Archive: December, 2019

Biosensors have provided abundant information about the distribution of target enzymes, for example auxin, revealing much about their roles in plant physiology and development. Ethylene is a tiny (C2H4) gaseous hormone that hasn’t been very amenable to the development of biosensors. Here, Vong et al.…

Numerous genes have been identified that modify shoot architecture, which has allowed breeding of varieties for specific purposes and environments. Here, Kwon et al. describe how they have used gene editing to modify several of these genes to produce tomatoes and groundcherries that are compact and rapid…

Study of the plant microbiome can contribute to sustainable agricultural systems through improvements to plant health and nutrition. One goal has been to select and design microbiome communities for specific functions. In a recent article, Morella et al. have used an experimental evolution approach to…

Protein-protein interactions modulate the activities of many proteins, i.e., the signaling specificity of Receptor-like kinases (RLK). Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) allows the study of the dynamics of protein-protein interactions in live plants; this technique is based on energy transfer…

Plant-pathogen interactions are shaped by a dynamic signaling crosstalk that often leads to an arms-race between plants and pathogens. The initial pathogenic invasion starts in the apoplast, which serves as a major battlefield. This extracellular space is a harsh environment enriched with hydrolytic…

A fast method of gene editing using Agrobacterium was developed to deliver combinations of the developmental regulators including WUSCHEL and SHOOT MERISTEMLESS along with gene-editing reagents. The expression of specific developmental regulators led to the induction of meristems and expression of the…

Special Current Opinion in Biotechnology issue Issue: Plant Biotechnology Since most of us will have a few days off this coming week as we welcome in 2020, I’d like to highlight some of the engrossing reviews in this special issue of Current Opinion in Biotechnology, edited by Ralf Reski, Gary…

Stalk lodging, a structural failure in which crop stalks break prior to harvest, can result in high grain moisture, reduce grain quality, and cause harvesting difficulties. For the popular high-yielding cereal maize (Zea mays), lodging may result in global annual yield reductions of approximately 5-20%…