Archive: March, 2024

Anting Zhu et al. establish an approach to identify metabolites and their corresponding genes and pathways in wheat. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad286 By A. Zhu, M. Liu, Z. Tian, W. Liu, W. Chen et al.  National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene…

As photosynthetic organisms, algae can harness solar energy to do useful things, from environmental cleanup to producing fuels and other beneficial molecules. This review by Goold et al. provides an overview of how algae can be valuable platforms for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering through…

This review by Berruto and Demirer calls for an interdisciplinary approach at the interface of experimental and computational frameworks to address the long-standing challenge of field application of beneficial soil microbiomes. This challenge persists due to our limited understanding of the complex…

As a writer and an editor, I am horrified by the idea that thinking can be replaced by artificial intelligence. But I do recognize that deep learning / machine learning / artificial intelligence can provide major opportunities for data analysis, as eloquently described in this review article by Murphy…

Plants that use C4 photosynthesis, whereby carbon is concentrated around RuBisCo in bundle sheath cells, have high water and nitrogen use efficiencies. Thus, understanding how C4 photosynthesis evolves is of much interest. The Flaveria genus provides a unique opportunity for this, as it contains species…

Transporting cargo within a cell may seem straightforward, but it is actually an intricate task. At the plasma membrane in plant cells, this complexity is navigated by a process known as clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Central to this process are two key players: adapter protein AP-2 and the TSET/TPLATE…

The identification and characterization of resistosome complexes, formed by the oligomerization of intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs), has recently been a major focus in the field of plant immunity. Some NLR genes occur as head-to-head pairs encoding proteins that function…

The establishment of adaxial-abaxial polarity during the growth of the leaf primordium is a prerequisite for the formation of the flat, thin leaves observed in most (but not all) plants. The micro-RNAs tasiARF and miR165/6, which form concentration gradients within leaf primordia, are major contributors…