Engineering genome structural variations can improve plant traits and support sustainable agriculture. This Review summarizes recent advances in large DNA fragment editing and discusses their applications and future prospects in precise breeding.

Decades of research in plants has established that the protein complexes that transcribe small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are not targeted to DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Two independent studies uncover the recruitment of the key siRNA-producing protein RNA polymerase IV mediated by transcription factors to specific DNA sequences.

This Perspective highlights N4-acetylcytidine as an emerging RNA modification in plants that regulates development and stress responses by modulating mRNA stability, translation and splicing. Manipulation of N4-acetylcytidine offers promising strategies for crop improvement.

The apocarotenoid growth regulator zaxinone binds the Arabidopsis strigolactone receptor DWARF 14 (D14). Acting as a long-lasting antagonist, zaxinone interferes with signalling and induces strigolactone biosynthesis. This discovery broadens the ligand repertoire of D14 and raises new questions about hormone crosstalk and receptor plasticity.

A simple cut can wake up a dormant plant. New research uncovers how a wound instructs buds to resume cell division and sugar transport, driving them to sprout.

AvrPm4 is a chimeric powdery mildew effector that is recognized by the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4. The pathogen can evade Pm4 recognition by expressing the suppressor SvrPm4, an RNase-like effector with multiple roles.

Living plant collections hold an immense wealth of plant diversity and have critical educational, scientific and conservation roles. This Perspective examines current data management practices of living collections and advocates for higher data standards and a robust and inclusive global data ecosystem.

The genome of Arundinella anomala, a C₄ grass with variant Kranz anatomy and interveinal distinctive cells, is sequenced and annotated, followed by single-cell transcriptomes for comparative analyses between C₄ bundle sheath cells and interveinal distinctive cells.

We reveal the structural basis of transport activity and substrate selectivity of LciA, a key bicarbonate channel that is part of the CO₂-concentrating mechanism in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Using these insights, we engineered formate–nitrite transporter (FNT) family proteins to achieve or enhance bicarbonate transport, thereby expanding the toolkit for boosting plant photosynthesis.

This study presents the structure and mechanism of the algal bicarbonate channel LciA and its application in engineering FNT family proteins to achieve bicarbonate transport activity, expanding the toolbox to boost plant photosynthesis.

Detailed study of the role of plant canopy architecture on crop yield and N₂O emissions remains limited. Our study reveals that a clumped canopy architecture in crops such as rice, wheat, maize and soybean can simultaneously improve yields and reduce nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, thus representing a promising strategy to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability globally.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analyses map transcriptional networks during plant development, but rare cell populations or expression values for several genes are often missing. As the origin or position of cells correlates with specific gene expression markers, we spatially resolved gene expression during barley meristem development by integrating a scRNA-seq dataset from cells with unknown position with spatial transcriptomics. This dataset is publicly available through the online web-based BARVISTA application.

Thorough genetic analyses by four laboratories reinforce the central role of the protein kinase BIK1 in plant immunity. Other unrelated functions proposed for BIK1, however, are associated with genome rearrangement in a single transfer DNA mutant.