Haibo Dai, first author of “Cucumber STACHYOSE SYNTHASE is regulated by its cis-antisense RNA asCsSTS to balance source-sink carbon partitioning” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at Yangzhou University, China Education: B.Sc. at Changshu Institute of Technology, China Non-scientific Interests:…

Muhammad Abdullah, first author of "HEAT RESPONSIVE PROTEIN regulates heat stress via fine-tuning ethylene/auxin signaling pathways in cotton"  Current position: PhD Scholar - Institute of Crop Science, Plant Precision Breeding Academy, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources,…

Redkar et al. demonstrate that the wilt-inducing fungus Fusarium oxysporum secretes a set of proteins that allow it to colonize the roots of a wide array of plant species. The Plant Cell (2022). By Amey Redkar1 and Antonio Di Pietro2. Illustration by Dr. Lindsay Erndwein 1Department of Botany,…

On the academic job hunt? Bookmark this article, which provides valuable information about what to do when your search is successful. The time between getting an offer and accepting it is the most critical time for you to negotiate to get the resources you need, such as space, equipment, institutional…

RETINOBLASTOMA-RELATED (RBR) is the plant homolog of the metazoan Retinoblastoma protein (pRB) tumor suppressor and is a conserved cell cycle regulator. RBR has been linked to several multicellularity-related processes, such as controlled cell proliferation, stem cell regulation, and asymmetric cell…

The earliest terrestrial plants had relatively small, simple forms. The evolution of water-conducting cells provided opportunities for increased size. However, water movement by tension (driven by evaporation) can fail when the water column breaks and is blocked by an air bubble called an embolism. Looking…

In biology nothing makes sense but in the light of evolution. However, understanding how new traits can appear through modification of pre-existing elements has been a complex question in evolutionary biology. LaFountain et al. studied a population of a species of monkeyflower (Mimulus verbenaceus) which…

Human malnutrition results from the lack of essential mineral micronutrients.  In particular, iron deficiency might cause anaemia and stunted development in children, while zinc deficiency might reduce immunity to infectious diseases. In bread wheat, iron and zinc are located in the embryo and aleurone.…