A look at the histone code in maize somatic cells finds the distribution of modifications on maize chromosomes is a little different than in Arabidopsis and different than in animals. In addition, CENH3 proves to be very low on maize B chromosome centromeres, raising an interesting possibility that this may help explain their unusual behavior.

Using a battery of population genetic analyses the authors present evidence for selective sweeps and divergent selection across a 350kb maize genomic region and guess who's there: Teosinte branched1 and Dwarf8 along with functional flowering time associations in the region under divergent selection.

First the gene-for-gene hypothesis, and more recently the guard model gave us a framework for understanding plant pathogen interactions. This paper now posits the “decoy model” which persuasively suggests that the host plant may, in a sense, bait traps for the pathogen to blunder into. This model is an important refinement of our understanding of gene-for-gene systems.

This short review summarizes the latest advances in our understanding of the interplay between auxin and cytokinin during development of the highly modified grass inflorescence.