b'43Carnegies Shouling Xu was lead author of the study. Image courtesy Shouling Xuresidues that are modified by O-GlcNAc. This yieldedalso uncovered potentially plant specific functions 971 modified peptides pointing to 262 O-GlcNAc- of O-GlcNAcylation, prominently in modulating key modified proteins. components of several plant hormone pathways. This groundbreaking study opens up an area of The team found evidence that the subcellularexploration that will advance our understanding localization and biochemical functions of many ofof how sugar level modulates plant growth and the plant O-GlcNAcmodified proteins are similardevelopment, which is a key link from photosynthesis to those in animals, supporting its importance as ato biomass accumulation that could help increase basic mechanism of cellular regulation. The studycrop yields.'