The International Conference on Food And Nutritional Security (iFANS 2023) was held January 6-9, 2023. It was jointly organized with the 5th International Plant Physiology Congress and the 44th annual meeting of the Plant Tissue Culture Association (India). And it was huge. Imagine an event jointly organized by four research institutes and two national-level societies! […]
The ribosome is a macromolecular structure made up of many subunits. The proteins in these subunits were named based on their sedimentation rates and gel mobility, but different groups gave the proteins different names in various species, not based on homology. A ribosomal protein (r-protein) nomenclature system was proposed that indicates the origin of the […]
Many animals, including humans, tangibly benefit from living socially. Does this benefit extend to plants? A recent study by Höckerstedt et al. says it does. The authors studied a wild host-pathogen population, Plantago lanceolata, and its obligate powdery mildew pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis in 4000 locations in the Åland islands of Finland. They categorized the populations […]
Humidity is considered a key component for the growth of fungal plant pathogens. For many infection assays we either maintain plants in high humidity, or wrap the infected area and keep spraying it with water. This is generally performed to facilitate fungal growth and the assumption that this may not have any effect on plant […]
Many different pathogens attack plants, and many genes have been identified that confer pathogen-specific resistance. In a recent study, Hao et al. identified a signaling cascade that regulates broad-spectrum disease resistance. This pathway is composed of a rice ubiquitin ligase OsPUB73, a VQ motif-containing protein OsVQ25, and a transcription factor OsWRKY53. As is characteristic of […]
The seeds of the Agarwood tree (Aquilaria sinensis) lose viability within a few hours of the fruit splitting, so need to reach the ground as soon as possible. Qin et al. report that agarwood achieves this by fooling hornets (Vespa spp.), which generally eat herbivore insects such as caterpillars. When plants are attacked by caterpillars, […]
Tolerance against a pathogen can be achieved by either overexpressing a resistance-related gene, or removing a susceptibility-related gene. Overexpression of defense-related genes generally comes with side effects such as decreased growth and yield. On the other hand, a susceptibility factor might have a physiological role and its inactivation may affect agronomic traits. An effective strategy […]
Are modern agricultural practices good for the environment? Or at least for the crops? If we look at a small field at a particular time point, it may seem they are good. But looking at a broader picture gives a different notion. In a recent study, Edlinger et al. collected 210 soil samples from traditional […]
Gene manipulation in most plant species faces two major hurdles, transformation efficiency of tissue and regeneration of callus. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the most common method of plant transformation. Transformation efficiency can range from more than half the tissue to less than 1% depending on the types of tissue and plant species. Many times this low […]