Recent Posts

Review: Diffuse growth of plant cell walls

In order for a cell to expand, its volume needs to increase and the cell wall needs to loosen up. There are multiple processes resulting in cell wall loosening, but not all of them result in extension. Cosgrove differentiates different structural, mechanical and physiocochemical processes that lead to…

Review: Plant systems biology at the single-cell level

The establishment and enormous developments in -omics and systems biology over the last years have increased our understanding and ability to analyze complex biological processes at entire plant, organ or tissue levels. However, these arrays of datasets have the limitation of cellular complexity in terms…

Regulatory small RNAs responsible for natural variation in snapdragon flower color patterning ($)

Flower color pattern is a major trait influencing pollinator attraction, but underlying regulatory mechanisms are still poorly understood. Using co-existing Snapdragon subspecies displaying different flower pigmentation motifs, Bradley et al. investigated the molecular basis of flower color patterning.…

Boundary formation through direct threshold-based readout of mobile small RNA gradients

How does a flat leaf form? Previous studies have indicated that the formation of a flattened blade depends upon a boundary layer between the upper and lower cell layers, and that mobile small RNAs contribute to this boundary, but how this occurs is not fully resolved. For example, although the small…

The tomato DELLA protein PROCERA acts in guard cells to promote stomatal closure

Nuclear accumulation of DELLA proteins induces transcriptional reprogramming and is well known to suppress the gibberellin (GA) pathway. While DELLAs can negatively regulate GA, increased GA levels can also signal DELLA degradation. GA is a growth-regulating hormone that is also involved in inhibiting…

Fe sparing in Arabidopsis rosettes

All cells need iron (Fe), which is frequently limiting for life. Plants (like other organisms) have complex strategies for uptake of Fe from their environment. Studies in the green alga Chlamodomonas have demonstrated that these organisms are able to prioritize certain pathways when Fe is limiting, a…

The kinase ERULUS controls pollen tube targeting and growth in Arabidopsis thaliana

Pollen cells have a fascinating ability to transform from a small spherical cell to a very elongated shape known as the pollen tube (PT) during fertilization. Pollen cells must navigate through the female tissue, find an ovary, and burst to release the two sperm cell nuclei as well as the vegetative…

The genome sequence of the wild tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium provides insights into salinity tolerance

Wild relatives of domesticated plants, such as tomato, are valuable resource for breeding, but their genomes are often not very well sequenced. Razali et al. provide the first high-quality genome of wild tomato S.pimpinellifolium LA0480, and use Dragon Eukaryotic Analysis Platform to functionally annotate…

Persistent drought monitoring using a microfluidic-printed electro-mechanical sensor of stomata in planta

Persistent drought monitoring using a microfluidic-printed electro-mechanical sensor of stomata in planta The study of stomatal dynamics is crucial for understanding photosynthetic gas exchange and plant hydraulics, but there are currently no methods for measuring the conductance of individual stomata…