Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02158-8
Opportunity crops in Africa show varied climate resilience, with several projected to outperform current staple crops under future climate scenarios. Root and tuber crops are notably resilient whereas legumes and vegetable crops face declines, especially in the Sahel, highlighting the need for targeted adaptation strategies.
{"title":"Modelling of climate impacts on opportunity crop productivity across Africa","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02158-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02158-8","url":null,"abstract":"Opportunity crops in Africa show varied climate resilience, with several projected to outperform current staple crops under future climate scenarios. Root and tuber crops are notably resilient whereas legumes and vegetable crops face declines, especially in the Sahel, highlighting the need for targeted adaptation strategies.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2459-2460"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02169-5
Pratheek Pandesha, R. Keith Slotkin
Decades of research in plants has established that the protein complexes that transcribe small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are not targeted to DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Two independent studies uncover the recruitment of the key siRNA-producing protein RNA polymerase IV mediated by transcription factors to specific DNA sequences.
{"title":"Transcription factor-mediated recruitment of small interfering RNA production","authors":"Pratheek Pandesha, R. Keith Slotkin","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02169-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02169-5","url":null,"abstract":"Decades of research in plants has established that the protein complexes that transcribe small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are not targeted to DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Two independent studies uncover the recruitment of the key siRNA-producing protein RNA polymerase IV mediated by transcription factors to specific DNA sequences.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2453-2454"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02157-9
Jose Rafael Guarin, Meijian Yang, Dilys S. MacCarthy, Kevin Karl, Jonas Jägermeyr, Alex C. Ruane, Andres Castellano, Bright S. Freduah, Gershom O. Wesley, Stephen Narh, Elena Mendez Leal, Cynthia Rosenzweig
Addressing future agricultural challenges requires breeding cultivars with improved tolerance to evolving climatic conditions. Many African traditional and indigenous ‘opportunity crops’ have shown increased resilience to climate hazards, yet have received minimal developmental investment. Here the SIMPLE process-based crop model is used to assess the impact of future climate change on the productivity of 5 staple crops and 19 African opportunity crops under low- and high-emissions scenario projections. Roots and tubers show the highest resiliency, while vegetables are the most vulnerable. Cassava, teff, grass pea, sesame seed and finger millet are projected to have the largest productivity increases, while mung bean, lablab, amaranth, Bambara groundnut and maize productivity are projected to decrease substantially. Soybean and cowpea, important cash crops in Africa, are projected to have comparable losses. Crops grown in the Sahel appear most susceptible to climate change, while crops in East and Central Africa show greater resilience. These findings guide regional investments in opportunity crop development and support their inclusion in adaptation measures. African opportunity crops show varied climate resilience, with several projected to outperform staples. Roots and tubers are especially resilient, while legumes and vegetables face declines, particularly in the Sahel.
{"title":"Modelling the productivity of opportunity crops across Africa under climate change in support of the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils","authors":"Jose Rafael Guarin, Meijian Yang, Dilys S. MacCarthy, Kevin Karl, Jonas Jägermeyr, Alex C. Ruane, Andres Castellano, Bright S. Freduah, Gershom O. Wesley, Stephen Narh, Elena Mendez Leal, Cynthia Rosenzweig","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02157-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02157-9","url":null,"abstract":"Addressing future agricultural challenges requires breeding cultivars with improved tolerance to evolving climatic conditions. Many African traditional and indigenous ‘opportunity crops’ have shown increased resilience to climate hazards, yet have received minimal developmental investment. Here the SIMPLE process-based crop model is used to assess the impact of future climate change on the productivity of 5 staple crops and 19 African opportunity crops under low- and high-emissions scenario projections. Roots and tubers show the highest resiliency, while vegetables are the most vulnerable. Cassava, teff, grass pea, sesame seed and finger millet are projected to have the largest productivity increases, while mung bean, lablab, amaranth, Bambara groundnut and maize productivity are projected to decrease substantially. Soybean and cowpea, important cash crops in Africa, are projected to have comparable losses. Crops grown in the Sahel appear most susceptible to climate change, while crops in East and Central Africa show greater resilience. These findings guide regional investments in opportunity crop development and support their inclusion in adaptation measures. African opportunity crops show varied climate resilience, with several projected to outperform staples. Roots and tubers are especially resilient, while legumes and vegetables face declines, particularly in the Sahel.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2476-2486"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145609197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Structural variations drive plant genome evolution and shape agronomic traits. Manipulating structural variations has great potential to improve complex plant traits and enhance agricultural sustainability. Genome editing technologies have evolved from gene knockouts and base editing to the modification of short DNA fragments, and are now advancing towards the precise manipulation of large DNA fragments. This advancement facilitates targeted, large-scale genomic changes such as deletions, insertions, replacements, inversions, translocations and duplications. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in developing technologies for large DNA fragment editing and highlight their key applications in plants as well as their potential to accelerate crop improvement. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future prospects for these technologies in plant science. Engineering genome structural variations can improve plant traits and support sustainable agriculture. This Review summarizes recent advances in large DNA fragment editing and discusses their applications and future prospects in precise breeding.
{"title":"Advances and prospects of large DNA fragment editing in plants","authors":"Yidi Zhao, Yingbo Liang, Zhongfu Ni, Qixin Sun, Yuan Zong, Yanpeng Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02160-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02160-0","url":null,"abstract":"Structural variations drive plant genome evolution and shape agronomic traits. Manipulating structural variations has great potential to improve complex plant traits and enhance agricultural sustainability. Genome editing technologies have evolved from gene knockouts and base editing to the modification of short DNA fragments, and are now advancing towards the precise manipulation of large DNA fragments. This advancement facilitates targeted, large-scale genomic changes such as deletions, insertions, replacements, inversions, translocations and duplications. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in developing technologies for large DNA fragment editing and highlight their key applications in plants as well as their potential to accelerate crop improvement. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future prospects for these technologies in plant science. Engineering genome structural variations can improve plant traits and support sustainable agriculture. This Review summarizes recent advances in large DNA fragment editing and discusses their applications and future prospects in precise breeding.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2461-2475"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145582951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-18DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02165-9
The jack-o’-lantern, the carved pumpkin with the evil grin, has become the emblem of Halloween. This lantern has its historic roots in carved turnips, which have been used in folklore for hundreds of years.
{"title":"The spookiest plant","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02165-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02165-9","url":null,"abstract":"The jack-o’-lantern, the carved pumpkin with the evil grin, has become the emblem of Halloween. This lantern has its historic roots in carved turnips, which have been used in folklore for hundreds of years.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 11","pages":"2183-2184"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02165-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145538063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
N4-acetylcytidine is an evolutionarily conserved RNA modification that plays a key role in regulating transcript stability and translation. Although extensively studied in mammals, its prevalence and functional importance in plant transcriptomes remain unclear. Recent advances in transcriptome-wide mapping and functional characterization have revealed the important role of N4-acetylcytidine modification in plant-specific processes. Here we discuss how N4-acetylcytidine is deposited by plant writers, summarize its influence on plant development and adaptation, outline the major challenges and future directions in the field and highlight its potential applications for crop improvement. This Perspective highlights N4-acetylcytidine as an emerging RNA modification in plants that regulates development and stress responses by modulating mRNA stability, translation and splicing. Manipulation of N4-acetylcytidine offers promising strategies for crop improvement.
{"title":"The emerging epitranscriptomic modification ac4C regulates plant development and stress adaptation","authors":"Jiayu Yao, Guiyu Xiao, Xuan Ma, Shugang Hui, Heyang Shang, Jisen Zhang, Qiutao Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02140-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02140-4","url":null,"abstract":"N4-acetylcytidine is an evolutionarily conserved RNA modification that plays a key role in regulating transcript stability and translation. Although extensively studied in mammals, its prevalence and functional importance in plant transcriptomes remain unclear. Recent advances in transcriptome-wide mapping and functional characterization have revealed the important role of N4-acetylcytidine modification in plant-specific processes. Here we discuss how N4-acetylcytidine is deposited by plant writers, summarize its influence on plant development and adaptation, outline the major challenges and future directions in the field and highlight its potential applications for crop improvement. This Perspective highlights N4-acetylcytidine as an emerging RNA modification in plants that regulates development and stress responses by modulating mRNA stability, translation and splicing. Manipulation of N4-acetylcytidine offers promising strategies for crop improvement.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 11","pages":"2200-2203"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145538106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-18DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02155-x
Paul J. Seear, Henry J. A. Dowling, Maja Szymańska-Lejman, Wojciech Dziegielewski, Simona Debilio, F. Chris H. Franklin, Kevin D. Corbett, Owen R. Davies, Piotr A. Ziolkowski, James D. Higgins
The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a meiosis-specific tripartite proteinaceous structure that regulates the number and positions of crossovers (COs). Here we characterize SCEP3, a new Arabidopsis SC component that is essential for CO assurance, promoting positive CO interference and preventing negative CO interference. SCEP3 localizes to the chromosome axes as numerous foci at leptotene, of which a small proportion cluster as large foci that initiate synapsis. SCEP3 then relocates to the central region of the SC as ZYP1 polymerizes. In the absence of SCEP3, homologues align but do not synapse. In the scep3 mutants, COs increase in number towards the chromosome ends and are more likely to cluster together. SCEP3 encodes an 801-amino-acid intrinsically disordered protein that is structurally similar to SIX6OS1 in mammals and SYP-4 in nematodes, containing phenylalanine repeats at the amino terminus and a carboxy-terminal coiled-coil, suggesting that it is a fundamentally conserved SC component across kingdoms. SCEP3 is a new synaptonemal complex protein that prevents clustering of crossovers during meiosis in Arabidopsis, so that every pair of homologous chromosomes receives at least one ‘obligate’ crossover.
{"title":"SCEP3 initiates synapsis and implements crossover interference in Arabidopsis","authors":"Paul J. Seear, Henry J. A. Dowling, Maja Szymańska-Lejman, Wojciech Dziegielewski, Simona Debilio, F. Chris H. Franklin, Kevin D. Corbett, Owen R. Davies, Piotr A. Ziolkowski, James D. Higgins","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02155-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02155-x","url":null,"abstract":"The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a meiosis-specific tripartite proteinaceous structure that regulates the number and positions of crossovers (COs). Here we characterize SCEP3, a new Arabidopsis SC component that is essential for CO assurance, promoting positive CO interference and preventing negative CO interference. SCEP3 localizes to the chromosome axes as numerous foci at leptotene, of which a small proportion cluster as large foci that initiate synapsis. SCEP3 then relocates to the central region of the SC as ZYP1 polymerizes. In the absence of SCEP3, homologues align but do not synapse. In the scep3 mutants, COs increase in number towards the chromosome ends and are more likely to cluster together. SCEP3 encodes an 801-amino-acid intrinsically disordered protein that is structurally similar to SIX6OS1 in mammals and SYP-4 in nematodes, containing phenylalanine repeats at the amino terminus and a carboxy-terminal coiled-coil, suggesting that it is a fundamentally conserved SC component across kingdoms. SCEP3 is a new synaptonemal complex protein that prevents clustering of crossovers during meiosis in Arabidopsis, so that every pair of homologous chromosomes receives at least one ‘obligate’ crossover.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2531-2547"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02155-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145536111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-18DOI: 10.1038/s41477-025-02156-w
Biomolecular condensates organize immune signalling, yet their roles in stomata remain unclear. We show that, in guard cells, the RNA-binding protein SAIR1 forms biomolecular condensates upon pathogen perception, which enhance the translation of defence-related mRNAs to prompt stomatal closure. This mechanism probably provides a rapid, frontline immune response in plants.
{"title":"Biomolecular condensates translate pathogen signals into stomatal closure","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-02156-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41477-025-02156-w","url":null,"abstract":"Biomolecular condensates organize immune signalling, yet their roles in stomata remain unclear. We show that, in guard cells, the RNA-binding protein SAIR1 forms biomolecular condensates upon pathogen perception, which enhance the translation of defence-related mRNAs to prompt stomatal closure. This mechanism probably provides a rapid, frontline immune response in plants.","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"11 12","pages":"2457-2458"},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145536109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：