Plant Biology

Transcriptional Dynamics and Chromatin Accessibility in the Regulation of Shade-Responsive Genes in Arabidopsis

1. Sandi Paulisic
2. Alessandra Boccaccini
3. René Dreos
4. Giovanna Ambrosini
5. Nicolas Guex
6. Ruben Maximilian Benstei
7. Markus Schmid
8. Christian Fankhauser

Reviewed by Review Commons

Making plant tissue accessible for cryo-electron tomography

1. Matthias Pöge
2. Marcel Dickmanns
3. Peng Xu
4. Meijing Li
5. Oda H Schiøtz
6. Christoph OJ Kaiser
7. Jianfei Ma
8. Anna Bieber
9. Cristina Capitanio
10. Johann Brenner
11. Margot Riggi
12. Sven Klumpe
13. Manuel Miras
14. Neda S Kazemein Jasemi
15. Waltraud X Schulze
16. Rüdiger Simon
17. Wolf B Frommer
18. Jürgen M Plitzko
19. Wolfgang Baumeister

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Thick multicellular plant samples provide unique challenges when it comes to cryo-preservation, which has resulted in limited successful examples for structural studies using in situ cryo-electron tomography. To address this deficiency, this important study describes procedures for high-pressure-freezing, focused ion-beam milling, and cryo-electron tomography imaging of certain plant types. The results described in the paper provide solid evidence for the usefulness of the methods described, although some reservations remain about the applicability of the methods to a wider range of plant cell types.

Reviewed by eLife

The Mp CAFA gene encodes a ciliary protein required for spermatozoid motility in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha

1. Mizuki Morita
2. Katsuyuki T. Yamato

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Targeted and random mutagenesis of cassava brown streak disease susceptibility factors reveal molecular determinants of disease severity

1. ZJ Daniel Lin
2. Myia K Stanton
3. Gabriela L Hernandez
4. Elizabeth J De Meyer
5. Zachary von Behren
6. Katherine Benza
7. Helene Tiley
8. Emerald Hood
9. Greg Jensen
10. Kerrigan B Gilbert
11. James C Carrington
12. Rebecca S Bart

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study shows that mutations in specific cassava genes can reduce infection by cassava brown streak viruses. The authors also identify a key amino acid change that may be significant in how the virus interacts with the plant, but its role is not yet confirmed. While the findings are promising for developing resistant cassava varieties, in the absence of testing a quadruple mutant and without more data on the critical importance of amino acid L5 in VPg-eIF4E interactions, the evidence for several of the major claims remains incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Root hair lifespan is antagonistically controlled by autophagy and programmed cell death

1. Qiangnan Feng
2. Shihao Zhu
3. Xinchao Wang
4. Yujie Liu
5. Jierui Zhao
6. Yasin Dagdas
7. Moritz K Nowack

Reviewed by PREreview

Molecular architecture of thylakoid membranes within intact spinach chloroplasts

1. Wojciech Wietrzynski
2. Lorenz Lamm
3. William H.J. Wood
4. Matina-Jasemi Loukeri
5. Lorna Malone
6. Tingying Peng
7. Matthew P. Johnson
8. Benjamin D. Engel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The macromolecular organization of photosynthetic complexes within the thylakoids of higher plant chloroplasts has been a topic of significant debate. Using in situ cryo-electron tomography, this study reveals the native thylakoid architecture of spinach thylakoid membranes with single-molecule precision. The experimental methods are unique and compelling, providing important information for understanding the structural features that impact photosynthetic regulation in vascular plants and addressing several long-standing questions about the organization and regulation of photosynthesis.

Reviewed by eLife

Conservation and divergence of regulatory architecture in nitrate-responsive plant gene circuits

1. Chao Bian
2. Gozde S Demirer
3. M Tufan Oz
4. Yao-Min Cai
5. Sam Witham
6. G Alex Mason
7. Zhengao Di
8. Florian Deligne
9. Ping Zhang
10. Rachel Shen
11. Allison Gaudinier
12. Siobhan M Brady
13. Nicola J Patron

Reviewed by preLights

The rhizobial effector NopT targets Nod factor receptors to regulate symbiosis in Lotus japonicus

1. Hanbin Bao
2. Yanan Wang
3. Haoxing Li
4. Qiang Wang
5. Yutao Lei
6. Ying Ye
7. Syed F Wadood
8. Hui Zhu
9. Christian Staehelin
10. Gary Stacey
11. Shutong Xu
12. Yangrong Cao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript presents important findings on a bacterial effector involved in plant symbiotic signaling. The effector proteolytically targets a key receptor while its activity is counteracted by host-mediated phosphorylation, revealing a dynamic interplay that fine-tunes symbiotic interactions. The evidence supporting these claims is solid, and the findings have potential signaling implications beyond bacterial interactions with plants.

Reviewed by eLife

Structure, function and assembly of soybean primary cell wall cellulose synthases

1. Ruoya Ho
2. Pallinti Purushotham
3. Louis FL Wilson
4. Yueping Wan
5. Jochen Zimmer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  It is well established that cellulose synthesis in higher plants requires three different but related catalytic subunits known as CESA proteins. Here the authors provide cryo electron microscopy structural information on soybean CESA1, CESA3, and CESA6 and find substantial differences between the structure of these CESA homotrimers and the previously-resolved secondary cell wall CESAs. They present an important model with convincing evidence in which the multi-subunit cellulose synthase complexes are made of multiple homotrimers.

Reviewed by eLife

Natural variation in salt-induced changes in root:shoot ratio reveals SR3G as a negative regulator of root suberization and salt resilience in Arabidopsis

1. Maryam Rahmati Ishka
2. Hayley Sussman
3. Yunfei Hu
4. Mashael Daghash Alqahtani
5. Eric Craft
6. Ronell Sicat
7. Minmin Wang
8. Li'ang Yu
9. Rachid Ait-Haddou
10. Bo Li
11. Georgia Drakakaki
12. Andrew DL Nelson
13. Miguel Pineros
14. Arthur Korte
15. Łukasz Jaremko
16. Christa Testerink
17. Mark Tester
18. Magdalena M Julkowska

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Through cellular, developmental, and physiological analysis, this valuable study identifies a gene that regulates the relative growth of roots and shoots under salt stress. The holistic approach taken provides convincing evidence that this member of a larger tandemly duplicated gene family together with an upstream regulator contributes to salt tolerance. The manuscript will be of interest to plant biologists studying mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance and gene family evolution.

Reviewed by eLife