Wang et al. explore how SUMOylation of a key transcription factor affects heat stress responses in wheat. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad192 By Jie Liu and Haoran Wang; Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization (MOE), Beijing Key…

This interesting and well-written review by Derbyshire and Raffaele takes a step back from the molecular interactions between plant and pathogen and discusses them in light of co-evolutionary processes. The review starts with a useful introduction and definition of concepts about “robustness” in…

Sometimes more really is better, and I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to genomic information, more is better. Here, Raza et al. highlight the great value of super-pangenomes. A pan-genome is defined as the entire set of genes within a species, created by combining sequences of many individuals.…

Certain human neurodegenerative disorders are caused by aggregation of disordered proteins. In particular, Huntington’s disease is caused by aggregation of a protein called huntingtin, which contains long stretches of glutamine (Q). Llama et al. observed that proteins with long stretches of glutamine…

Transcription of chloroplast genes is carried out by the plastid encoded polymerase (PEP) with help from PAPs (PEP-associated proteins). PAP3 is important for chloroplast development in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana, however its role in crops has not been fully elucidated. Here Seo et…

Starch granules are synthesized in the leaves of chloroplast during the day and degraded in the subsequent night. To visualise starch granules the tissue usually has to be fixed, which prevents live imaging. Here Ichikawa et al. set out to find a highly specific dye to image starch granules in living…

Carrots were not always orange, and a new paper by Coe, Bostan, Rolling et al. sheds new light into the history of carrot domestication and improvement, i.e., how we went from white, knotty carrots to the orange, smooth ones that are now consumed all over the world. The authors published a new version…

With atmospheric CO2 levels increasing 100 times faster than historical levels, much attention has been paid to how crop plants respond to this elevated CO2 (eCO2). For angiosperms, eCO2 leads to increased CO2 assimilation and decreased photorespiration, but over time plants can adapt, leading to lower…