In rice, the transcription factor N-mediated heading date-1 (Nhd1) activates the expression of Heading date 3a (Hd3a), a floral regulator gene and regulate flowering. Li et al. report the role of Nhd1 in nitrogen (N) use efficiency and N-dependent root growth in rice. nhd1 mutants were impaired in root…

Barley seeds are anoxic, and during germination pathways are induced to allow energy to be obtained without oxygen. Phytoglobins (Pgb) are hypoxia-induced proteins that are involved in energy metabolism during germination through the Pgb-NO cycle, an alternative pathway to fermentation. In the…

Knowing whether a given plant species forms a persistent soil seed bank is essential to understanding its ecological dynamics, yet soil seed bank studies are both labor-intensive and time-consuming. One could argue that models should help predict this. Still, seed persistence in the soil is shaped by…

The studies on the apoplastic interactions of plants and fungi often focus on the fungal cell-wall, but recent studies indicate various plant colonizing fungi also have an exopolysaccharide (EPS) layer outside their cell wall. Chandrasekar et al. observed that the composition of this fungal EPS is distinct…

Review: Protein phosphorylation “toggle switch” for plant iron balance Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation act as a switch regulating a multitude of protein properties, be it their activity, interaction with other proteins, stability, or even cellular localization. This review by Li…

Deng, Chen and colleagues focus on fruit ripening in tomato and describe the role of the EAR domain-containing Ethylene Response Factor SlERF.F12 in recruiting transcriptional repressors to the promoter regions of their targets By Heng Deng, Yao Chen and Mingchun Liu, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource…

Rameez Arshad, co-first author of "A kaleidoscope of photosynthetic antenna proteins and their emerging roles" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia Education: Ph.D. in Structural Biology Non-scientific interests: Landscape and astrophotography, nature…

Francesco Saccon, co-first author of "A kaleidoscope of photosynthetic antenna proteins and their emerging roles" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands) Education: PhD in Biological Sciences at Queen Mary University of London (UK); MSc and…