Volume 8 Issue 10, October 2022

We identified the function of mangrove ecosystems that underpin ecosystem services, their responses to extreme weather and climatic events, and their role as crucial social-ecological systems as important paradigms shaping mangrove research now and in times to come. Since themes around functions and connectivity, ecological resilience to extreme events, and human–environment interactions are likely to be important underpinnings for other coastal and terrestrial ecosystems too, this paper aims to promote discussion within and beyond the mangrove research community and to help the broader plant science field in viewing and understanding the issue of safeguarding mangrove forests for the future.

Plants rely on cell-surface and intracellular immune receptors to activate immune responses and thwart microbial infection. Large-scale comparative genomic analysis reveals matching size variations of the repertoires for both types of receptors across plants during evolution.

Intracellular H₂O₂ has emerged as a central player in signalling and stress acclimation, but how specificity is achieved remains elusive. Cytosolic peroxiredoxins play a decisive role as they sense H₂O₂ and transmit the oxidation signal through the formation of disulfide bridges, leading to stomatal closure that reduces pathogen entry.

Pathogen perception in plants is mediated by immune receptors that detect specific pathogen molecules. Members of one diverse receptor family that occurs in all land plants form a structurally conserved activation complex with a shared signalling mechanism.

A major bottleneck in plant breeding is the establishment or breakage of genetic linkages by random, naturally occurring meiotic recombination. This problem can be overcome by CRISPR–Cas-mediated chromosome engineering. By inverting ~17 Mb of chromosome 2 of Arabidopsis thaliana, we almost completely suppressed genetic crossovers in nearly the entire chromosome.

Comparative genomic analysis of 350 plant species reveals that cell-surface and intracellular immune receptor gene families co-expand or co-contract. This suggests an evolutionary relationship between the two branches of the plant immune system.

Manipulation of genetic exchange is an important objective of plant breeders. Using chromosome engineering to invert a 17.1 Mb fragment on chromosome 2 in Arabidopsis thaliana, meiotic recombination could be suppressed in nearly the entire chromosome.

Reactive oxygen species are major regulatory molecules in diverse cellular processes. This article shows how an Arabidopsis thiol peroxidase, PRXIIB, senses endogenous H₂O₂ and regulates immune responses through a redox relay mechanism.

mGWAS reveals ZmICE1 as a key hub for integrating amino acid metabolic pathways and cold tolerance in maize. Natural variation in ZmICE1 promoter regulates the binding affinity of ZmMYB39, which confers the diverse cold tolerance in maize.

This study presents a chloroplast photosystem I structure identified by cryogenic electron microscopy from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In contrast to the cyanobacterial complex, the absence of PsaH and Lhca2 allows a head-to-head orientation of the photosystem I–light-harvesting complex I monomers.