b'lab members) then performed experiments after he took up his position as an assistant professor at the Hebrew University, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel.In regions where water is the main limiting factor for agriculture, understanding how plants fine-tune the balance between carbon gain and water loss is key to ensuring future food security, Yotam says.Assmann says the next big question is how guard cells inte-grate these mesophyll messenger signals with other signals that this specialized cell type also perceives.An analogy would be if cells in the retinas of our eyes could not only see but also taste and smell, she says. How The teams research, conducted on Arabidopsis thaliana (pictured) andguard cells integrate all this information in the regulation of fava beans, revealed that sugars, along with maleic acid, act as crucialstomatal apertures is an ongoing question that has fascinated messengers that control how and when plants breathe and eat. stomatal physiologists for years.As the seed industry looks for deeper biological understand-Next Up: Smarter Guard Cells ing to support next-generation traits, discoveries like this offer a The discovery of sugars and maleic acid as messengers hasrare combination of scientific elegance and practical relevance. opened a new field of questions for Assmanns lab. One majorWhether used to engineer new varieties, speed up trait selection focus now is how guard cells integrate multiple types of envi- or build more climate-adaptive cropping systems, the molecular ronmental signals beyond lightsuch as humidity, carbonmessengers identified in this study could help determine how dioxide concentration and drought-related hormones.and whethercrops thrive in the decades to come.By solving one of plant biologys longest-running myster- The Penn State team included doctoral student Yunqing ies, Assmann and her colleagues are laying the groundwork forZhou, Associate Professor of Biology Timothy Jegla, and post-a future where crops are not only more efficient but also moredoctoral scholars Mengmeng Zhu and additional collaborators resilienta vital goal for seed companies and growers alike. came from institutions in Japan, Israel and the University of Yotam Zait performed extensive experiments for the NatureMississippi. The U.S. National Science Foundation funded the Plants article as a post-doc in Assmanns lab. He (and additionalPenn State portion of the research. SET YOUR SEEDS UP FOR SUCCESS1.83.3 bu/ac bu/ac3.2% 6.7%Average yield increase versusAverage yield increase versus competitors with AGTIV ENRICHcompetitors with AGTIV THRIVE 9 third-party trials over 4 years, 91 sites over 11 years, Canada Canada and EuropeMORE NODULES AND LARGER LEAVES |QUICKER ROW CLOSURE | FULLER PODSBIOLOGICAL INOCULANTS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR PTAGTIV.COMPEA |LENTIL |CANOLA |CEREALS |CORN |POTATO 30 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA JANUARY 2026'