We are all thankful for the mentors in our life, pay it forward and become a mentor yourself. The American Society of Plant Biologists is launching a mentoring platform through the Plantae Job Center. This platform will allow plant science professionals the opportunity to find mentors based on their…

Techniques to isolate the RNA molecules bound to a specific protein, via co-immunoprecipitation, for instance, have been available for years. The converse—methods to identify the proteins bound to a specific RNA—have been harder to come by, in part because of difficulty in elucidating the determinants…

Jason Sims, first author of Meiotic DNA repair in the nucleolus employs a non-homologous end joining mechanism Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Vienna / MFPL Education: PhD in molecular biology, special doctoral program in Chromosome Dynamics, from the University of…

Amorim-Silva et al. identify scaffolding proteins that optimize BR signaling. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00150  By Vitor Amorim-Silva and Miguel Botella  Background: The plant hormone Brassinosteroid (BR) is essential for proper growth. This hormone is extracellularly perceived…

Carotenoids are diverse structures that contribute to photosynthetic light harvesting and serve as pigments, photoprotectants, and precursors for vitamin A and signalling molecules. Phytoene synthase is the first committed enzyme for carotenoid synthesis, and in tomato it is encoded by two genes, PSY1…

Root branching determines the spatial organization of the root and its interaction with the soil. The emergence of lateral roots (LR) is controlled by a complex regulatory network, involving genetic, hormonal and mechanical factors. In this study, Trinh et al. got new insights about PUCHI, a transcription…

Regulation of gene expression at transcriptional, translational and post-translation levels is crucial for proper plant growth. Post-transcriptional gene regulation by small RNAs like microRNA (miRNA), siRNA and phasi-RNAs is necessary for meristem maintenance in plants. Unlike in the mammalian system,…

The balance between environmental stress tolerance and plant growth is an important research topic. Plant responses vary among species and varieties, but also with the growth environment. Soil, water, and environmental factors interact to affect plant growth responses to soil salinity. To engineer…