Impairment in karrikin but not strigolactone sensing enhances root skewing in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Roots form highly complex systems varying in growth direction and branching pattern to forage for nutrients efficiently. Here mutations in the KAI2 (KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE) α/β-fold hydrolase and the MAX2 (MORE AXILLARY GROWTH 2) F-box leucine-rich protein, which together perceive karrikins (smoke-derived butenolides), caused alteration in root skewing in Arabidopsis thaliana. This phenotype was independent of endogenous strigolactones perception by the D14 α/β-fold hydrolase and MAX2.

DNA mismatch repair preferentially protects genes from mutation.

Mutation is the source of genetic variation and fuels biological evolution. Many mutations first arise as DNA replication errors. These errors subsequently evade correction by cellular DNA repair, for example, by the well-known DNA mismatch repair (MMR) mechanism.