Although AtABCG14 is essential for long-distance transport of trans-zeatin (tZ)-type cytokinins, biochemical evidence for its role as a cytokinin transporter is lacking. This study reports that AtABCG14 forms homodimers and displays transporter activity toward multiple cytokinin species in homologous and heterologous systems. It provides evidence that AtABCG14 mediates circular long-distance…

This study reports a “pNC” vector toolkit that contains 55 Nimble Cloning-compatible vectors for functional analysis of genes in plants. The pNC vectors are convenient and effective for the study of gene ectopic expression, protein subcellular localization, protein–protein interaction, RNAi, virus-induced gene silencing, promoter activity, and CRISPR–Cas9-mediated genome editing.

Legumes can gain access to nitrogen through symbiotic association with rhizobia, whereas the growth and production of cereal crops often rely heavily on the application of chemical fertilizers. Engineering cereal crops that can fix nitrogen autonomously or that associate with nitrogen-fixing bacteria through a synthetic biology approach would reduce the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. This…

The co-regulation of C4 genes and transcription factors was dynamic during the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. The metabolic pathway of the type II C3-C4 species Flaveria ramosissima represents an alternative evolutionary solution to the ammonia imbalance in C3-C4 intermediate species, and such a metabolic pathway may exist in parallel with C4 photosynthesis.

Systematically testing plastid gene expression in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (TPB)-related gun (genome uncoupled) mutants under different conditions showed correlations between the expression of photosynthesis-associated nuclear genes and plastid-encoded polymerase (PEP)-transcribed genes. Elevated expression of PEP-transcribed genes in norflurazon-treated TPB-related gun mutants is necessary for…

This study presents a reference-grade genome assembly and annotation for Gossypium bickii and suggests that G. bickii evolved from an interspecific hybridization between Gossypium sturtianum and a common ancestor of Gossypium australe and Gossypium nelsonii and that GbiCYP76B6 is regulated by GoPGF to affect gossypol biosynthesis in G. bickii.