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2022 is the United Nations International Year of Glass. Exquisite models such as those pictured on our cover can be created in this medium. Also, the exotic properties of glasses and related materials can be exploited in many situations, including within living plants.
This year the United Nations is unwittingly bringing together seaweed, a pair of nineteenth-century glass sculptors, bovine teeth, photosynthetic efficiency and neurodegenerative diseases. Find out how.
Machine-learning algorithms for protein structure prediction can now generate models directly from sequences. However, photosynthetic assemblies represent a challenge due to additional levels of complexity arising from their multi-protein nature and presence of cofactors.
Incorporation of multiple-nucleotide substitution in prime-editing guide RNAs greatly boosts editing efficiency in rice and maize, advancing precise genome editing in plants.
Plants adapt to drought stress by reshaping their root architecture, a process in which abscisic acid signalling plays a key role. A recent study defines the mechanism by which abscisic acid signalling mediates sucrose transport from shoots to roots, thus modulating root growth under drought stress.
Plant malectin-like receptor kinases (also known as CrRLK1Ls) have functions in plant development such as pollen tube growth and cell wall integrity sensing. This Perspective reviews recent evidence suggesting a critical role of these receptors in plant immunity.
A study finds that N-terminal RT–Cas9 nickase fusion, versus the commonly applied C-terminal fusion, and multiple-nucleotide substitutions in prime editing guide RNAs can synergistically and greatly enhance the efficiency of prime editor 3 in rice and maize.
TT2 is identified as a negative regulator of thermotolerance. It triggers Ca2+ signalling upon heat stress, which is then decoded by SCT1–CaM interaction. SCT1 reduces the transcription of its target OsWR2, thereby causing reduction in wax biosynthesis.
During drought stress, a plant’s root:shoot ratio is increased. The sucrose transporters SWEET11 and 12 are rapidly phosphorylated upon drought and abscisic acid treatments, enhancing sugar loading of phloem and supporting enhanced root growth.