex is involved in the early initiation of polarity in mother cells.
The development of a new jasmonate reporter further extends the tools that add greater detail to the investigation of plant hormones. Such reporters for the various types of plant hormones, exploiting different aspects of their activity, will help us to eventually study hormone signalling, distribution and dynamics in intact tissue.
A 180-year-old ‘law’ in zoology has found its best support so far in a study of floral colour, which not only documents darker plants growing closer to the equator, but also supports the idea that the colour stems from ultraviolet protection.
