plant-biology

Nature Communications, Published online: 02 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72199-w The wheat NLR Pm3e provides broad-spectrum resistance against powdery mildew. Here, the authors show that Pm3e recognizes two structurally unrelated effector proteins and that its range can be further expanded by NLR engineering.

Nature Communications, Published online: 30 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72469-7 This study reveals how plants balance growth with survival under low-oxygen conditions. The signaling module SnRK1–RAP2.4h–PIP2 fine-tunes this trade-off, offering a potential target to improve crop flood tolerance.

Plant growth, soil health, and crop productivity with nutritional quality can be significantly enhanced by employing microbial consortia that incorporate diverse microorganisms with complementary functions. Plants produce various types of secondary metabolites such as terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolics, essential oils, and other metabolites through various cellular mechanisms, which are often stimu…

Scientists have discovered that many plants emit faint ultrasonic clicks when distressed. It sounds like something out of a dark children’s story. Hurt a plant, and it “screams.” Not in a way humans can hear, but in a newly documented study, stressed plants were found to release bursts of ultrasonic sound that resemble faint pops [...]

Nature Communications, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71946-3 This study elucidates the regulatory function of the PcabHLH58/PcabHLH151- PcaSCL33/PcaPLT1-WOX5 module in poplar adventitious root development and nitrogen uptake, while PcaPAR1 forms a feedback regulatory loop with PcabHLH58/PcabHLH151.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the Earth's surface affects all living organisms. Recent reports show a trend of increasing exposure levels due to stratospheric ozone depletion and contamination. UV-B radiation (280–315 nm), previously largely absorbed by the ozone layer, now reaches the surface in higher doses, posing a particular threat to plants, which are sessile organisms and cannot esca…

A research team has uncovered how auxin helps prepare floral nectaries for later nectar release in Platycodon grandiflorus, showing that external auxin treatment triggers strong starch buildup in pre-secretory cells and is linked to higher nectar sugar output after flowers open.

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected way that certain bacteria manipulate plants from within. Plant-infecting bacteria have a surprisingly direct way of taking over crops. Instead of slowly breaking down defenses, many of them inject proteins straight into plant cells, effectively hijacking the system from the inside. For decades, scientists have tried to understand one particularly important …

New research challenges the long-held assumption that brains are required for learning, suggesting plants may process information in unexpected ways. For decades, scientists have assumed that learning, memory, and decision-making require a brain. However, growing evidence, including a recent study published in Cognitive Science, challenges that idea and suggests that complex information processin…

A noncanonical radical oxygenase mechanism enables the biosynthesis of widespread cardenolide toxins in plants Publication Sci. Adv., in press

It’s long been assumed that for an organism to learn, remember or draw conclusions, it needs a brain. But mounting evidence, including a recent Cognitive Science study, challenges that assumption, suggesting that neurons might not be necessary for complex information processing. The new study, authored by William & Mary Professor of Psychology Peter Vishton and his former student Paige Bartosh ’2…