There is more to becoming a successful scientist than just developing good experimental technique.

Comparative and evolutionary genomics analyses for more than 1,600 re-sequenced maize lines identified vast amounts of differentially and complementary selected regions and genes among female and male heterotic groups used in modern hybrid maize breeding.

Over the last few months a new article type has appeared in our table of contents; the Research Briefing. What are they and why have we started to publish them?

Arabidopsis embryonic root development involves the formation of distinct cell types and tissues in a tightly regulated and thereby highly predictable spatio-temporal manner. A crosstalk between maternal and embryonic genes orchestrates division orientation and fate specification to control root development.

Development of plant organs is a highly organized process. In Arabidopsis, proper root development requires that distinct cell types and tissue layers are specified and formed in a restricted manner in space and over time. Despite its importance, genetic controls underlying such regularity remain elusive. Here we found that WIP genes expressed in the embryo and suspensor functionally oppose those expressed

Methylation is a frequent modification of glycans and polysaccharides. This process relies on the transport of cytosolic S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) into the Golgi lumen. This work identifies Golgi-localized major facilitator superfamily transporter members as putative SAM transporters in plants and reveals their importance for polysaccharide methylation and maintenance of the properties of cell

The health benefits of exposure to trees and plants is a rapidly expanding field of study. Research has shown that exposure is associated with improvements in a wide range of health outcomes including cardiovascular disease, birth outcomes, respiratory disease, cancer, mental health and all-cause mortality1. One of the challenges that these studies face is characterizing participants’ exposure to trees

Hundreds of leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases (LRR-RKs) have evolved to control diverse processes of growth, development and immunity in plants, but the mechanisms that link LRR-RKs to distinct cellular responses are not understood. Here we show that two LRR-RKs, the brassinosteroid hormone receptor BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1) and the flagellin receptor FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 (FLS2), regulate

S-acylation is the addition of a fatty acid to a cysteine residue of a protein. While this modification may profoundly alter protein behaviour, its effects on the function of plant proteins remains poorly characterized, largely as a result of the lack of basic information regarding which proteins are S-acylated and where in the proteins the modification occurs. To address this gap in our knowledge

The majority of the pyruvate inside plant mitochondria is either transported into the matrix from the cytosol via the mitochondria pyruvate carrier (MPC) or synthesized in the matrix by alanine aminotransferase (AlaAT) or NAD-malic enzyme (NAD-ME). Pyruvate from these origins could mix into a single pool in the matrix and contribute indistinguishably to respiration via the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex

Polysaccharide methylation, especially that of pectin, is a common and important feature of land plant cell walls. Polysaccharide methylation takes place in the Golgi apparatus and therefore relies on the import of S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) from the cytosol into the Golgi. However, so far, no Golgi SAM transporter has been identified in plants. Here we studied major facilitator superfamily members

Starting as small, densely packed boxes, leaf mesophyll cells expand to form an intricate mesh of interconnected cells and air spaces, the organization of which dictates the internal surface area of the leaf for light capture and gas exchange during photosynthesis. Despite their importance, little is known about the basic patterns of mesophyll cell division, and how they contribute to cell and intercellular

The protracted domestication model posits that wild cereals in southwest Asia were cultivated over millennia before the appearance of domesticated cereals in the archaeological record. These ‘pre-domestication cultivation’ activities are widely understood as entailing annual cycles of soil tillage and sowing and are expected to select for domestic traits such as non-shattering ears. However, the reconstruction

The analysis of the 11-gigabase, hexaploid oat genome reveals a mosaic chromosome structure with complex rearrangements related to polyploidization. The high-quality oat reference genome will facilitate the molecular identification of health food traits and the implementation of genomics-based oat breeding.

Worldwide, vitamin D deficiency affects around 1 billion people. A recent study indicates that blocking a duplicated branch of phytosterol biosynthesis in tomato leads to provitamin D3 accumulation.

Poor vitamin D status is a global health problem; insufficiency underpins higher risk of cancer, neurocognitive decline and all-cause mortality. Most foods contain little vitamin D and plants are very poor sources. We have engineered the accumulation of provitamin D3 in tomato by genome editing, modifying a duplicated section of phytosterol biosynthesis in Solanaceous plants, to provide a biofortified

Same Cas9 protein, two different jobs: the CRISPR-Combo genome engineering strategy enables simultaneous gene activation and genome editing for different targets through changes to the guide RNA structure.

How T-DNAs become incorporated into the host chromosome has been a subject of lively debate for the last quarter century. Kralemann et al. report data revealing the mechanism of genomic capture of the right border and validating the role of DNA polymerase θ in the capture of the left border.

With plentiful knowledge of gene function and the development of technologies like gene editing, breeders are fully equipped to address grand challenges and eliminate various forms of hunger.

CRISPR-Cas9, its derived base editors and CRISPR activation systems have greatly aided genome engineering in plants. However, these systems are mostly used separately, leaving their combinational potential largely untapped. Here we develop a versatile CRISPR-Combo platform, based on a single Cas9 protein, for simultaneous genome editing (targeted mutagenesis or base editing) and gene activation in

Many eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms enhance their carbon uptake by supplying concentrated CO2 to the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco in an organelle called the pyrenoid. Ongoing efforts seek to engineer this pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanism (PCCM) into crops to increase yields. Here we develop a computational model for a PCCM on the basis of the postulated mechanism in the green alga Chlamydomonas

Next-generation crop protection strategies must be clean and green as well as effective. Delivery of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a BioClay spray to control the sap-sucking pest whitefly is one such strategy. This tool disrupts multiple whitefly life cycle stages in planta, with adjuvant-enhanced foliar uptake complementing the clay-mediated delivery of dsRNA.

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is a phloem-feeding global agricultural pest belonging to the order Hemiptera. Foliar application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) represents an attractive avenue for pest control; however, limited uptake and phloem availability of the dsRNA has restricted the development of RNA interference (RNAi)-based biopesticides against sap-sucking insects. Following high-throughput single

Through dynamic activities of conserved master transcription factors (mTFs), the unfolded protein response (UPR) relieves proteostasis imbalance of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a condition known as ER stress1,2. Because dysregulated UPR is lethal, the competence for fate changes of the UPR mTFs must be tightly controlled3,4. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying regulatory dynamics of mTFs

To date, little is known about the evolution of fern genomes, with only two small genomes published from the heterosporous Salviniales. Here we assembled the genome of Alsophila spinulosa, known as the flying spider-monkey tree fern, onto 69 pseudochromosomes. The remarkable preservation of synteny, despite resulting from an ancient whole-genome duplication over 100 million years ago, is unprecedented

Crop landraces have unique local agroecological and societal functions and offer important genetic resources for plant breeding. Recognition of the value of landrace diversity and concern about its erosion on farms have led to sustained efforts to establish ex situ collections worldwide. The degree to which these efforts have succeeded in conserving landraces has not been comprehensively assessed.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a pathogenic bacterium capable of transforming plants through horizontal gene transfer, is nowadays the preferred vector for plant genetic engineering. The vehicle for transfer is the T-strand, a single-stranded DNA molecule bound by the bacterial protein VirD2, which guides the T-DNA into the plant’s nucleus where it integrates. How VirD2 is removed from T-DNA, and which

There is an ongoing societal debate about plant breeding systems and their impact on stakeholders in food systems. Hybrid breeding and hybrid seed have become controversial topics as they are believed to mostly serve high-tech agricultural systems. This article focuses on the perspective of commercial plant breeders when developing new cultivars of food crops. Arguably, hybrid breeding is the most

Theory and single-cell experiments outline a new role for upstream open reading frames in buffering cellular heterogeneity in protein abundance at the translation level.

Gene expression is prone to burst production, making it a highly noisy process that requires additional controls. Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) are widely present in the 5′ leader sequences of 30–50% of eukaryotic messenger RNAs1,2,3. The translation of uORFs can repress the translation efficiency of the downstream main coding sequences. Whether the low translation efficiency leads to a different

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is a central regulator of acclimation to environmental stress; however, its contribution to differences in stress tolerance between species is unclear. To establish a comparative framework for understanding how stress hormone signalling pathways diverge across species, we studied the growth response of four Brassicaceae species to ABA treatment and generated transcriptomic

Many plants accumulate transitory starch reserves in their leaves during the day to buffer their carbohydrate supply against fluctuating light conditions, and to provide carbon and energy for survival at night. It is universally accepted that transitory starch is synthesized from ADP-glucose (ADPG) in the chloroplasts. However, the consensus that ADPG is made in the chloroplasts by ADPG pyrophosphorylase

Strigolactones (SLs) are a class of plant hormones that regulate numerous processes of growth and development. SL perception and signal activation involves interaction between F-box E3 ubiquitin ligase D3/MAX2 and DWARF14 (D14) α/β-hydrolase in a SL-dependent manner and targeting of D53/SMXL6/7/8 transcriptional repressors (SMXLs) for proteasome-mediated degradation. D3/MAX2 has been shown to exist

Xylan-rich nanodomains at pit borders of xylem vessels determine a pitted wall pattern by anchoring cellulosic nanofibrils at the pit edges and are crucial to support vessel robustness, water transport and leaf transpiration. These nanocompartments are mostly produced by the de novo xylan synthase IRREGULAR XYLEM (IRX)10 and its homologues.