Brassinosteroids (BRs) have come a long way since their first identification in 1979 as pollen-derived, growth-promoting hormones. Multiple studies have demonstrated roles for BRs in the control of cell elongation, pollen fertility, root architecture, seed germination, stomatal patterning, vascular development,…

Xu et al. identify metabolites targeted by selection during maize domestication. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00111 By Guanghui Xu State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, National Maize Improvement Center, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of…

Senescence results from two ineluctable laws of nature: every living entity will eventually die and when it does, nothing will be lost, as everything will be recycled. At the organism level, senescence is an integral part of the plant life cycle, under strict age-dependent genetic control.  This dismantlement…

Vesicle trafficking is indispensable, playing critical roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses, and trafficking to the plasma membrane is an important contributor to cell expansion and cell wall remodeling (reviewed in Lipka et al., 2007; Grefen and Blatt, 2008). Vesicle budding, trafficking…

Zhao et al. identify RESURRECTION 1 as a suppressor of free1 that negatively regulates endomembrane trafficking. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00003 By Qiong Zhao The Chinese University of Hong Kong Background: Plants have an evolutionarily conserved endomembrane system, which…

Plant Biology 2019 is fast approaching! If you’ll be attending for the first time, don’t worry—you’re in good company! You’ll be among 1400+ other plant biologists from nearly 40 countries, from grad students to professionals with 20+ years of experience, so no matter what you do, you’re…

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has been likened to the manufacturing and packaging department of a factory, an action packed production area that distributes things to the rest of the cell. The ER does this by forming complex networks of tubules and cisternae that connect to other membranous organelles.…

Climate change is causing more extreme weather patterns and increasing challenges for agriculture. The unusually dry European summer of 2018 caused an 8% drop in cereal production (source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/farming/documents/short-term-outlook-autumn-2018_en.pdf).…