Volume 2 Issue 7, July 2016

Climate change will pose diverse challenges for pollination this century. Identifying and addressing these challenges will help to mitigate impacts, and avoid a scenario whereby plants and pollinators are in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’.

Prolonged and intensive breeding of wheat has produced varieties that would be unrecognizable to our ancestors. Such artificial selection can risk prioritizing traits of value to producers over those of importance to consumers. So is there evidence that crop improvement has left modern wheat nutritionally impoverished?

Trichomes are specific epidermal cells often functional in protection, seed dispersal and, less frequently, development. A MIXTA-like MYB transcription factor from cotton, GhMYBML10, has been shown to control petal trichome formation. Interestingly, the petal trichomes act as natural Velcro in maintaining correct flower bud shape, ensuring seed production.

The electrostatic charge at the inner surface of the plasma membrane is strongly negative in higher organisms. A new study shows that phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate plays a critical role in establishing plasma membrane surface charge in Arabidopsis, which regulates the correct localization of signalling components.

The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis maximizes water collection in dry environments by collecting water droplets from fog using the tiny hairs on the end of its leaves and passing them down through the plant, rather than taking water up through the roots.

A study using population genomic data of domesticated and wild maize shows that purifying selection plays a major role in shaping maize diversity, and the efficacy of purifying selection increased following post-domestication population expansion.

Cellular membranes have specific lipidic compositions that influence their biophysical properties. PtdIns4P accumulates in the plasma membrane and modifies its inner surface charge, which controls the localization and function of signalling proteins.

The widespread trichomes in plants have been known to bear multiple forms and functions. Now a study reveals a previously unknown function of trichomes in controlling the development of flower bud shape by linking together young petals.

The relationship between the two complexes HRD1 and DOA10 in the ER-associated protein degradation system has remained largely unknown. Now, a study shows that the HDR1 complex negatively regulates a component of the DOA10 complex in both plants and animals.

Chloroplasts come from ancient bacteria and are still able to divide, thanks to a contractile ring composed of FtsZ1/2 proteins. An analysis of this mechanism reveals that, similarly to tubulin, FtsZ proteins heteropolymerize to form filaments.