ALIX helps to open the pore
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellGarcía-León et al. reveal a function for a trafficking protein in stomatal aperture regulation.
Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00399
By Marta García-León and Vicente Rubio
Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC) Darwin, 3. 28049 Madrid, Spain
Background: Plants protect…
Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Ivan Reyna-Llorens
The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: Author ProfilesIvan Reyna-Llorens, co-first author of Genome-wide transcription factor binding in leaves from C3 and C4 grasses
Current Position: Post Doctoral Research Associate in the group of Prof. Julian Hibberd, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
Education: PhD in Plant Sciences, University…
Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Steven Burgess
The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: Author ProfilesSteven Burgess, co-first author of Genome-wide transcription factor binding in leaves from C3 and C4 grasses
Current Position: Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Education: 2011 PhD Imperial College London, UK,…
Review: Developmental thermal responses in Arabidopsis (Plant Physiol.)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants can modify their growth in response to environmental challenges. In a recent review, Vu et al. summarize the molecular mechanisms underlying high temperature responses during the Arabidopsis life cycle. At early stages, high temperature promotes abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and decreases gibberellic…
Review: Developmental responses to water and salinity in root systems ($) (Annu Rev Cell Biol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants lack organs that are analogous to human ears, eyes or fingertips, yet they can detect changes in their environment. In this review, Dinneny describes how sensing heterogeneities in salt and water leads to changes in root architecture, optimizing soil foraging. The root tip typically follows the…
Auxin-induced nanoclustering of membrane signaling complexes underlies cell polarity establishment (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyMembranes have long been considered somewhat inert materials in a cell’s organization, but it is becoming clear that lipid composition and distribution contributes actively to cell shape and dynamics. Pan et al. examined the contribution of lipids to the shape of epidermal pavement cells in Arabidopsis…
Predicting metabolism during growth by osmotic cell expansion (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyGrowth is driven by cell expansion, which is driven by both synthesis of metabolites and osmotically-driven expansion. This latter contribution is typically overlooked in metabolic flux analysis. To remedy this, Shameer et al. have developed a model, GrOE-FBA (Growth by Osmotic Expansion- Flux Balance…
Evolution of fast root gravitropism in seed plants (Nature Comms)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants’ invasion of land was accompanied by the evolution of a root system which in seed plants includes a fast gravitropic response. Gravitropism occurs through three distinct steps – (1) gravity perception by dense starch-filled amyloplasts, (2) transmission of gravitropic signal by auxin through…
Divergent gene expression networks underlie morphological diversity of abscission zones in grasses ($)
Plant Science Research WeeklyGrasses scatter their seeds through the process of cell abscission. Losing this trait, in a process known as loss of shattering, was an early step in the domestication of cereals. Interestingly, the abscission zone (AZ) is positionally and morphologically different in different cereals. In order to understand…