Volume 4 Issue 5, May 2018

New radiocarbon dates of wheat remains from the lower Yellow River valley suggest that the west crop had been introduced to east China around 2600 bce (Before Common Era), rewriting the history of the spread of wheat into China.

Metabolon-formation governs the biosynthetic efficiency of natural plant products. Identification of membrane-anchored proteins has now led to discovery of the metabolic channelling mechanism of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.

Microbial communities are not only of great importance in the human gut, but also play irreplaceable roles in sustaining plant growth and functions. In this Perspective, strategies to optimize microbiome usage in agroecosystems are proposed.

This Review highlights current understanding of how polyploidization affects plant genome evolution by focusing on the post-polyploidization events, including gene retention, fractionation and subgenome dominance, and their implications on future research.

Ancient fossil Cooksonia plants from the Czech Republic are among the largest known early polysporangiate plants from when vascular plants were colonizing the land. They were of sufficient size to support effective photosynthesis.

The timing and routes of wheat dispersal into China remain controversial. Now, new evidence from radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling suggest that wheat first appeared in the lower Yellow River around 2600 bce and then spread westward.

Stress-induced accumulation of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) results in ER stress. Here, the researchers identify a SPL gene that directly controls the transcription of IRE1, the ER stress sensor, thus regulating cell death in rice panicles.

Embryo development is a critical stage and is influenced by hormones. Here, it is shown that gibberellins promote embryonic axis elongation through an interaction between DELLA proteins and transcription factor LEC1, which induces auxin biosynthesis.

Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth. In plants, the synthesis of lignin monomers requires several cytochrome P450 enzymes. Now, two key scaffold proteins are identified to be important for the stability and efficiency of monolignol P450s.