Letters

Thorough genetic analyses by four laboratories reinforce the central role of the protein kinase BIK1 in plant immunity. Other unrelated functions proposed for BIK1, however, are associated with genome rearrangement in a single transfer DNA mutant.

This study reports an unusual tomato ripening regulator, SlSAD8, that targets distinct subcellular compartments to disturb nuclear gene transcription and chloroplast-associated protein degradation, thus uncovering a pathway for fruit ripening.

Kang et al. uncover an anterograde signalling pathway that coordinates the transition of chloroplast function from biogenesis to degeneration, ensuring the timely onset of leaf senescence.

Iridoids are terpenoid metabolites found in thousands of plants. Using single-cell transcriptomics, the authors discovered an unexpected enzyme that has been neofunctionalized to catalyse the cyclization required to form the iridoid scaffold.

This study reveals that a fungal apoplastic effector dampens plant immunity by disrupting the N-glycosylation of a cell-surface immune receptor, thereby promoting its autophagy-mediated degradation and providing insights into plant–pathogen interactions.

The authors establish a scalable pipeline for systematic peptide–receptor discovery. Applying this approach in soybean, researchers identified a PEP914/890-P98R module that plays a pivotal role in conferring disease resistance.

Genomic and other datasets support the division of Coffea liberica into three species: C. liberica, C. dewevrei (excelsa) and C. klainei. This has implications for crop use and development, as well as species conservation.

In flowering plants, the sperm cells travel attached to the vegetative nucleus, forming a unit known as the male germ unit in pollen. This study reports that two kinesins, HUG1 and HUG2, are key for assembling and transporting male germ unit for successful reproduction.

This study combines single-cell RNA sequencing, in silico OnGuard simulation and genetic modification approaches to reveal distinct compositional differences in the potassium ion channel between adaxial and abaxial guard cells.

The phosphatase PLL2 was identified as a specific component in systemin-induced immune signalling. PLL2 regulates proton pump activity at the plasma membrane and is required for downstream defence gene induction and insect resistance.

Efficient delivery systems are urgently needed for genome editing in monocot plants. Here, this study develops a system of virus-induced genome editing in tillers (ViGET) to achieve heritable editing in wheat bypassing transgene and tissue culture.

Weiss et al. engineered the tobacco rattle virus to express the RNA-guided TnpB enzyme ISYmu1 and guide RNA for transgene-free germline editing in Arabidopsis thaliana.

This study reveals that a substantial number of transcripts that are currently annotated as graft-mobile lack statistical support from available RNA-seq data.

De Roij et al. map a minimal region for auxin response factor (ARF) degradation in Marchantia and reveal that ARF instability predates the emergence of the auxin response. This identifies ARF degradation as a key and ancestral property of the auxin response.

Stomatal closure in trees occurs at a pre-dawn water potential of −1.2 MPa, aligning with growth cessation. This suggests that nocturnal rehydration, not hydraulic safety, drives stomatal control, with implications for tree water use and carbon cycling.

This study uncovers a mechanism of rice heading regulation mediated by circular RNAs (ciMIR156Ds) derived from pri-miR156d that refine the aging-dependent expression of miR156 through R-loop formation.

Stb15 provides resistance to Septoria tritici blotch in wheat and encodes a G-type lectin receptor-like kinase. The three cloned Stb genes, which are effective against different pathogen isolates, encode diverse receptor-like kinases with extracellular domains potentially involved in sugar binding.

Ancestral land plants had a free-living gametophyte, but in flowering plants the gametophyte develops within the sporophyte. This study shows that male gametophyte development in Arabidopsis is directed by the sporophyte through repression of gametogenesis genes.

The study uncovered a novel wax alcohol-forming pathway involving a two-step reduction process and further elucidated the carbon relocation mechanism between the alcohol- and alkane-forming pathway in response to environmental cues.

This study identifies a molecular mechanism promoting fruit shape variation. Local meristem identity is maintained through autoregulatory activation of the STM gene to allow post-fertilization changes in fruit morphology.