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Plants contain several tissue-specific decentralized but communicating ‘clocks’. These control developmental outputs in response to environmental change: the vasculature clock for photoperiodic control of flowering, and the epidermis clock for temperature-dependent elongation.
Plants adapt to changing environments by optimizing the fitness costs associated with key biological functions. A comparison of a laboratory strain with other wild Australian accessions of Nicotiana benthamiana reveals that trading viral defence for vigour confers an adaptive advantage in arid habitats.
Wood formation drives the storage of carbon in trees and other woody plants. A detailed analysis of conifer xylem tissue formation reveals how the intra-annual dynamics of biomass production are recorded in wood.
High-resolution microscopies have recently provided new insights into the structure of the chloroplast thylakoid membrane. Its dynamics are vital to its function as the site of photosynthesis and so the source of energy for almost all life on earth.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are one of the most important groups of plant symbionts. The factors that regulate the exchange of resources in this symbiosis are explored in this Review.
The length of root hairs, a critical determinant of a plant's absorption capacity, is dictated by a translational pulse of the transcription factor RSL4. The intensity and duration of this pulse depends on the integration of endogenous and environmental information that tunes the phenotypic readout to the environment.
Most plant pattern recognition receptors induce immune responses by detecting molecular patterns typical to one group of microbes. A newly identified complex, on the other hand, monitors effector proteins widely distributed among bacteria, fungi and oomycetes, casting a new light on the evolution of pattern recognition in plants.
CRISPR–Cas technology has been extensively applied to editing endogenous genes in plants for gene functional studies. New application of this technology to combating viral infection by destroying invading virus DNA has now become possible in plants.
Large trees deliver many benefits to forest ecosystems, including the provision of habitats for other species and the storage of carbon. A synthesis of tree growth and mortality data from around the globe now suggests that under drought large trees are dying in higher numbers than smaller trees.
The involvement of Ca2+ signalling in Brassica self-incompatibility has been a contentious topic. New evidence suggests that stigmas use Ca2+ to signal to incompatible pollen to prevent pollen hydration and self-seed set. Moreover, this may involve a glutamate receptor.
Photosynthesis underpins life on earth and is often limited by the activity of the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco. New structural and functional insights into one of Rubisco's assembly chaperones offer opportunities to advance technologies tailored to improve Rubisco performance.
The function and mechanism of the kinesin-14 protein family in plants remain largely obscure. Now, two studies suggest a role in long-distance transport, akin to dynein in animals. One shows that clustering of a moss kinesin-14 is required for cargo transport, the other that in rice a kinesin-14 translocates actin filaments along microtubules.
The maintenance of closed canopy conditions can delay the onset of warming-induced changes in plant community composition, according to an experimental manipulation of temperature, light and nutrient levels in a temperate forest understorey.
GABA, a major brain neurotransmitter, was known to be important in plant development and stress responses. The discovery of an anion channel inhibited by GABA in wheat confirms its signalling role, indicating a convergent similarity between plants and animals.
Interaction of key regulators of exocytosis with potassium channels enhances both secretion and K+ uptake, making these processes intertwined and jointly coordinated.
Proteaceae in southwestern Australia exhibit a range of adaptions that allow them to both acquire and utilize phosphorus from some of the most phosphorus-impoverished soils in the world. This Review explores these traits and discusses those which hold promise for crop improvement.
Plant researchers have speculated about the need for mechanisms to lock-down cell fate in late development. In PRC2 mutants, specialized, endoreplicated root hair cells differentiate normally but later revert to an embryo-like state.
Over-application of nitrogen fertilizer leads to environmental problems in modern agricultural systems. The mining of favourable gene variants for nitrogen-use efficiency is a fundamental way to tackle these dangers.
Grasslands account for as much as one-third of the net primary production on land. Results from a network of experiments carried out on five continents suggest that two or more nutrients often constrain the productivity of these globally significant ecosystems.
