Paralog editing tunes rice stomatal density to maintain photosynthesis and improve drought tolerance.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is of paramount importance for global nutrition, supplying at least 20% of global calories. However, water scarcity and increased drought severity are anticipated to reduce rice yields globally. We explored stomatal developmental genetics as a mechanism for improving drought resilience in rice while maintaining yield under climate stress.

Stable nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation during precipitation of nitrate salt from saturated solutions.

Rationale: Nitrate is an oxyanion similar to CO and thus should undergo stable N and O isotope fractionation during dissolution or precipitation. This process should dominate abiotic soil nitrate processes in hyperarid regions of Earth and possibly Mars.

Methods: The N and O isotope fractionations during the precipitation of nitrate salt from saturated solutions at ~20°C were determined by two methods: rapid precipitation by antisolvent crystallization and slow uninhibited precipitation in a desiccator.

Seeding the Self-Assembly of DNA Origamis at Surfaces.

Unlike supramolecular self-assembly methods that can organize many distinct components into designer shapes in a homogeneous solution (e.g., DNA origami), only relatively simple, symmetric structures consisting of a few distinct components have been self-assembled at solid surfaces.