Most students learn that metabolism does not increase at the same rate as an animal’s size – an elephant eats much less per unit of body mouse than a mouse does. This non-linear scaling, described through metabolic scaling theory, also occurs in plants – the growth rate of large plants is relatively…

Salicylic acid is a small phenolic hormone that plays a prominent role in the regulation of plant immune responses. Exactly how SA is perceived in planta has been an intensive area of research, with differential paradigms proposed for the perception of SA through negative regulators NPR3/NPR4 or through…

Magnaporthe oryzae is a devastating fungal pathogen that routinely threatens rice crop yields. Rice blast infection occurs when fungal hyphae penetrate into and proliferate within living plant cells, moving intracellulary from cell-to-cell through plasmodesmatal junctions. In a recent article published…

Review: A newly proposed plastid: the xyloplast ($) In its simplest definition, a plastid is an organelle that manufactures and stores essential chemical compounds used by its host cell. Numerous plastids exist beyond the familiar chloroplast. Chromoplasts synthesise and store carotenoid pigments,…

(ASPB) is pleased to announce that Plantae, the online home for the global plant science community, has been awarded an Excellence in New Communications Award from the Society for New Communications Research of The Conference Board (SNCR) in the Communications, Communities, and Collaboration category…

In the final episode of Season 2, Liz and Ivan talk with Jeff Long, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is the vice chair of the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology department and co-director of the Cell and Developmental Biology graduate program. Jeff has worked…