Plant Biology

A chromosome-level reference genome of Ensete glaucum gives insight into diversity and chromosomal and repetitive sequence evolution in the Musaceae

1. Ziwei Wang
2. Mathieu Rouard
3. Manosh Kumar Biswas
4. Gaetan Droc
5. Dongli Cui
6. Nicolas Roux
7. Franc-Christophe Baurens
8. Xue-Jun Ge
9. Trude Schwarzacher
10. Pat (J S) Heslop-Harrison
11. Qing Liu

Reviewed by GigaScience

Domestication and lowland adaptation of coastal preceramic maize from Paredones, Peru

1. Miguel Vallebueno-Estrada
2. Guillermo G Hernández-Robles
3. Eduardo González-Orozco
4. Ivan Lopez-Valdivia
5. Teresa Rosales Tham
6. Víctor Vásquez Sánchez
7. Kelly Swarts
8. Tom D Dillehay
9. Jean-Philippe Vielle-Calzada
10. Rafael Montiel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important article, the authors characterize ancient DNA from maize unearthed in archaeological contexts from Paredones and Huaca Prieta in the Chicama river valley of Peru, recovered by painstakingly controlled excavation. The genetic evidence is compelling, albeit from a small sample size, but the dating evidence, despite the excellent archaeological context, is inadequate. Since the age of the samples is so important for the inferences, the individual radiocarbon determinations should be subject to further scrutiny.

Reviewed by eLife

Vernalization-triggered expression of the antisense transcript COOLAIR is mediated by CBF genes

1. Myeongjune Jeon
2. Goowon Jeong
3. Yupeng Yang
4. Xiao Luo
5. Daesong Jeong
6. Jinseul Kyung
7. Youbong Hyun
8. Yuehui He
9. Ilha Lee

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important paper advances the understanding, in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, of the molecular basis of the promotion of flowering in the spring by exposure to winter cold through a process known as vernalization. In Arabidopsis, there are two classes of long non-coding RNAs produced only when plants are in the cold, and this work provides compelling evidence that the cold-induced expression of one of these (COOLAIR) involves C-repeat binding factor proteins that bind to cognate binding elements in the COOLAIR promoter, but also that COOLAIR is not required for the vernalization-mediated promotion of flowering under standard laboratory conditions in which the vernalization response is measured.

Reviewed by eLife

Mutations in NAKED-ENDOSPERM IDD genes reveal functional interactions with SCARECROW and a maternal influence on leaf patterning in C ₄ grasses

1. Thomas E. Hughes
2. Olga Sedelnikova
3. Mimi Thomas
4. Jane A. Langdale

Reviewed by Review Commons

Structure of Dunaliella photosystem II reveals conformational flexibility of stacked and unstacked supercomplexes

1. Ido Caspy
2. Maria Fadeeva
3. Yuval Mazor
4. Nathan Nelson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The work of Caspy and coworkers resolves the cryo-EM structures of stacked and unstacked PSII supercomplexes of Dunaliella, revealing unexpected connectivity and conformational flexibility, with intriguing implications for the function and regulation of photosynthesis.

Reviewed by eLife

LDL1 and LDL2 histone demethylases interact with FVE to regulate flowering in Arabidopsis

1. Mahima
2. Sourav Chatterjee
3. Sharmila Singh
4. Ananda K. Sarkar

Reviewed by Review Commons

Plant YTHDF proteins are direct effectors of antiviral immunity against an N6 ‐methyladenosine‐containing RNA virus

1. Mireya Martínez‐Pérez
2. Frederic Aparicio
3. Laura Arribas‐Hernández
4. Mathias Due Tankmar
5. Sarah Rennie
6. Sören von Bülow
7. Kresten Lindorff‐Larsen
8. Peter Brodersen
9. Vicente Pallas

Reviewed by Review Commons

Environmental morphing enables informed dispersal of the dandelion diaspore

1. Madeleine Seale
2. Oleksandr Zhdanov
3. Merel B Soons
4. Cathal Cummins
5. Erika Kroll
6. Michael R Blatt
7. Hossein Zare-Behtash
8. Angela Busse
9. Enrico Mastropaolo
10. James M Bullock
11. Ignazio M Viola
12. Naomi Nakayama

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This boundary-crossing work on dandelion diaspore flight is an excellent demonstration of how to address fundamental questions about wind dispersal of plant seeds from biophysical and ecological perspectives. Both wind-tunnel experiments and models provide compelling evidence that the aerodynamics of dandelion diaspores change with the environment. Addition of local climate data enables the authors to make a convincing case about how the biophysical properties can scale up to affect dispersal across the landscape under different environmental conditions. In addition to the strong data, this is a clear, accessible, and very enjoyable read.

Reviewed by eLife

Opposite polarity programs regulate asymmetric subsidiary cell divisions in grasses

1. Dan Zhang
2. Roxane P Spiegelhalder
3. Emily B Abrash
4. Tiago DG Nunes
5. Inés Hidalgo
6. M Ximena Anleu Gil
7. Barbara Jesenofsky
8. Heike Lindner
9. Dominique C Bergmann
10. Michael T Raissig

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript characterizes the localization and function of two proteins promoting division asymmetry in developing stomata of the grass Brachypodium distachyon. The authors demonstrate that the opposing polarity domains of these proteins are linked to cell division orientation. While both proteins have been studied previously in other systems, there was no prior evidence of cooperative functions in a single cell type, as shown here. With further clarification of some of the localization findings, this study will be of strong interest to plant cell biologists and those interested in asymmetric cell division generally.

Reviewed by eLife

The circadian clock controls temporal and spatial patterns of floral development in sunflower

1. Carine M Marshall
2. Veronica L Thompson
3. Nicky M Creux
4. Stacey L Harmer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper, of relevance to a broad range of plant biologists and colleagues in the circandian field, reports important results that demonstrate circadian coordination of characteristic floral development in sunflower. The current manuscript includes convincing observations and possible hypotheses, but the ecological relevance of the temporally-controlled flower development is incompletely shown.

Reviewed by eLife