Unforeseen plant diversity in global dryland
Plant Science Research WeeklyEarth’s terrestrial ecosystems harbor remarkable plant diversity. Some of this diversity can be quantified as functional traits, which provide a measure for diversity in different environments. In this new work, Gross et al. used a functional trait analysis to examine how plants respond to increasing…
Plant memories: How people build lasting connections with plants
Plant Science Research WeeklyPeople often fail to recognize and appreciate the importance of plants, a phenomenon known as Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD), also known as plant blindness. This lack of awareness has a negative impact on botanical knowledge and skill acquisitions, consequently affecting biodiversity conservation efforts.…
Plant Science Research Weekly: August 23, 2024
WWR Full PostReview. Chilling out: How plants remodel membranes to survive the cold
Low temperatures disrupt cellular processes and require metabolic adaptation. Cold-induced lipid remodeling helps maintain membrane permeability and prevents phase separations that can lead to cellular damage. In this review, Shomo,…
The Most Useful Software for Plant Biology Students in 2024
Blog, EducationResearch and software sound like a ubiquitous pairing, and indeed STEM students and researchers often rely on software to enhance their productivity in their work. But with the ever-growing numerous software on the market, it can be frustrating to pick the right one to add to your arsenal, especially…
Review. Lighting the way: Compelling open questions in photosynthesis research
Plant Science Research WeeklyPhotosynthesis is fundamental to life on Earth and a topic that all plant biologists should have a good understanding of, but it is also an incredibly complex set of processes, reactions and structures spanning great temporal and spatial distances. In this new Commentary by Eckardt et al., several experts…
Review: Unlocking plant genetics with telomere-to-telomere genome assemblies
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe era of complete telomere-to-telomere (T2T) plant genomes is finally here! Recent advances in long-read sequencing technologies have revolutionized genome assembly, giving rise to gapless T2T assemblies and offering unprecedented insights into genome organization and function. Why are T2T genomes…
Control of chloroplast biogenesis by MYB-related transcription factors
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn this study, Frangedakis et al. identified MYB-related transcription factors as critical regulators of chloroplast development in land plants. Focusing on the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and the angiosperm Arabidopsis thaliana, the team discovered that mutations in some MYB-related genes lead to…
Plant rheostat BAP2 determines the direction of ER stress tolerance mechanisms
Plant Science Research WeeklyWhen protein folding is disrupted by abiotic or biotic stresses, cells can experience ER stress. Sensors like inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) detect this stress, triggering the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway. UPR signaling activates genes that restore proteostasis and maintain cellular vitality.…
SAM-seq: A novel approach for unraveling plant epigenetic complexity
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe complex interplay between nucleosome positioning, DNA methylation, and chromatin accessibility is crucial for genome regulation in eukaryotic organisms. However, current chromatin profiling methods, which rely on short-read sequencing, fail to characterize highly repetitive genomic regions and cannot…