As one of the most traded commodities in the world, coffee has cultural and economic impact that spans continents. The main source of coffee beans, Coffea arabica (Arabica), is a polyploid species that resulted from the hybridization between diploid C. canephora (Robusta) and C. eugenioides (Eugenioides).…

The domestication of cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) traces back approximately 300 years, providing us with a relatively comprehensive genealogy of this artificial hybrid species. Strawberry yield in the US has increased by 2,755% since the 1960’s, largely owing to the California strawberry…

In recent years, the discovery that the translational regulation of many mRNAs is influenced by small upstream open reading frames (uORFs) has highlighted the importance of precisely identifying gene structures and translated ORFs to understand gene functions and cellular behavior. Using Arabidopsis,…

A new article by Blagojevic, Baldrich, and Schiaffini et al. reveals that Arabidopsis ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) protein, a pivotal agent in miRNA and siRNA-mediated gene silencing associated with the rough endoplasmic reticulum, dynamically localizes within stress granule components during heat stress (HS).…

ATG8 is a well-characterized protein involved in autophagy that binds to the double-membrane enclosed phagophore. In a new preprint, Julian et al. explore their finding that ATG8 binds to the single-membrane enclosed vacuolar membrane (tonoplast). They observed that this binding is enhanced by treatments…

Cannabis sativa, also known as hemp or marijuana, is a widely cultivated plant for a variety of reasons. It is perhaps best known as a producer of an intoxicating chemical, THC, produced by glandular trichomes on female flowers, but low-THC producers (hemp) are cultivated for fibers. Flowering time affects…

The concept of pollination syndromes posits that floral diversity arises from shifts among pollinator groups, yet their predictive accuracy for pollinator identification is debated. Kopper et al. leveraged machine learning, utilizing 44 floral traits from 252 species with known pollinator interactions,…

Review: The plant immune system: From discovery to deployment A review of the past 50 years of plant immunity by Jones, Staskawicz, and Dangl? Yes please! I particularly enjoy historical perspectives of a discipline, as they frame conceptual breakthroughs with the benefit of hindsight. As the article…