A 2-year field study has demonstrated that volatile compounds produced by plants when they are attacked by herbivores act as defenses by attracting predators to the herbivores and increasing the reproduction of the plants.

Two cooperative populations of yeast cells that cannot distinguish between cooperative partners and cheating intruders can still self-organize into clusters that exclude cheaters.

A comprehensive and genome-wide description of the genomic make-up and frequency of meiotic recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals regional preferences, including nucleosome-free regions, and two associated recombination motifs.

A fungal effector secreted by the corn smut pathogen increases the virulence of the pathogen by elevating anthocyanin production and reducing lignification in maize.

Individual scientists, scientific communities and scientific journals can do more to assess the publication of irreproducible results, to promote good science, and to increase the efficiency with which the scientific community self-corrects.

The movement of F-actin filaments, which is regulated by actin-myosin interactions together with a female gamete-specific Rho-GTPase, enables migration of the Arabidopsis sperm cell nucleus towards the female nucleus; which might account for the loss of centrosomes in flowering plants.

Comparing maize to its wild ancestor teosinte advances our understanding of how it and other cereal crops evolved, and also identifies the genetic variation that can contribute to important agricultural traits.

Complex chromosomal rearrangements similar to those described in cancer and developmental syndromes occur in plants during postzygotic genome elimination, a centromeric-derived incompatibility.

Floral scent and nectar are highly variable in natural populations and both traits can influence outcrossing rates differently for different pollinators and increase future herbivory.