Iridoids are terpenoid metabolites found in thousands of plants. Using single-cell transcriptomics, the authors discovered an unexpected enzyme that has been neofunctionalized to catalyse the cyclization required to form the iridoid scaffold.

Plant cells are totipotent, meaning individual cells have the potential to develop into a full organism, a property unique to the zygote for animals. However, in most species for most cells, plant cells are not spontaneously totipotent, since they must be treated with specific hormone combinations to unlock their totipotency. Species within the Kalanchoe genus is unique as they spontaneously develop foliar embryos that are fully realized plantlets with shoot and root from notches along the edges of leaves. We speculate that the progenitor cells that give rise to these foliar embryos are totipotent, and we are using single cell techniques to identify & characterize them. In addition to being a fundamental process for plant biology, we foresee unlocking totipotency has many biotechnological applications, such as faciliating genetic transformation and the development of synthetic organs of biomanufacturing.

Xu et al. performed large-scale single-cell RNA-seq of maize and Arabidopsis shoot stem cells, identifying conserved regulators and candidate stem cell genes through mutant analysis. They linked stem ...

Post-drought rehydration triggers a preventive immune response in plants, revealing targets to enhance crop resilience by linking drought stress recovery with improved pathogen resistance.

Monoterpene indole alkaloids are formed via a 3S stereoselective condensation between secologanin and tryptamine. Here the authors uncover the mechanism of epimerization behind uncommon 3R-containing ...

Nature Communications - Withanolides are plant steroids with potent bioactivities found in many medicinal plants including Withania somnifera, but their biosynthetic pathway is largely unknown....

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

Ipecac alkaloids are plant-derived compounds historically used to induce vomiting. Here the authors elucidate how two evolutionary distant plant species have evolved to produce the same ipecac alkaloi...