Entries by Ana Valladares

Loss-of-function of a tomato receptor-like kinase impairs male fertility and induces parthenocarpic fruit set (Front Plant Sci)

May 17, 2019 in /by

The flower-to-fruit transition (fruit set) and parthenocarpy, the pollination-independent development of seedless fruits, are controlled by complex hormone networks. Takei et al. identified a tomato gamma-ray induced mutant named small parthenocarpic fruit and flower (spff) with small fruits and flowers, male sterility, delayed flowering, and increased productivity (fruits per plant). Using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism […]

Generation of herbicide tolerance traits and a new selectable marker in wheat using base editing (Nature Plants)

May 3, 2019 in /by

Nowadays, weeds represents a major problem to agriculture due to the limited availability and expense of tools to manage them. Using new technologies to create herbicide-tolerant, non-transgenic varieties could improve weed control. Here, Li et al. analyzed multiallelic editing of the wheat TaALS (encoding acetolactate synthase) gene. ALS is a key enzyme in the synthesis […]

Transposable elements drive rapid phenotypic variation in Capsella rubella (PNAS)

April 26, 2019 in /by

How can a species with limited genetic variation rapidly adapt to new environments? This phenomenon is known as the genetic paradox of invasion. Here, Niu et al. studied the role of Transposable Elements (TEs) in Capsella rubella, focusing on flowering-time variation. By analyzing population genomics and comparing with its outcrossing sister C. grandiflora, TEs were found “highly […]

Flavor-cyber-agriculture: Metabolite optimization through surrogate modeling (PLOS One)

April 12, 2019 in /by

Cyber-agriculture is a computer-controlled plant growing environment which regulates climatic conditions through machine learning, finding optimized variables (“recipes”) to maximize a specific plant trait. Here, Johnson et al. applied cyber-agriculture to chemotype optimization for flavor in basil (Ocimum basilicum) through surrogate modeling. As light exposure has been shown to increase aromatic molecules concentration, the study […]

Optogenetic manipulation of stomatal kinetics improves carbon assimilation, water use, and growth ($) (Science)

April 5, 2019 in /by

Optogenetics is a biotechnique that uses light-sensitive molecules to regulate cell activity. In plants, stomatal aperture mediates both CO2 uptake for photosynthesis and water loss by transpiration. The carbon-water trade-off control affects water use efficiency (WUE). Here, Papanatsiou et al. studied the synthetic blue light–induced K+ channel 1 (BLINK1) as an ion flux photoactivator by […]

Retargeting of a plant defense protease by a cyst nematode effector ($) (Plant J)

March 29, 2019 in /by

The nematode infection process in plants involves secreted effector proteins that suppress the host defense mechanisms. However, the molecular interactions in which this is done is yet unclear. Here, Pogorelko et al. characterize the function of 4E02, an effector from the cyst nematode H. schachtii, when expressed in A. thaliana. The transgenic plants showed higher […]

Nanomaterials enable delivery of functional genetic material without DNA integration (Nature Nanotech)

March 22, 2019 in /by

Key to success of crop improvement is the development of easier, faster and safer biomolecules-delivery systems. Here, the main limitation is the cell wall, which compromises the yield of exogenic material transfer to plant cells. In this study, Demirer et al demonstrate the advantages of infiltrated DNA-nanocarriers in monocot and dicot plants leaves (Nicotiana benthamiana, […]

Evolution of chloroplast retrograde signaling facilitates green plant adaptation to land (PNAS)

March 8, 2019 in /by

The evolution of signaling pathways in plants enabled the water to land transition, during which drought response was crucial for the adaptation to terrestrial habitats. Here, Zhao et al. reveal the role of drought- induced phosphoadenosine (PAP) in the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) synthesis in the chloroplasts, which leads to stomatal closure. Also, they […]

Dual regulation of Arabidopsis AGO2 by arginine methylation (Nature Comms)

March 1, 2019 in /by

Plants have natural mechanisms against pathogen infections. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) on key proteins involved in RNAi pathways are needed to control these immune responses. Argonaute (AGO) proteins are targets of PTMs to direct the silencing of genes. Here, Hu et al. identified the role of PRMT5, an arginine methyltransferase, in directing symmetric dimethylation in the […]