Volume 72, Issue 22, 4 December 2021

This article comments on:

Berenguer E, Carneros E, Pérez-Pérez Y, Gil C, Martínez A, Testillano PS. 2021. Small molecule inhibitors of mammalian GSK-3β promote in vitro plant cell reprogramming and somatic embryogenesis in crop and forest species. Journal of Experimental Botany 72, 7808–7825.

This article comments on:

Baer AB, Fickle JC, Medina J, Robles C, Pratt RB, Jacobsen AL. 2021. Xylem biomechanics, water storage, and density within roots and shoots of an angiosperm tree species. Journal of Experimental Botany 72, 7984–7997.

Recent advances in the study of autophagy highlight its critical roles in sexual plant reproduction and several fundamental questions worthy of investigation in the future.

Circadian agriculture can increase productivity and sustainability. Plant growth and development can be manipulated, and resources can be optimized, if abiotic and biotic rhythms are considered.

Proteases are catabolic or processing enzymes cleaving peptide bonds. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibits reduced complexity of many protease families, representing a tractable model for studying these vital but poorly understood enzymes.

Stem and canopy architecture traits are superior predictors of floral biomass yield and offer a good indication of hybrid uniformity in field plantings of genetically diverse cannabinoid hemp populations.

Two staygreen mutants were identified for which grain fill duration and grain weight were enhanced. Independent amino acid substitutions within NAC subdomain IV of NAM-1 homoeologues are proposed as causative.

We confirmed GmPPR576 as a fertility restorer gene of soybean CMS line NJCMS1A, which will enable more efficient use of heterosis and potentially bring about a green revolution in soybean farming.

The barley maximum yield potential (MYP) stage can differ from the awn primordium stage and varies depending on the genotype and growth conditions. We suggest key steps to identify MYP in barley that might apply to related cereals.

Grain number in two-rowed barley spikes is predominantly determined by the potential spikelet number while in six-rowed barley is determined by spikelet survival.

A mutant with a suite of phenotypic changes, including seedpod spine formation, was recovered from tissue culture. The gene responsible was identified by whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis.

Knockout mutants of Lotus japonicus demonstrate that three classes of phytoglobins are required for optimal vegetative and reproductive development. The most unusual hemoglobin LjGlb2-1 is genetically and biochemically characterized.

ZmNF-YC2 was identified by map-based cloning and shown to positively regulate maize flowering time under long-day conditions. We developed a gene regulatory model of maize flowering time.

Inhibition of GSK-3 activity by novel small molecules enhances somatic embryogenesis efficiency by activating the brassinosteroid pathway, an innovation with high potential to improve in vitro plant regeneration for crop and forest breeding techniques.

OsbZIP62/OsFD7 interacts with the major flowering regulators participating in the processes of floral transition as well as panicle and floral organ development.

This study highlights the methodological causes responsible for the intraspecific variability among Rubisco kinetic traits and provides a normalized kinetic dataset for model species to be used by the scientific community.

Changes in cell wall composition of mature H. annuus leaves differentially affect photosynthesis during gradual short-term water deficit stress and dynamic recovery after long-term water deficit stress.

Proteomic and kinetic analyses disclose metabolic strategies involving chloroplastic, mitochondrial, and peroxisomal proteins to maintain an optimal performance of the C₄ cycle.

Soybean GmBTB/POZ interacts directly with GmAP2 and promotes its ubiquitination and degradation, which releases its suppression of GmWRKY33 and thereby increases the defense response to Phytophthora sojae.

The impact of root infection by the nematode Meloidogyne incognita on leaf anti-herbivore defenses and plant resistance to the caterpillar Spodoptera exigua is modulated by the nematode infection cycle.

Effective plant immunity requires activation of both cell-surface and intracellular receptors, which increases chromatin accessibility at induced defence genes, under the control of both conserved and unique transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.

Systemic control of the plant N demand on transcriptome reprogramming associated with establishment of rhizobial symbiosis involves the SUNN/CLE and additional pathways.

Water supply and mechanical stability remain proportional to shoot leaf area due to allometric scaling of vessel diameter and stem length with shoot size across 42 neotropical tree species.

Model sorghum varieties for resistance or susceptiblity to the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica differ in growth, development, root system architecture, hormone abundance, and metabolic gene expression.

Xylem biomechanics and water storage differ greatly between woody roots and stems within an angiosperm tree species, with roots having greater water storage and reduced biomechanical support relative to stems.