“Deep learning” is a buzz term that seems to be cropping up in plant biology research these days. Originally reserved, perhaps, for computer nerds rather than us biology ones, deep learning is a type of machine learning used in the field of artificial intelligence. Modeled on the human brain, deep…

Kasper van Gelderen Utrecht University [email protected] Plants cannot live without light, but they also cannot live with too much light. Beyond a certain threshold, a high light intensity will damage the photosynthetic apparatus directly. Furthermore, high light leads to the production of reactive…

Fang and Zhang et al. show that SUMOylation and deSUMOylation regulate the stability of a transcription factor, thereby influencing aluminum resistance in Arabidopsis. Descriptive paragraph. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00687 Background: Aluminum (Al) is a primary constraint for crop…

During its life cycle, a plant experiences many types of abiotic stress including drought. While waiting for the next drops of water, a thirsty plant acclimates by initiating a series of tolerance responses. Stress perception is followed by stress-induced signaling which can include reactive oxygen…

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a photosynthetic adaptation pathway in arid environments to minimize water loss by opening the stomata at night, when the temperature and therefore water loss due to transpiration is lower. Carbon dioxide is initially fixed at night and stored in the vacuole. Engineering…

The symbiotic association between legumes and nitrogen-fixing rhizobia leads to the formation of nodules in roots, which supply nitrogen to the plant in low soil nitrate condition. In contrast, the presence of high nitrate reduces nodule formation. Cytokinin (CK) biosynthesis plays a major role in nodule…

Global warming and intensive farming are increasing soil salinity, which is predicted to affect 30% of cultivated land by 2050. Salinity represents a major threat for agriculture as most crops drastically reduce their growth and productivity in saline environments. Understanding the strategies used by…

Seed dormancy is a crucial mechanism to synchronize germination with the most suitable environmental conditions. Therefore, assessing its prevalence at the community level allows us to understand how plants adapt to their local environment. In this paper, Athugala and colleagues build the first dormancy…