A groundbreaking study reveals how pseudouridine modifications across plant RNA species orchestrate translation dynamics, and provides a comprehensive atlas of these modifications in four major crop species. This discovery illuminates a crucial mechanism that controls translation and tissue development in plants.

The comprehensive and quantitative mapping of pseudouridine (Ψ) sites across four plant species provides critical resources for plant Ψ research, and reveals multilayered translation regulation through rRNA, tRNA and mRNA pseudouridylation in plants.

An analysis of fruit trait evolution in cucumbers shows how an APETALA2 (AP2)-like transcription factor regulates both parthenocarpy and bitterness.

NPF1 governs parthenocarpy by activating YUC4 expression in the ovules of cucumber. The selection of a single mutation in the NPF1 gene, along with a SNP in the YUC4 promoter, led to parthenocarpic fruit development during cucumber domestication.

Jia et al. uncover a molecular mechanism based on the balance of nitrate-sensitive protein–protein interaction between ferredoxins ZmFd4 and ZmFd9, together antagonistically targeting ZmNiR enzymes, thus regulating NO₃^– assimilation in maize.

CBF transcription factors facilitate the formation of SKIP nuclear condensates to increase the splicing efficiency of cold-responsive transcripts, bridging transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation during cold acclimation.

There are more than 2,100 known plant virus species. This work presents full-length three-dimensional structures of a plant virus’s replication machinery, providing insights into its activation and inhibition.

BRUTUS is an iron sensor that negatively regulates iron uptake when iron is sufficient. New work shows that BRUTUS orthologues in legumes positively regulate the establishment of symbiosis with rhizobia on the basis of iron availability through mono-ubiquitination of their transcription factor target.

The ovule nucellus generates and then nurtures the female germline until maturity, preparing it for fertilization and seed development. We reveal that a B-sister MADS-box transcription factor, MADS31, is expressed in the inner subdomain of the nucellus and sustains germline development by preventing expression of post-fertilization genes.

Injury-induced regeneration allows plants to restore lost or damaged cells, tissues and organs and thus to survive severe injuries. A recent study shows that the microRNA396–GROWTH REGULATING FACTORs (miR396–GRFs) module has a bifunctional role in restoring a damaged root: miR396 bolsters regeneration potential, while its targets, the GRFs, accelerate regeneration speed.

The miR396–GRF module controls a trade-off between competence and speed during root tip regeneration in Arabidopsis. Roots ectopically expressing miR396 grow without stem cell niche reconstitution, probably due to dispersed stem cell activity.

A somatic niche embraces the female germline in cereal ovules. MADS31 precisely maintains developmental progression of this niche to support the germline by repressing the post-fertilization programme.

Guard cells and myrosin cells have different functions, morphology and location and yet share regulators and a large part of their transcriptome. FAMA is required for the differentiation of both cell types. A recent study reveals WASABI MAKER as a FAMA target that is involved in both differentiation processes.