Work @nature shows how an NLR--transcription factor module mediates rice resistance to bacterial blight. Rice subspecies differing in this module vary in pathogen resistance. The authors overcome lower resistance by manipulating the two layers of plant immunity.

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Numerous fungal diseases threaten rice crops. @nature, researchers identify a gene that makes rice susceptible to multiple fungal pathogens. In field-based experiments, rice crops in which this gene was disrupted showed resistance to several fungal diseases.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Assembly of helper NLR resistosome clusters upon activation of a coiled-coil NLR - Nature SUMM2, a coiled-coil NLR, promotes the assembly of higher-order resistosome clusters to initiate cell death in plants.

To activate plant immunity, NLR receptors such as SUMM2 form resistosome complexes, which act as Ca2+-permeable plasma-membrane channels. Work @nature shows how SUMM2 and its associates assemble into even higher-order clusters to initiate cell death.
shorturl.at/653TZ
plus N&V
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Rewiring an E3 ligase enhances cold resilience and phosphate use in maize - Nature The E3 ubiquitin ligase NLA postively regulates cold tolerance and negatively regulates phosphate uptake in maize, and a genetically engineered variant of this enzyme leads to improved cold ...

@Nature: an E3 ligase, acting via the jasmonate pathway, is a common regulator of both cold stress & phosphate uptake. Guided by AI, the authors use genome editing to show the relevance of this finding for improving maize yield in multi-site field trials.
shorturl.at/KrKBo
& NV
shorturl.at/rwldu

Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) maintain the specific lipid compositions of cellular membranes. @nature, a systematic characterization of complexes between human LTPs and their lipid cargo provides a resource for a better understanding of these proteins.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences Organization: Nature Portfolio Locations: New York, Jersey City, or Berlin – Hybrid Working Model Closing Date: Janu...

The journal Nature is looking for a Metabolism and Cardiovascular biology editor -- deadline coming soon.

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A direct role for a mitochondrial targeting sequence in signalling stress - Nature Cells can sense mitochondrial damage through signalling via an unimported mitochondrial targeting sequence.

Disruption of protein import into mitochondria affects cellular balance and can cause disease. Work @nature shows that cells sense this defect through inter-organelle communication and a signalling role of mitochondrial targeting sequence.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction - Nature Soil compaction traps ethylene around roots, which causes transcriptional upregulation of Auxin Response Factor1, resulting in decreased root cortical cell wall thickness and thereby promoting root ra...

One environmental factor that affects crop yield is soil stress. Work @nature shows how soil compaction stress affects plant root growth through hormonal signals and cell-wall remodelling.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Two residues reprogram immunity receptors for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis - Nature An investigation of plant receptor-like kinases identifies regions of these proteins that control whether immune or symbiotic signalling pathways are activated, with minimal changes to specific r...

On plant cells, receptor-like kinases mediate both immune and symbiotic signalling. Work @nature provides amino-acid-level molecular insights into how signalling specificity is achieved downstream of such similar receptors.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The >1000 lipid species found in eukaryotic cells have vital functions. Using a combination of microscopy, spectroscopy and modelling, authors report @nature the first quantitative map of retrograde flux of individual lipids in cells.

A single-cell multi-omics atlas of rice - Nature A single-cell multi-omics atlas of rice is revealed, providing insight into cell-type functions and molecular programs.

An @nature paper presents a single-cell multi-omics atlas of eight rice organs. Insights emerging from this resource include new cell states during rice development and correlations between cell type and agronomic traits.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Integrated biotechnological and AI innovations for crop improvement - Nature The integration of omics technologies, genome editing and protein design with artificial intelligence (AI) promises rapid advances in the field of crop improvement that will improve global food securi...

In today’s issue of @nature, read a Review article on the latest and upcoming technologies that could aid research and development in crop science, contributing to sustainable global food security. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Remodelling autoactive NLRs for broad-spectrum immunity in plants - Nature Cleavage by pathogen-derived proteases of an engineered chimeric protein activates its plant immune receptor component, enabling broad-spectrum resistance to pathogens in plants.

Plant NLR receptors mediate pathogen resistance, and so their engineering could lead to crops with broader pathogen specificity and so broader disease resistance. @nature, authors report one such attempt achieving resistance to several potyviruses. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

& shorturl.at/932j7

Three-step biosynthesis of salicylic acid from benzoyl-CoA in plants - Nature The salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis pathway—involving ligation of benzoyl coenzyme A and benzyl alcohol to give benzyl benzoate; hydroxylation of benzyl benzoate to give benzyl salicylate; and cleava...

How the plant defence hormone salicylic acid (SA) is formed in some bacteria and in Arabidopsis is well-established. Three @nature papers now describe a different pathway of SA biosynthesis in non-Brassicaceae plants.

rb.gy/9tgn8g
shorturl.at/fYAYo
shorturl.at/UCvo0
& NV
tinyurl.com/bdz2p6dx

Very much looking forward to hearing and seeing exciting research and to interacting with reseachers at #2025ISMPMI. Happy also to answer any questions about publishing in Nature and sister journals.

Injured plants use gaseous cues to initiate repair of their outer layers The periderm layers of plants form an outer protective barrier. If the periderm is broken, movement of the gases ethylene and oxygen triggers a healing process.

How do plants notice loss of structural barriers (e.g. the periderm, which prevents water loss and pathogen infection) to regenerate them? Work @nature shows that plants sense damage to barrier integrity from diffusion of gases such as ethylene and oxygen. shorturl.at/FIhJ8
& N&V
shorturl.at/u7PYs

Transparent peer review to be extended to all of Nature’s research papers From today, all new submissions to Nature that are published will be accompanied by referees’ reports and author responses — to illuminate the process of producing rigorous science.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Probing condensate microenvironments with a micropeptide killswitch - Nature Targeting a non-natural micropeptide ‘killswitch’ to several biomolecular condensates altered condensate compositions and revealed condensate functions in human cells

A bottleneck for studying the biological function of biomolecular condensates is unavailability of tools to selectively probe them within living cells. @nature, researchers report one such tool, showcasing its use in various contexts including disease. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

EndoMAP.v1 charts the structural landscape of human early endosome complexes - Nature A study presents EndoMAP.v1, a resource that combines information on protein interactions and crosslink-supported structural predictions to map the interaction landscape of early endosomes.

The diverse cellular roles of early endosomes involve coordinated activity of several hundred integral membrane proteins and transiently associated regulatory complexes. A study @nature presents a systematic structural interactome of human endosomes . www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Locum Associate or Senior Editor, Nature (Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences) Job title: Locum Associate or Senior Editor, Nature (Biological, Clinical, and Social Sciences) Location: New York or Berlin (Hybrid working pattern) Deadline: June 11th , 2025 About Springer Nature G...

Want a taster of working as an editor? Nature has a locum position open for someone with interest in stem cell biology, developmental biology, and/or specific aspects of general cell biology. springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...

Nature project to encourage early-career researchers in peer review is working Science stands to benefit from a project in which experienced academics and early-career researchers co-review studies.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Legume can form symbiotic relationship with some bacteria, while recognising others as pathogens. Work @nature identifies a plant kinase that mediates this nuanced balance of tolerance towards symbionts without compromised plant immunity. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The E3 ubiquitin ligase complex SIFI has a role in terminating stress response signalling, to restore cellular homeostasis. Researchers @nature present the cryo-EM structure of this ~1.3 MDa complex providing insights into its mechanism of action. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress - Nature Single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomic approaches reveal major expression changes in outer root cell types when grown in soil versus gel conditions, and also uncover how root tissu...

Plant roots adapt to their environment including to soil conditions. Using single-cell transcriptomics, @nature authors report on the rice root responses and adaptations to soil-related stresses at individual cell level. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Structural basis of lipid transfer by a bridge-like lipid-transfer protein - Nature The LPD-3 complex structure reveals protein–lipid interactions that suggest a model for how the native LPD-3 complex mediates bulk lipid transport and provides a foundation for mechanistic studies of ...

At membrane contact sites, bridge-like transport proteins, e.g. LPD-3, mediate bulk lipid transfer between cellular organelles. @nature see cryo-EM structure of native LDP-3, and gain insights into its functioning and interaction with other proteins and lipids.
shorturl.at/lycuz & shorturl.at/ARpUK

Haploid facultative parthenogenesis in sunflower sexual reproduction - Nature Spontaneous parthenogenesis in sunflower has been used to develop a scalable doubled haploid breeding system.

The technique of haploid induction creates homozygous plants, enabling faster breeding cycles. A paper @nature discovers a way of generating haploid sunflower, and optimises the approach for efficiency compatible with breeding programs for this important oilseed crop. rb.gy/vrqana & N&V rb.gy/e7uyep

Overlapping nuclear import and export paths unveiled by two-colour MINFLUX - Nature High spatiotemporal precision tracking using 3D MINFLUX shows that nuclear import and export occur in overlapping regions of the central pore, providing insight into transport across the nuclear pore ...

Proteins and nucleic acids move in and out of the nucleus through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Using 3D MINFLUX, @nature authors study single import and export events, gaining detailed insights into transport across NPCs within cells and at nanometer and millisecond scales.
shorturl.at/2ClQp

Perception of viral infections and initiation of antiviral defence in rice - Nature Viral coat proteins are perceived by the RING1–IBR–RING2-type ubiquitin ligase, initiating the first step of the natural antiviral response in rice.

Vector-borne viral pathogens are threats to crops, and so trigger plant immune responses. Studying rice, authors @nature provide molecular-level insights into the first steps of plant antiviral response.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

TIR1-produced cAMP as a second messenger in transcriptional auxin signalling - Nature cAMP produced by the TIR1/AFB receptors of the main endogenous developmental plant hormone auxin acts as a true second messenger, revising the established paradigm of transcriptional auxin signalling.

While work @nature recently showed that the TIR1/AFB receptors of the plant hormone auxin have adenylate cyclase activity, further work now shows the broad physiological significance of this activity during plant development, via transcriptional reprogramming.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dual regulation of mitochondrial fusion by Parkin–PINK1 and OMA1 - Nature We find that, in mice, although the individual loss of Parkin or OMA1 does not affect mitochondrial integrity, their combined loss results in small body size, low locomotor activity, premature death, ...

@nature, an extensive study, involving 18 KO and mutant mouse models, reveals why Parkin KO mice grow normally. It finds that the Parkin-mediated mitochondrial quality control works alongside another such pathway, involving Oma1.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...