Plant molecular biology articles from across Nature Portfolio

The molecular mechanisms underlying nitrogen (N)-dependent flowering regulation remain unclear. Here, the authors reveal Hd6, a known factor involved in photoperiodic flowering regulation, as a key signaling component in rice heading date variation under different N conditions.

Kang et al. uncover an anterograde signalling pathway that coordinates the transition of chloroplast function from biogenesis to degeneration, ensuring the timely onset of leaf senescence.

This study reports that the gene SMPED1, located in a previously identified dichogamy-determining region in Alpinia species, controls the timing of sex-organ synchrony, improving our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of plant sexual diversity.

GSL5, a glucan synthase, acts as a suppressor of jasmonic acid-mediated immunity in cruciferous plants. Inactivation of GSL5 by genome editing confers high-level and broad-spectrum resistance to pathogens that cause clubroot disease in four cruciferous species.

A conserved GHR motif is shown to guide the DCL1-mediated cleavage of pre-miRNAs during plant miRNA biogenesis. This discovery advances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying RNA processing and, as cleavage at this motif results in the production of known non-canonical miRNAs, offers insights into miRNA maturation and function.

The factors involved in the removal of RNA primers during plastid DNA (ptDNA) replication have been unclear. We now identify a plastid-localized 5′–3′ exonuclease (PEN1) that mediates the removal of RNA primers in ptDNA replication and provide structural insight into its mechanism of action in this process.

Tandem kinase proteins (TKPs) are key regulators of plant immunity. We found that RWT4, a wheat TKP, confers resistance to the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae by directly recognizing the effector AvrPWT4. Recognition of AvrPWT4 depends on the RWT4 N-terminal partial kinase duplication region, which is essential for pathogen perception and defense activation.