Plant Biology

Graft incompatibility between pepper and tomato can be attributed to genetic incompatibility between diverged immune systems

1. Hannah Rae Thomas
2. Alice Gevorgyan
3. Alexandra Hermanson
4. Samantha Yanders
5. Lindsay Erndwein
6. Matthew Norman-Ariztía
7. Erin E. Sparks
8. Margaret H Frank

Reviewed by PREreview

Improving rice drought tolerance through host-mediated microbiome selection

1. Alex Styer
2. Dean Pettinga
3. Daniel Caddell
4. Devin Coleman-Derr

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study reports on a series of artificial selection experiments for microbiomes that confer drought tolerance to rice plants. A major strength is the solid experimental design with multiple soils, which will likely guide others in designing their experiments, but the study has also shortcomings in that the rescuing effect is not benchmarked against healthy well-watered plants, the sterilized controls do not add much information, and the dispersal between inocula confounds the interpretation of the results. In addition, while the type of work presented here is a first step towards the eventual goal of plant microbiome engineering, that goal is still mainly an ambition. The abstract would benefit from this being made clear, and the presentation would overall benefit from more extensive consideration of recent developments in the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Characterization of the small Arabidopsis thaliana GTPase and ADP-ribosylation factor-like 2 protein TITAN 5

1. Inga Mohr
2. Amin Mirzaiebadizi
3. Sibaji K. Sanyal
4. Pichaporn Chuenban
5. Mohammad R. Ahmadian
6. Rumen Ivanov
7. Petra Bauer

Reviewed by Review Commons

Natural genetic variation underlying the negative effect of elevated CO2 on ionome composition in Arabidopsis thaliana

1. Oceane Cassan
2. Lea-Lou Pimpare
3. Timothy Mozzanino
4. Cecile Fizames
5. Sebastien Devidal
6. Fabrice Roux
7. Alexandru Milcu
8. Sophie Lebre
9. Alain Gojon
10. Antoine Martin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper provides useful information about how the ionome of Arabidopsis thaliana adapts to very high CO2-levels, backed up by solid evidence and carefully designed studies. The work will be of interest to anyone studying natural genetic variation as well as the response of plants to altered CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

Reviewed by eLife

A shade-responsive microProtein in the Arabidopsis ATHB2 gene regulates elongation growth and root development

1. Ashleigh Edwards
2. Maurizio Junior Chiurazzi
3. Anko Blaakmeer
4. Ylenia Vittozzi
5. Ashish Sharma
6. Sanne Matton
7. Valdeko Kruusvee
8. Daniel Straub
9. Giovanna Sessa
10. Monica Carabelli
11. Giorgio Morelli
12. Stephan Wenkel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Through a genome-wide screen for functional alternative transcription start sites (TSS) in Arabidopsis, the authors provide evidence for widespread transcription of potential microproteins from previously annotated protein-coding genes. Functional analysis of AtHB2-miP, derived from the C-terminal region of transcription factor AtHB2 and predicted to form non-productive dimers with ATHB2, suggested that this microprotein could affect AtHB2 functions in shade responses, root growth, and iron homeostasis. The work is valuable as a case study of how new microproteins could act to modulate gene regulation in response to environmental change, but the focus on a single gene, the lack of precision in AtHB2-miP measurement and missing controls, and the relatively minor phenotypic effects mean that data supporting microprotein production as a vital regulatory strategy are incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Unraveling the role of urea hydrolysis in salt stress response during seed germination and seedling growth in Arabidopsis thaliana

1. Yuanyuan Bu
2. Xingye Dong
3. Rongrong Zhang
4. Xianglian Shen
5. Yan Liu
6. Shu Wang
7. Tetsuo Takano
8. Shenkui Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study advances our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying salt stress-induced inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with rigorous genetic, physiological, and metabolic analyses. This paper will be of interest to plant stress biologists and crop breeders.

Reviewed by eLife

A dual function of the IDA peptide in regulating cell separation and modulating plant immunity at the molecular level

1. Vilde Olsson Lalun
2. Maike Breiden
3. Sergio Galindo-Trigo
4. Elwira Smakowska-Luzan
5. Rüdiger GW Simon
6. Melinka A Butenko

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript presents valuable findings on the role of a plant peptide in coordinating developmental and immune responses signaling. The evidence supporting the claims, while mainly descriptive and and somewhat limited due to the main conclusions being drawn from overexpression lines, is mostly solid. The findings are interesting, they align with existing models, and they are of relevance to plant pathologists and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Single-molecule analysis reveals the phosphorylation of FLS2 governs its spatiotemporal dynamics and immunity

1. Yaning Cui
2. Hongping Qian
3. Jinhuan Yin
4. Changwen Xu
5. Pengyun Luo
6. Xi Zhang
7. Meng Yu
8. Bodan Su
9. Xiaojuan Li
10. Jinxing Lin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This potentially important study employs advanced imaging techniques to directly visualize molecular dynamics and of the immune receptor kinase FLS2 in specific microenvironments. The evidence supporting the ligand-induced association with remorin and the requirement of a previously reported phosphosite as presented is solid, although support by independent methods would be welcome. The work will be of interest to plant biologists working on cell surface receptors.

Reviewed by eLife

Regulation of adaptive growth decisions via phosphorylation of the TRAPPII complex in Arabidopsis

1. Christian Wiese
2. Miriam Abele
3. Benjamin Al
4. Melina Altmann
5. Alexander Steiner
6. Nils Kalbfuß
7. Alexander Strohmayr
8. Raksha Ravikumar
9. Chan Ho Park
10. Barbara Brunschweiger
11. Chen Meng
12. Eva Facher
13. David W. Ehrhardt
14. Pascal Falter-Braun
15. Zhi-Yong Wang
16. Christina Ludwig
17. Farhah F. Assaad

Reviewed by Review Commons

The tRNA thiolation-mediated translational control is essential for plant immunity

1. Xueao Zheng
2. Hanchen Chen
3. Zhiping Deng
4. Yujing Wu
5. Linlin Zhong
6. Chong Wu
7. Xiaodan Yu
8. Qiansi Chen
9. Shunping Yan

Reviewed by Review Commons