Yingying Xing, first author of Bacterial effector targeting of a plant iron sensor facilitates iron acquisition and pathogen colonization Current Position: Ph.D. graduate Education: Ph.D. in Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China; Bachelor in College of Plant…

Zhaoxia Li (李朝霞), first author of  “Daily temperature cycles promote alternative splicing of RNAs encoding SR45a, a splicing regulator in maize” Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Plant Sciences Institute, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA Education: BSc in Bioscience from…

Shouyang Liu first author of Importance of the description of light interception in crop growth models Current Position: Professor in PheniX lab of Nanjing Agricultural University, China Education: Ph.D. in plant phenomics at INRAE-CAPTE, France Non-scientific Interests: Read, Travel and Movies Since…

Hosotani et al. explore the molecular mechanisms that modulate stomatal opening under different light conditions. by Sakurako Hosotani and Atsushi Takemiya (Yamaguchi University)  Background: Opening of stomatal pores is essential for photosynthetic CO2 fixation and transpiration in terrestrial…

David Eyland, first author of "The impact of slow stomatal kinetics on photosynthesis and water use efficiency under fluctuating light" Current Position: PhD candidate at KU Leuven Education: Master in Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven Non-scientific Interests: Football & hiking Brief…

Corredor-Moreno et al. identify a branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase that is critical for progression of economically damaging diseases of wheat. Pilar Corredor-Moreno and Diane G.O. Saunders John Innes Centre Background: Wheat yellow and stem rust are major diseases of wheat worldwide.…

Written and Illustrated by Laura Mejia. Click on images to enlarge.   This week’s article by Maggini et al. (2017) is focused on the interactions between a plant and its endophytes. Specifically, it explores the contributions of the bacterial endophytes of Echinacea purpura, widely used in traditional…

The root system has three key functions: support/anchoring, uptake of water, and uptake of nutrients. Many questions remain about how roots integrate all of these functions into the architecture of a single system. Here, Bardhan et al. explore whether modifying the nutrient environment (hence root’s…