Volume 3 Issue 11, November 2017

Plant growth and development depend on the integration of environmental cues with endogenous signals. Two recent manuscripts provide molecular insights into the mechanism of signal transduction for light and temperature, finding that both impinge on the stability of the PIF3 transcription factor.

Enzymes are a great example of the tight link between sequence, structure and function. A recent study of two dehydrogenases shows exactly how small changes in sequence can have great impacts on function.

Solid genetic and genomic data now reveal that high guanine–cytosine content can prevent transgenes from RNA silencing, and enhance expression and transgenerational stability.

Investigations of plant metabolism reveal how an enzyme variant with reduced feedback sensitivity may allow plants to switch their pigment palettes.

PEN3 is polarly localized at the outside of the epidermal layer in roots, and is involved in defence against penetrating pathogens. A forward genetic screen identifies a BTB/POZ protein needed for the correct localization and function of PEN3.

Plant cell wall consists of multiple components and complex structure. Here, ssNMR was used to investigate the physical interactions between two principle cell wall components, cellulose and xylan, and demonstrate the mechanism for their interactions

RIN has long been considered a major regulator for ripening induction in tomato as rin mutants fail to ripen. Now, a study shows that the rin allele is a gain-of-function, rather than null, mutation. RIN is not required for ripening initiation.

The molecular basis underlying transgene susceptibility to silencing remains elusive. Now, using multiple examples, a study shows that higher GC content of coding sequences can reduce susceptibility of transgenes to heritable silencing.

It is rarely reported that copy number variants (CNVs) might influence plant phenotypes. A genetic analysis now shows that a CNV silences the expression of the downstream FZP gene in rice and improves the yield by increasing the number of spikelets per panicle.

In early Arabidopsis embryos, cell-type-specific labelling of the nuclear envelope, followed by affinity-based isolation of tagged nuclei, is used to build a temporal and spatial transcriptome atlas of the developing embryo.