Natural variation in plants articles from across Nature Portfolio

A genetic screen across Arabidopsis accessions identifies SBG1 as a regulator of root abscisic acid response and endodermal suberin deposition via type 1 protein phosphatases, revealing how natural variation shapes root barriers and stress responses.

Triticum urartu is the diploid progenitor of polyploid wheat A subgenome. Here, the authors report an improved genome assembly of T. urartu and uncover a lipoxygenase gene that shapes T. urartu gene pools and their contributions to polyploid wheat A subgenome by regulating growth-defense trade offs.

The Scalesia plant radiation displays striking leaf-shape variation within Galápagos microclimates. Genome-wide analyses shows that lobed leaves evolved repeatedly through diversifying selection on diverse developmental regulators.

This study identifies a Rht-A1–TaLA1-D module controlling wheat tiller angle, elucidates its mechanism, and traces the selection trajectory of TaLA1-D during wheat breeding, providing new insights for developing ideotype wheat varieties.

A multilayered pangenomic resource for Sorghum bicolor, integrating an improved reference genome, a representative 33-accession pangenome and a global panel of nearly 2,000 lines, establishes a powerful platform for trait discovery and genetic improvement.

Plants often experience multiple stresses to which they adapt by mounting specific responses. Nitrogen supply allows plants to better recover from drought, and this is linked to inhibition of the SnRK2 kinase, which is shown to destabilize the NLP7 master transcription factor for nitrate signals.

Qiang Xu has been captivated by citrus fruits since childhood.

The insertion of the stress-responsive transposable element (TE) ONSEN into a critical flowering regulator gene confers an adaptive response to herbicide treatment in Arabidopsis thaliana natural accessions.