Trends in Plant Science最新文献

DELLA degradation is controlled not only by gibberellic acid (GA) but also by various GA/GID1-independent factors such as light, temperature, and shade. New insights on the evolution of DELLA family proteins and the biological role of DELLA-like proteins in seed traits provides valuable directions for future crop breeding programs.

Similar to humans, plants experience microbiome imbalance, which increases their vulnerability to pathogens. In a recent study, Ketehouli et al. applied a soil microbiome transplant (SMT) to restore the microbiome balance, which potentially reduced the severity of leaf diseases. Here, we examine this approach, highlighting its limitation and offering perspectives on its use for controlling leaf diseases in plants.

Maize production suffers largely from the unpredictable and often simultaneous occurrence of multiple diseases, highlighting the urgent need for broad-spectrum resistant (BSR) genes. Recently, Zhu et al. identified a ZmCPK39-ZmDi19-ZmPR10 module that confers resistance to three maize (Zea mays) foliar diseases, providing a strategic framework to improve maize BSR.

Resistance to shattering is essential for seed production in domesticated crops. In a recent study, Li et al. found that this trait arose in soybean through mutations in two genes, Shattering1 (Sh1) and Pod dehiscence1 (Pdh1), within a single quantitative trait locus (QTL). Sh1 reduces fiber cap cell wall thickness, while Pdh1 regulates lignin distribution. These genes could be valuable targets for breeding shattering-resistant crops.

Abscisic acid (ABA) and the AP2/ERF (APETALA 2/ETHYLENE-RESPONSIVE FACTOR)-type transcription factor ABA INSENSITIVE 4 (ABI4) control plant growth and development. We review how singlet oxygen, which is produced in chloroplasts of the fluorescent mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (arabidopsis), and ABI4 may cooperate in transcriptional and translational reprogramming to cause plants to halt growth or demise. Key elements of singlet oxygen- and ABI4-dependent chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signaling involve the chloroplast EXECUTER (EX) 1 and EX2 proteins as well as nuclear WRKY transcription factors. Mutants designed to study singlet oxygen signaling, that lack either ABI4 or the EX1 and EX2 proteins, do not show most of the growth effects of singlet oxygen. We propose a model that positions ABI4 downstream of WRKY transcription factors and EX1 and EX2.

During their evolution from cyanobacteria, plastids have relinquished most of their genes to the host cell nucleus, but have retained a core set of genes that are transcribed and translated within the organelle. Previous explanations have included incompatible codon or base composition, problems importing certain proteins across the double membrane, or the need for tight regulation in concert with the redox status of the electron transport chain. In this opinion article we propose the 'mRNA targeting hypothesis'. Studies in cyanobacteria suggest that mRNAs encoding core photosynthetic proteins have features that are crucial for membrane targeting and coordination of early steps in complex assembly. We propose that the requirement for intimate involvement of mRNA molecules at the thylakoid surface explains the retention of core photosynthetic genes in chloroplasts.

Secondary metabolism is crucial for plant survival and can generate chemistry with nutritional, therapeutic, and industrial value. Biosynthetic genes of selected secondary metabolites cluster within localised chromosomal regions. The arrangement of these biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) challenges the long-held model of random gene order in eukaryotes, raising questions about their regulation, ecological significance, and evolution. In this review, we address these questions by exploring the contribution of BGCs to ecologically relevant plant-biotic interactions, while also evaluating the molecular-(epi)genetic mechanisms controlling their coordinated stress- and tissue-specific expression. Based on evidence that BGCs have distinct chromatin signatures and are enriched with transposable elements (TEs), we integrate emerging hypotheses into an updated evolutionary model emphasising how stress-induced epigenetic processes have shaped BGC formation.

Understanding molecular dynamics at the single cell level is crucial to understand plant traits. Recently, Liu et al. and Cui et al. reported multiome analysis in the same cell/nucleus to dissect the key plant traits (osmotic stress response and pod development). Their results provide novel insights into pathways and regulatory networks at a single cell resolution.

Plants can communicate with each other and other living organisms in a very sophisticated manner. They use biological molecules and even physical cues to establish a molecular dialogue with beneficial organisms as well as with their predators and pathogens. Several studies were recently published that explore how plants communicate with each other about their previous encounters or stressful experiences. However, there is an almost complete lack of knowledge about how these intra- and interspecies communications are directly regulated at the epigenetic level. In this perspective article we provide new hypotheses for the possible epigenetic modifications that regulate plant responses at the communication level.

Understanding cell type-specific metabolism, especially under unfavorable conditions, is paramount. Recent discoveries by Shi et al. and Auler et al. linked to stomatal closure stimuli, abscisic acid (ABA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have pointed to new avenues to be explored to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms linked to starch and malate metabolism in guard cells during stress.