The authors used a bottom‑up thermodynamic modelling framework to investigate how plants decode calcium signals, starting from Ca2+ binding to EF‑hand proteins and extending to higher‑order decoding modules. They identified six universal Ca2+-decoding modules that can explain variations in calcium sensitivity among kinases and provide a theoretical basis for interpreting calcium signal amplitude and frequency in plant cells.
High Density Phenotypic Map of Natural Variation for Intermediate Phenotypes Associated with Stalk Lodging Resistance in Maize
Authors: Kunduru, B., Bokros, N. T., Tabaracci, K., Kumar, R., Brar, M. S., Stubbs, C. J., Oduntan, Y., DeKold, J., Bishop, R. H., Woomer, J., Verges, V. L., McDonald, A., McMahan, C. S., DeBolt, S., Robertson, D. J., Sekhon, R.
The study evaluated 11 intermediate phenotypes linked to stalk lodging resistance in a diverse panel of 566 maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines across four environments, preserving individual stalk identity to capture plant-level variation. This high-density phenotypic dataset enabled statistical genomics, predictive modeling, and machine learning to uncover genetic factors underlying lodging resistance, offering insights applicable to other grass species.