Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Currently, hunger affects nearly 12 per cent of the world’s population — 4 per cent more than in 2015, when the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. If all scientific knowledge and technological innovation in crop development were readily available and globally adopted, could zero hunger have been achieved by 2030? Most people recognize the potential for agricultural biotechnology to contribute to food security. However, there has been limited application and adoption of new crop varieties in countries that are disproportionately affected by malnutrition and food insecurity.
Here we show that photoexcited blue light receptor cryptochrome 2 (CRY2) mediates blue light-induced liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of CRY2–SPA1–FIO1 trimolecular complexes. This activates the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) writer FIONA1 (FIO1) to methylate mRNAs that encode chloroplast proteins, which are required for maintaining chlorophyll homeostasis and photosynthesis in response to light.
We reveal that a family of plant stress-induced signalling peptides, SERINE-RICH ENDOGENOUS PEPTIDES (SCOOPs), is much larger than originally thought, and identify key proteases required for their biogenesis. We find that impairing SCOOP biogenesis phenocopies a mutant of the SCOOP receptor MALE DISCOVERER 1-INTERACTING RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 2 (MIK2).
Following a catastrophic wildfire, iconic coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees rebuilt their canopies by leveraging massive, stored carbon reserves, some of which were photosynthesized from the atmosphere 50–100 years ago. New leaves grew from buried buds, which had been dormant for 500–1,000 plus years in the oldest trees.
The Lycopodium alkaloids represent a valuable source of neuroactive compounds. The biosynthesis of these specialized metabolites is now shown to involve three α-carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes that are responsible for constructing the key carbon–carbon bonds within their distinctive polycyclic alkaloid structures.
Arabidopsis photoreceptor CRY2 controls chlorophyll homeostasis by blue light-induced liquid–liquid phase separation of the CRY2/SPA1/FIO1 complex, resulting in activation of the m6A writer FIO1, regulating mRNAs encoding chlorophyll homeostasis proteins.
This Perspective discusses six regulatory options following the proposition of the European Commission to amend European Union’s legislation for plants obtained with new genomic techniques.
The SCOOP signalling peptide family expands to 50 members, whose activities are strictly dependent upon the receptor kinase MIK2. Two subtilase classes process PROSCOOPs, generating bioactive SCOOP peptides. A subtilase mutant phenocopies the mik2 receptor mutant.
14C measurements show coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) remobilize decades- to century-old carbon reserves to regrow leaves after a rare fire. To do so, trees resprout from dormant bud tissue maintained for centuries or more.
A comprehensive pangenome map of 22 elite tea cultivars unveils genetic variants that influence flavour, leaf colour and bud flush timing, facilitating our understanding of the molecular basis of tea quality and genomics-assisted breeding.