Forest ecosystems maintain a large share of Northern Hemisphere biodiversity. Boreal forests comprise roughly 30% of global forest area 1 and contain the highest tree density among climate zones 2 . Moreover, boreal regions are undergoing extensive climate change. Annual temperature increases exceeding 1.5 °C are projected to result in a warming of 4-11 °C by the end of this century, with little concomitant increase in precipitation 1 . At this pace, climate zones will shift northward at a greater speed than trees can migrate 3 . To understand how future populations of forest trees may respond to climate change, it is essential to uncover past and present signatures of molecular adaptation in their genomes. Silver birch, B. pendula, is a pioneer species in boreal forests of Eurasia. Flowering of the species can be artificially accelerated 4 , giving it an advantage over other tree species with published genome sequences (such as poplar 5 , spruce 6 , and pine 7 ) for the optimization of fiber and biomass production.Here we sequenced 150 birch individuals and assembled a B. pendula reference genome from a fourth-generation inbred line, resulting in a high-quality assembly of 435 Mb that was linked to chromosomes using a dense genetic map. We analyzed SNPs in the genomes of 80 birch individuals spanning most of the geographic range of B. pendula, as well as seven other members of Betulaceae. Population genomic analyses of these data provide insights into the deep-time evolution of the birch family and on recent natural selection acting on silver birch.Genome sequencing and population genomic analyses provide insights into the adaptive landscape of silver birch Silver birch (Betula pendula) is a pioneer boreal tree that can be induced to flower within 1 year. Its rapid life cycle, small (440-Mb) genome, and advanced germplasm resources make birch an attractive model for forest biotechnology. We assembled and chromosomally anchored the nuclear genome of an inbred B. pendula individual. Gene duplicates from the paleohexaploid event were enriched for transcriptional regulation, whereas tandem duplicates were overrepresented by environmental responses. Population resequencing of 80 individuals showed effective population size crashes at major points of climatic upheaval. Selective sweeps were enriched among polyploid duplicates encoding key developmental and physiological triggering functions, suggesting that local adaptation has tuned the timing of and cross-talk between fundamental plant processes. Variation around the tightlylinked light response genes PHYC and FRS10 correlated with latitude and longitude and temperature, and with precipitation for PHYC. Similar associations characterized the growth-promoting cytokinin response regulator ARR1, and the wood development genes KAK and MED5A.A full list of affiliations appears at the end of the paper.

Histone acetylation and deacetylation are directly connected with transcriptional activation and silencing in eukaryotes. Gene families for enzymes that accomplish these histone modifications show surprising complexity in domain organization, tissue-specific expression, and function. This review is focused on the family of histone deacetylases (HDACs) that remove the acetyl group from core histone tails, resulting in a "closed" chromatin and transcriptional repression. In Arabidopsis, 18 HDAC genes are divided into three different types - RPD3-like, HD-tuin and sirtuin - with two or more members in each type. The structural feature of each HDAC class, the expression profile of each HDAC gene during development and functional insights of important family members are summarized here. It is clear that HDACs are an important class of global transcriptional regulators that play crucial roles in plant development, defense, and adaptation.

SUMMARYTrees are capable of tremendous architectural plasticity, allowing them to maximize their light exposure under highly competitive environments. One key component of tree architecture is the branch angle, yet little is known about the molecular basis for the spatial patterning of branches in trees. Here, we report the identification of a candidate gene for the br mutation in Prunus persica (peach) associated with vertically oriented growth of branches, referred to as 'pillar' or 'broomy'. Ppa010082, annotated as hypothetical protein in the peach genome sequence, was identified as a candidate gene for br using a next generation sequence-based mapping approach. Sequence similarity searches identified rice TAC1 (tiller angle control 1) as a putative ortholog, and we thus named it PpeTAC1. In monocots, TAC1 is known to lead to less compact growth by increasing the tiller angle. In Arabidopsis, an attac1 mutant showed more vertical branch growth angles, suggesting that the gene functions universally to promote the horizontal growth of branches. TAC1 genes belong to a gene family (here named IGT for a shared conserved motif) found in all plant genomes, consisting of two clades: one containing TAC1-like genes; the other containing LAZY1, which contains an EAR motif, and promotes vertical shoot growth in Oryza sativa (rice) and Arabidopsis through influencing polar auxin transport. The data suggest that IGT genes are ancient, and play conserved roles in determining shoot growth angles in plants. Understanding how IGT genes modulate branch angles will provide insights into how different architectural growth habits evolved in terrestrial plants.

ORCID IDs: 0000-0002-6902-740X (C.K.); 0000-0001-9969-9381 (Z.L.).Flowers are reproductive organs and precursors to fruits and seeds. While the basic tenets of the ABCE model of flower development are conserved in angiosperms, different flowering plants exhibit different and sometimes unique characteristics. A distinct feature of strawberry (Fragaria spp.) flowers is the development of several hundreds of individual apocarpous (unfused) carpels. These individual carpels are arranged in a spiral pattern on the subtending stem tip, the receptacle. Therefore, the receptacle is an integral part of the strawberry flower and is of significant agronomic importance, being the precursor to strawberry fruit. Taking advantage of next-generation sequencing and laser capture microdissection, we generated different tissue-and stage-transcriptomic profiling of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) flower development. Using pairwise comparisons and weighted gene coexpression network analysis, we identified modules of coexpressed genes and hub genes of tissue-specific networks. Of particular importance is the discovery of a developing receptacle-specific module exhibiting similar molecular features to those of young floral meristems. The strawberry homologs of a number of meristem regulators, including LOST MERISTEM and WUSCHEL, are identified as hub genes operating in the developing receptacle network. Furthermore, almost 25% of the F-box genes in the genome are transiently induced in developing anthers at the meiosis stage, indicating active protein degradation. Together, this work provides important insights into the molecular networks underlying strawberry's unique reproductive developmental processes. This extensive floral transcriptome data set is publicly available and can be readily queried at the project Web site, serving as an important genomic resource for the plant biology research community.

The diploid woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is being recognized as a model for the more complex octoploid commercial strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa. F. vesca exhibits a short seed to seed cycle, can be easily transformed by Agrobacteria, and a draft genome sequence has been published. These features, together with its similar flower structure, potentially make F. vesca a good model for studying the flower development of other members of the Rosaceae family, which contains many economically important fruit trees and ornamental plants. To propel F. vesca's role in genetic and genomic research and to facilitate the study of its reproductive development, we have investigated in detail F. vesca flower and early fruit development using a seventh generation inbred diploid line, Yellow Wonder 5AF7. We present here standardized developmental staging and detailed descriptions of morphological changes associated with flower and early fruit development based on images of hand dissected flowers, histological sections, and scanning electron microscopy. In situ hybridization with the F. vesca AGAMOUS homolog, FvAG, showed expression in young stamen and carpel primordia. This work lays the essential groundwork and standardization for future molecular, genetic, and genomic studies of F. vesca.

Plant shoots typically grow upward in opposition to the pull of gravity. However, exceptions exist throughout the plant kingdom. Most conspicuous are trees with weeping or pendulous branches. While such trees have long been cultivated and appreciated for their ornamental value, the molecular basis behind the weeping habit is not known. Here, we characterized a weeping tree phenotype in (peach) and identified the underlying genetic mutation using a genomic sequencing approach. Weeping peach tree shoots exhibited a downward elliptical growth pattern and did not exhibit an upward bending in response to 90° reorientation. The causative allele was found to be an uncharacterized gene,, having a 1.8-Kb deletion spanning the 5' end. This gene, dubbed , was predominantly expressed in phloem tissues and encodes a highly conserved 129-amino acid protein containing a sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain. Silencing WEEP in the related tree species (plum) resulted in more outward, downward, and wandering shoot orientations compared to standard trees, supporting a role for WEEP in directing lateral shoot growth in trees. This previously unknown regulator of branch orientation, which may also be a regulator of gravity perception or response, provides insights into our understanding of how tree branches grow in opposition to gravity and could serve as a critical target for manipulating tree architecture for improved tree shape in agricultural and horticulture applications.

541I.541II.542III.546IV.547V.552552References553 Summary The architecture of trees greatly impacts the productivity of orchards and forestry plantations. Amassing greater knowledge on the molecular genetics that underlie tree form can benefit these industries, as well as contribute to basic knowledge of plant developmental biology. This review describes the fundamental components of branch architecture, a prominent aspect of tree structure, as well as genetic and hormonal influences inferred from studies in model plant systems and from trees with non‐standard architectures. The bulk of the molecular and genetic data described here is from studies of fruit trees and poplar, as these species have been the primary subjects of investigation in this field of science.

SUMMARYCentral to the ABCE model of flower development is the antagonistic interaction between class A and class C genes. The molecular mechanisms underlying the A-C antagonism are not completely understood. In Arabidopsis thaliana, miR172 is expressed in the inner floral whorls where it downregulates the class A gene APETALA 2 (AP2). However, what controls this predominantly inner whorl-specific expression of miR172 is not known. We show that the LEUNIG (LUG) and SEUSS (SEU) corepressors repress miR172 expression in the outer whorls of A. thaliana flowers. The recruitment of LUG/SEU to the miR172 promoters is dependent on AP2, suggesting that AP2 represses the expression of its cognate microRNA. Our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the A-C antagonism and shed light on the transcriptional regulation of miR172 during flower development.