Programmed cell death in kiwifruit, plant cell wall integrity and enhancement of crop photosynthesis – This Week in Annals of Botany

Programmed cell death in kiwifruit stigmatic arms and its relationship to the effective pollination period and the progamic phase
Kiwifruit is a crop with a highly successful reproductive performance, which is impaired by the short effective pollination period of female flowers. This study investigates whether the degenerative processes observed in both pollinated and non-pollinated flowers after anthesis may be considered to be programmed cell death (PCD).

An update on receptor-like kinase involvement in the maintenance of plant cell wall integrity
This review examines the involvement of cell wall integrity maintenance in different biological processes, defines what constitutes plant cell wall damage that impairs functional integrity, clarifies which stimulus perception and signal transduction mechanisms are required for integrity maintenance and assesses the available evidence regarding the functions of receptor-like kinases during cell wall integrity maintenance.

Enhancement of crop photosynthesis by diffuse light: quantifying the contributing factors
Plants use diffuse light more efficiently than direct light. However, experimental comparisons between diffuse and direct light have been obscured by co-occurring differences in environmental conditions (e.g. light intensity). This study aims to analyse the factors that contribute to an increase in crop photosynthesis in diffuse light and to quantify their relative contribution under different levels of diffuseness at similar light intensities.