Book Review |
Featured
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Article
| Open Access
The complex polyploid genome architecture of sugarcane
We build a polyploid reference genome for hybrid sugarcane cultivar R570, improving on its current ‘mosaic monoploid’ representation, enabling fine-grain description of genome architecture and the exploration of candidate genes underlying the Bru1 brown rust resistance locus.
- A. L. Healey
- , O. Garsmeur
- & A. D’Hont
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Obituary |
Estella Bergere Leopold (1927–2024), passionate environmentalist who traced changing ecosystems
The trailblazing palaeobotanist investigated how climate change affected Earth in the past — and firmly believed science should be used in its defence now.
- Cathy Whitlock
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News Feature |
The ‘Mother Tree’ idea is everywhere — but how much of it is real?
A popular theory about how trees cooperate has enchanted the public and raised the profile of forest conservation. But some ecologists think its scientific basis has been oversold.
- Aisling Irwin
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Article
| Open Access
Substrate-induced condensation activates plant TIR domain proteins
Binding of the substrates NAD+ and ATP to the plant Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain proteins induces phase separation and, thereby, activation of TIR enzymatic and immune signalling activity.
- Wen Song
- , Li Liu
- & Jijie Chai
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Article
| Open Access
Anoxygenic phototroph of the Chloroflexota uses a type I reaction centre
Cultivation of a new anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium from Boreal Shield lake water—representing a transition form in the evolution of photosynthesis—offers insights into how the major modes of phototrophy diversified.
- J. M. Tsuji
- , N. A. Shaw
- & J. D. Neufeld
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Where I Work |
Why I wander with wonder through Lesotho’s wetlands
Lerato Seleteng-Kose studies the unique plants that live in these cold, remote parts of southern Africa.
- Linda Nordling
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Article |
Mechanisms of calcium homeostasis orchestrate plant growth and immunity
A study of calcium homeostasis in the plant Arabidopsis reveals two signalling pathways it uses to balance the objectives of growth and immunity by regulating the level of Ca2+ in the cytosol.
- Chao Wang
- , Ren-Jie Tang
- & Sheng Luan
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News |
Glow way! Bioluminescent houseplant hits US market for first time
Engineered petunia emits a continuous green glow thanks to genes from a light-up mushroom.
- Katherine Bourzac
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News & Views |
Unravelling how plant cells divide and differ
In a multicellular organism, normal growth requires control of cell division to generate cells that are similar to or different from their parents. Analysis of this process in plant roots reveals how this mechanism is regulated.
- Ikram Blilou
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Article
| Open Access
Oxygen-evolving photosystem II structures during S1–S2–S3 transitions
Serial femtosecond crystallography reveals the structural dynamics of photosystem II during the S-state transitions that produce dioxygen, providing insight into electron transfer, water insertion, proton release and O–O bond formation on sub-microsecond timescales.
- Hongjie Li
- , Yoshiki Nakajima
- & Jian-Ren Shen
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Article
| Open Access
SHR and SCR coordinate root patterning and growth early in the cell cycle
Quantitative time-resolved microscopy analysis of SHR and SCR dynamics in single cells of living Arabidopsis roots shows that these transcription factors coordinate formative and proliferative cell divisions early in the cell cycle.
- Cara M. Winter
- , Pablo Szekely
- & Philip N. Benfey
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News |
CRISPR-edited crops break new ground in Africa
Scientists in the global south use the popular technique to protect local crops against local threats.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
All arabica coffee is genetically similar: how can beans taste so different?
Flavour variations are mainly the result of changes at the chromosome level, sequencing effort finds.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Article |
Spatial IMA1 regulation restricts root iron acquisition on MAMP perception
Microorganism-associated molecular patterns such as flagellin lead to suppression of root iron acquisition through localized degradation of the systemic iron-deficiency signalling peptide Iron Man 1 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
- Min Cao
- , Matthieu Pierre Platre
- & Wolfgang Busch
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News & Views |
How plants iron out the competing interests of growth and defence
Once a plant recognizes a pathogen, part of its defence strategy is to withhold iron. The mechanism involves suppression of root acquisition of iron by degrading a molecule that activates the iron-uptake pathway.
- Shanice S. Webster
- & Mary Lou Guerinot
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News Feature |
How CRISPR could yield the next blockbuster crop
Scientists are attempting to rapidly domesticate wild plant species by editing specific genes, but they face major technical challenges — and concerns about exploitation of Indigenous knowledge.
- Michael Marshall
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Where I Work |
How I fuse Western science with Traditional Knowledge
Indigenous Canadian ecologist Jennifer Grenz abandons colonial restoration dogma to reshape land systems according to community needs.
- Virginia Gewin
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Apple revival — how science is bringing historic varieties back to life
Genomic studies of heirloom apples could help safeguard the future of the fruit.
- Christopher Kemp
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Where I Work |
Eavesdropping on plant chatter
Amie Fornah Sankoh studies how viruses commandeer plant communication at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
- Virginia Gewin
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Nature Careers Podcast |
Scientific illustration: striking the balance between creativity and accuracy
A misleading image in a medical textbook could have life and death implications, but some disciplines can deploy myth and metaphor to convey their science through art.
- Julie Gould
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Nature Careers Podcast |
The unexpected outcomes of artist-scientist collaborations
Artists love working with scientists, and when they do it can unlock new perspectives for research.
- Julie Gould
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Article
| Open Access
Plant carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes in neuroactive alkaloid biosynthesis
We show how neuroactive alkaloids from clubmosses are biosynthesized, which reveals an unexpected role for carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes in alkaloid scaffold formation.
- Ryan S. Nett
- , Yaereen Dho
- & Elizabeth S. Sattely
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Article
| Open Access
Revising the global biogeography of annual and perennial plants
The prevalence of annual plants worldwide rises in response to hot-dry summers, year-to-year variations, and disturbances, potentially impacting the future of ecosystem services provided by perennials.
- Tyler Poppenwimer
- , Itay Mayrose
- & Niv DeMalach
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Research Highlight |
Fierce ferns make insect-fighting proteins
Natural compounds could help to protect maize and soya beans against pests that have evolved resistance to conventional insecticides.
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Book Review |
The plant poisons that shape our daily lives
An exploration of nature’s toxins reveals complex relationships between humans and the plant chemicals we use as foods, medicines and mind-altering drugs.
- Emily Monosson
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News Feature |
Apple revival: how science is bringing historic varieties back to life
Exploring the genomes of half-forgotten and heirloom apple varieties could help to ensure the future of the incomparable fruits.
- Christopher Kemp
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Where I Work |
My quest for hidden treasures in Sri Lanka’s flora
Sri Lankan taxonomist Bhathiya Gopallawa tapped into a network of early-career researchers to unearth a botanic gem in the tropical forest undergrowth.
- Manasee Weerathunga
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Career Q&A |
I train farmers to use plant science in the fight against climate change
Plant breeder and geneticist Prince Matova helps farmers in drought-prone areas to increase their yields.
- Clemence Manyukwe
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Research Briefing |
Genetic dissection of plants’ airborne defences
Plants communicate with neighbouring plants to activate an airborne defence against aphids. However, the genetic pathway underlying this defence mechanism is unknown. A signalling cascade centred around the gaseous form of the chemical methyl salicylate was found to control this interaction between plants.
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News & Views |
Bacteria deliver water channels to infect plants
A wide range of harmful bacteria introduce proteins into plant cells. Some of these proteins move to the cell membrane and serve as channels for water and nutrients, creating favourable conditions for bacterial growth beside plant cells.
- Gwyn A. Beattie
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Article |
Molecular basis of methyl-salicylate-mediated plant airborne defence
Aphid-transmitted viruses encode proteins that suppress the plant airborne defence response—which is triggered by volatile chemicals released by neighbouring plants after aphid attack—and the plants consequently become less repellent to aphids and more suitable for aphid survival, infestation and viral transmission.
- Qian Gong
- , Yunjing Wang
- & Yule Liu
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Article
| Open Access
Bacterial pathogens deliver water- and solute-permeable channels to plant cells
The bacterial effector proteins of the AvrE family function as membrane channels in plant cells, enabling the passage of water and solutes from host cells to support pathogen growth, and disrupting the viability of the host cell.
- Kinya Nomura
- , Felipe Andreazza
- & Sheng Yang He
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Article
| Open Access
Pervasive downstream RNA hairpins dynamically dictate start-codon selection
Double-stranded RNA structures downstream of start codons play a role in translation initiation by regulating start-codon selection in plant immune responses, and also contribute to translational reprogramming in mammalian systems.
- Yezi Xiang
- , Wenze Huang
- & Xinnian Dong
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Obituary |
Melaku Worede, crop genetics leader (1936–2023)
Plant geneticist who pioneered seed conservation for famine resilience and farmer livelihoods.
- Regassa Feyissa
- & Toby Hodgkin
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Research Highlight |
Venus flytraps shut their traps when flames approach
Exposure to burning matches makes the plants close up shop, which might explain their resilience to wildfire.
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Article |
Tropical forests are approaching critical temperature thresholds
Ground truthed thermal data from a new NASA satellite combined with experimental warming data from three continents in an empirical model suggests that tropical forests are closer to a high temperature threshold than previously thought.
- Christopher E. Doughty
- , Jenna M. Keany
- & Joshua B. Fisher
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News |
This moss survived 165 million years — and now it's under threat from climate change
Ancient plant survived the formation of the Himalayas, but might now be facing extinction.
- Jude Coleman
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Article
| Open Access
Einkorn genomics sheds light on history of the oldest domesticated wheat
Around 1% of the A subgenome of modern bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) originates from einkorn (Triticum monococcum), the first domesticated wheat species.
- Hanin Ibrahim Ahmed
- , Matthias Heuberger
- & Simon G. Krattinger
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Book Review |
Anna Atkins: pioneering botanical photographer who captured algae and ferns in ghostly blue images
A compilation of 550 original plates reveals the dedicated work of the nineteenth-century woman who was the first to publish a book with cyanotypes of specimens.
- Georgina Ferry
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World View |
EU proposal on CRISPR-edited crops is welcome — but not enough
The door should be opened further: CRISPR has huge potential to boost food security in the face of pathogens and climate change.
- Devang Mehta
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Matters Arising
| Open Access
Reply to: Cold induction of nuclear FRIGIDA condensation in Arabidopsis
- Pan Zhu
- & Caroline Dean
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Research Briefing |
A picture of plant functional diversity on an oceanic island
Extensive fieldwork reveals that island plants have similar functions to plants in other regions of the world, but that the island environment, along with biogeographical and evolutionary processes, filters the life-history characteristics and strategies of the plants, rendering the island flora functionally and ecologically distinct from others.
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Matters Arising
| Open Access
Cold induction of nuclear FRIGIDA condensation in Arabidopsis
- Zhicheng Zhang
- , Xiao Luo
- & Yuehui He
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Matters Arising |
The importance of trait selection in ecology
- Alexandra Weigelt
- , Liesje Mommer
- & M. Luke McCormack
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News Feature |
Invasive palms and WWII damaged an island paradise. Could fungi help to restore it?
Researchers ventured to the world’s most remote island to study how fungi in soils could help to revive damaged ecosystems.
- Virginia Gewin
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Article
| Open Access
A tripartite rheostat controls self-regulated host plant resistance to insects
Insect salivary protein (BISP) targets OsRLCK185 to suppress defence in susceptible plants, whereas in resistant plants BISP binds BPH14 to activate host plant resistance. To restore cellular homeostasis, the resistance mechanism is fine-tuned by selective autophagy.
- Jianping Guo
- , Huiying Wang
- & Guangcun He
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Article |
Genome editing of a rice CDP-DAG synthase confers multipathogen resistance
Editing of a rice gene that has a role in phospholipid synthesis has endowed rice plants with broad-spectrum resistance to disease, including protection from common bacterial and fungal pathogens, without decreasing the yield.
- Gan Sha
- , Peng Sun
- & Guotian Li
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Research Briefing |
Rice gene tamed using genome editing
Genes in agricultural crops are usually fine-tuned through long periods of evolution and crop domestication. In a modern strategy to genetically improve crops, genome editing was used to rapidly develop a variant of a rice gene that shows promise for increasing the plant’s resistance to several diseases.
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News Feature |
Finding the Amazon’s tallest trees — an epic quest to reach hidden giants
When researchers spotted clues that trees were growing to record heights in the rainforest, they tried, failed and tried again to reach the remote site.
- Richard Monastersky
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