Plant plasmodesmata (PDs) are specialized channels that enable communication between neighboring cells. The intercellular permeability of PDs, which affects plant development, defense, and responses to stimuli, must be tightly regulated. However, the lipid compositions of PD membrane and their impact on PD permeability remain elusive. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis sld1 sld2 double mutant, lacking sphingolipid long-chain base 8 desaturases 1 and 2, displayed decreased PD permeability due to a significant increase in callose accumulation. PD-located protein 5 (PDLP5) was significantly enriched in the leaf epidermal cells of sld1 sld2 and showed specific binding affinity to phytosphinganine (t18:0), suggesting that the enrichment of t18:0-based sphingolipids in sld1 sld2 PDs might facilitate the recruitment of PDLP5 proteins to PDs. The sld1 sld2 double mutant seedlings showed enhanced resistance to the fungal-wilt pathogen Verticillium dahlia and the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000, which could be fully rescued in sld1 sld2 pdlp5 triple mutant. Taken together, these results indicate that phytosphinganine might regulate PD functions and cell-to-cell communication by modifying the level of PDLP5 in PD membranes.

An asymmetric Pd-catalyzed intramolecular followed by an intermolecular double Heck reaction of arenediazonium salts with simple alkenes is disclosed. This reaction features mild reaction conditions, simple operation, and excellent functional group tolerance and provides a rapid access to functionalized dihydrobenzofurans bearing allcarbon quaternary centers in good regioselectivity (>95/5) and enantioselectivity (90−99% ee).

Enantioselective Pd-catalyzed diarylation of unactivated alkenes between arenediazonium salts and arylboronic acids has been developed. This method provides an efficient route to dihydrobenzofurans with all-carbon quaternary centers in good yields with 88–99% ee.

Group website: http://wqkong.whu.edu.cnAlthough the Heck reaction has been discovered for more than 50 years, there remains significant opportunities for chemists to make new discoveries. The traditional Heck reaction is mainly limited to the arylation of alkenes, but the efficient construction of diverse polycyclic scaffolds bearing an alkenyl functional group in one‐pot operation by consecutive double Heck cyclization has been scarcely investigated. We therefore summarise the recent progress in Pd‐ and Ni‐catalyzed consecutive double Heck cyclization and highlight the enantioselective transformations and their applications in the total synthesis of natural products with congested quaternary carbon stereocenters.