Entries by Eva Marie Gomez Alverez

Single seeds exhibit transcriptional heterogeneity during secondary dormancy induction (Plant Physiol)

July 1, 2022 in /by

Secondary dormancy (SD) of seeds is a natural strategy that allows survival of the plant in environments with unfavourable climatic conditions. However, in Arabidopsis, a variance of dormancy depth in between identical seeds can be explained by population-based threshold models. This single-seed variability relies on the differences in oxygen consumption, hormone levels and sensitivity, and […]

Biofortified tomatoes provide a new route to vitamin D sufficiency (Nature Plants)

June 17, 2022 in /by

Vitamin D deficiency in humans is correlated with malfunction of the immune system and inflammation together with cancer, Parkinson disease, depression, neurocognitive decline, dementia, and severe COVID-19 infection. In humans, exposure of the skin to UV light promotes the production of Vitamin D from a precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), also known as provitamin D3, but most […]

State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops (Nature Plants)

May 27, 2022 in /by

Landraces are local cultivars developed by traditional agricultural methods. Landraces not only represent an essential genetic resource for modern crop breeding but are also key to understand crops’ domestication processes. Thus, it is crucial to collect landraces for genebank conservation since demographic changes and climate emergency threaten in situ populations. Although there have been extensive […]

Anaerobiosis modulation of two phytoglobins in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and their regulation by gibberellin and abscisic acid in aleurone cells (Plant Physiol. Biochem)

May 13, 2022 in /by

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 Pgb-NO cycle, Pgb1 scavenge NO to produce nitrate, which is converted to nitrite […]

ROS homeostasis mediated by MPK4 and SUMM2 determines synergid cell death (Nature Comms)

April 29, 2022 in /by

Female gametophytes (FG) of angiosperms contain eight nuclei and seven cells, distributed in a defined manner. In the micropylar end of the FG there are two synergid cells and the haploid egg, while in the central cell there are two polar nuclei. The synergid cells are responsible for attracting the pollen tube (PT). However, only […]

KAI2 regulates seedling development by mediating light-induced remodeling of auxin transport (New Phytol)

April 15, 2022 in /by

Seed germination is can be described as having two phases depending on light availability, skoto- and photomorphogenesis. Skotomorphogenesis, which occurs while the seed is still buried, is characterized by the elongation of the coleoptile and the inhibition of the root system. When the seed reaches the light, photomorphogenesis starts, which includes the expansion of the […]

A synthetic switch based on orange carotenoid protein to control blue-green light responses in chloroplasts (Plant Physiol)

April 1, 2022 in /by

Synthetic biology aims to engineer and redesign components of natural organisms for useful purposes.  One of the most prolific areas of synthetic biology is based on the engineering of photoreactive proteins with signaling potential, such as photoreceptors. Natural photoreceptors consist of a prosthetic chromophore which is responsible for light perception, and an apoprotein, which transduces […]

The MIEL1-ABI5/MYB30 regulatory module fine tunes abscisic acid signaling during seed germination (JIPB)

March 18, 2022 in /by

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that plays a crucial role in the inhibition of seed germination, and the transcription factor ABI5 is the final and common downstream factor that represses germination. Many proteins are known to inhibit ABI5, such as the mediator complex subunit MED25 or other transcription factors, but how these proteins interact […]

HSL1 and BAM1/2 impact epidermal cell development by sensing distinct signaling peptides (Nature Comms)

March 4, 2022 in /by

Cell-to-cell communication is crucial for coordinating plant immunity, development, and environmental adaptations. The main players in sensing signaling molecules are membrane receptor kinases such as Leucine Rich Repeat Receptor Kinases (LRR-RKs). In some cases these receptors detect peptide signals. INFLORECENT DEFICIENT ABCISION (IDA) and IDA-LIKE (IDL) are peptides sensed by the LRR-RKs HAESA (HAE) and […]