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SUMMARY: Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) represent the interactions between transcription factors (TF) and their target genes. Plant GRNs control transcriptional programs involved in growth, development, and stress responses, ultimately affecting diverse agricultural traits. While recent developments in accessible chromatin (AC) profiling technologies make it possible to identify context‐specific regulatory DNA, learning the underlying GRNs remains a major challenge. We developed MINI‐AC (Motif‐Informed Network Inference based on Accessible Chromatin), a method that combines AC data from bulk or single‐cell experiments with TF binding site (TFBS) information to learn GRNs in plants. We benchmarked MINI‐AC using bulk AC datasets from different Arabidopsis thaliana tissues and showed that it outperforms other methods to identify correct TFBS. In maize, a crop with a complex genome and abundant distal AC regions, MINI‐AC successfully inferred leaf GRNs with experimentally confirmed, both proximal and distal, TF–target gene interactions. Furthermore, we showed that both AC regions and footprints are valid alternatives to infer AC‐based GRNs with MINI‐AC. Finally, we combined MINI‐AC predictions from bulk and single‐cell AC datasets to identify general and cell‐type specific maize leaf regulators. Focusing on C4 metabolism, we identified diverse regulatory interactions in specialized cell types for this photosynthetic pathway. MINI‐AC represents a powerful tool for inferring accurate AC‐derived GRNs in plants and identifying known and novel candidate regulators, improving our understanding of gene regulation in plants. Significance Statement: Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are a crucial component of the information processing machinery of the cell, but their inference in plants remains challenging. MINI‐AC (Motif‐Informed Network Inference based on Accessible Chromatin) is a computational method that infers accessibility‐based GRNs from bulk‐ or single‐cell‐derived data, representing a valuable tool for unraveling regulatory cascades. As an example, a maize GRN reporting cell‐type specific leaf regulatory interactions is provided as a resource to study photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Heat Shock Factor (HSF) transcription factor family is a central and required component of plant heat stress responses and acquired thermotolerance. The HSF family has dramatically expanded in plant lineages, often including a repertoire of 20 or more genes. Here we assess and compare the composition, heat responsiveness, and chromatin profiles of the HSF families in maize and Setaria viridis (Setaria), two model C4 panicoid grasses. Both species encode a similar number of HSFs, and examples of both conserved and variable expression responses to a heat stress event were observed between the two species. Chromatin accessibility and genome‐wide DNA‐binding profiles were generated to assess the chromatin of HSF family members with distinct responses to heat stress. We observed significant variability for both chromatin accessibility and promoter occupancy within similarly regulated sets of HSFs between Setaria and maize, as well as between syntenic pairs of maize HSFs retained following its most recent genome duplication event. Additionally, we observed the widespread presence of TF binding at HSF promoters in control conditions, even at HSFs that are only expressed in response to heat stress. TF‐binding peaks were typically near putative HSF‐binding sites in HSFs upregulated in response to heat stress, but not in stable or not expressed HSFs. These observations collectively support a complex scenario of expansion and subfunctionalization within this transcription factor family and suggest that within‐family HSF transcriptional regulation is a conserved, defining feature of the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Both dispersal limitation and environmental sorting can affect genetic variation in populations, but their contribution remains unclear, particularly in microbes. We sought to determine the contribution of geographic distance (as a proxy for dispersal limitation) and phenotypic traits (as a proxy for environmental sorting), including morphology, metabolic ability and interspecific competitiveness, to the genotypic diversity in a nectar yeast species, Metschnikowia reukaufii. To measure genotypic diversity, we sequenced the genomes of 102 strains of M. reukaufii isolated from the floral nectar of hummingbird‐pollinated shrub, Mimulus aurantiacus, along a 200‐km coastline in California. Intraspecific genetic variation showed no detectable relationship with geographic distance, but could be grouped into three distinct lineages that correlated with metabolic ability and interspecific competitiveness. Despite ample evidence for strong competitive interactions within and among nectar yeasts, a full spectrum of the genotypic and phenotypic diversity observed across the 200‐km coastline was represented even at a scale as small as 200 m. Further, more competitive strains were not necessarily more abundant. These results suggest that dispersal limitation and environmental sorting might not fully explain intraspecific diversity in this microbe and highlight the need to also consider other ecological factors such as trade‐offs, source‐sink dynamics and niche modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Crop yield depends on efficient allocation of sucrose from leaves to seeds. In Arabidopsis, phloem loading is mediated by a combination of SWEET sucrose effluxers and subsequent uptake by SUT1/SUC2 sucrose/H+ symporters. ZmSUT1 is essential for carbon allocation in maize, but the relative contribution to apoplasmic phloem loading and retrieval of sucrose leaking from the translocation path is not known. Here we analysed the contribution of SWEETs to phloem loading in maize. We identified three leaf‐expressed SWEET sucrose transporters as key components of apoplasmic phloem loading in Zea mays L. ZmSWEET13 paralogues (a, b, c) are among the most highly expressed genes in the leaf vasculature. Genome‐edited triple knock‐out mutants were severely stunted. Photosynthesis of mutants was impaired and leaves accumulated high levels of soluble sugars and starch. RNA‐seq revealed profound transcriptional deregulation of genes associated with photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. Genome‐wide association study (GWAS) analyses may indicate that variability in ZmSWEET13s correlates with agronomical traits, especifically flowering time and leaf angle. This work provides support for cooperation of three ZmSWEET13s with ZmSUT1 in phloem loading in Z. mays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Plant breeders have developed crop plants that are resistant to pests, but the continual evolution of pathogens creates the need to iteratively develop new control strategies. Molecular tools have allowed us to gain deep insights into disease responses, allowing for more efficient, rational engineering of crops that are more robust or resistant to a greater number of pathogen variants. Here we describe the roles of SWEET and STP transporters, membrane proteins that mediate transport of sugars across the plasma membrane. We discuss how these transporters may enhance or restrict disease through controlling the level of nutrients provided to pathogens and whether the transporters play a role in sugar signaling for disease resistance. This review indicates open questions that require further research and proposes the use of genome editing technologies for engineering disease resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A pressureless sintering method was utilized to fabricate metal/ceramic joints out of yttria-stabilized zirconia (3Y-TZP) and stainless steels (SS). Ultrafine (150 nm) and nanoscale (75 nm) 3Y-TZP particles and micrometric 17-4PH, 316L, and 420 SS (<31 μm) powders were tested. Isothermal and nonisothermal sintering behaviors of the powders and composite layers in hydrogen, argon, and vacuum atmospheres were examined. It was found that the mismatch strain between the zirconia ceramic and SS during cosintering is significant, which leads to bond cracking and joint failure. Nevertheless, interlayer diffusion of Zr, Fe, and Cr and the formation of a reaction zone, particularly during vacuum sintering, enables an accommodation of the residual stresses caused by the mismatch shrinkage upon cooling. The formation of a porous region close to the metal layer was observed. Sinter joining of zirconia to 420 SS is more successful compared with austenitic steel because of a lower difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]