Volume 4 Issue 3, March 2018

Bacterial pathogens have a multitude of effectors that target plant host cells and promote disease. A case is made for a new suspect, phytate, as a target of a novel phytase activity for a type III effector of Xanthomonas.

Investigations of natural recovery in plants infected with oilseed rape mosaic virus unveil how secondary siRNAs mediate the attenuation of viral suppressors of RNA silencing and sink-to-source disease recovery.

To reduce climate warming we must stop adding CO₂ to the atmopshere, and develop approaches for removing it. Adding crushed, fast-reacting silicate rocks to croplands could improve productivity, restore soil quality and reduce atmospheric CO₂.

This Perspective discusses recent progress in base editing, as well as potential applications in research and biotechnology.

Systemin was the first peptide hormone discovered in plants almost 30 years ago. Here, the receptor for systemin is finally identified and is shown to be important in the response against insect herbivores.

The mechanism underlying plant virus-induced disease recovery remains elusive. Now, it is found that recovery involves the loss of viral-silencing suppressor protein activity mediated by the RNA silencing pathways, which thereby establishes virus tolerance.

Plants employing crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) have improved water-use efficiency (WUE). Diel flux balance analysis of leaf metabolic networks shows that engineering CAM into C₃ crops should increase WUE without substantial loss of yield.

In maize, a small apoplastic peptide named Zip1 is the missing link between papain-like cysteine proteases and salicylic acid (SA) signalling. Zip1 can trigger defence responses similar to SA and affect immunity towards pathogenic fungi.

In plants, RNA-directed DNA methylation requires non-coding RNAs transcribed by RNA polymerase V (Pol V). A modified global nuclear run-on protocol and deep sequencing to capture Pol V nascent transcripts uncovered unique characteristics of Pol V RNAs.