Auxin is an omnipresent, tryptophan-derived phytohormone that plays roles in innumerable physiological processes, so it is imperative to understand its distribution. Currently the best tools to do so employ the use of indirect sensors, such as the synthetic auxin-responsive promoter DR5. While invaluable, these tools suffer from being indirect. In addition, their readouts tend to […]
Lateral roots continually form and develop out of the primary root throughout the plant’s lifetime, enabling the root system to optimize its development to its environment. In this study, Schütz et al. used light-sheet microscopy to generate 4D movies of Arabidopsis lateral root primordia expressing markers to label the plasma membranes and nuclei. The images […]
Roots have been described as the gut of the plant, as they are the main interface for nutrient and water intake from their surrounding environment. This interface is remarkably complex. Not only must the root allow for the proper diffusion of substances into the plant, but by virtue of being constantly exposed to an entire […]
Efficient phenotyping is important for plant breeding. For wheat, leaf reflectance spectra can be used to calculate leaf traits that impact crop yield, particularly constituent (leaf mass per area, nitrogen/chlorophyll content) and physiological (Rubisco carboxylation activity, electron transport rate, respiration rate) traits. However, experiments and models that correlate leaf reflectance spectra with these phenotypes have […]
The cell walls of plants are intricate structures. Their complexity is due to multiple biochemical components and interactions, but while many of the components have been identified, their interactions have yet to be fully elucidated. A major component of the cell wall is cellulose, of which multiple subclasses exist. Xylan is the dominant hemicellulose, existing […]
ConnecTF: A platform to integrate transcription factor-gene interactions and validate regulatory networks Gene regulatory networks (GFNs) are complex beasts, integrating multiple components of transcription factors (TFs), regulatory loci, and function — not to mention the myriad datasets and methodologies that generate datasets attempting to elucidate such networks. With rapid increases in technology to enable the […]
A network of transcriptional repressors modulates auxin responses Untangling developmental programs and their methods of regulation are key to understanding the lives of all organisms. In plants, auxin is a hormone essential for plant growth and development. The class A AUSIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) transcription factors necessary for auxin signaling throughout the plant lifecycle. While […]
Last week, PSRW presented two review papers regarding host plant interactions with microbial populations, particularly for plant nutrient intake. Watt-Williams et al. utilize such knowledge for their paper, performing an RNA-seq dataset to identify a novel zinc transporter in Medicago truncatula. Zinc is a vital nutrient; its uptake in plants is commonly facilitated via associations […]
Bakker et al. begin their review of plant-soil microbiome concepts with a Lorentz Hiltner quote from 1904: “However, I am convinced that soil bacteriology will finally provide results that are not only of explanatory nature, but will also directly affect and determine agricultural practice… I would like to state from the very first, that… the […]