Entries by Kim Johnson

Turning up the heat: the alternative oxidase pathway drives thermogenesis in cycad cones

Kim L Johnson La Trobe Institute for Agriculture & Food, Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia Flowers are mostly associated with pleasant smells; the sweet fragrance of a rose, the exotic scent of jasmine, the fresh smell of spring blossom. Some flowers, however, produce quite the opposite, […]

Cutting the mustard: Evolving ER structures into ER bodies for plant defence

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has been likened to the manufacturing and packaging department of a factory, an action packed production area that distributes things to the rest of the cell. The ER does this by forming complex networks of tubules and cisternae that connect to other membranous organelles. In certain plant species, specialised ER-derived compartments […]

Sugar Coating the Phloem Sieve Element Wall

Whereas fluorescent tagging of proteins has dramatically advanced the study of protein function in cell biology, similar approaches with walls have been difficult due to the few methods available to visualize polysaccharides and monitor their dynamic modifications. What has become increasingly clear in recent years is how the physical properties of walls can direct not […]