Volume 9 Issue 12, December 2023

A full pot of diversity is discovered in the tea pangenome.

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.

We report the discovery and characterization of two small coiled-coil proteins that belong to the central element of the plant synaptonemal complex.

Genomic polyploidy is prevalent in the plant kingdom, giving rise to dominant and recessive subgenomes. We show that the recessive subgenomes of the pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis had a crucial role in the acquisition of novel genes with species-specific function such as dioecy and carnivory.

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.

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.

This study reports the striking discovery that a water-impermeable barrier known as suberin lamellae was first evolved in the common ancestor of seed plants and contributed to their evolutionary success.

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.

The genome of the Asian pitcher plant shows a decaploid structure and highlights the differential contributions of subgenomes to the evolution of novel genes, such as those associated with dioecy and trapping pitcher leaves.

This study identified two plant synaptonemal complex central element proteins—SCEP1 and SCEP2. Mutant versions of these proteins do not synapse, have more crossovers but lose crossover interference and show reduced heterochiasmy.

This study shows that the tRNA-modifying enzymes TRM1A/TRM1B are essential to attain the steady-state pool of tRNAs and reveals how they functionally cooperate with RNase P in vivo for the early steps of tRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis.

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.

Ji and colleagues show that the specific angiosperm growth-governing DELLA–SLY1/GID2 protein interaction evolved from a broader ancestral affinity, suggesting affinity narrowing to be a general evolutionary driver of interaction specificity.

To avoid autoimmunity against the microbiome, plants use PHYTOSULFOKINE RECEPTOR 1-mediated regulation of salicylic acid signalling to tune the plant growth–defence balance in response to microbiota.

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.

Using transcriptomic data from ~100,000 informative cells, this study constructed a dynamic cell atlas during the process of de-etiolation induced by light for Arabidopsis seedlings, revealing comprehensive development responses at single-cell resolution.