Plant molecular biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Light induces the expression of many plant genes including chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins—CABs—but whether this occurs via altered genomic organization is unknown. Here, Feng et al. use a rolling-circle amplification model to show that CABgenes undergo nuclear repositioning in response to light.

    • Chun-Miao Feng
    • , Yongjian Qiu
    •  & Meng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plants activate a gene transcription response under low iron conditions but how they sense insufficient iron levels is unclear. In this study, Kobayashi et al.identify two iron-binding proteins that possess ubiquitin ligase activity and are negative regulators of the iron deficiency response.

    • Takanori Kobayashi
    • , Seiji Nagasaka
    •  & Naoko K. Nishizawa

  • Article |

    Both strigolactone and DELLA plant signalling pathways have a role in shoot branching. In this study, Nakamura et al.show that DWARF14 cleaves strigolactones creating a binding surface for the DELLA protein SLR1, thereby providing a mechanism for pathway crosstalk.

    • Hidemitsu Nakamura
    • , You-Lin Xue
    •  & Tadao Asami

  • Article |

    Agrobacterium uses a single-stranded DNA molecule–T-strand–to transform host plants, but the mechanism of insertion into the host genome is unclear. Here, the authors find that T-strand to double-stranded T-DNA conversion, which precedes integration into the genome, may be initiated by the host DNA repair machinery.

    • Zhuobin Liang
    •  & Tzvi Tzfira

  • Article |

    The control of RNA stability is essential for gene regulation in eukaryotes. Hirayama et al. demonstrate that poly(A)-specific ribonuclease and bacterial-type poly(A) polymerase control mitochondrial mRNA poly(A) status in Arabidopsis, showing that a unique system regulating mitochondrial function operates in plants.

    • Takashi Hirayama
    • , Takakazu Matsuura
    •  & Shimpei Hayashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    RecQ helicases are enzymes that play a central role in maintaining genome stability in the DNA repair cascade. Klaue et al. show that RecQ2 and RecQ3 from Arabidopsis thalianaprocess DNA by, respectively, unwinding and rewinding forked DNA substrates, using a frequent strand switching mechanism.

    • Daniel Klaue
    • , Daniela Kobbe
    •  & Ralf Seidel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flowering time is a critical developmental transition for a plant’s reproductive success and it depends on endogenous and environmental signals. Here Gu et al.show that MADS-domain floral repressors form protein complexes that coordinate Arabidopsis responses to these cues and regulate its flowering time.

    • Xiaofeng Gu
    • , Chau Le
    •  & Yuehui He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tillering is a multigenic complex trait that influences grain yield in cereal; however, the molecular network for its regulation remains unclear. Guo et al.show that OsMADS57, a transcription factor controlled by miR444a, interacts with OsTEOSINTE BRANCHED1 and targets DWARF14 to control tillering in rice.

    • Siyi Guo
    • , Yunyuan Xu
    •  & Kang Chong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, the key enzyme of C4 photosynthesis, evolved from an ancestral isoform in C3 plants and has a reduced feedback inhibition. Paulus et al.show that enhanced inhibitor tolerance of C4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase is achieved by a single amino-acid exchange.

    • Judith Katharina Paulus
    • , Daniel Schlieper
    •  & Georg Groth

  • Article |

    Agrobacterium radiobacter strain K84 generates an antibiotic targeting pathogenic strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, enabling its use as a biocontrol to prevent infection of crops. Here the authors show that this antibiotic inhibits leucyl-tRNA synthetases via an unusual mechanism that depends on binding of tRNALeu.

    • Shaileja Chopra
    • , Andrés Palencia
    •  & John S. Reader

  • Article |

    Epigenetic modifications are thought to affect the accessibility of DNA, but it is not clear whether this is a universal effect. These authors map DNA accessibility inArabidopsis thalianaand find that, in contrast to fruitflies, H3K9 dimethylation reduces accessibility in a DNA methylation-dependent manner.

    • Huan Shu
    • , Thomas Wildhaber
    •  & Lars Hennig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The protein complex APC/C is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and its subunit Cdh1 determines substrate recognition. Linet al. show that the transcriptional regulator MONOCULM1 is a substrate of the rice homologue of Cdh1 and that APC/C-mediated degradation of MONOCULM1 controls rice tillering, a determinant of grain yield.

    • Qibing Lin
    • , Dan Wang
    •  & Jianmin Wan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyanide-releasing defence systems in plants and animals are important to the evolution of plant–herbivore interactions. The authors identify the enzymes responsible for biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides by Six-spot Burnet moth caterpillars, which have evolved independently from the known plant pathway.

    • Niels Bjerg Jensen
    • , Mika Zagrobelny
    •  & Søren Bak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Much effort has been devoted to the generation of rice plants with short stature to improve grain yield and increased resistance to lodging. Through quantitative trait analysis, these authors identify a gene—STRONG CULM2—that confers increased grain yield, culm strength and spikelet number in rice.

    • Taiichiro Ookawa
    • , Tokunori Hobo
    •  & Makoto Matsuoka

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