Reviews & Analysis

In angiosperms, the proliferation and differentiation of egg and central cells need to be repressed before fertilization. Autonomous endosperm development has been observed and well-studied in Arabidopsis mutants of FERTILIZATION INDEPENDENT SEED (FIS)-class POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 (PRC2), but how defects of PRC2 components affect embryo development remains unclear. Wu et al. now describe an essential clue for understanding parthenogenetic embryogenesis from the rice double mutant osfie1 osfie2.

By assembling a high-quality carrot reference genome and resequencing 630 accessions, a study by Coe et al. reveals the transformative journey of carrot from wild progenitor to modern cultivar and the concomitant accumulation of carotenoids in its taproot.

Single-nucleus transcriptomic analysis of Medicago roots reveals dynamic cell-specific responses to the Nod factor — a bacterially secreted chito-lipopolysaccharide with a key role in the root nodule symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia — and identifies the receptor-like kinase FERONIA as a phosphorylation target of the Nod factor receptor LYK3, which together function to control nodule formation and bacterial infection.

Two independently evolved lineages of holoparasites — Balanophora (Santalales) and Sapria (Malpighiales) — display massively convergent characteristics of genome modifications, including gene loss in major pathways, reduction of multigene families and generally relaxed selection pressure. These findings provide valuable new insights into the fascinating biology of parasitic plants.

We identified ZmGLK36, a resistance gene against rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV), in maize. ZmGLK36 mediates resistance by regulating jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis and JA-mediated defence response; it also grants resistance to RBSDV to other cereal crops, such as rice and wheat.

To control the movement of water and nutrients, vascular plants seal the paracellular space between adjacent endodermal cells with a tight junction-like complex comprising the Casparian strip and Casparian strip membrane domain. In rice, GAPLESS proteins mediate the attachment of these two components and enable nutrient homeostasis.

A robust strategy to obtain edited crops without integration of a transgene is developed based on co-editing the ALS gene and a gene of interest.

This Perspective presents an historical overview and recent advances on adenylate cyclases (ACs) and cAMP signalling in plants, including an exploration of the active AC functions moonlighting within multifunctional protein complexes.

Previous genetic engineering of plant secondary cell walls targeted its core polymers to facilitate their extractability. The ectopic introduction of the polymer callose into poplar wood secondary cell walls modifies the ultrastructure of cellulose microfibril aggregates and suggests new avenues when considering biomass genetic engineering.

We identified the auxin transport-dependent molecular framework that underpins the setting, maintenance and regulation of non-vertical growth patterns in lateral roots of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

The inclusion of retrotransposon long terminal repeats — and of other repeated sequences — enhances transfer DNA copy numbers in plant cells during transformation. Gene editing and homologous recombination-mediated gene targeting can therefore be improved by these means: however, the mechanism remains a mystery.

Phenolic acids, such as salicylic acid, are part of a mechanism that helps to suppress the growth of neighbouring plants. New work shows that phenolic acids inhibit global translation by promoting the sequestration of ribosomal subunits into stress granules.

Highly repetitive regions such as centromeres bedevilled genome assembly for decades until a recent flurry of gapless genome publications. Attention is now focused on interpreting the chromatin within these most repetitive regions, as illustrated by a new paper on simultaneously measuring open chromatin and DNA methylation using long-read sequencing.

Nicotiana benthamiana is a workhorse for fundamental research and biotechnology. We assembled and annotated the allotetraploid chromosomal-level genomes and epigenomes of the laboratory strain and a wild strain of Nicotiana benthamiana, creating a reference genome for the genus Nicotiana.

A new study reveals that epigenetic mechanism mediates temperature control of callose synthase expression to regulate opening of plasmodesmata and facilitate bud sprouting in lilies.

High-quality genomes of the cultivated strawberry’s progenitors provide the strongest evidence to date for the identity and chromosomal composition of the four subgenomes of octoploid strawberry.

Plant organ growth relies on intrinsic genetic factors and sufficient supply of nutrients, including metal ions. This work reveals that the transcription factors SOD7 and DPA4 interact with the transcriptional coactivator GIF1 to coordinate plant organ size control and iron uptake by competing with growth and iron uptake regulators.

The authors hypothesize that effector-triggered immunity in plants is a quarantining mechanism that prevents disease by inducing localized acquired resistance, a strong defence response that occurs around the cells containing the pathogen.

Using population genomics, we reveal the global dispersal history of eelgrass (Zostera marina) from its origin in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, across to the East Pacific, Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Striking differences in genetic diversity among the locations reflect past glaciations and repeated bottlenecks during Z. marina’s worldwide colonization.

Organisms have developed specialized and intricate mechanisms to cope with environmental threats that depend on their natural habitat and ability to move. Arabidopsis demonstrates an impressive adaptation using cryptochrome 1 to maintain genomic stability through a blue-light-mediated process that involves the recruitment of repair proteins to double-strand breaks.