Here we employ RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to understand the role that conditions that vary across a landscape may have played in shaping genetic diversity in the maize landraces of Chiapas, Mexico. We collected landraces from three distinct elevational zones and planted them in a midland common garden. Early season leaf tissue was collected for RNA-seq and we performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). We then used association analysis between landrace co-expression module expression values and environmental parameters of landrace origin to elucidate genes and gene networks potentially shaped by environmental factors along our study gradient.

Sugarcane is the world's most efficient feedstock for commercial production of bioethanol due to its superior biomass production and accumulation of sucrose in stems. Integrating first and second generation ethanol conversion processes will enhance the biofuel yield per unit area by utilizing both sucrose as well as cell wall bound sugars for fermentation. RNAi suppression of the lignin biosynthetic gene caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) has been demonstrated to improve bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass.

The NHX-type cation/H⁺ transporters in plants have been shown to mediate Na⁺(K⁺)/H⁺ exchange for salinity tolerance and K⁺ homoeostasis. In this study, we identified and characterized two NHX homologues, HtNHX1 and HtNHX2 from an infertile and salinity tolerant species Helianthus tuberosus (cv. Nanyu No. 1). HtNHX1 and HtNHX2 share identical 5′- and 3′-UTR and coding regions, except for a 342-bp segment encoding 114 amino acids (L₂₇₂ to Q₃₈₅) which is absent in HtNHX2.

Coffee production supports the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers around the world, and bees provide coffee farms with pollination. Climate change will modify coffee and bee distributions, and thus coffee production. We modeled impacts for the largest coffee-growing region, Latin America, under global warming scenarios. Although we found reduced coffee suitability and bee species diversity for more than one-third of the future coffee-suitable areas

Extremely acidic environments are scattered worldwide, and their ecosystems are supported by acidophilic microalgae as primary producers. To understand how acidophilic algae evolved from their respective neutrophilic ancestors, we determined the draft genome sequence of the acidophilic green alga Chlamydomonas eustigma and performed comparative genome analyses between C. eustigma and its neutrophilic relative Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

In response to pathogen attack, plants prioritize defense reactions generally at the expense of plant growth. In this work, we report that changes in phytohormone signaling pathways are associated with the stunted plant growth caused by blast disease in rice seedlings. Infection of rice seedlings with blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (race 007.0) at the four-leaf stage (three true leaves) resulted in considerable inhibition of the growth of the upper uninfected distal leaves;

The TCP transcription factors usually act as integrators of multiple growth regulatory and environmental stimuli. However, little is known about this gene family in the important tropical crop cassava (Manihot esculenta). In this study, 36 TCP genes were identified and renamed based on cassava whole-genome sequence and their sequence similarity with Arabidopsis TCPs. Typical TCP domains were detected in these proteins by multiple sequence alignment analysis.

There is increasing literature that links the overexpression of protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) 5 and PRMT7 to cancer metastasis and tumorigenesis and that suggests these enzymes may be good therapeutic targets. An important question remaining is how PRMT7 may control PRMT5 activity in mammalian cells. In this work, we demonstrate that PRMT7-dependent monomethylation at one site in histone H4 can activate another site for methylation by PRMT5.

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is the key signal for regulation of a plant’s water status. ABA signaling mediates drought resistance and can ameliorate water-use efficiency in plants. Arabidopsis has different ABA receptors and coreceptors, which form heterodimers that regulate the various ABA responses. This study reveals that the three receptor subfamilies have different sensitivities to ABA in Arabidopsis cells and the vast majority of receptor–coreceptor combinations are functional.

Like 80–90% of land plants, legumes form endosymbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, host endophytes, support a rhizosphere community, and are attacked by pathogens. The ability of root cells to distinguish between these soil microbes and the mixture of chitinaceous compounds they display as signal molecules is important for an appropriate plant response.