Regulators of chromatin structure play critical roles in DNA-based processes. Lysine (K) Methyltransferase 1 (KMT1) homologs perform methylation of H3 lysine-9 and are best known for their essential role in heterochromatin formation and transcriptional silencing. Heterochromatin formation is also important for maintenance of genome stability, although the mechanisms are not well understood.

Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast disease, the most devastating disease of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) and a continuing threat to global food security. To cause disease, the fungus elaborates a specialized infection cell called an appressorium, which breaches the cuticle of the rice leaf, allowing the fungus entry to plant tissue. Here, we show that the exocyst complex localizes to the tips of growing hyphae during vegetative growth.

Plants can sense loss of water caused by drought and stimulate internal mechanisms for protecting cells from damage with the aid of the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Analysis of a mutant of the basal land plant, the moss Physcomitrella patens, revealed that an impairment of a protooncogene Raf-like protein kinase, designated “ARK” (for “ABA and abiotic stress-responsive Raf-like kinase”),

Pathogen infections can cause significant crop losses worldwide and major disturbances in natural ecosystems. Understanding the molecular basis of plant disease susceptibility is important for the development of new strategies to prevent disease outbreaks. Recent studies have identified the plant jasmonate (JA) hormone receptor as one of the common targets of pathogen virulence factors.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) closes its stomata at relatively low soil water deficits frequently encountered in normal field conditions resulting in unnecessary annual yield losses and extensive use of artificial irrigation. Therefore, unraveling the genetics underpinning variation in water use efficiency (WUE) of potato is important, but has been limited by technical difficulties in assessing the trait on individual plants and thus is poorly understood.

TaNAC29 was introduced into Arabidopsis using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated floral dipping method. TaNAC29-overexpression plants were subjected to salt and drought stresses for examining gene functions. To investigate tolerant mechanisms involved in the salt and drought responses, expression of related marker genes analyses were conducted, and related physiological indices were also measured. Expressions of genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) is one of the most fatal pests of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) worldwide and causes huge loss of soybean yield each year. Multiple sources of resistance are urgently needed for effective management of SCN via the development of resistant cultivars. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic architecture of resistance to SCN HG Type 0 (race 3) and HG Type 1.2.3.5.7 (race 4) in landraces and released elite soybean cultivars mostly from China.

Grain size is one of the key factors determining yield and quality in rice. A large number of genes are involved in the regulation of grain size parameters such as grain length and grain width. Different alleles of these genes have different impacts on the grain size traits under their control. However, the combined influence of multiple alleles of different genes on grain size remains to be investigated. Six key genes known to influence grain size were investigated in this study: GS3, GS5, GS6, GW2, qSW5/GW5, and GW8/OsSPL16. Allele and grain measurement data were used to develop a regression equation model that can be used for molecular breeding of rice with desired grain characteristics.

Assigning biological relevance and molecular function to large catalogues of mutated genes in cancer is a major challenge. Likewise, pinpointing drivers among thousands of transcriptionally or epigenetically dysregulated genes within a cancer is complex and limited by the lack of tools for high-throughput functional cancer genomic analyses. We show here for the first time, to our knowledge, application of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system for simultaneous (multiplexed) mutagenesis of large gene sets in adult mice, allowing high-throughput discovery and validation of cancer genes.

While the pace of discovery of human genetic variants in tumors, patients, and diverse populations has rapidly accelerated, deciphering their functional consequence has become rate-limiting. Using cross-species complementation, model organisms like the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, can be utilized to fill this gap and serve as a platform for testing human genetic variants.